I decided to collect the accumulated information in one article in order to somehow structure the knowledge. I hope you find it useful and interesting.
Start
The history of the famous Ford brand begins in the garage of Henry Ford on Bagley Street (Detroit, Michigan), who in the 1890s began to assemble the first "self-propelled carriages" there with his own hands. At the same time, he worked for the Edison Illuminating Company, and spent all the remaining free time in the garage.
Naturally, those around him looked at him like a geek, and no one seriously believed in the possibility of movement without the use of biological forces. Soon, Henry Ford was already driving down the street in his cart, but something was constantly breaking, it had to be redone and tested again. Despite the fact that in the end he still managed to drive from the intended point A to point B and return, still no one took him seriously.
Awareness of the prospects and value of the automotive industry was clearly shown by the competition - racing in those days was something between a sport and a circus show. In 1902, Henry challenged and overtook the American champion Alexander Winton in his own car.
In 1903, the experiment was repeated by the already hired driver - Oldfield, advertising the Ford racing model "999". The victory brought some fame to Ford, and most importantly, it helped to win the hearts and wallets of future companions.
From The freeman January 1998:
Anyone strolling by 58 Bagley Street in Detroit early in the morning of June 4, 1896, would have seen a strange sight: Henry Ford, ax in hand, was smashing open the brick wall of his rented garage. He had just started his first gas-powered car, and it was too big to fit through the door.
“Anyone who walked past 58 Bagley Street in Detroit early in the morning of June 4, 1896 saw a strange scene: Henry Ford, sledgehammer in hand, smashing the brickwork of the garage he rented. He had just started work on his first car, but it was too big and wouldn't fit through the door. "
It should be noted that Ford was far from the only researcher who tried to assemble the car. Around the same time, in different parts of Europe and America, similar thoughts occurred to several inventors and their projects did not stand still either. The main difference between all of them from Ford was the economic concept - the car was positioned by them as an expensive toy for the rich. Therefore, each car they created was individual.
Henry Ford had a very different idea: the car is a practical means of transportation, designed for the daily needs of ordinary people. That is why his policy was to constantly reduce the price of cars and increase the number of cars produced. Some investors did not appreciate this approach, recognizing it as unpromising, and sold their shares to Henry Ford, which was only to his advantage. He soon received a controlling stake in his company (at first he owned 25.5%) and was empowered to set his own rules, the first of which was the decline in car prices.
First cars
So, for example, the first batch of serial "Model A" had a price of $ 600-750 (depending on options) - at that time the money was very decent (for comparison, the minimum wage for a worker at a Ford plant was $ 4 per week). But later, in three years of release, the price dropped to $ 240, and at the same time the minimum wage for a worker rose to $ 7.
During the period, 1,750 copies were produced. The car was equipped with a two-cylinder boxer engine, with a volume of 101.788 inches (~ 250 cm3), which produced 8 l / s. The gearbox is planetary, two gears forward and one back, the drive was carried out using a chain drive, which was later abandoned. The car had two body options: 2 and 4 seater. The two-seat design weighed 562 kg and developed up to 45 km / h.
I must say, search engines cite a lot of photos of this model, but basically they are all restored, from someone's collections, and for the most part, they are not reliable. In particular, Wikipedia has a pretty red car as the main picture - which is absolutely not true, since until 1917 Ford produced exclusively black cars. As they later wrote in their autobiography : "Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black" - "Any customer can have a car in any color they want, provided that color is black." In general, there was no question of comfort at that time: on the one hand, a trip by car was already considered a blessing and it was a sin to complain, and on the other, Ford's pricing policy, aimed at constantly lowering prices and expanding markets and sales volumes, did not pay attention to such " little things ".
Development
Release of a new ford models The Model T, which brought the company worldwide fame, required an expansion of production. Henry Ford, who did not have an economic education, gained sufficient experience in practice and in 1910 built a completely new plant in Highland Park to produce a new model. The plant had an area of \u200b\u200b60 acres (~ 25 hectares), it embodied all the most modern solutions at that time, as well as innovations invented by Ford himself. Of course, this is a conveyor belt and tilted toilets :)
Highland Park Factory Promotional Short (silent film)
You can walk around those places on Google maps, but don't expect anything special - the places are almost abandoned. (For fans, the abandoned Packard Automobile Factory, as well as the Fisher Body 21, also abandoned)
Ford T had an amazing commercial success, because it was in no way inferior to its competitors, but due to assembly line assembly it cost an order of magnitude cheaper. A standard 4-seater Ford T in 1909 cost $ 850 (the equivalent of $ 20,513 now), while competing cars cost about $ 2,500 (equivalent to $ 60,033 today); in 1913, the price dropped to $ 550 (the equivalent of $ 12,067 now), and $ 440 in 1915 (the equivalent of $ 9,431 today). By 1914, Henry had produced his 10 millionth car, 10 percent of all cars in the world were Ford T. And 15 million Ford T.
Specifications Ford Model T:
Engine: petrol, 4-cylinder, 2896 cm3, developed 22.5 hp at 1800 rpm.
Transmission: planetary, two-stage.
Body: length 3350 mm, width 1650 mm, ground clearance 250 mm, weight: 880 kg.
Max. speed: 70 km / h.
