Category: Henry Ford

Henry Ford was the founder of Ford Motor Company and the major sponsor for assembly line technique of mass production. He is also known as captain of industry. He was born on July 30th 1863 in greens land township, Michigan, United States. He was born in a family of farmers who originate from England and Ireland.

At 15 ford used to dismantled and reassemble the dozens of time pieces of his friends and neighbours. In 1879, ford worked as an apprentice machinist with James F. Flower and Bros in Detroit. In 1882, ford returned to Dearborn to work on the family farm and became adept at operating the Westinghouse portable steam engines. Ford was hired to Westinghouse to serve their steam engines. Ford married Clara Jane Bryant on April 11th, 1888. At that moment he used to support himself to quit farming and to run a sawmill. Detroit Automobile Company opened with ford as super indent for change of production in 1899.

Various business approaches followed by Henry Ford

The main moto of Henry Ford was to build a car which will be low in price that no man will unable to own one. His philosophy was one of economic independence for United States. Ford’s mass production technique plays a prominent role in his attempts of success.

Ford introduced model T which turned his dream into reality. His vision of mass production produced the first affordable and reliable vehicle for the masses and became a modern industrial revolution.

Ford introduced a new plan to build a race car by identifying racing as a way to spread the name about his cars and his company’s name. Model A is the car where 500 cars had sold.

In 1911, he opened ford assembly plants in Canada and Britain and became the biggest automotive producer in short time period. In 1912 ford joined to cooperate with Giovanni Agnelli of Fiat to launch the first Italian automotive parts. His view of international trade is essential for world made ford to open automotive plants in India, Australia, and France. In that context he maintained successful dealerships on six continents. He made an agreement to provide technical aid over nine years with soviets in building the first Soviet automobile plant.

Ford’s setup a grand venture named The Rouge a factory itself a giant machine built at the bank of rouge river and it was the largest industry complex of 1096 acers such an extent to produce its own steel.

Ford faced many challenges in his every step of success. He overcame among all off those hurdles in his way by his traits and skills.

Characteristics and Traits of Henry Ford

His motivation and passion drives him to rise his ideas for serving his vision as well as succeeding in his business. Working hard and smart in all possible directions is one of the way ford followed to full-fill his dreams.

In his production he faced a problem of less supply of cars for huge demand. He overcome that situation by an innovative taught of modern mass production. By that technique ford overcame the problem and the technique helps to attain huge job opportunities. Ford introduced a new wage pay method to pay his workers in an effective way that everyone is satisfied which shows his managing and effective planning skills.

Introducing stockholders and moving into another fields like building tractors and single passenger planes shows his vision over the future scope of businesses and business expansions. Hence Chevrolet is a primary competitor of ford models he overcome with introducing new models with low pricing shows his risk taking characteristic.

Failures of Ford

Even though ford is good in effective planning he failed in some attempts. Ford used to produce cars of same models for many years where his serious competitor Chevrolet releasing new model every year. In that context ford failed to facilitate new models of cars for many years and

Recommendations

It has been identified that Emma welsh should concentrate on the publicity of the product and also making more franchises which makes a huge business venture. If possible some new products can also be introduced and added to the Emma and Tom’s where already stores are available

It has been identified that ford may launch a new model yearly makes him the first Industrialist by that time. Ford can also build luxury cars for the rich that makes his company is the only one which introduced cars for all category of people at that time.

Today, you drive your modern car to travel to work, school, the grocery store, and numerous other locations. But imagine, being a citizen living in the US in 1907 and seeing one of the first gas-powered engines drive past you. Most people back then probably were not able to afford a home, let alone an innovative means of transportation. But in his lifetime, Henry Ford created one of the most important inventions to man today- the engine. To get to his climax in life, Henry Ford had to be raised as a child, face many obstacles, and discover how to achieve his best.

