7002ENG Engineering Leadership and Communication

Professor Ljubo Vlacic | Mr Barry Sutherland

GRIFFITH

UNIVERSITY HENRY FORD – ASSIGNMENT 2

Nigel Gartshore S2756338

M.Senthilnathan S2744757

Karthik Varma Chekuri S2732276

Cymone Perry S2587572

Due: Wednesday 5th May 2010

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1

Table of Contents

1.0 Executive Summary ..................................................................................................................... 3

2.0 Introduction: ............................................................................................................................... 4

3.0 Career and Achievements: .......................................................................................................... 4

4.0 Engineering Qualifications: ......................................................................................................... 5

5.0 Traits Situational and Functional Leadership: ............................................................................. 5

5.1 Leadership Attributes: ............................................................................................................ 7

6.0 Transformational Leadership: ..................................................................................................... 7

6.1 Creative: .................................................................................................................................. 7

6.2 Interactive: .............................................................................................................................. 8

6.3 Visionary: ................................................................................................................................ 8

6.4 Empowering: ........................................................................................................................... 8

6.5 Passionate: .............................................................................................................................. 8

7.0 Ford as Charismatic Leader: ........................................................................................................ 8

7.1 The sociological Approach: ..................................................................................................... 9

7.2 The Behaviour/Attribution Approach: .................................................................................... 9

7.3 The Communication Approach: ............................................................................................ 10

8.0 Leadership & Power: ....................................................................................................................... 11

9.0 Leadership & Diversity: ................................................................................................................... 12

10.0 Leadership and Influence: ............................................................................................................. 14

11.0 Professional Ethics: ....................................................................................................................... 16

12.0 Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................... 17

13.0 References: ................................................................................................................................... 18

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1.0 Executive Summary

Leadership is an essential function in management. With the help of effective leadership an

organisation can successfully achieve its goals. A leader is who creates the vision and sets the

direction for the people in the organisation. He also energises the employees and creates an

environment in a way that it feels safe for the employees to speak up.

There are many famous leaders in the engineering field, who had spent their life motivating and

inspiring their employees creating new concepts in their particular field. Henry Ford is one of these

prominent engineering leaders who invented the “Mass Production” technique and moved the

manufacturing sector into a new direction of production. He possessed many leadership qualities

like situational, transformational, and charismatic in his career. His creativity in making a low-cost

automobile changed the lives of most American families. He increased the wages not only to

improve employee morale but to attract and retain good workers.

His passion towards automobiles inspired him to implement innovative ideas and as a result he

reached great heights in the manufacturing industry. The following report, describes Henry Ford’s

achievements, traits, leadership qualities, and his approaches to solve the problems he faced during

implementation of the Model-T.

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2.0 Introduction:

“Failure is simply the opportunity to begin again, this time more intelligently”

This was one of the best statements by an engineer, business leader, philanthropist and a fascinating

personality who is known for his magnificent work and contribution to the automobile manufacturing

industry. His name is Henry Ford and is referred to as the “Father of the Assembly Line”.

Ford was born on July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan, United States In 1936 he created the “Ford

Foundation” for promoting human welfare. He is an appropriate symbol of the “American Dream”

making the transition from an agriculturalist to an American industrialist (Gelderman, 1981).

The blend of self-confidence and ignorance, deep understanding and narrow mindedness was his

greatest strength and greatest weakness. He permanently changed modern life of the people and

fulfilled the needs of the consumer by introducing affordable automobiles. He was considered as the

first American businessman to recognise, mass production depends on mass consumption. He was

rated by the academic experts as “Greatest Entrepreneur in American History”. Ford was also

honoured by Fortune Magazine as “Businessman of the Century”. The following will emphasize his

strengths, weaknesses, successes, failures and the problems faced during his leadership career

(Watts, 2005).

