Ford Change Management Case Study 

Ford Motor Company is an automobile-manufacturing American multinational corporation. Henry Ford founded the automotive company in 1903. The pandemic crisis of 2020 severely impacted all businesses and companies worldwide. Newly appointed CEO Jim Farley launched technological transformations and structural changes by focusing on technology in the midst of the global economic crisis. Today, we’ll discuss the Ford change management case study; its historical background; the innovative culture of the company; challenges to the company; and the leadership role of Jim Farley in technology transformation at Ford Motor Company.

Historical Background of Ford Motor Company

• 1903 – Henry Ford laid the foundation of the automotive factory with 28000 USD
• 1913 – started first moving assembly line in the Ford Factory
• 1932 – launched first low-price automobile with a V8 engine
• 1951 – introduced the first research facility in Dearborn, Michigan
• 1964 – the invention of SQUID (superconducting quantum interference device)
• The 1980s – launched various successful automobile models worldwide
• 1990s – acquired Aston Martin and Jaguar Cars and continued to sell vehicles
• 2006 – implemented structural changes to bring back the profitability of the company
• 2012 – sold its climate control component business
• 2020 – partial shutdown of factories due to the global pandemic crisis
• 2020 – Jim Farley took the role of CEO and launched tech transformation in the company

Innovative Culture of Ford Motor Company 

While studying the Ford change management case study of launching technological transformation, it is significant to mention the long history of the innovative culture of the brand. It comprises of following elements;

• Puts a great emphasis on innovation; creative thinking, and developing new technological products
• Promoting a collaborative culture among workers, employees, and colleagues at different levels of the company
• Satisfying the needs and demands of customers relevant to the changing customer market trends, behaviors, and preferences
• Strong commitment to the diversity and inclusive workplace environment to promote innovation and creativity among workers and employees

Challenges to Ford in 2020

Let’s discuss some of the main challenges and issues that Ford Motor Company was facing during the 2020 global pandemic crisis. They compelled the company’s leadership to launch technological transformation to stay relevant to the market. Some of them in the Ford change management case study are as follows;

• Net losses of 2.8 billion USD and income of 561 million USD in 2021
• Disruption in supply chain operations impacting the production and manufacturing facilities
• Growing electric automotive market and posing tough competition to the brand
• The high material cost of aluminum and steel limits the company’s margin
• F-150 pickup truck recall due to the faulty seat belt issue
• Changing customer market trends towards environmental sustainability

Leadership of Jim Farley in Transforming Ford Motor Company 

Let’s discuss some of the main steps of the Leadership of Jim Farley in transforming Ford to become a tech automotive brand; they’re as follows;

Resource Allocation

In order to keep up with the growing market trends, CEO Jim Farley took a daring and bold of investing 30 billion USD in the production and development of electric vehicles (EV) by 2025. The company’s automotive brand set another target of achieving 40% global EV production volume by 2030. The automotive brand planned to launch the electric version of its various existing models; the F-150 truck EV, and Mustang Mach E.

Rebranding Brand Image

Jim Farley made it clear that they need a modern approach to keep up with the growing sustainability trends. It requires the company to move towards digitalization of interconnected products and electric vehicles; because the new customers want more features and conveniences. His emphasis was on the development of software know-how and building electric infrastructure.

He was aware of the fact that the technological transformation for the first time wasn’t easy for the company and its employees. He allowed people to fail by learning and experimenting; because this is the way to move forward.

Connected Experience

The original vision of Henry Ford was that the Americans should own their mode of transportation. Jim Farley explained that modern customers want a connected experience with the things they use and own with software and digitalization technology.

Partnership with Google

Ford took another step in building a strategic alliance and partnership with Google for the development of integrated software for its vehicles. It allowed the company to connect millions of automotive models with the Android OS with built-in Google applications and services. The connected experience would help the company to build a better relationship with its customers.

Sustainability Initiative

Ford under Jim Farley’s leadership showed a strong commitment towards environmental sustainability. The automotive brand planned to achieve zero-carbon emissions by 2050. Some of the other sustainability initiatives that the company took are as follows;

• Closed-loop recycling program
• Recycling 100 million pounds of scrap material annual
• Decreasing the environment

Diversifying Supply Chan                             

Ford also planned to diversify its supply chain operations and sourcing of semiconductor chips. The company is investing capital resources in the development of alternative technology to decrease its reliance on semiconductor chips.

Conclusion: Ford Change Management Case Study | Leadership of Jim Farley in Launching Technological Transformation 

After an in-depth study of the Ford change management case study; we have realized that Ford Motor Company is the world’s leading automotive brand. If you are learning about the Ford Motor Company Change Management case study; then you should keep in mind the abovementioned challenges; historical background, and the leadership role of Jim Farley in transforming Ford towards electric vehicle and digitalization.