Henry Ford was born on July 30th, 1863 to William and Mary Litogot Ford. Until he was four years old, Henry Ford was an only child. But in 1867, his younger sister Margaret Ford was born. As a child, he was raised on a farm with his parents. While working on the family farm, Henry Ford grew up learning leadership qualities and technical skills. Because he was not happy growing up to be a farmer, Henry Ford was an apprentice with a mechanic to learn to engineer. As he grew older as an apprentice, he became friends with Thomas Edison. Thomas Edison encouraged Henry to start manipulating and building. Because of this encouragement, Henry Ford created his first-ever automobile on June 4th, 1896, the Quadricycle. Shortly after, he left his family to pursue a career in engineering.

Later on in his life, Henry Ford faced many challenges and obstacles to pursue his career. One of the first major obstacles was with his quadricycle. Because of this first automobile, Henry Ford created the Denver Motor Company. But because the Quadricycle wasn’t made well, the Denver Motor Company did not have enough sales to make a profit, the company disbanded and left Henry Ford yet again hopeless. Another obstacle Henry Ford had to overcome to get to his climax of life was his very first car, the first Model A. This new concept was extremely confusing and hard to understand for most common citizens. The price was too expensive for the modern family to afford. Even at the high price, the first Model A was extremely problematic and required a serious amount of mechanical repairs. Eventually, Henry Ford had to put a mechanic in every state to help with all of the mechanical issues.

To continue, Henry Ford had many successful achievements and contributions to modern-day society. One of his most significant contributions was the Model T and the second version of the Model A. With his invention of the Model T, thousands of other car innovations have shaped society to its current popularity. Another successful achievement of Henry Ford is his creation of the Ford Motor Company. Today, Ford Motor Company is a leader in automobile production and owns many other automobile companies such as Lincoln and Troller.

In his life, Henry Ford grew and learned how to overcome challenges and how to be a successful person. By growing and learning how to succeed, Henry Ford made many statements that inspired many others to try to succeed as well. One of his most famous quotes states “Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.” This quote explains how you need to stay focused on your goals and to not stop trying. Another one of Henry Ford’s quotes states “Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.” This quote shows how Henry Ford has been educated but continues to learn and grow. It also shows how he believes in constantly trying to be better and to build on character.

To conclude, Henry Ford made significant contributions to society but also struggled with the difficult obstacles he had to overcome. He created the Ford Motor Company, but he also struggled with his quadricycle and Denver Motor Company as it ended in failure. Sadly, on April 7th, 1947, Henry Ford passed away at age 83. But in modern-day society, Henry Ford has created an ever-lasting impact that influences many other innovators.

Works Cited

1. “Who Was Henry Ford? Everything You Need to Know.” Childhood, Life Achievements & Timeline, The Famous People, https://www.thefamouspeople.com/profiles/henry-ford-122.php. Accessed 7 October 2019.
2. “The Life of Henry Ford.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/henryford/. Accessed 7 October 2019.
3. “Overcoming Failure: The Perseverance of Henry Ford.” Overcoming Failure: The Perseverance of Henry Ford, Year On, https://www.yearon.com/blog/successes-of-henry-ford. Accessed 7 October 2019.
4. “Henry Ford Story TImeline.” Henry Ford Heritage Association, Henry Ford Heritage Association, http://hfha.org/ford-timeline/. Accessed 7 October 2019.
5. Staff, Editorial, et al. “41 Interesting Facts About Henry Ford.” The Fact File, TheFactFile, 24 Feb. 2019, https://thefactfile.org/henry-ford-facts/. Accessed 7 October 2019.
6. Meerut, Flavia, et al. “25 Henry Ford Quotes to Make You Feel Like You Can Achieve Anything.” Goalcast, GoalCast, 16 Aug. 2019, https://www.goalcast.com/2017/12/24/henry-ford-quotes/. Accessed 7 October 2019.
7. Henry Ford Changes the World, 1908, Eyewitness to History, http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ford.htm. Accessed 8 October 2019.

The automobile being invented was truly something no one anticipated would be this special. When people hear or think about the automobile, the first name that typically comes to mind is often that of Henry Ford. Although he isn’t being given the credit for the invention of the automobile, Henry Ford did play a significant role in the development aspect. The automobile was first invented in Europe in 1771 with the highest speed of 2.3 miles per hour.