3.0 Career and Achievements:

Though his parents were from an agricultural background he did not show interest in farming but

showed great interest and enthusiasm towards the mechanics of machinery, understanding how

things work and always looked at opportunities to improve and/or invent new things. After finishing

school at the age of seventeen he had left home and went to the nearby city of Detroit, where he

worked as an apprentice machinist for three years on Internal Combustion Engines before he

returned back to Dearborn. There he spent many hours in the workshop of a farmhouse operating or

repairing steam engines that he had built. During this same period he occasionally worked at the

Westinghouse Engine Company‟s Detroit factory.

In the year 1891, he joined Edison Illuminated Company as a technician as he was a hard worker and

made a significant contribution to the company. Henry was promoted as a chief engineer at the main

Edison plant on Washington Boulevard in 1893.

During his employment at Edison Illuminated Company, he continued experimenting on automobiles,

it was not until the spring of 1893 that he completed his first car, but its design did not meet his

personal standards. Henry intended to construct a second automobile that year but due to

modifications on the first automobile time didn‟t permit.

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In the year 1899 he resigned from Edison Illuminated Company. Henry along with his investors

started “Detroit Automobile Company”. A few years later he had built three cars, which ran in Detroit

for several years. In the year 1902 he resigned from the job in Detroit Automobile Company due to a

conflict between the investors and his personal beliefs.

In the year 1903, the Ford Motor Company was developed. In the same year, Henry alongside Tom

Cooper built two cars named „999‟ and the „ARROW‟; they were the first cars to be built for high

speeds from the Ford manufacturing line. During this time Henry was the Vice President of the Ford

Motor Company, as well as being a designer, master mechanic, superintendent and General

Manager.

Finally, in the year 1906 he replaced John S. Gray as company President. In 1908 Ford started the

production of the world‟s famous Model-T. More than a quarter of a million Model T‟s had been sold

from the period 1908-1913. The main influence was Ford‟s mass production techniques, and the fact

that the automobile was economical and reliable (Gelderman, 1981).

4.0 Engineering Qualifications:

In accordance with Engineers Australia Henry Ford would be an Engineering Officer at benchmark

stage two. He has obtained a trade qualification in which has shown enough competence to achieve a

level six in the Australian Qualifications Framework.

Henry Ford concentrated on the practical aspects of engineering. He was an expert in the automobile

industry; in selecting equipment and components to meet a specification and the assembling of these

to form customised systems to a particular project.

Stage 2 is classified by Engineers Australia as one who has managed a major project. Henry Ford

supervised and managed the production of Ford model T.

5.0 Traits Situational and Functional Leadership:

Henry Ford is well known for decision making skills. When an idea entered his mind, he would first

critically analyse it, if he believed it had sufficient merit he would develop a strategy to implement that

idea. Once satisfied, he refused to consider other‟s opinions. He always believed in accomplishing a

job more economically, his implementation of the conveyor belt proved this belief.

The five attributes to enhance leadership effectiveness are.

Interpersonal Factors (Manage conflicts, self-confidence, presentation skills etc.)

Cognitive factors (intelligence, problem-solving etc)

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Personality factors

Motivational factors (higher needs for influence, power)

Expertise and Knowledge factors (administrative/technical)

Ford exhibited few of the above attributes in his leadership career. Self confidence was one

interpersonal factor he exhibited throughout his career. A good example of his self-confidence was

when his shareholders were unhappy with his procrastination in manufacturing a single car due to his

perfectionism, which later resulted in the dissolving of the Company. Despite this initial failure, Ford

remained focussed and continued with his vision and manufactured a racing car (Gelderman, 1981).

Ford used cognitive factors during a problem with John Dodge , Ford was pressuring Dodge to reduce

the prices of the parts that they supplied to Ford, Dodge was unhappy with this demand. John Dodge

claimed “he‟d cut the price of his cars and come to us and wants a price cut on parts. Since he was

loaded up he wouldn‟t take the stuff until we cut the price” Gelderman (1981, pg. 73). Following this

issue John Dodge resigned from Ford‟s board of directors, as a consequence, Ford Motors faced the

problem of supplies for production, resulting in a shut down over several days. With a vertical

integration perspective he decided to manufacture his own parts, steel and even electricity

(Gelderman, 1981).

