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Summary of the organization

The success of business operation mainly depends on promoting two major factors which include effectiveness and efficiency. When an organization is involved in manufacturing, retailing, providing services to consumers, the most essential factor that determines the success is internal organization and it's alignment which external environment. This refers to effectiveness in managerial activities, motivating employees, and achieving competitive advantage in market (Summerby-Murray, 2017). The objective of this report is to undertake case analysis of Ford Motors Canada, thereby identifying the management practices, leadership style and strategy framework that helps the company to retain its market image and gain competitive advantage.

Ford motor of Canada limited was founded since 1904, with the sole purpose of manufacturing and selling Ford automotive. The headquarter is located in Oakville, Ontario province and its current CEO is Mark Buzzell. Within Canada, the company have four major location with more than 6600 employees, and is involved in manufacturing of engine, super duty truck, and stripped chassis, as well as assembly of varieties of models available in present market globally (Fetzer, 2017).

Customer base

Customary value for the company exits in their objective to retain loyal customers and gain attention of market towards their hybrid product. In order to retain the market positioning, company is aiming towards gain of cost leadership. Further, they also seeks investment in R&D sector such that the disruptive technologies can be integrated in hybrid vehicles, to meet customer requirements as well as to achieve relevant positioning in market; by using technological leadership in competitive market (Hackett, 2016).

Mission and Core values

The management and organization at Ford motor work with mission of one ford, that consists of one team, working together as global enterprise and lean for automotive leadership; one plan to accelerate the development of new products and improve the balance sheet; and one goal for delivering profitable growth for all (O’Shannassy, 2017). The core value of organization lies in elements such as people, product, profit, and organizational culture which are discussed in this section.

Vision

The adopted mission of the company is to offer optimum return to their employees as well as the customers. Considering these stakeholders, which are the input and outcomes of company, fulfilling their requirement, constitutes the vision of the company. For example, legal issues implement the policy measures of Health and Safety Act 1974, for the safety measures of employees at their units. The corporate social responsibility and social vision are depicted with actions related to brining vehicle effectiveness for automotive usefulness in community life, the social corporate responsibilities, and action for carbon footprint to reduce pollution. However, according to Kaplan &Montiel (2017), Ford Motors always adopted the anticipatory approach in which they manages their policies and practices according to the suitability of community well-being and environment; and not adopting the reactive approach to respond for consumer demands, changing economic and technological requirement, and actions of competitors.

Corporate level strategies

The corporate level strategy aims at achieving the competitive success by fulfilling the requirements of customer and retaining their loyalty by returning their automotive value in exchange to their investments. In order to fulfil these strategies, Ford Motors Canada, provide opportunities to their employees such that innovation can remain highlighted in their products. This include various functionalities such as (i) HR management for selection and recruitment, (ii) motivating employees, (iii) offering opportunities for growth and development, (iv) analyzing market, and (v) developing strategic framework for competitive advantage. 

Examples to support these managerial functions can be found with respect to good market image for being largest automotive manufacturer since 2006, having strong and globally position brand as highlighted by Fortune 500, effectiveness in business operation which results in 1285% increase in net cash since 2000 (Zhao &Huchzermeier, 2018). In addition to this, Ford Motors is also known for their R&D activities that helps in implementing disruptive technologies according to the customer requirement into their product line.

Business level strategies

Business level strategy aligns with their managerial skills which are known to be the core competency of the company and helps in regulating the business environment. Typically, this include technical skills which helps the manager to retain ability as well as knowledge regarding various techniques for achieving the objectives. These include, but not limited to, (i) operating machine, (ii) software, and (iii) production tool, (iv) integration of electronics with automobile, (v) design, (vi) marketing, and (vii) market forecast. Human interpersonal skill is another business level strategy that helps the company to integrate their employees and work for a common objective (O’Shannassy, 2017). Similarly, conceptual skills in terms of abstract thinking and formulating ideas, diagnosing the problem, and finding creative solution helps respective departments to overcome the concerning challenges and retain the competitive advantage in market.

Important remarks in thesestrategic frameworks include (i) planning that sets guidelines for effective resource management including labor money and time, (ii) effective communication skills, (iv) strong and quick decision-making skills, (v) smart delegation practices, and (vi) problem-solving skills with respect to market situation (Kaplan &Montiel, 2017). 

Of note, these strategies make the company in effective organizational management. For example in Canada the employment turnover is 4% since 2017 (Yates &Lewchuk, 2017). Similarly, the effectiveness of managerial skills for motivating employees’ results into boosting the production of company, which maintains a constant figure call production of about 1000 hybrid vehicle units per year since 2010.