Invented in 1889 by a man by the name of Gottlieb Daimler, the milestone car was produced and the vehicle traveled at 10 miles per hour (Brown, 105). Due to many of these cars not being produced overseas, not many people had ever seen one, let alone have access to one. It wasn’t until Henry Ford invented the assembly line that anyone knew what the car was. Henry Ford and the invention of the assembly line changed the American economy for the better and transformed how people traveled everywhere.

Born in Michigan as the first of William and Mary Ford’s six children, Henry Ford had an extremely high imagination. With this great imagination of his, and his fascination with technology, he spent lots of time inspecting watches and trinkets to figurer out how things worked. (Auto 2). Since Henry did not take interest in school, he began constructing things at a very young age. At a young age, Ford understood the importance of money. However, he struggled to understand that in order to make money the way he wanted to, he’d have to stay in school in order to get a degree that would get him a good job and in turn get him the money he wanted. Ford thought that if he skipped school during the day that he could work and make more money. At the young age of fifteen, Ford dropped out of school and began working at a relative’s farm. In 1879, Ford left home at the age of sixteen years old for the nearby city of Detroit to work as an apprentice machinist. Occasionally he returned back to his relative’s farm in order to help out. Before returning to Dearborn, he remained an apprentice for three years.

During the next few years, Henry divided his time between over-hauling his father’s farm implements, operating and repairing steam engines, and finding occasional work in a Detroit factory, as well as lending a reluctant hand with other farm work. Henry Ford married Clara Bryant in 1888 and in order to support himself and his wife, he ran a sawmill. Ford has been putting car parts together since 1891. In 1908, pithing 13 days, Henry Ford constructed the Model T.

Ford, eager to accomplish more, knew that he needed a place to manufacture these cars. He also knew that in order to sell mass amounts of these cars, he would have to sell them for a cheap price and buy parts and supplies for an even cheaper price (Douglas, 25). The construction of the first Ford Motor plant used the world’s only conveyer belt. This was part of the Ford plan to build quickly. When he constructed the assembly line, cars were assembled and sent out in as fast as 15 minuets. Ford was able to make the automobile a car for every man or a working man with a family.

America was truly astonished by the invention of the assembly line. With the Ford Motor Company able to mass produce these cars, people were able to drive everywhere and anywhere. Ford’s invention also created many jobs. Henry Ford basically created a middle class for American Society with higher wages and fewer hours. At this period of time, no other company had a shorter work day. As Ford produced and sold more cars he raised the wages. The American economy began to strengthen as more work became available to the people. Roads needed to be paved and gas stations needed to have attendants. Because the automobile became an everyday car, people began to travel more which helped the hotel industry boom. The market for tourism had evolved because of this boom. Business owners all over America began to love Henry Ford; for his invention was bringing them in more money then they had ever hoped. The reason the car became so popular was that the price did not raise and it was very affordable. Ford was able to sell the Model T for only 293 dollars (Douglas 34). More and more investors wanted to back Ford’s invention but Henry Ford bought all of his investors out. Overall the United States felt the greatest and most significant impact from the invention (Brown, 10). The United States also kept up with the development and strengthened its popularity. By 1912 there were over 7,000 Ford Motor Company Dealers across the country, just four years after the car was released. Production finally stopped on the Model T in 1927 over 15 million cars had been sold. Henry Ford didn’t produce another model until the Model A in 1928. Henry Ford’s role model as an inventor was Thomas Edison. Both men were alike in there futuristic designs and ambition to go further with their inventions (Laccoce, 189).

The automobile has come a long way since its beginning in 1771. Cars now are able to reach top speeds of over 400 miles per hour. Concept cars have 1000 horsepower, and racing cars has become a sport (Parks, 52). That car has brought America more revenue than ever thought of.

Other countries have adapted the design and continuity of engineers from America. Today cars are designed with more of a sense of style. The price has also come a long way since the debut of 293 dollars. New cars range anywhere from 10,000 dollars to 300,000 dollars, and design and speed is a large factors. Cars have become something to love, something to collect, and something to cherish. With race tracks all over the country spectators are able to view a wide variety of cars racing at high speeds against each other. These races are also broadcast over TV and attract large crowds.