Not only did Henry Ford motivate his employees by introducing the Five-Dollar a day plan in the

company but he also helped improve the living conditions of his employees providing training and

financial planning. His technical knowledge and self-confidence drove him to change the method of

manufacturing rather than changing the product. Although Ford had great technical expertise and

knowledge, as a businessman his skills grew much more slowly and intermittently (Watts, 2005).

Harvard professors Anthony Mayo and Nitin Nohira summarize that there are six contextual factors

that are key to determining the success or failure of a business venture, they are: Government

intervention, Global affairs, demography, social mores, technology and labour relations. Ford

provides a classic example of failure to listen to his customers and in doing so failed to reach their

social mores. Ford did not respond to the tastes of the consumers by manufacturing the Model T for a

long period (Hackman & Johnson, 2009).

In 1919, the Ford Motor Company was suffering financially; Ford managed the crisis by lowering

prices and increasing production. He followed this strategy for a month before a drop in sales forced

the Ford Motor Company to shut down. Ford was determined to get his business back on track, he

continued manufacturing the Model-T producing ninety thousand in a six week period. Despite the

recession Ford still insisted dealers‟ paid cash on delivery threatening to cancel their franchise if they

didn‟t pay (Gelderman, 1981).

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Ford‟s domineering characteristic caused chaos within the company. He was not interested in making

any kind of changes to the model T. He made a well-known proclamation “The customer can go to

hell”, he can have any colour as long its black”. He diverted the company‟s profit into expansion

without consulting the share holders. He was sued by his shareholders and as a result the Ford Motor

Co. faced many difficulties (Chandy, 2010).

5.1 Leadership Attributes: According to Vince Lombardi “Leaders are made, they are not born, “They are made by hard effort,

which is the price which all of us must pay to achieve any goal that is worthwhile” Hackman and

Johnson (2009, p73). Henry Ford exhibited many qualities like courage, knowledge and tolerance

which made him a successful leader in the field of engineering. The following attributes prove Ford‟s

leadership effectiveness in making the company reach greater heights.

6.0 Transformational Leadership:

Researchers concluded that the transformational leaders are:

Creative,

Interactive,

Visionary,

Empowering and

Passionate

6.1 Creative: Educator Sidney Pames summarises that “creativity involves making new combinations or

associations with existing elements e.g. the fresh and relevant association of thoughts, facts, ideas,

etc in a new configuration” Hackman and Johnson (2009, p105). Henry Ford was inspired by the

meat-packing houses of Chicago and adopted the same concept of the conveyor belt in the

production of his cars.

The conveyor belt method made remarkable achievements, producing a car within 93 minutes, before

the conveyor belt set up the manufacturing of an automobile had taken 728 minutes. With the

increased efficiency there was an increase in company profits causing Ford Motor Company to

become stable and popular with the working class family.

The whole concept was to reduce the time and effort that a worker spent on each car. Gradually, this

creative idea helped him to produce the famous Model T every 24 seconds (Gelderman, 1981). His

assembly line became the symbol of modern America and its richness. Ford also created the principle

called “Division of Labour”, which allowed workers to concentrate on doing a single job in an efficient

way rather than being responsible for a large number of jobs (Henry Ford, 2007).

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6.2 Interactive: Transformational leaders are interactive only when they are able to transfer information through

images, metaphors & models that convey meaning to their followers (Hackman and Johnson, 2009).

During his employment as a chief engineer at Edison Illuminating Company he accompanied his

superior to an annual convention where he took part in a discussion with a group of delegates, Edison

being one of them; he explained the workings of the gas engine to Edison by sketching everything.

Henry Ford always found that interacting with the help of images was simpler than descriptions alone.