S.W.O.T analysis

SWOT analysis is mainly based on evaluation criteria which are also referred to as Strength, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threat. Considering the brief of strength, Brand image comes on top strength as Ford Motors is considered as a reliable brand and most popular brand among American population. Other strength include Innovation where Ford has recently maximized its expenditure in R&D department to 8 billion for producing electrical vehicles and autonomous driving (O’Shannassy, 2017). Lastly, Strong product portfolio is the core strength, which includes trucks, trucks, SUVs, cars, Lincoln luxury vehicles and Ford Credit (Ford’s credit company). 

However, for weakness analysis, Product recalls is a major problem, since in 2018, due to gear shift problem Ford had to call back 550000 vehicles. Frequent product recall could be a taint for company image. In 2019, the company have recalled 350000 vehicles (>5000 in Canada), due to gear shift in Fusion and Escape models (Erickson et al., 2017). Likewise, weak position in emerging markets is another weakness, for example in emerging market like India, Ford had a total sales of only 100k units in 2018. On the opportunities side, digital marketing technology can help for better marketing and engage both suppliers and customers. Artificial Intelligence is another scope, as Ford plans to launch autonomous vehicles for several commercial purposes like package delivery (Butler & Martin, 2017). Lastly, emerging market is another aspect, as penetration into Asia-pacific, Africa, and Middle East is a unique opportunity for the company to expand its capability. 

Considering the threat to the company, factors like competition, which include key competitors like Renault-Nissan, Toyota, Fiat, Honda, and Volkswagen also holds a strong customer base, creating a threat to Ford. Increased labor and raw material cost resulting in rising cost of skilled labor and good quality materials creates pressure on profit margin of Ford in another threat. Also, the regulatory policies including the legal and regulatory issue can prove costly for Ford. It is necessary to be alert of legal policies related to product quality, environmental and labour safety.

Strengths (internal)

Apart from the discussed strength, the internal values lies mainly with the leadership style implemented within the organization.  Leadership is considered as one of the core competency for Ford Motors, which aims to return the experienced employees within organization, motivate their employees to bring innovation, and develop quick decision making skills among managers to convert the market fluctuation into favorable results. Under Bill Ford's leadership at Ford Motors Canada, strengthen internal core by (i) manage critical components related to organizational behavior and (ii) building motivation for the workforce. They have implemented transformational leadership style to build public relationships as well as promote branding (Hackett, 2016). The primary form work practice democratic style, which is also known as participative working attitude. This refers to the procedure where all the team members take active participation in the decision-making process. Note that the internal strength of the company aims to create positive change and valuable perspectives. Furthermore, their strength also lies in generating loyal customers as well as to create potential among the employees, to market value.

Weaknesses (internal)

Increased concern towards compliments such as fuel prices, road condition, and traffic rules also impact the corporate strategy of the company. As mentioned in the above section, recalling of product is one of the major concern. Other form include, retention of experienced employees, reducing the cost of automotive, and upgradation of the equipment to embed the disruptive technology constitutes as weakness, because they require investment. Another weakness is linked with limitation of entering into developing market especially in Africa, India, Mexico, and China and facilitating with their improved Automotives. Thus, their limitation also fails them to comply with standards such as reduced emission of volatile organic compounds to environment, offer safe driving software in vehicle to the customer, and reducing the selling price in these location due to lower market size and import requirement for vehicles from Canada and US(Bailoet al., 2018). 

Opportunities (external)

The external opportunities which are of significantly importance to Ford Motors include control over the internal rivalry, managing the supplier power, and predicting the entry and exit strategies for market of Canada and US. For example since 2015 the company begin transitioning its manufacturing strength from SUVs and trucks to hybrid cars. The least strategic significant elements include buyer power and substitutes. With buyer power it includes dealership negotiation, concession in selling price, and cost for dealership in limited geographical regions. the financial profitability and growth of Ford Motors indicate that this strategy planning helps in achieving in net income gain of $2.41 per share for the financial year 2015 (O’Shannassy, 2017).

Threats (external)

One of the major threat to the company is the rivalry automobile manufacturers, including Renault, Toyota, and Mercedes. Since, in developed countries including Canada, people are more aligned towards social status and are willing to products which are popular in market (Venkatarman et al., 2018). Hence, failing to retain the competitive positioning can lead to reduced profit margin as it can affects the sales. Likewise, increasing rate for raw materials, fuel price, and labour charge is another external concern for the company. 

Conclusion

In summary, the present report illustrates research on managerial, leadership, and strategy framework of Ford Motors Canada. The research analysis shows how the company manages effective leadership for motivation of workforce, bringing implementation in hybrid vehicle design, and gain net profitability based on the strategy planning. Future strategies include penetration into is he a Pacific, Africa, and Middle East market that can expand the capabilities of Ford motors. Furthermore it is also realized that the company needs to continue the introduction of disruptive technologies into hybrid vehicles to retain its competitive advantage.