Not only did Ford’s success as an entrepreneur benefit him. But it also benefited hundreds of others with similar ways of thinking. There are thousands of parts to a car and for every part, there is someone out there that thought of that idea, produced it, and made money from it.

Without the automobile, there would be no such thing as car stereo, car upholstery, aftermarket car parts, or gas stations. Without the invention of the assembly line many of the products that we use today would never have been produced because of the time it would take to be made, and without those products, the inventors would never have had success.

In conclusion, by inventing the assembly line, Henry Ford changed the face of history in the American economy and revolutionized travel everywhere. The mass production of the automobile made America’s economy stronger and helped people, financially, all over the world.

The invention of the assembly line was not only used for producing mass amounts of cars but it was/is also used for many of the products today. It is still the most famous and reliable system of work. At the age of 83, Henry Ford died in 1942 a happy man, still with the desire to do more. He blessed the world with his famous invention(s) and revolutionized America for the better. Think about what life would be like without the automobile, transportation would barely exist or even cease to exist. This man, Henry Ford, is the perfect definition and example of an entrepreneur because he was a man who had the drive and ambition to work and make a successful living from something that he created. “If not for his drive to create a mass amount of automobiles the United States would not have its middle-class today” (Laccoce, 200).

Works Cited

1. Douglas, Brian. “The Auto” Inventions of the Future. Random House Publishing 2000.
2. Brown, Allen E. “Automobile” Academic American Encyclopedia 100th Anniversary Edition 1995 (volume 2)
3. No Author. “Auto” 10/26/2003. (www.ideafinder.com/inventions)
4. Lacrosse, Lee. “The Automobile”. 10/26/2003. (www.time.com/time/time100/builderprofile/Ford.html)
5. Parks, Wally. “The Future of Cars.” The Fast Lane. Regan Books. New York, New York. 1995

Introduction

Henry Ford is an originator of Ford Motor Company who was born in Springwell’s Township, Wayne County, Michigan, on July 30, 1863, to Mary (Litogot) and William Ford. Basically, he was keenly fascinated in mechanism since childhood. On that account, he fabricated his first steam engine at the age of 15. Consequently, with the passage of time, he was proverbial as a builder of automobiles among everyone and made his first Ford car in June 1896. Just because his dedication and enthusiasm, he created the model T in 1908, which was the renowned invention and admired by everyone. Although he died at the age of 83; yet he left his benevolent heritage in the form of Ford.

Important decision(s) the leader has made

Henry ford was one of the best role models for the present generation. He was multi skilled person who had vast knowledge about machines and automobile. His knowledge and decisions were the base of his successful life. His life story is full of theories which describe the way of living and the basis on which decisions need to be made. The decisions that he used to make in his life had resulted in transforming Henry Ford into a “symbol of the transition from an agricultural to an industrial America” (Crocker, G. and Bryan, F., 1991). Ford was incredible in making powerful decisions as a result he was one of the most valued company in America. Some of his decisions has made a great impact on his life. These decisions were:

• Developing his own empire with his prior knowledge: He had a keen interest in developing various machine and to fix them. This interest forced him to work in different companies where he was always surrounded by machines. As a result, because of his experience he was appointed as a chief engineer at Detroit Edison company. This experience forced him to make a firm decision of developing his own company. He was fortunate that his knowledge and love toward machines can help him a lot in developing his own automobile company.
• The second decision was to fight against a case which was filed by an association who look over the automobile industry in all over the country. The case claims that all the automobiles developed by Ford are patent of some other company. But his decision to fight against an association was a very bold decision. Initially, he loses the case, but he was sure about his win, so he appealed again, and he won that case. The decision to fight until victory helped him gaining popularity and belief on his company (ValueWalk. 2020).
• Lastly, one of his best decisions that he made was to increase the pay of their employee and sharing all the profits with them. This decision turned all the employee to work with great passion and efficiently. This decision played a vital role in development of the company. All the employee feels themselves incredibly special in the organisation. As a result, his company boomed in the automotive industry and he became the top industrialist in America.

