What Would You Do?

Incredulous, you replied, You stopped? How many billions of dollars did It damage to build brand loyalty around the Taurus name? Well, youve got until tomorrow to find a vehicle to put the Taurus name on. Then, you bugger off two courses to make a new Taurus which had best be the coolest vehicle that you can possibly make. So, in less than quadruple hours, you made your first billion-dollar decision. It wouldnt be your last. With billions of dollars in losses, you eliminated 46,000 Jobs, sold off Gaston Martin, Jaguar, and take Rover, and burn truck and SUB production by 40 part.Despite these drastic moves. Ford still lost SSL 2. 6 billion your second year and $2. 7 billion your third. With losses still mounting, the first major contend you need to address is vehicle customization, that is, maximizing consumer choice by producing several(predicate) cars with variant parts for different world markets. Vehicle customization originated in 1967 when Fords European operations were created to design and manufacture cars Just for Europe. Consequently, when Ford attempted to cut costs by creating a common world car to be sold In Europe and the united States, It failed.The resulting cars (yes, cars), one designed In Detroit and the other In Germany, were completely different except for two sh atomic number 18 parts. The second major issue is that Fords vigilance teams have difficulty staying on tar gear up and tracking company performance. Even with downsizing, Ford is a interlacing company with 205,000 employees, multiple product lines, and international operations on quartette continents. Surprisingly, Fords managers only stay in their Jobs a few years. And, If youre off to your adjoining Job and dont have to live with the consequences of your decisions, why are about whether you chance your departments or divisions goals?The final Issue Is that contentious relationships between Fords divisions have produced impaired decision making. Different geogr aphic regions and functional divisions, such as engineering, production, and sales, are more interested in doing what they want than what is best for Ford as a whole. Feelings on this issue are so strong that your management team pleaded with you to remove Fords blue logo from one of your Powering presentations so as not to alienate those who worked for Fords Volvo, Jaguar, and Lincoln divisions.At the time you agreed, but now sustain it was a mistake. Three years ago, you arranged for $23 billion in loans to get the company through tough times. And with Chrysler and GM in bankruptcy, and patience sales off 35 percent, youve needed every dime. But, youre 65 percent through those funds, so youve got to address these key Issues. Fords survival depends on it. If you were the chief executive officer AT For a, want would you 00? Questions 1 . Should Ford continue to make different cars for Europe and the United States? If so, how do you lower expenses?If not, then how do you get the c ompany to produce the world cars, when it has failed to do so before? What should Fords strategic objective be here? 2. Beyond making managers stay long-acting in their Jobs, which wont be popular, how allow you change Fords culture so that managers profits attention to company plans and feel accountable for meeting performance targets? 3. Finally, what will you do to address the dysfunctional way in which decisions are made, where different departments and units care more about their issues than the companys issues? Sources M. Dolan, J. Stool, and N.