In 1903, Henry Ford created Ford Motor Company with vision to make the automobile accessible to every American. Today, nearly one hundred years later, Ford has grown to become the world's largest producer of trucks and the second-largest car manufacturer. Throughout Ford's evolution, the company faced many global and environmental issues, in the midst of increased competition levels within the automotive industry. This paper will address Ford's recent decisions regarding globalization, competition and sustainability.
GLOBALIZATION.
As consumer preferences and legislation between global nations converged, the opportunity for automobile manufacturers to operate globally increased (The Ford Story 2001). In 1999, the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers was established, reflecting growing globalization trends within the automobile industry. The trade organization includes nine automakers: BMW, DaimlerChrysler, Ford Motor Company, General Motors Corporation, Mazda Motor Corporation, Nissan Motor Company, Toyota Motor Corporation, Volkswagen, and Volvo. Peter Pestillo, Ford vice chairman and Alliance chairman in 1999, said the " group will provide its member with a forum to work together on public policy matters of common interest." Moreover, Pestillo states, "The Alliance's goals are to provide credible industry information and data on a global basis and to seek consistent global regulatory standards." (Globalization spurs alliance 1999, 11).
In 1995, as Ford continued to expand, management desired to reorganize Ford's entire worldwide operations. The initiative, known as Ford 2000, created one global management team allowing Ford to "eliminate duplication, initiate best practices, use common components and designs for the advantage of scale, and allocate resources whenever they are needed to best serve market needs." (The Ford Story 2001) An important aspect of Ford 2000 was the Global Enterprise Process Model, which expresses how the different elements within the company interact with one another.