Advertising Ford Model T
Teshka was cheap in price, but not in performance. Henry added another important ingredient to the thoughtful design to the smallest detail - a high, or rather the highest, highest possible level of quality at that time. And this applied not only to the assembly process itself - at his enterprise this was implied by itself. Another thing is that the representatives of the suppliers of components, who worked with Ford, were hysterical from the super-strict requirements for the quality of parts, assemblies and mechanisms intended for the Model T. Tolerances for some positions reached 4 mm - and this, I recall, at the beginning of 20 century! On the other hand, the suppliers who worked for Ford received as much time as they demanded to develop and fulfill the order, and they were paid for their services at the highest level.
A component of success and a guarantor of high sales was the first established dealer network: in 1913-1914 Ford had 7 thousand of these dealers who not only sold, but also repaired Model T. By 1914, the number of models "T" cars sold reached 250 thousand, which was about 50% of the total automotive market USA of those years. By 1927, when the Model T was discontinued, the number of cars sold in this series reached 15 million. Throughout the history of the world automotive industry more were sold only the famous "Zhukov" of the German corporation "Volkswagen".
Related production
Henry Ford's businesses weren't just about making cars. In an effort to control the entire process, Ford launched a production line from mining to production of interior fabrics. Thus, possible delays from unscrupulous suppliers were avoided.Social politics
Ford knew very well that stability and prosperity in a work environment meant stability and prosperity for a corporation. In January 1914, he announced an increase in the minimum daily wage to five dollars, which shocked competitors. For example, at General Motors, workers received $ 2.5 per day. But here it was not without pitfalls: in fact, this $ 5 consisted of two equal parts - a salary and a "profit share". Moreover, the "share" was received only by those workers who met special "standards of efficiency" and whose candidacies were approved by the corporation's social department.At first, the social department dealt with dispute resolution, monitored the atmosphere in the enterprise, as well as in the families of employees. Employees in this department helped the workers with family bookkeeping. However, later, with the onset of the crisis, the department became a protective screen for the company from former employees. This very social department monitored everything that happened at the enterprise and shamelessly interfered in the personal life of workers and employees. Suffice it to say that his staff included hundreds of informants. In response to accusations of infringement of the rights of citizens, Henry Ford said that these "little inconveniences" are the payment for the high income of workers. There really was no sign of democracy, there was only freedom of choice: to submit or be fired from a good job.
With the best of intentions, he went down in history as one of the most implacable union fighters. And this position of Henry is quite easy to understand and share. He literally created a system from scratch in which workers and managers had the opportunity to earn good money if they were completely devoted to their work. Ford was convinced that a good employee, as well as a sensible manager, did not need a union advocate at all. Unsurprisingly, Henry found himself at the forefront of the anti-union movement in the 1930s.
The automobile giant fought a new scourge with very specific methods. Henry hired Navy and boxer Harry Bennett as the chief of Homeland Security. The two-meter brute, whom Ford once rescued from prison, was pathologically loyal to the boss and did not hesitate to carry out all his orders, including orders of a very dubious nature. It is not surprising that there were no problems with labor discipline at the Blue Oval factories, and those that did arise were suppressed in the most decisive way. As they say, a fist and a kind word convince better than just a kind word. Moreover, attempts by union leaders to get Ford to sign a collective bargaining agreement, which by the mid-1930s had been approved by all other American automakers, including General Motors and Chrysler, also came to nothing.
Be that as it may, but for the next ten years, getting to one of the Ford factories became the dream of many Americans. Waiting for a place, I had to stand for months (that is, be listed) in a queue. For immigrants, being at the assembly line meant the end of ordeal and the embodiment of hopes for a cloudless future. Ford treated the workers in a fatherly way: he opened educational programs for them, created a system of medical care, started a tradition of collective picnics and dinners. He established a foundation in his name, whose assets are now estimated at $ 6.6 billion.
The Great Depression
From 1929 to 1939, the United States was in a state of severe economic crisis. This took a heavy toll on Ford's enterprise, which had to lay off tens of thousands of employees. Wages were cut in half, an order was issued banning all communication between workers at the assembly line, and a wave of layoffs of older workers began.Production was reduced, but the reason for this was not a lack of means of production, but a lack of demand. As before, Henry Ford adhered to a policy of low prices, and in the end, it paid off.
However, not entirely righteous ways were used to fight the crisis: for example, Ford literally forced dealers to buy cars, threatening to break the contract.
Mass layoffs of workers led to demonstrations and unrest, the factories had to be surrounded by armed guards. People are so accustomed to the fact that Ford factories provide them with jobs and social benefits that they were not ready to lose it overnight. Some politicians and competitors took advantage of this mood of the masses to turn the people against the company.
As a result, at the end of the crisis, Ford was only the second-largest auto sales company in the United States. Chevrolet dealt a major blow to Ford, taking the lead in sales in 1927 and 1928. This was possible thanks to the powerful six-cylinder engines, which at that time Ford could not oppose anything.
Way out of the crisis
But Ford would not be himself if he could not fix this situation. So, in addition to the first conveyor, the first idea of \u200b\u200ba mass affordable car, his idea was a concept that predetermined the future of the automotive industry in America for many years ahead, and at that time brought its creator not just success, but a triumph against the background of competitors. We are talking about installing on their cars "flathead" V8 - V-shaped eight "with flat heads".
The fact is that, of course, there were models available on the market with V8, V12, and even V16. But all of them were offered exclusively for luxury cars that are not available to the mass consumer. With the introduction of the new affordable V8, Ford opened the way and perspective to a whole direction, giving life and giving the world the idea of \u200b\u200bsimple, affordable and economical V8.
