Running head: FORD MOTOR COMPANY 1

Ford Motor Company

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation
FORD MOTOR COMPANY 2

Ford Motor Company

Question 1

A.

The company that I have selected for the study is Ford Motor Company. The latter is an

established name in the automobile industry. Ford Company has many models that have changed

the entire industry across the world. Since its inception, the corporation has continued to

manufacture innovative vehicles that helped it to establish its position in the automobile industry.

Ford Company was incorporated in 1919, a brainchild of Henry Ford. The key objective

of the organization is to manufacture vehicles that can be consumed by the general public. Also,

the corporation has introduced financing of the vehicles to gain market share in the industry.

Notably, the firm has begun financing in partnership with the majority of its subsidiaries.

Therefore, Ford Company has launched automobile manufacturing and financial services as the

two key operations (Baker, 2015).

Ford Company has continued to establish more subsidiaries in various parts of the world.

The subsidiaries are Ford North America, Ford Europe, Ford South America, and Ford Asia

Pacific Africa. In addition, the subsidiary that is engaging in the financing of the vehicles is Ford

Motor Credit Company. Lincoln and Ford are the leading brands of the corporation (Su et al.,

2016).

Ford Company is a unique corporation in the automobile market because it has been

capable of upholding their performance at their period of the worldwide financial crisis. The

effective business level and business strategy enabled the corporation to tolerate the financial

crisis and remain relevant in the automobile market. This is an indication of the expansion efforts
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that the company is aiming globally. Therefore, this justifies that Ford Company can be

categorized as a global corporation.

B.

Institutional and retail investors own a percentage of Ford Motor Company. Institutional

ownership accounts about 55.98% while the retail investors own a portion too. In terms of the

institutional ownership, Vanguard Group Plc owns 7.55%, Evercore Trust Company, NA owns

5.00%, SSgA Funds Management, Inc own 4.54%, Newport Trust Co owns 4.71%, BlackRock

Fund Advisors owns 3.48%, Geode Capital Management LLC owns 1.53%, Franklin Advisers,

Inc. owns 2.47%, Capital Research & Management Co. own 1.38%, and Northern Trust

Investments, Inc own 1.11% (MarketScreener).

Ford Motor Company went public in 1956 though the Ford family enjoys 40% of the

stock voting rights via the special class B stocks, which are not traded in the stock exchange. For

the majority part, the Ford family has an outsized influence on whatever the corporation is

involved in and who is added to the management of the organization.

C.

The journey to stardom has not been easy for the management of Ford Company. The

company applied various strategies for it to expand internationally to capture the global

automobile industry. The company launched subsidiaries in different markets to gain entry into

the different continents across the world. In addition, the corporation included different price

ranges for the vehicles to suit the budget of every consumer. The company targeted the

individuals from different social classes spanning from the middle and high-income class.
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The corporation sold most of its luxury brands to cater to the middle-class people. The

Premier Automotive group constituted Jaguar, Volvo, Aston Martins, and Land Rover. These car

brands were manufactured specifically for the rich people in society. However, the corporation

realized that it did not reach its potential as expected. In addition, the company has continued to

introduce financing services on the vehicles to suit the people who crave to buy the vehicle but

lack enough capital (Baker, 2015). Additionally, the automaker has continued to manufacture

electric vehicles to suit the needs of modern world consumers.

D.

Ford Company leverages many strategies to gain a competitive advantage in the

worldwide marketplace. Ford Company applies the cost leadership strategy to gain a competitive

edge in the fiercely competitive automobile industry. Charles (2012) explains that the

corporation has wriggled to manufacture vehicles that can be taken into account as standardized

and welcomed by the consumers. Many efforts have been implemented to lower the expenses of

manufacturing vehicles. This is to guarantee that the company improves its competitive

advantage in the automobile industry and gain cost leadership. The corporation has begun

embracing efforts to ensure that the vehicles are efficient, uphold the production, and other

overhead expenses and to decrease their final expense of sales.

Ford Company leverages the differentiation strategy to gain a competitive advantage in

the automobile market. The organization understands that the value of the clients can be offered

by selling unique goods at cost-effective prices to the consumers. This industry is reviewing the

corporation offering special goods to the clients and discounted price. Ford Company has begun

the financial service division. This is an exceptional service that the majority of the corporations
FORD MOTOR COMPANY 5

in the automobile industry are not offering. Furthermore, the corporation has invested in

advanced technology, innovation of the product, and image management in its approach.

Ford Company leverages the low-cost strategy to remain relevant in the automobile

industry. This is distinct from the cost leadership strategy. In this approach, the corporation

begins centering on a small segment of the market and manufacture vehicles. This approach is

utilized by the corporation to elude the price ward in the market.

