Schedule of the tasks and surrender № 5

Pre-reading Task

1. Have you got any experience to set goals?

2. What strategies are used in practice to solve company’s tarts? Explain why?

3. What difficulties can а manager face up in practice his company operating?

4. Read the article. What useful information can you derive from it?

Ford

For decades American automakers reigned supreme. By the dawn of the 1990s there was concern about their very survival. Reasons for the decline range from unfair trade practices by the Japanese to currency differences that translated to price advantages, and the list went on.

“Some of the American products in the 1970s weren’t as good as they should have been,” Allan Gilmour, president of Ford Motor Company’s Automotive Group, said. “But I think we are into this decade ready for action.”

How did Ford battle back from the perception that American products were inferior, and red ink that culminated with a $2.3 billion loss in 1992? By setting goals and objectives for everyone from top management to service department mechanics and following up to quantify and evaluate results. “We are much more competitive than we were 10 or 15 years ago, in quality and efficiency. We are working extremely hard to be the best that there is,” Gilmour said.

To combat the perception that foreign competitors produce a mechanically superior product, Ford launched the “Quality Care” advertising campaign from their parts and service division. The objective was to emphasize owner satisfaction as the basis for building a sustainable competitive advantage. With active participation from dealers, Ford implemented enhanced technician education and training, and introduced high technology service support equipment, such as the Service Bay Diagnostic System. An improved process for evaluating customer service needs was introduced as well as an extended service plan, and next day parts delivery.

Ford went out to implement a quality control and customer satisfaction plan at their Avon Lace, Ohio, plant, where the Mercury Villager is coproduced through a joint venture with Nissan. To anticipate and find tune consumer needs and desires, the company conducted six customer encounter sessions. Participants gave input about likes and dislikes in competitor minivans, as well as wish list of additional features.

Said Pat Lynch, regional sales manager for Ford’s Dallas division, “We’ve had 10 years to study the others [minivan manufacturers] to decide what we wanted to do. So we took the best, refined it, and dropped the worst. Now, I think we’ve got the best minivan on the market.”

They may well have. No U.S. automaker has ever undertaken such all-encompassing quality control measures. While the first shift at the Mercury plant manufactures the minivan, the task of the second shift is solely to inspect and test the finished product, which can include driving vehicles as far as 60 miles. After a Villager comes off the line it rolls into what amounts to an aquarium where quality assurance personnel conduct more than 125 assurance tests.

The first 2,000 Villagers were shipped to dealers in July 1992 and the company followed up with queries to tabulate customer satisfaction. Ford received overwhelmingly positive response, with only a handful of minor complaints.

The Villager has a sales goal of 70,000 units for 1993. According to Carolyn Brown of Lincoln Mercury’s corporate sales information department, through the first quarter of 1993, 29,452 units have been sold, far exceeding expectations.

Ford will seek to enhance product quality through plant modernization as well. Substantial modernization of Ford plants is planned in conjunction with the introduction of new products, as was done in Louisville, Kentucky, when the Explorer was introduced.

New approaches to doing things at Ford not have been limited to their automating operations. In an effort to make slower-growing advertising budgets work more effectively, the company announced a print media plan among fewer periodicals, with primary emphasis placed on magazine quality and price.

The road back to profitability for Ford will not be easy or quick, but the company is looking to the future and decided that it will not be German or Japanese, but American. Carefully formulated management plans that target goals and motivate personnel will ensure that the future is brighter than the past. “If you can get all resources at Ford Motor Company aimed in the right direction, I think we’ll do a good job,” Allan Gilmour said. Say if the sentences are true or false to the text:

By the dawn of the 1990s American automakers were successful and hadn’t any problems. The objective of the “Quality Care” advertising campaign was emphasizing owner satisfaction as the basis for building a sustainable competitive advantage. Ford went out to implement a quality control and to develop new management scheme of human resources. To anticipate and fine tune consumer needs and desires, the company conducted six customer encounter sessions. Ford received many complaints, with only a handful of positive comments after the first 2,000 Villagers had been shipped to dealers. The road back to profitability for Ford will not be easy or quick, but the company is looking to the future and decided that it will be German or Japanese, but not American.

Exercises 1. Answer the questions on the text:

1. Describe how Ford set its goals and then set about making plans to achieve those goals.

2. Describe how Ford’s new strategies refl ect management by objective.

3. Were the actions taken by Ford in 1990s as revolutionary as those taken by the company’s founder, Henry Ford? Discuss.

4. What barriers does Ford still face in today’s car market?

Exercises 2. Say if the sentences are true or false to the text:

1. By the dawn of the 1990s American automakers were successful and hadn’t any problems.

2. The objective of the “Quality Care” advertising campaign was emphasizing owner satisfaction as the basis for building a sustainable competitive advantage.

3. Ford went out to implement a quality control and to develop new management scheme of human resources.

4. To anticipate and find tune consumer needs and desires, the company conducted six customer encounter sessions.

5. Ford received many complaints, with only a handful of positive comments after the first 2,000 Villagers had been shipped to dealers.

6. The road back to profitability for Ford will not be easy or quick, but the company is looking to the future and decided that it will be German or Japanese, but not American.

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