On commercial vehicles The eight began to be installed in late 1932, and most early pickups with the original V8 are 1933. The idea of \u200b\u200ban affordable eight was quickly gaining momentum, and by 1934 more than 1,000,000 of them had been produced. In 1935, the four-cylinder engine, which was rapidly losing its position, was no longer installed on pickups, and from 1937 an economical version was released to replace it - a 60-horsepower V8 with a volume of 136ci (2.2 liters). The motor produced 127 N * m with a compression ratio of 6.6: 1. Interestingly, this motor was more widespread in Europe than America, since in the home market, buyers preferred more powerful motors... In the post-war years, the 136ci was often used in subcompact racing in the USA, the most common names for this motor are the "60 horse" flathead, or V8-60.
World War II
Henry was a famous pacifist. In the midst of World War I, Ford paid for the freight of a huge ocean liner. On board he, with a group of diplomats and cultural figures, went to Europe in order to try to convince the warring parties to lay down their arms. Needless to say that the expedition was a failure, and after that, only the lazy did not laugh at Henry's naivety after that ?! But no matter how primitive his act seemed, Ford's thoughts were pure and noble.Based on the same pacifist views, Henry Ford did not want to take any part in the war for a long time. Although, perhaps, he did not want to openly support any of the parties, since he partly shared fascist beliefs.
And yet the huge amount of money that could be drawn from this war influenced him as an entrepreneur. Since 1940, the Ford plant, located in Poissy in the German-occupied French territory, began to produce aircraft engines, trucks and cars that entered service with the Wehrmacht. During interrogation in 1946, Nazi activist Karl Krauch, who during the war was in charge of a subsidiary of one of Ford's enterprises in Germany, said that due to the fact that Ford cooperated with the Nazi regime, "his enterprises were not confiscated."
When the Allies landed in Normandy on June 6, 1944, soldiers were surprised to find the familiar Ford markings on some of the vehicles and armored personnel carriers abandoned by the Germans during their retreat. The history of the relationship between major American industrialists and Hitlerite Germany is the subject of much research. It is quite logical that in the 1920s the largest US companies opened their factories in Europe. However, these enterprises survived in Germany in the 30s and 40s. And "Ford-Werke" - Ford's plant in Cologne was one of the largest. Moreover, in the second half of the 30s, Ford-Werke received documents confirming that the company was German and could act as a contractor for government contracts. It is clear that the lion's share of these contracts came from the military. And the factories "Ford-Werke" produced wheels for German cars, wings for aircraft, tracks for tanks. Did Henry Ford know about this? He probably knew. Was he aware that prisoners of war and prisoners of concentration camps were involved in work at the factories of his company? It is likely that he was informed about this, since the savings in wages were significant. Did Ford understand what a concentration camp was? Obviously not really. When people in the USA learned the truth about Buchenwald, they refused to believe it. And Henry Ford did not want to believe that the tiny dot on the map, from where the workers were supplied for the Ford Werke, was a symbol of hell.
But Ford is just an entrepreneur, and therefore his products were supplied to both sides. Also, a lot of equipment was sent to the Allied countries under the Lend-Lease agreement.
to produce cars of our own production. In total, over the period from 1929 to 1936 between Soviet organizations and Ford, contracts were signed for an amount exceeding $ 40 million.
End of an era
Having ensured one hundred percent success and prosperity of his company, eighty-year-old Ford handed over the reins of government to his grandson Henry Ford II in 1945 and retired. And in 1947 the great entrepreneur was gone.
ANTI-CRISIS MANAGEMENT IN THE SECTIONHR-MANAGEMENT BY THE EXAMPLE OF THE COMPANY FORD
Bogunets Ekaterina Alekseevna
4th year student of the specialty "Personnel Management" of the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI), Russian Federation, Moscow
Bocharov Sergey Alexandrovich
scientific adviser, associate professor of the department. OMiP, RF, Moscow
In the course of its functioning, a company can be both in stable development and deviate from it. Any organization faces a crisis in its activities, but the feature of the crisis is individual for each enterprise - this is due to an individual approach to decision-making. In other words, organizations that are identical in structure and size build strategic crisis management in different ways.
External factors determine the corresponding situation in the market, thereby setting the parameters of competition and determining the status and position of the company, its economic efficiency. In the post-industrial society, trade marks and brands began to play a significant role, one of the structural elements of which is the HR brand. Business reputation takes the first place today, its role in the capitalization of companies is constantly increasing. That is why the reputational crisis is one of the most painful for the company. It should also be noted that one of the conditions for the development of the crisis is the human factor - low qualifications of the management team can lead to negative consequences of the decisions made, for example.
It should not be denied that the personnel service of the enterprise is assigned an important role in anti-crisis management. In other words, the company needs integrated management, in which the personnel service as a structural unit of a unified system cannot be isolated from the general goals set. This direction of management cannot but develop, since many tools can become a "habit" and not be perceived by personnel. For example, a benefit system that remains unchanged over a long period generates a downward trend in the level of motivation and incentives.
From the point of view of HR management, according to the author, a crisis is a phenomenon aimed at breaking the old and stimulating an innovative approach to managing an organization.
Let's consider the classification of crises in the context of HR management:
· in the structure of relations in the socio-economic system, the nature of the crisis it is social - this is one of those thresholds, the balance at which the HR department of the company can change (dismissal, rotation of personnel, revision of personnel qualifications, etc.). The HR department is to some extent a link between the conflicting parties (for example, on the issue of promotion, the staffing table can be adjusted);
· in scope, scope this is a sectoral crisis of the “old” personnel policy (the tools used must not only be used, but also developed, combined, otherwise they will lose their value and uniqueness), the need to form a new HR brand, etc.