Ford interacted with directors conducting meetings to rectify any adverse situations that arose within

the Company. In January 1914, he arranged for a directors‟ meeting to discuss better division of

profits between stockholders, customers and labourers which resulted in increased pay for the

labourers (Gelderman, 1981).

6.3 Visionary: Ford‟s vision was for the car to be made affordable to the average man, where previously cars were

considered as the status symbol for rich people in society. Within two decades, after the introduction

of the Model-T, rapid changes occurred in the lives of the common people. The Model-T‟s popularity

and reasonable price resulted in remarkable sales of 5,000,000 in just 13 years (Gelderman, 1981).

6.4 Empowering: Empowerment comes into action when one encourages participation and involvement.

Transformational leaders are able to transfer power and to make others feel powerful (Hackman and

Johnson, 2009). One example of this is when the company was devising its own labour policies; Ford

gave entire power to John R. Lee, head of employment. Lee‟s first step was to revise the

unreasonable pay structure and raised the salary of everyone by 13 percent. He also protected

workers from subjective actions by their superiors; this not only gave Lee power but also made him

powerful.

6.5 Passionate: Richard Chang suggests that passion is the single most important competitive advantage an

organisation can have. Transformational Leaders are passionate about their work (Hackman and

Johnson, 2009).Henry Ford was no exception. In 1899, he had the option of continuing his

employment with the Electric Company or pursuing his automobile business. His passion towards

automobiles made the decision for him and he followed his dream (Ford, 1922). Henry ford was also

passionate about work efficiency and was determined to get maximum production with less stress on

his employees.

7.0 Ford as Charismatic Leader:

Ford is considered as the charismatic leader because he is a well-known business leader, who had

an impact on other‟s lives (Hackman and Johnson, 2009). Three approaches to determining the

characteristics of Charismatic Leaders are as follows,

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The Sociological Approach

The Behavioural/Attribution Approach

The Communication Approach

7.1 The sociological Approach: According to Weber‟s sociological approach: “To maintain power over followers a leader must

periodically demonstrate exceptional gifts” (Hackman and Johnson, 2009). Henry Ford gifted his

customers by sharing the profits of Model T by reducing the price of the car from $950 to $450 within

four years.

Henry Ford created a “Sociological Department” and appointed fifty investigators in order to make

certain the workers were not spending excessive money on alcohol and cigarettes (Gelderman,

1981). No other manufacturing company had such concern for their workers and the social

consequences of their wages. Henry Ford ensured his workers received the new five-dollar a day

wage and educated the immigrants in English, cleanliness and financial advice (Gelderman, 1981).

7.2 The Behaviour/Attribution Approach: Certain leaders can be described as charismatic; behavioralists try to describe charisma as a set of

behaviours. Robert House and Bernard Bass developed a set of conclusions about charismatic

leaders through their behaviours. These conclusions can be divided into three major categories;

leader behaviours, leader/follower relations and elements of the charismatic situation. (Hackman and

Johnson, 2009)

Once Ford achieved legitimate power he displayed great competence, he had effective argumentation

and used his early demonstrations of his expertise as a mechanic/manufacturer to serve as a role

model to his workers and the public through media and his advertising. By giving the public more

freedom in their leisure time and giving the ordinary man fair days wage for a fair days work, he

developed loyalty with his workers.

The third behaviour category describes the elements of the charismatic situation as most likely to

appear when a group is under stress. In Ford‟s case it was the opposite, where his initial success and

then his continued success and expansion that almost seemed to snowball, generated feelings of

admiration of how great a man he must be to have succeed so well.

Jay Conger and Rabindra Kanungo approached charismatic leadership through attributes. Stating

that behaviours attributing to charismatic characteristics that encourage followers are; to possess a

vision that is unique yet attainable, demonstrate personal commitment and risk taking, demonstrate

confidence and expertise and finally demonstrate personal power (Hackman and Johnson, 2009).

Henry Ford possessed all of these attributes, his vision was to build a less expensive car through

mass production, this dream must have seemed convincing to others as he didn‟t have difficulty

convincing investors to invest in his company.