Ford Motor Company has broken down the market to offer specified services to a

particular market segment. For instance, the corporation has established the American

government as one of its small segments. The corporation provides differentiated goods to its

small segments. For example, the American authority might require armored vehicles for its

army. This is a specific differentiated service that the corporation, via its marketing department,

is advocating the authority to win such tenders. The approach will allow the corporation to serve

the segments better than the business rivals. The differentiation strategy appears to be the most

appropriate if the company is considering long-term success. This is the most appropriate

strategy for the corporation to follow as they are capable of developing synergies based on the

expenses and the domain of uniqueness. However, with the advent of globalization, corporations

cannot depend on the other strategies because the level of competition will rise.

Question 2

Globalization is instrumental in surviving and thriving in the dynamic business world.

Arguably, new markets and opportunities have continued to be launched globally. Nonetheless,

new firms are coming, and old corporations are surviving via alliance, mergers, and acquisitions.

The global village is evolving as a worldwide marketplace. The globalization marketplace has
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obliged the businesses to become more complex. To get cheap labor, multinational corporations

are launching their plants in distinct nations.

Outsourcing evolves as a popular approach for various corporations (Jamal, 2014).

Businesses are operating their activities in distinct nations and cultures. In the new market,

corporations encounter challenges because of the differences in cultures. The corporations pay

more attention to cultural aspects such as religion, education, living style, language, and social

behaviors to describe their marketing approaches. Cultural aspects are influential to the company

to the extent that they dictate the activities spanning from product design to marketing (Brooks &

Weatherston, 2000). Advertising is another significant element of a marketing strategy that is

highly impacted by culture.

Culture is instrumental during the interaction with clients and the internal structure of the

Ford Company. It is highly influential to the success of the automaker in the foreign nation. The

tastes and choice of individuals differ in distinct countries which are directly or negatively

reshaped by culture. Arguably, culture is influential to the consumer because of the differences in

fashion, taste, and demand. The consumption of the car is not an economic option; instead, it

evolved as more sensational and emotional (Jamal, 2014). Cultural mindset impacts both

sensational and emotional values.

Culture is one of the determining factors of the success of a corporation in the automobile

industry. Jamal (2014) focused on the dissimilarities among American, European, and Asian

consumers and their perception, attitudes, and values relying on culture. The author articulated

that traditional marketing strategies have continued to become ineffective because of the

advancement in technology. He articulated that it is suitable placement of the automobile

FORD MOTOR COMPANY 7

products is the appropriate way to make effective communication with the target market. To

elude the differences in culture, automakers launch customized cars for the respective nation.

Ford Motor Company uses standardized strategy and product line globally though the

corporation established Ford lkon, which designs and manufactures customized cars for the

Indians. The corporation attempted to make an emotional bonding with the clients (Brooks &

Weatherston, 2000). Ford company uses standardization though has implemented Ford Fiesta in

distinct continents based on the respective factors. Establishing a company in a different

continent should be approached differently as social norms, culture, and other issues are distinct.

Even the rules and regulations are distinct and corporations require to change based on the

preference of the continent. Ford established the lkon only designed and manufactured vehicles

for Indians. However, they not only manufactured vehicles for Indians but also Asians nations

(Jamal, 2014). The cars are customized based on the culture to suit the taste of every consumer in

the market.

The literature has given more focus on the differences in culture to create effective

market strategies. They demonstrated distinct ways to market the product in distinct nations.

Some corporations use certain strategies to create more attachment with clients. Ford established

Escort Freedom when India was rejoicing golden jubilee because of the independence from the

colonial masters. Whenever the automakers decide to merge, they must understand the tastes and

preferences of the consumers. Sometimes the brand name and tagline require changing because

of the differences in language. The low-cost truck of Ford was marketed as Fiera to Spanish

speaking individuals though the marketer encountered a significant problems because when

translated in the Spanish language, it depicts "ugly old woman" (Brooks & Weatherston, 2000).
FORD MOTOR COMPANY 8

Hence, culture should be addressed for the Ford Company to continue being successful in the

automobile industry.

References

Baker, C. R. (2015). Organizational change at Ford Motor Company in the face of international

financial crisis. Recherches en Sciences de Gestion, (5), 23-35.

Brooks, I., & Weatherston, J. (2000). The business environment: challenges and changes. Ft

Press.

Jamal, Z. B. (2014, October). Cross-cultural impact on marketing strategies: A study on

automobile industry. In Proceedings of the International Conference on Business, Law

and Corporate Social Responsibility, Phuket, Thailand (pp. 1-2).

MarketScreener. (n.d.). Ford Motor Company. Retrieved from

https://www.marketscreener.com/Ford-Motor-Company-12542/company/

Su, A., Young, C., & Zierke, S. (2016). Aligning corporate brand identity elements with

heritage-How the Ford Motor Company and the Tata Group have managed

Jaguar. LBMG Strategic Brand Management-Masters Paper Series.