· in the nature of the crisis it is partial - covering a certain area. For example, there is a sharp shortage of highly qualified specialists in the labor market (from the point of view of forecasting, the emergence of a crisis situation can be both unexpected (subjective managerial error against a background of stress) and predictable).
The first classification can be characterized by the following example: the management of a company, following the conditions of competition and global trends, very often imposes on its employees the use of certain programs that a person does not like to use. Again, the level of education of fairly experienced employees does not always make it easy to master such innovations, which again increases employee dissatisfaction and changes the situation in the team. You can also add private access to social networks here. For some structures, such a measure is justified, but there are institutions in which this type of communication is very effective and convenient than using the same e-mail. These technologies were discussed at the Russian HR Week 2014, but this is a separate area for thought.
The initial situation is that people get used to using some technical means... Further, from the complexity of implementation, that is, from the difficulty of mastering innovations by employees, employees begin to hate their work and the psychological, emotional state changes to breakdowns and conflicts. Moreover, often the reasons for conflicts are banal pride that others did not succeed, unlike you. HR contains a number of tools that can help prevent this feature of the crisis - for example, training, mentoring, etc.
I would like to give an example (Rusklimat company), which faced the asymmetry of information on the labor market. The job description was published quite attractively, but the result was the opposite. Of course, a special relationship based on subordination is established between the bosses and ordinary employees, but abuse of power leads to a decrease in the efficiency of employees' work, and, accordingly, significantly changes organizational behavior in the company (word of mouth has not yet been canceled).
The result, after clarifying the real situation, is negative feedback and scaring away candidates. I would like to note that a psychological crisis is a very important crisis threshold in an organization. The communication barrier, as one example, is the main root cause of this phenomenon - in my opinion, the most common example is the poor-quality organization of internal communication between the links of the company (inaccessibility of top management).
Another crisis in the company in question was the fact that, despite the newly created positive image of the company's status (the company is large, for example, it develops in the market and is heard), it is not possible to attract employees, because there is information that the head of the company was tried. Then the situation in the company was not the best, but this negative opinion still cannot be corrected.
If we consider the stages of the course of the crisis, then we can also trace the need for effective functioning of HR management:
1. It is believed that one of the symptoms of the crisis are failures in the management system and the obsolescence of technologies for the implementation of activities. But the beginning of a crisis line with small fluctuations in conventional indicators is almost impossible to predict - fluctuations in economic systems are a natural process. Therefore, the question of continuous monitoring and development arises. The situation on the labor market, like the entire economy, is in a dynamic state, therefore it is very important to maintain a stable reputation of the company's personnel;
2. At this stage, typical characteristics are considered to be an increase in staff turnover and a violation of a positive socio-psychological climate. On the one hand, the way out of the crisis is effective personnel management, because transparency of what is happening can transfer the burden of anti-crisis management to each employee through the existing reliable corporate culture and a positive HR brand;
3. This stage is characterized by mass layoffs, shorter working hours, reduced payments to staff, etc. - all these decisions are within the competence of the HR service.
Anti-crisis management is the activity of making managerial decisions and implementing measures to diagnose, prevent, neutralize and overcome crisis phenomena and their causes at all levels of the economy, to prevent them in the future.
There is no standard set of approaches for such a policy (a clear example of this is the variety of policies for building a corporate culture). The task of strategic planning in HR is not only to analyze the activities of the enterprise, to select qualified personnel, but also to monitor the labor market. Unemployment rates can grow for various reasons, as well as have a huge impact on the existence of the enterprise (the lack of highly qualified personnel will not allow the company to enter a worthy competitive position, and the cost of training can bankrupt it).
Let's consider a classic example of the crisis period - 2008. Many companies faced financial ruin in the first place, which led to a crisis in the labor market. The troika did not escape this fate car manufacturers: GM, Chrysler and Ford. Consider the latter company.
In 2008, the company faced the following economic situation:
Picture 1. SWOT -analysis for the company Ford for 2008
We will add personnel risks to the above SWOT analysis as a consequence:
· Business restructuring will affect the structure of the workforce, which can lead to massive layoffs and undermine the credibility of the company as an employer, as well as affect the corporate culture (word of mouth, for example);
· The rise in fuel prices and the refusal of public investments will affect the structure of expenses, and, accordingly, the payroll;
· Conflict between management and trade unions can affect the company's reputation as an employer and lead to strikes, paralyze the production process and undermine the principles of corporate culture.
I would like to note that the company on the eve of the global crisis faced a number of personnel problems - a strike of workers at the plant demanding a 30% increase in wages, although the demands of the trade union were more moderate (14-20%). As a result, the management decided to increase wages by 15%, but the company lost the opportunity to actively finance the expanded social package. But the conflict with the trade unions was resolved.
In 2008, after refusing government investment, the company came close to the risk of massive layoffs of 12,000 employees, as well as serious market losses. According to the analysis, these risks were analyzed earlier, so the company took a number of measures:
· Resolved conflicts with trade unions - in relation to the risk event, Ford used pre-event measures, since already in the SWOT analysis, many of the risks were predictable;
· Refusal to pay bonuses, reduction of management remuneration, refusal of part of shareholders' dividends - all these measures are taken after taking the risk;
· Early retirement.