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His vision was also unconventional, motor cars at the time were quite expensive and he believed this

could be changed, which he eventually achieved. He was quite vocal when circumstances didn‟t

favour him and challenged anybody who attempted to deviate or disagree with his vision.

In the early days of the Ford Motor Company he showed great personal commitment working long

hours on the design of the Model T, but was also happy to assist shopfloor workers if they were in

need of assistance, unconcerned that his clothes would get dirty.

Ford‟s main form of power and a strong characteristic was his expertise. His achievements through

racing, production and large sales showed his expertise in building cars. This confidence influenced

the initial investors and through the media. The public also perceived Ford as a confident man and

had confidence in the Model T.

Henry Ford‟s ability to demonstrate personal power was very high, when the company was in it‟s

infancy working with the men, being very persuasive over people especially when there were

disagreements. This changed as he gained more legitimate power and the focus changed towards

high production through plant layouts and more efficient machining techniques. As the Ford Motor

Company became larger he became more authoritarian.

7.3 The Communication Approach: Hackman and Johnson (2009, p135) believes that “charisma is a product of communication”. The

three core functions of communication for charismatic are:

Charismatic‟s as Relationship Builders

Charismatic‟s as Visionaries

Charismatic‟s as Influence agents

Henry Ford had built a charismatic relationship with his workers as he was loyal to them and they

were loyal to him and the company. He developed programs for people who would not have

previously had access to basic hygiene services and taught them how to use basic amenities. He

helped them develop English skills so they could better migrate into society. The company revolved

around Henry making him the Queen of the Bee Hive of activity. No major decision was made unless

Henry made it.

The vision that Henry initially projected was foreign to people, as only wealthy families could afford to

purchase an automobile. To say every family should be able to afford an automobile was ludicrous to

many. However Ford was so passionate about his vision that no one was going to stand in the way of

his vision becoming a reality. He projected this confidence and determination to his employees,

making them see what he could see.

However Ford projected such high confidence and determination of himself, he would not allow any

other person‟s comment or suggestion of any of his idea be voiced, making his followers never

question his decision or what direction the company was heading.

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Henry‟s symbolic focus was the Ford Motor Company, he used his charismatic influence such as

confidence, competence and high productivity to influence his workers, investors and perspective

purchasers into believing that Ford was the most economical and technical advanced vehicle on the

road.

8.0 Leadership & Power:

Bennis and Nanus summarise the relationship between power and leadership as:”Power is the

capacity to translate intention into reality and sustain it. Leadership is the wise use of this

power...Vision is the commodity of leaders, and power is their currency” Hackman and Johnson (2009

p135)

Henry Ford certainly had vision and although it didn‟t immediately materialise, having been

unsuccessful in two previous companies, the success of the Model T confirmed his vision had merit.

This vision would not have been possible if he wasn‟t able to influence others.

In starting a company to manufacture cars that were cheaper and more affordable to Middle America

he used all five sources of power that John French and Bertram Raven isolated. The primary sources

of power are Coercive (Ability to administer punishment or negative reinforcement), Reward (Deliver

something of value to others), Legitimate (Resides in position rather than in the person), Expert

(Influence via knowledge & skills) and Referent (Role Model power, admiration, etc, but depends on

feelings).

Generally people use one or two of these power bases more than others and Henry Ford was no

different where he tended to use Reward, Legitimate and Expert more than Coercive and Referent.

The primary stages of the company required the use of certain power bases more so than those used

in later stages of the company. For example, when he was trying to get financial backing for the

company he used more expert power by building and demonstrating his inventions, whereas once the

company became more mature and he became president of the company he was able to use more

legitimate power to lead and influence others.

One primary power that Ford used very effectively was referent power. He first started using this type

of power when he used motor racing to publicise his name and his mechanical expertise. “A deeper

motivation – the sense that the new entertainment form could generate enormous publicity – clearly

lay at the bottom of this career move.” He strategically used his cars successes in advertising

campaigns trumpeting statements such as, “Worlds mile straight away record broken by a FORD

MACHINE.” Watts (2005, p82). Again as the company matured and especially during the production

of the Model T, Ford and his advertisers used referent power in selling the cars traits and the man

himself.

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One of Fords most renowned use of primary sources of power was to introduce the $5 a day wage

and to introduce the 5 day working week. This decision used two types of primary power, legitimate

based on his position in the company and reward by delivering something of value to others, in this

case his workers.

Fords vision of delivering a cheaper car to more people in the early twentieth century coincided with

the American public‟s cultural shift towards leisure time. His leadership and vision to produce the

Model T at an affordable price allowed more people to own a car, in a type of distributing power he

gained more referent power by empowering others (Middle America) to use their leisure time more by

allowing them to travel further more easily.

The basic definition of legitimate power stating that it resides in the position rather than in the person

was something Ford didn‟t feel he had until he had full financial and managerial control over his

company. This lack of feeling of legitimate power was evident in the early failed companies, where he

lost interest in the companies. He felt the investors were forcing him in a direction contrary to his

vision.

Ford‟s vision of a smaller, lighter, less expensive car, to sell to more people was in contrast to

Malcomson‟s where he wanted larger more expensive cars. It wasn‟t until Malcomson sold his shares

to Ford and when he was elected president of the company that he felt he had legitimate power. It

was then that a small group, with Ford at the centre of the process that Ford began to develop his

universal car. As was emphasised by an employee, “The people did the work, but when it came to

„shall we put this here or there?‟ Mr Ford would say, „we‟ll put it here‟, and that was the end of that.”

In terms of leadership style, it certainly wasn‟t power sharing he had the last say on what stayed and

what didn‟t. The organisational model was a traditional model. In this model empowerment was

provided to his close engineers to a certain extent to provide ideas and solutions but it was always

Ford‟s final decision if it was accepted or rejected. This means the models of empowerment such as

„Leading the Journey” and “Super leadership” weren‟t a philosophy used by Ford. Ford used part of

“Leading the Journey” methods by removing obstacles and ensuring systems supported maximum

production but he always maintained ownership and responsibility of the direction of the company.

9.0 Leadership & Diversity:

Diversity management means taking advantage of the benefits of a diverse work force and coping

with problems that arise from having different backgrounds working together. To promote diversity is

to enable employees, regardless of their nationality, age, gender or physical ability to achieve their full

potential and contribution to the organisations goals and performance. Globalisation becoming more

prevalent in the last 10 – 20 years the importance and challenges of diversity as described above is

more relevant from the 1980s to present.

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This doesn‟t mean Henry Ford was not a diverse leader but he used diversity to help people achieve

their goals through self help by encouraging them to work hard. He believed in giving people

opportunity by giving them a leg up rather than a handout. Ford was drawn to the plight of the African

Americans and ex-prisoners; he apparently refused to fire a man for stealing. “Give him a better job,”

Henry instructed, “and see if that will make him a better man.” Bak (2003, p121)

With Henry Ford‟s agreement, James Couzens developed the Sociological Department to look after

their employees‟ welfare but also help immigrants in basic hygiene teaching them to use a toothbrush,

clean a sink and change a nappy. At Highland Park signs were posted in several languages.

Foreigners were enrolled in an Americanisation program teaching reading, writing and speaking

English. Although a very basic form of diversity, it was more than many other companies were offering

considering it was the early 1900‟s.

In today‟s society some of these activities such as “Americanisation program” could be taken as

offensive to some cultures and classified as brain washing. All workers were subject to being visited

by inspectors from the sociological department, a very intrusive policy and one that would not be

tolerated in today‟s society.

