1. Which schools of management thought are illustrated in this case? There are several schools of management thought are illustrated in this case. First of all, classical school of management thought is mentioned. During the very first period of time of Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford, the founder of this firm, created a bureaucratic system. He separated company into smaller product groups and functional units. Separation is a feature of classical administrative school.
Second, quantitative school of management thought is easily realized as school of management thought in Ford Motor Company. From 1940s to 1970s, in order to focus on the best ways to design cars, Ford built some quantitative methods. For example, one of Ford’s quantitative methods was computer modeling, which was one of features of quantitative management thought. In addition, system school is the other Ford’s school of management thought.
There are a lot of brands which are belong to this company like Ford, Lincoln, Mercury, Mazda, Jaguar, Land Rover, Aston Martin, and Volvo. Moreover, contingency school is illustrated. “Way Forward”, a new plan of Bill Ford was created as a way to take part in global markets. To create this plan, Bill considered the way of doing thing in the past of company was not suitable in new situation at all. Last but not least, quality school of management is another one.
To make better products and services, the leaders of Ford Motor Company have created many plans and made them real. 2. Bill Ford encourages his employees to “think like a small company. ” How can a smaller company with fewer employees, fewer plants, and fewer paying customers be more innovative? As a part of bureaucratic system, separate business into smaller company is innovative. Comparing with giant firm, working with fewer employees, fewer plants, managers more easily monitor working process.
It is more difficult for managers to create a good relationship with a huge size of employees than with fewer employees. As a result, working performance of a smaller company will be improved quickly. It makes smaller company be more innovative. 3. What caused Ford to begin its Pitquette Project? Since creating a recycle, reusable cars is the main goal of Ford, this company begins its Pitquette Project. It means this project is a “green” project. Designing and using recycle car, people can save energy, save money. That is the critical and potential value of Pitquette Project.