According to the author, it is possible to offer another outplacement, which is so popular for international companies, to develop a system of non-material motivation - in the future, the children of employees can be trained in the company with further employment. Such a measure meets one of the urgent needs of workers - to educate their children and promote their successful employment.
Ford saw the prospect of skyrocketing car sales in russian marketTherefore, we will consider the company's personnel policy regarding Russian factories, which significantly influenced the policy in the home market.
Having studied the company's policy in Russia, we can conclude that Ford has competently built its relations with government agencies, focusing on the urgent problems of the Russian labor market:
· To implement the principle of transparency (especially in times of crisis), the company began to publish a corporate magazine "Ford", the readers of which had the opportunity to receive first-hand information about the company, its plans, new models, etc .;
Creation and maintenance of equal business conditions for all markets where the company operates: "Companies invest, create jobs (only about 3,000 people work at the Ford plant in Vsevolozhsk, not counting indirect jobs such as dealerships and service centers, etc.), regularly pay taxes to various budgets";
Reduction of working hours, partial suspension of the conveyor: "In accordance with the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, Ford will pay 2/3 of the wages to employees who will be in forced downtime."
I would like to draw your attention to the fact that a massive layoff would not have saved the company. Of course, this is a reduction in payroll expenses, but a negative reputation as an employer in the labor market. The author considers the exit of the company the best economic move - expanding the dealer network in Russia, where sales exceeded expectations (“In 2008, Ford opened 13 new dealerships. In addition, 14 more dealers completed the construction of new dealerships or completed the reconstruction of existing ones. sub-dealers and branches of existing dealers. The dealer network of Ford in Russia has 143 points of sale and service in 91 cities of Russia. During 2008, the Ford Technical Center conducted 156 trainings for 3,131 employees of Ford dealerships. 42 employees of dealerships received the highest degree of Master qualification Technician "). The company was refused by the US government, but the company sold the same funds from dealers throughout Russia (because the "focus" model was considered the world leader in sales) and saved its staff in the home market. I would like to add that the company presented the following requirements to dealers (the emphasis is on the formation of a corporate culture): “The dealer needs serious investments in the construction of corporate centers decorated in the Ford corporate style, which have a showroom, a spare parts warehouse and a service zone, and serious attention is paid to training, development of sales personnel and service Ford cars. "
The prices for customs also increased, from which the company decided to switch to local production of auto parts and assembly, thereby supporting local manufacturers (but before this period the load was on american factorieswhere jobs remained relevant according to the growing demand). The company managed to match costs and redistribute the workload, according to which it managed to retain the lion's share of staff.
Table 1.
The company's revenue in the Russian market in 2008
|
model |
sales |
price |
proceeds |
|
Explorer |
|||
|
Total |
Let's calculate some taxes and get the company's profit:
10% to the dealer 7586187700 rubles;
· Income tax 13655137860 rubles;
VAT - 10414935655.93 rubles;
· Payroll expenses - 90,000,000 rubles with an average earnings of 30,000 rubles and a staff of 3,000 people;
· Insurance premiums - RUB 27,000,000.
As a result, the company's profit will be 44088615784 rubles. If, given the average hourly wage in the United States ($ 16.14), we calculate the monthly cost per worker, then we get about $ 3776.76. With a rate of 35 rubles per dollar, earnings in rubles are 132186.6 rubles. Such a profit would allow for the recruitment of approximately 333,533 people in the home market. According to the author, this profit has recouped the company's personnel costs in the home market and reduced personnel costs at Ford dealerships.
At the end of 2008, the company nevertheless carried out some staff reductions, but was able to stabilize its position at home by cutting production, launching 4 new models, also using reduced working hours and maintaining its reputation as a responsible employer. By expanding the dealer network, the company has reduced personnel costs in Russia.
Summing up, it should be noted that in Ford's policy, one of the key roles was played by the HR department, which proposed the appropriate anti-crisis management methods, formed the corporate culture and the consciousness of personnel in the need for adherence to the company's principles, developed a system for reducing labor costs and contributed to the expansion of jobs in the Russian plant of the company, which once again confirms the role of the HR department in anti-crisis management.
In a market economy, there is always the possibility of a crisis (since this is part of the life cycle of an organization), therefore, any management to a certain extent should be anti-crisis, or becomes so as the organization enters a period of crisis development. The success of such a policy lies in the fact that the company should form its strategy not only at the accounting level, but also contact the HR department, which is able to form the responsibility of personnel and avoid mass negativity.
List of references:
1.Vesnin V.R., Danchenok L.A., Yurieva T.V. Crisis management: modern strategies and technologies // 2012.
2.Komarov A., Komarov E. Crisis and anti-crisis managers // Project management. 1999. No. 2.
3. [Electronic resource] - Access mode. - URL: www.ford.ru - official site of FORD company.
4. [Electronic resource] - Access mode. - URL: http://www.rbcdaily.ru - the official website of the RBC newspaper.
The scale of trouble. Of course, the scale of the economic crisis that hit the Ford concern is staggering. The $ 12.7 billion in losses last year was an all-time high for a company with over a century of history. The size of the losses exceeded even the most pessimistic forecasts of stock analysts. To save costs, Ford is forced to close factories and lay off tens of thousands of workers. But so far, such measures instead of savings lead to additional costs, since the amount of compensation paid to dismissed employees is simply enormous. The administration planned to cut about 50 thousand people. But it was unexpectedly discovered that the number of people who are ready to leave the company and retire early is sharply higher than planned. And this not only promises an increase in costs, but also threatens a moral crisis at enterprises. Developers and middle managers began to voluntarily quit, which only confirms such concerns.