Overall, these were some of his decisions which has been proved very crucial in his life. His critical thinking while making decision has made him world-wide famous.

Dealing with the managers and employees

Henry Ford was not only a good leader but also an emotionally intelligent person who always emphasized on the welfare of his team (managers and employees) and society. He was legendary in his management style. Satisfaction of his workers was his top priority as he treated his workers as an indispensable part of his company. He determined his strategy of success in terms of 3P principle:

People Performance Profit

This 3P states the interdependence of these three factors i.e. a satisfactory or happier employees will ultimate lead to their performance as they will get the remuneration as per their performance and in the same way, the collaboration of hardworking people and efficient performance will eventually effectuate the profit which will proved to be productive not only for his company but for his team too. This approach towards his exertion made him a competent and persuasive leader. Ford was the only one who offered his employees $5 everyday wage, dramatically increasing the pace of most of his laborers. Besides this, for the betterment of his workers, he instigated them to work for 40 hours per wage along with the weekend off. (Raff and summers, 1987)

The consequences of his diligent endeavour influenced the workers of Detroit. Generally, Detroit; a city in Michigan; is known as a ‘Motor City’. Moreover, the rapid improvement in the professionalism and competency in his team made his intention or vision realistic which was to serve the customer in the best possible way i.e. to avail them the reasonable things. He always said that it was just because of his devotive and energetic workforce who took their company to its peak level and made that company prestigious among the whole world. (Curcio, 2013, p.336)

Hence, it was apparent that he always respected and appreciated his employees and manager efforts and performance as he believed in equality and that was the reason of being a well-known entrepreneur in the whole world.

The risks the leader has undertaken

Ford was always willing to take the risk because of his passion and fascination towards machines. To pursue his dream in working with machinery, Henry took the biggest decision and risk of his life when he left school at the age of 15 to gain more knowledge and focus on machinery rather than writing and spelling and left his family farm at the age of 16 and went to Detroit to work as an apprentice at the Michigan Car Company. He took another risk by persuading few businesspersons to back him to build a company that design and sell horseless carriages (Anon, 2020). He founded his successful company- the Ford Motor Company, after founding two companies that went out of business. But to get attention and supporters for his new company and get spread a word in the market about his cars and his work, he took another biggest risk where he build and drove racing cars, by putting his life at risk. The idea worked and after his racing success, Ford attracted the attention of investors.

Henry has always had a different vision. Instead of designing luxurious automobiles for rich, Henry dream was to design an efficient car for everyday person. To fulfil this, he took risk by cut the price of a Model T so gradually that he was ready for the risk involved- taking loses. Henry never considered any cost as fixed cost. Henry intention was to reduce the price to a point where the sales will increase. Therefore, from 1908 to 1913, Ford reduced the price from $850 to $600, which result in sales increase dramatically (Entrepreneur, 2020).

Overall, Ford took several risks and spent most of his time on his dreams, and all he did was worth it as managed to make a successful business out of all the risks he took. Ford set an example of an entrepreneur who never gives up, no matter what. Despite of drawbacks and setbacks, he stood up and was always willing to take risks to fulfil his dreams.

Challenges the leader has faced

Nowadays, Henry Ford is an easily recognized name, however it has not generally been that way. At 23, Ford was only a mechanic’s understudy with huge yearnings. A couple of years after the fact, he was known as a wise, yet failed engineer who just could not create. However, it was these early disappointments that showed him significant tasks and started his future achievement. His first lesson came when he structured his first car in 1896, the Quadricycle. There is a valid justification why you have possibly never known about the Quadricycle: it was not good for large scale manufacturing (Sorensen, 2003). But it got youthful Henry Ford’s name out there, driving him to his first money related sponsor and his first organization: The Detroit Automotive Company. Detroit Automotive Company had a same, brief history as the Quadricycle. Regardless of having William H. Murphy, one of the most conspicuous finance managers of the time as a budgetary supporter, Ford despite everything could not get his item adjusted enough to sell. Ideals got the best of him and following eighteen months of mess, he despite everything had nothing to show for his work. Murphy, alongside all the investors, started to show concern. After that the director dissolved and the organizations disbanded. It was a disappointment according to the business.

