Ford believes that the four cornerstones of competitive advantage are efficiency, quality, innovation and customer responsiveness. Ideally, the company would be able to execute on all of these at once, something that is a challenge for even the best firms. However, if that is how Ford wants to compete, then the pursuit of these advantages must be tied into the company's strategy, and for these to be a genuine competitive advantage Ford must exceed the capabilities of its competitors in these facets of the business. This paper will analyze these facets in respect of Ford's culture and how well it executes these vis-a-vis its competitors.
Ford's Strategy
Unlike its major domestic competitors, Ford turned down a government bailout on the assumption that it would be better able to execute its vision for the future without the influence of government ownership. This was met with optimism in some quarters when aspects of the company's strategy came to light (Schwartz, 2010). The company's vision entailed improving relations with its workers, focusing on long-term results rather than quarterly and selling off underperforming units. One of the immediate effects of this has been in innovation. Ford shifted its focus towards designing cars that consumers of today wanted. The result is that there is more optimism about the company's innovation pipeline than there was in the mid- to late-2000s (Ibid). Also fueling the innovation pipeline was a commitment that the company made to financing new product development, even as it restructured its balance sheet (Muller, 2012).
The innovation pipeline and responsiveness...
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