Aston Martin had to be sold to receive cash. But the $ 925 million it raised is a drop in the bucket compared to the $ 23.4 billion in loans from banks. At the end of 2006, to secure loans, the concern pledged almost all of its assets in the United States and even the famous logo called the "Blue Oval". In addition to these troubles, Ford Motor Company continues to rapidly lose market share in the US. And it is known that it takes five times more effort to conquer the market (or to return it) than to keep it. But despite the current super-difficult situation, there is no doubt that the time for this at "Ford" will come. What will happen next? In a few years, the Ford concern will emerge from a severe crisis and appear before the world rejuvenated, excess weight and built strong muscles. Consumers, primarily American ones, will receive a completely new model range, consisting of quality, inexpensive, economical and otherwise modern cars. Shareholders will start receiving dividends again and will be delighted with the growth of the share price of an efficiently operating company. Tens of thousands of workers and specialists will get new interesting and highly paid jobs. And huge cash tax flows will flow to the budgets of both numerous states and the state as a whole. True, some time later, past events will feed some automotive journalists and authors writing for economic publications. And specific problem situations and ways to solve them will be described in numerous cases that will be analyzed by students of various business schools around the world for a long time. The current President and CEO of Ford Alan Mulally, having completed the necessary restructuring, will gladly retire, forever remaining in the history of world business with a well-deserved reputation as an outstanding crisis manager. It will be so. Because in an effective self-regulating market system, it simply cannot be otherwise. Even Henry Ford, the founder of the Ford Motor Company, argued that any crisis opens up new opportunities for an entrepreneur. "... Any depression in the economic market is an incentive for the manufacturer to bring more brain into his business ..." - wise Henry instructed his colleagues. And he added: “Before such a situation, sometimes anyone business man... He can either voluntarily enter his losses in the books and work further or stop all business and incur losses from inactivity. " It remains only to add: "Waiting for bankruptcy." Fortunately, the shareholders and managers of the Ford concern did not wait for the bankruptcy of the company, but began to vigorously carry out restructuring. The American system itself guarantees only the fact of reforms. But their speed, efficiency and financial results entirely depend on the person who conducts them. Ford Motor Company shareholders hired outsider Alan Mulally to carry out the restructuring, giving him both the CEO and President of the company. Why Mulally?
It is very interesting why the choice of the shareholders of Ford Motor Company, in particular the Ford family, fell on Mr. Mulally. Alan Mulally spent 37 years at Boeing before joining Ford. Mainly engaged in military and aerospace engineering. But then Alan was "lucky." Shortly before the infamous tragedy in the United States on September 11, 2001, Mulally took over the leadership of the civil aircraft program. And, as you know, already on September 12, 2001, passengers for obvious reasons stopped flying. And suddenly the airlines left without funds had no time to order new jet liners. So, in this difficult time, Alan Mulally, who was in charge of Boeing, not only prevented the development of the crisis in the company he headed, but reformed it in such a way that within a few years Boeing reached record profits. Some concern is caused by the fact that Alan Mulally is not an automotive specialist and may not quite correctly understand the values \u200b\u200bof this or that brand owned by Ford Motor Company. On the contrary, the fact of his biography inspires confidence that Alan is an engineer to the core. Even the fact that he drove a Lexus before joining Ford speaks volumes. A story that happened quite recently looks funny and instructive. At a meeting with dealers, one of the car dealership owners complained about the plight and invited Mulally to test himself in his shoes. Alan immediately agreed and a week later went to work in this salon as a simple salesman. In less than an hour, the current President & CEO of Ford Motor Company sold three cars and began negotiations with a fourth client. This little episode at least tells about an extremely strong charge for success. And, of course, an energetic leader, but one who came “from the outside,” was needed by “Ford”, since such a manager would not mind severing the established personal ties in case of such a need. In addition, a fresh and impartial view of the concern's problems was needed. After all, liners from the sky on Ford did not fall. And thank God! But this fact eloquently suggests that the current state of the Ford Motor Company business in the United States was brought about by its own management, who for a number of years ignored the accumulating problems and thus lost the market. And it is good that he had the courage to admit his own miscalculations. Most likely, the Ford concern was lucky. People like Alan Mulally do not roam the world in flocks looking for work. The huge scale of borrowing that the new boss carries out speaks not only of the severity of the situation, but also that Alan Mulally understands very well: the sooner the reforms are carried out, the better. Selling Aston Martin. Did Ford do the right thing to sell Aston Martin? The fact that the money was desperately needed is evidenced by the fact that the Ford family sold the family estate and moved to a smaller estate. But, on the other hand, Jaguar “ate” by its losses almost a third of the proceeds for Aston in the first quarter of this year alone. Of course, otherwise, the voracious predator would have eaten something else. But after selling Aston Martin, did Ford sell the banner to buy cartridges ?! For some reason I want to draw a parallel with the Italian concern Fiat. The financial position of Fiat and now is probably no better than that of Ford. And a few years ago it was even worse. But it seems that in "Fiat" and it could not occur to anyone to get rid of Ferrari. It turns out that Aston Martin did not have such a moral significance for Ford as Ferrari did for Fiat, for Italy and Italians. On the other hand, before the sale of Aston, Ford had such a great range of brands! With the exception of the Mercury, this set went so well together! And maybe it was just worth using the creative potential of the Aston Martin staff to