Ford's future Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words - 1

Ford's future - Essay Example Its North American automotive business is hemorrhaging cash and market share† is the comment by Bryce G. Hoffman from Detroit News. The fall of the empire of Ford is evident from the fact that Fords domestic brands -- Ford, Lincoln and Mercury -- saw their combined share of the U.S. market fall 4.7 percent last year, from 18.3 percent in 2004 to 17.4 percent in 2005. A decade earlier, Fords market share stood at nearly 25.6 percent. Every percentage point of market share represents 170,000 vehicles. With this background this paper aims at analyzing the factors that led Ford to reach this no-alternative ‘Way forward’ position and the likely impact of the decision to cut jobs and close manufacturing facilities on the future of Ford. The financial results for the year 2006 would be the worst in the 103 years history of Ford. The old record net loss of $ 7.39 billion would be surpassed by the loss for the year 2006 as already the loss is mounted at $ 7 billion for the first three quarters of 2006 and for the fourth quarter more losses are expected by the analysts. The financial situation of Ford was worsened by the collapsing sales of its F series Pick up and truck based sport utility vehicles in which segments the company made huge losses. New product investments -- utilizing Fords global architectures and scale -- to deliver more new products faster, including more crossovers, hybrid vehicles, new small cars, increased spending on Fords truck leadership and new "white space" products. A lean and flexible manufacturing system combined with capacity matched to demand. Capacity will be reduced by 1.2 million units or 26 percent by 2008, representing the majority of actions within the plans 2006-2012 periods. In order to give life to the restructuring plan, Ford mortgaged nearly all of its domestic assets- its plants, office buildings, patents and trademarks — along with stakes in Ford Credit and Volvo, to raise $18 billion. Ford said its restructuring

The Transformation of Shell Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

The Transformation of Shell - Case Study Example It has had a very good working relationship with the stakeholders in the industry and they include: partners, shareholders, suppliers, contractors and also their customers. The values that govern the company include respect for all, high sense of integrity and honesty at all levels within the organization. Mutual respect, openness, communication, team work, joint solving of problems and a high level of professionalism also govern the company. Partners, suppliers and the society at large. The company acknowledges that the success of its company largely depends on the contributions made by its employees. The company thus respects the basic rights of its employees by providing them with a good working environment so the employees can work comfortably .They provide them with clean and hygienic employment conditions for them to work in. Once they employ their staff, they tend to motivate them by making the best use of their talents through training them so that they get new skills (Post, Preston, and Sauter-Sachs, 2002). The environment in which the employees work is all-inclusive whereby all the employees regardless of their background are given equal opportunities to develop their skills and talent. The employees are also included in the decision making process by including them in the planning stages and also offering them the necessary support and guidance while they perform their duties. A feedback program has also been put into place whereby the employees are encouraged to raise any concerns that they may have and also give opinions on what they would want to see improved in the organization. The customers are also a very important aspect in their business. The company has come up with innovative ways that assists them to win and maintain their customers. They do so by providing goods and services that are very competitive in price, very high quality, safe and above all, environmentally friendly. For the company to be able to be competitive, a team of professionals in the environmental, commer cial and information technology departments support them (Post, Preston, and Sauter-Sachs, 2002). Shell also seeks to have a mutually beneficial working relationship with all its business partners' .The partners include the suppliers, contractors, and any other parties that they could be having a joint venture with. They seek to promote the basic business principles that they possess. With their partners on board, it assists the company to make strategic decisions on whether to get into more partnerships or pull out of the existing partnerships. The company has been involved in the corporate social responsibilities whereby they try to do their business by complying with all the rules and regulations under the law, observing the basic human rights while at the same time providing proper guidelines on issues to do with the safety, health, security and the environment. Business Principles The Company believes in fairness, honesty and integrity while performing their duties and they expect to be treated the same by their partners and competitors. The company has come up with a policy against bribery, soliciting of money, and any other activities by the employees that would be with in conflict