In the bureaucratic car industry of the mid 1900’s, getting another opportunity was an extra ordinariness. Be that as it may, in the wake of thinking about his disappointment, Ford reached Murphy once more and offered novel thoughts and answers for past issues. Murphy allowed him another opportunity with the condition that he work with a chief. For Ford, being managed by somebody who thought nothing about building and configuration was irritating and unsuitable (Charles E., 2003). He left his course of action and chose to attempt different approaches to accomplish his goal.

In the end, he learnt from his mistakes and collected information from all the lessons to use it in the future. It would take 5 additional years and incalculable disappointments before the Ford Motor Company came out with the world’s best vehicle – the Model T. The Model T altered the car business in America.

Lessons we can learn about this person as a leader

Henry ford was a legendary entrepreneur, influential industrialist. His story is full of lessons which influence people that how they can excel in their life. His life can be considered as a tips and tricks that one can follow to be successful in their life. There are enormous lessons that we learn are: –

Firstly, we can imagine about his potential that he got since he was a child. He started as an apprentice machinist at various companies. Later, he was appointed as chief engineer at a gas company. This was all because of his dedication for his work and interest in the machinery. This ideology depicts that if you have any potential or any kind of interest in any particular field and you recognise it, try to make efforts in that field and this will take you to the success in that field. Secondly, He had belief on himself. He knew that he has a potential to develop his own company. He used his all prior knowledge to set up an automobile company. This belief clearly states that believing in yourself and on your work is a pathway to success. So, it is vital to believe on your performance and give you best while performing any task. (youth motivator,2019)

Furthermore, we can consider all his tactics which has helped him a lot in developing and enhancing his business. His beautiful techniques had helped his business and as a result his company was the biggest automobile company in America. He was also familiar with tactics that he used to increase the production rate or the annual turnover of the company. He followed various techniques like increasing salaries of the employers, sharing their profits. These strategies encourage the employees to work harder and with more perfections. These strategies can be followed by every businessman to succeed in their life. So, it is clear from the strategy that one should not only focus on his business investments but also, he should take care of the employees or other workers. As a result, it will display the same results. Moreover, we learnt that using cost effective objects and long-lasting objects is proved extremely useful in future. All in all, we can consider that henry ford was one of the most influencing people who can be perfect role model.

Conclusion

Weighting up all the considerations we can state that Henry Ford is excellent leader to admire, his dedication towards work inspire various businesses. Henry Ford did great for the society, by manufacturing the cars not only for rich but for everyone. He prompted his workers by giving good remuneration, so that they remain always good and loyal for work, and that impacted on society as well. Moreover, he was able to create a team that has able to bring his vision alive and created positive work culture.

References

1. Anon, 2020. Henry Ford – Visionaries on Innovation – The Henry Ford, viewed 1 September 2020, .
2. Crocker, G. and Bryan, F., 1991. Beyond the Model T: The Other Ventures of Henry Ford. The Michigan Historical Review, 17(1), p.90.
3. Curcio, V. (2013). Henry Ford. US: Oxford University Press, p.336.
4. Entrepreneur. 2020. Henry Ford, viewed 1 September 2020, .
5. Raff, D.M.G. and summers, L.H. (1987). Did Henry Ford Pay Efficiency Wages? Journal of Labor Economics, 5(4).
6. Sorensen, Charles, E., My Forty Years with Ford (1956); Banum, Russ, The Ford Century (2002); Brinkley, Douglas, Wheels for the world: Henry Ford, his company, and a century of progress, 1903-2003 (2003).
7. ValueWalk. 2020. High Employee Turnover Rate Bad? Lessons from Henry Ford. [online] Available at: [Accessed 9 September 2020].
8. YOUTH MOTIVATOR. 2019. The Fascinating Success Story of Henry Ford. [online] Available at: