Publications

March 2011 (Revised April 2021)
Case

The Whiz Kids

By: Tom Nicholas and David Chen

In October 1945, Henry Ford II received a telegram in his office at the Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, Michigan written by Charles "Tex" Thornton, a U.S. Air Force colonel. The telegram presented an opportunity for Ford to deploy a system of statistical control which... View Details

Keywords: Ford Motor Company; Statistical Control; Management Systems; Accounting; Operations; Strategy; Mathematical Methods; Auto Industry; United States

January 2004 (Revised April 2004)
Case

Ford Motor Company: Quality of Earnings Growth Analysis (B)

By: David F. Hawkins and Jacob Cohen

Supplements the (A) case. View Details

Keywords: Auto Industry; Consulting Industry

February 1990 (Revised March 1992)
Teaching Note

Ford Motor Co.: Dealer Sales and Service, Teaching Note

By: Leonard A. Schlesinger

Teaching Note for (9-690-030). View Details

July 1993 (Revised June 1994)
Supplement

Peak Electronics: Vendor Relationship with the Ford Motor Co. (C)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Keywords: Electronics Industry

July 1993 (Revised June 1994)
Supplement

Peak Electronics: Vendor Relationship with the Ford Motor Co. (B)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Keywords: Electronics Industry

July 1993 (Revised June 1994)
Case

Peak Electronics: Vendor Relationship with the Ford Motor Co. (A)

By: V. Kasturi Rangan

Keywords: Partners and Partnerships; Relationships; Electronics Industry; Auto Industry

July 1997
Case

Ford Motor Company: Maximizing the Business Value of Web Technologies

One of the largest companies in the world decides to aggressively deploy Web technology and must manage and support the new technology. A discussion of infrastructure renewal, application development, extranets, and content management is included. View Details

Keywords: Organizational Change and Adaptation; Value Creation; Information Technology; Infrastructure; Internet and the Web; Manufacturing Industry; Auto Industry

May 1982 (Revised February 1983)
Case

Ford Motor Co. (B): The Automobile Crisis and Ford's Political Strategy--1980

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Keywords: Strategy; Crisis Management; Government and Politics; Business and Government Relations; Auto Industry; United States

May 1982 (Revised February 1983)
Case

Ford Motor Co. (A): The Automobile Crisis and Ford's Strategic Posture--1980

By: Malcolm S. Salter

Keywords: Crisis Management; Auto Industry

March 2004
Teaching Note

Ford Motor Company: Quality of Earnings Growth Analysis (A) and (B) TN

By: David F. Hawkins

Teaching Note to (9-104-059) and (9-104-063). View Details

Keywords: Auto Industry; Consulting Industry

22 Nov 2006
Research & Ideas

CEO Succession: The Case at Ford

Podcast with: Joseph Bower Interviewer: James Aisner Running Time: 8 min., 23 sec. In early September, Ford Motor Company announced that Bill Ford would be replaced as CEO by... View Details

Keywords: by Jim Aisner; Auto; Employment

2019
Working Paper

Design Rules, Volume 2: How Technology Shapes Organizations: Chapter 10 Variations on the Theme of Flow Production

By: Carliss Y. Baldwin

The purpose of this chapter is to explore how technologies and organizations engaged in flow production evolve over time. To allow for an apples-to-apples comparison, I examine organizations using essentially the same physical technologies, making similar products, and... View Details

Keywords: Flow Production; Ford; General Motors; Competitiveness; Information Technology; Organizational Design; Production; Auto Industry

Read Now

February 1983 (Revised May 1984)
Case

Managing Product Safety: The Ford Pinto

Presents an accounting of Ford Motor Company's handling of a product safety controversy (1970-77) surrounding its Pinto subcompact car. May be used as part of a series, Managing Product Safety, that provides an opportunity to compare and contrast the social response... View Details

Keywords: Safety; Crisis Management; Product; Auto Industry; United States

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Case

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (A)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan

June 2003
Case

Ford Argentina: Transforming a Global Industry in a Local Market

By: Lynda M. Applegate, Ramiro Montealegre, Laureano Berasategui and Paula Rodriguez Etchard

The president of Ford Argentina has to decide on the e-business approach at this subsidiary of Ford Motor Co. The approach must take into consideration the ambitious global e-business transformation proposed by the parent company within the context of a major economic... View Details

Keywords: Business Subsidiaries; Financial Crisis; Global Strategy; Technological Innovation; Problems and Challenges; Internet

August 2013 (Revised November 2013)
Supplement

Ford vs. GM: The Evolution of Mass Production (B)

By: Willy Shih

This case explores the very different paths taken by the Ford Motor Company and the General Motors Corporation in the first three decades of the twentieth century. Henry Ford's Model T was a car for the masses. After considerable experimentation, Ford Motor... View Details

Keywords: Innovation; Exploration; Dominant Design; Business Growth and Maturation; Business History; Innovation and Management; Innovation Strategy; Technological Innovation; Leading Change; Growth and Development Strategy; Product Positioning; Product Design; Product Development; Business Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Vertical Integration; Auto Industry; Manufacturing Industry; Michigan