develop new models? The British company is just now announcing the creation of its advisory center, which will offer services to third-party car manufacturers. True, it seems that this is not a very near future matter. And new models "Ford" needs, as they say in Russia, "yesterday." Main question. Update lineup companies in the USA up to its complete replacement is the main problem of the Ford concern. Yet the main challenge for any automaker is to make the right cars. It will not be superfluous to once again quote all the same Henry Ford: “The spearhead in industrial life is the line along which the product of production comes into contact with the consumer. A substandard product is a product with a blunt point. It takes a lot of extra strength to push it through. The chisel exists to cut it down, not pound it. " It seems that at the last Auto Show in New York, Ford Motor Company has not yet demonstrated models that can qualitatively change the situation. "King of the Roads" from Carroll Shelby only reminded once again that "Mustang" is forty years old. The Ford Airstream is a designer toy. The hope that the new Taurus will again save the day, as its predecessor once was able to do, is weak. And for some reason, looking at the Ford Flex, you don't start to believe that the Americans will line up for this model. But on the other hand, the same "SUVs" Ford Edge (price from 26 thousand dollars) and Lincoln MKX (price from 35 thousand dollars), which in the opinion of most Europeans have a rustic (albeit quite modern) styling, in The United States is already snapping up like hotcakes, more precisely, like hamburgers at breakfast at McDonalds. Ford realized in time that the market needed crossovers first of all. Plus these machines are well equipped. It was on the Edge and MKX that they first began to install the SYNC universal communication system developed by Microsoft. Probably, Bill Ford entered into a strategic alliance with Bill Gates' company for a reason. Ford has signed a similar strategic partnership agreement with Sony. Not a bad choice, too. And in Europe, Ford is doing great. The S-Max and Galaxy models deliver phenomenal sales growth (7 to 22 percent in various European countries). Production of the new Mondeo has just begun. And this car is simply doomed to success. Mazda sells very well all over the world. Volvo is doing its job well. Land Rover is holding on. And more recently, Alan Mulally announced that he was not going to sell Jaguar one hundred percent. This already inspires great optimism. Probably, the reforms finally got off the ground. But for full confidence a couple of new breakthrough models in the US still need to be successful. We will wait for new cars. And hope for the role of personality in history - the personality of Alan Mulally. Yuri Kladov
700 workers of the Vsevolozhsk plant of the American company Ford will be dismissed by the summer, after a two-month downtime, the plant's administration said. The country's economy is going through hard times, new car sales continue to fall, and it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure business efficiency. At first it was assumed that it would be enough to stop production for two months, but then the experts came to the conclusion that the plant could not do without dismissing 35 percent of the personnel and switching to a one-shift operation.
The trade union of the plant met the news with hostility: no one liked the fact that first a press release about the upcoming layoffs was sent out to the media, and only then the administration announced a meeting at which it turned to the workers with a "voluntary layoff program" providing for the payment of five monthly salaries to those who will agree to resign of their own free will.
The union responded with a statement saying: "The MPRA trade union views the actions of the Ford Motor Company as a cynical and unscrupulous game, contrary to the principles of social partnership. We see in this solely the desire of the capitalist to shift the consequences of the crisis onto the shoulders of ordinary workers."
The trade union leaders are confident that the administration of the enterprise has not exhausted all the possibilities to minimize the social consequences of the crisis, preserve jobs and provide workers with fair compensation for the harm caused. “We believe,” they write, “that mass layoffs are not a measure necessary for the successful running of a company's business. We will fight for every job in the enterprise and to provide volunteer employees with compensation payments of at least an annual salary. the worker must be agreed with the union. We are ready to defend our demands in all possible ways, including strikes and protests, as we did in 2007. Don't cry, get organized! "
Not all trade unionists agree with this position.
"Ford" left our regional organization a long time ago, because at this plant they always wanted to use more radical methods of fighting for their rights, - says Viktor Kalinin, chairman of the Trade Union of Machine Builders of Russia for St. Petersburg and the Leningrad Region. - And in the USA, and in England, and in Brazil, workers have learned to find a compromise with the employer. And at Ford there is a long-term, protracted conflict with the administrations, and it does not lead to anything good. Their union is making too many radical demands, and it seems to me that the workers only lose from this. "
The chairman of the Interregional Trade Union of the Workers' Association, Alexei Etmanov, does not think so, he is sure that the struggle to preserve jobs makes sense, and although he admits that the strike is a painful measure both for the workers and for the management of the plant, he does not rule out that it is have to resort:
"We will fight by all available methods. When things are going well, the owners do not call us to share profits, why do they make us pay during the crisis? If we cannot save jobs by any means, we will demand decent compensation, that is, an annual salary for people who have worked at the plant for more than 5 years, and not some two salaries in excess of the legal amount.If the state does not want an increase in unemployment in its territory, it must take care of how to avoid mass layoffs, how to stimulate the demand for cars, come up with new programs. In South America, for example, in such a situation, a zero sales tax was established, this helped to withstand competition and save jobs, nothing like this is being undertaken in Russia today. But the same problem as we have exists at all enterprises, who work with the euro-dollar mass, with European and American companies "Ford", as always, this is the first swallow, for the rest will fly to him, too, "says Alexey Etmanov.
Mass layoffs should soon be expected at other factories, says Rima Sharifullina, chairman of the Petersburg Aegis public organization, which helps people defend their labor rights. However, she doesn't think Ford workers should resort to strikes when layoffs are inevitable:
“I think that in this case the employer has the right to make reductions, so the employee, as a seller of his work force all that remains is to bargain for the best conditions. Since employees were not ready for such a rapid dismissal, they have the right to count on some kind of financial cushion, and here everything will depend on the negotiation process. The union is quite strong there, and he can insist on good conditions for those who will be cut. It will probably not work to get a two-year salary, but you can count on annual earnings, it would be a great success to achieve this. And a strike will do nothing, it will only accelerate the employer's departure from this market. "
The worst thing today is for those car factories, which need components from America and Europe, cars become more expensive from this, and people stop buying them. Economist Andrei Zaostrovtsev does not believe that in this situation the state should take any steps to help factories:
“Well, yes, the ruble has fallen, the cost of production has grown, Ford has problems with sales, overstocking. It means that it is necessary to cut production in order not to work at a loss, the actions of the administration are absolutely correct. Workers are always fighting to preserve jobs, with their From the point of view, this is correct, but from the point of view of the economy, it is wrong. And there is no need to artificially support the factories, because this is done only at our expense. Let those who can buy cars at market prices, and the market will regulate everything itself, " considers Zaostrovtsev.
Against the backdrop of the debt crisis in Europe, the Ford concern predicts annual losses of $ 1 billion. The crisis may drag on for five years, the auto company predicts. In this regard, the concern may close two plants and is revising its development strategy. The analyst does not exclude that negative trends in Europe may affect Russia as well, but on the whole he gives a favorable forecast.
One of the world's largest automakers, the American company Ford has reeled from the European debt crisis. According to the company's forecasts, its annual losses in Europe will exceed $ 1 billion. In this regard, Ford intends to take decisive steps to remedy the situation. This is reported by Bloomberg.
“Our results in Europe over the past 12 months are unacceptable, and we must address this issue,” said Ford Europe CFO Stuart Rowley at an auto conference in New York. "We are looking at our plan and will cover all aspects of our business, looking at structural costs, our product range and the brand itself."
Analysts, including Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley's bank, believe that Ford will be forced to close one or more factories in Europe. According to the financial institution, Ford now uses only about 63% of its European production capacity.
In the second quarter of this year, the automaker's net profit fell 57% year-on-year to $ 1.04 billion, while operating losses in Europe were $ 404 million.
To equalize market demand with production capacity, Ford is forced to consider closing some European factories. In particular, the possibility of curtailing production in Southampton, England and Ghent, Belgium, is being actively discussed.
“Costs alone can't get us back on track,” Rowley said. - Take a look at our business in North America. This is a good guideline. Here we are continuing to invest in our production plan. "
The ongoing economic crisis in Europe forced the company's management to take a fresh look at the future prospects. Ford lowered its full-year profit forecast in July. The company admitted that they no longer expect it to be able to reach the level of 2011, when the operating profit (before income tax and interest on borrowed funds. - Gazeta.Ru) of the company amounted to $ 8.8 billion.
Ford CFO Bob Shanks noted at the same conference that the economic crisis in Europe, which accounts for a quarter of the company's total revenues, was deeper than expected at the beginning of the year. In his opinion, the situation will remain difficult for at least five years.
The company's European sales fell 10% in the first half of 2012. Rowley said the problems in Europe, where total sales have fallen 22% since 2007, are not just cyclical downturns. The cost structure of the auto industry in Europe, which includes production capacity, is to blame for the losses to all automakers.
“We see the challenge in becoming more constructive, and we must view our future plans in this context and develop them accordingly,” Rowley said.
In North America, which the company's management calls to be equal, the company is doing really well. Operating income for the second quarter rose to $ 2.01 billion, up $ 200 million from last year.
Ford is doing well in Russia as well. In the second quarter of this year, more than 36 thousand cars were sold in the country, which corresponds to the indicators of the pre-crisis 2008.
Soon, Ford plans to start assembling four new models in Russia - Kuga, S-MAX, Galaxy and Explorer, and then sales are expected to become even more tangible.
In the meantime, debts create an additional headache for the leadership of the auto giant. At the end of 2006, Ford borrowed about $ 23.4 billion, pledging most of its main assets, including its headquarters and its own brand. Thanks to this, during the financial crisis, the company, unlike its main competitors Chrysler and General Motors, managed to stay afloat without resorting to the help of the American government and without going through bankruptcy proceedings. In May of this year, the head of Ford Alan Mulally said that the company had already paid out $ 21 billion, in the same month, having managed to regain the right to manage its own brand.
According to independent autoanalyst Ivan Bonchev, European ford problems are unlikely to affect the situation in Russia. “Unlike Europe, our car sales are showing steady growth, so all companies, including Ford, which has production facilities here, are doing well. I do not see any direct links between the European problems of the company and their prospects in Russia, ”he said.
Nevertheless, Bonchev does not exclude that negative trends in Europe may affect Russia as well..
“The Russian branch is organizationally subordinate to the European subdivision, and therefore, as a successful one, some additional burdens may be imposed on it in order to somehow redistribute profits. Another factor is Russia's accession to the WTO with a change in duties and at the same time the appearance from September recycling fees... Many believe that this can cause a rise in prices and, accordingly, slow down the market. But it seems to me that the overall situation will remain favorable, ”said the analyst.
