Organizational Structures: Ford Motor Company

Another organizational function that influences the structure of this enterprise is its marketing approach. First, it should be pointed out that Ford is a customer-driven organization, which means they try to adjust their products to the needs of their clients. This is one of the reasons why Ford integrates the customers into the production process. This means that their feedbacks and recommendations are taken into account during the stages of design and production (Ford Motor Company, 2009). In addition to that, they try to simplify the organizational hierarchy. In other words, the customer does not have to pass through cumbersome bureaucratic procedures. This helps to ensure a higher degree of their satisfaction and gain a competitive advantage over other car manufacturers operating in the US and other countries.

Finally, we should not overlook such factors as the finance of this enterprise. Overall, Ford is reluctant to deal with outside firms. Therefore, it has a separate division Ford Motor Credit which is responsible for giving loans to people and issuing commercial papers. It can be observed that this firm is not willing to collaborate with other banks. For this purpose, the company has created its division which practically fulfills the functions of the bank. This is another example of Total Quality Management.

Therefore, we can conclude that the development of such a firm as Ford Motor Company is shaped by different internal and external forces. As it has been mentioned earlier, the firm has a matrix structure due to the peculiarities of its human resource and operation standards. Its management gives preference to matrix structure to integrate the knowledge and skills of various employees. Secondly, the firm adopts the TQM approach to its production standards. Hence, they are practically independent of outside suppliers. Overall, their strategies yield results as Ford is now one of the largest cars manufactures in the world.

Reference

Bateman T. S. & Snell S. A.(2008). Management: Leading and Collaborating in the Competitive World. New York:McGraw-Hill Higher Education.

Ford Motor Company.(2009). Official Website.

Kanji. G. K (1995). Total quality management: proceedings of the first world congress. New York Springer.

Needle D.(2004) Business in context: an introduction to business and its environment. New York: Cengage Learning EMEA.