Ford had a genuine concern for African Americans, helping improving their schools and housing. He

expressed particular interest in getting African Americans into the Henry Ford Trade school. The Ford

Motor Company had hired African Americans in a wide variety of jobs not only on the factory floor

such as machinists, but also in the white-collar positions. But as Ford showed concern for African

Americans, he showed a lack of diverse leadership with his comments criticising the Jewish

community. He spoke about good Jews and bad Jews but couldn‟t comprehend why his Jewish

friends and workers weren‟t happy with his attitudes.

Although quite basic in today‟s terms of job assignments and wouldn‟t be classed as fitting strategies

that promote diversity across the organisation, especially now America has an African American

president. But considering the era, Henry Ford displayed traits of a diverse leader. Strategies that

Ford utilised to promote diversity included; offering training and education, recruiting more diverse

members and helping non traditional employees develop and move up in the organisation,

However, he didn‟t seem to make leaders accountable for diversity progress it seemed more a

personal crusade of Ford‟s. “He (Henry Ford) stressed work as an endeavour to promote harmony

and understanding between races.” Henry Ford didn‟t provide work-life flexibility specifically for

women and minorities but did incorporate the 5 day working week and the 8 hour day. In terms of

fostering diversity to create more women leaders again given the period he was quite forward

thinking, when the $5 a day wage was introduced women didn‟t receive this immediately, however

they did receive the same wage a couple of years afterwards. Remembering the period and with such

attitudes as shown by James Couzins, “They are not the same factors as the men are, they do not

control the standard of living...” Bak (2003, p90) Ford may not have been directly responsible for

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giving the women the same wage as the men but he certainly would have had approved this wage

increase for women.

Within America one of Ford‟s employees Norval Hawkins, realised that there were boundaries where

it was more economic to send parts to an assembly plant and assemble a car for sale rather than

freight a whole car.

It was soon realised that this was also the case overseas, as the volume of cars sold overseas

increased. To accommodate the increase in sales, manufacturing plants were opened in Manchester

(England), Australia, Denmark and Canada.( Ford Model T tourer,2009) The only challenges

mentioned was converting the Model T to Right Hand Drive, it seems the process introduced by Ford

focusing on production rather than thinking reduced the cultural differences in the plants in other

countries. It should also be noted that the countries mentioned have similar programmed value

patterns potentially making it easier to operate plants in different countries without significant cultural

effects.

10.0 Leadership and Influence:

The dimension of a good leader is someone who has creditability and has proven themselves in three

areas (Hackman and Johnson, 2009):

Competence

Trustworthiness

Dynamism

Ford was a pioneer in the area of manufacturing automobile, which contributed to him being

dynamism, as he was confident in what he was doing. Ford being competent in the manufacturing of

automobiles made it easier for followers to follow as they knew their leader had already done what he

is asking them do, he had „walked the walk‟ before.

It came naturally for the workers to find Ford trustworthy as he had always paid his workers above

the award rate, Ford understood the best production is to pay your workers well, however to be

employed by Ford he was looking for certain attributes from his workers and service men. The

following criterion was needed to be met to be taken on board as a company that would service or sell

Ford vehicles.

(1) A progressive, up-to-date man keenly alive to the possibilities of business.

(2) A suitable place of business clean and dignified in appearance.

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(3) A stock of parts sufficient to make prompt replacements and keep in active service every Ford car

in his territory.

(4) An adequately equipped repair shop which has in it the right machinery for every necessary repair

and adjustment.

(5) Mechanics who are thoroughly familiar with the construction and operation of Ford cars.

(6) A comprehensive bookkeeping system and a follow-up sales system, so that it may be instantly

apparent what is the financial status of the various departments of his business, the condition and

size of his stock, the present owners of cars, and the future prospects.

(7) Absolute cleanliness throughout every department. There must be no unwashed windows, dusty

furniture, and dirty floors.

(8) A suitable display sign.

(9) The adoption of policies which will ensure absolutely square dealing and the highest character of

business ethics.

And this is the general instruction that was issued by Henry Ford:

“A dealer or a salesman ought to have the name of every possible automobile buyer in his territory,

including all those who have never given the matter a thought. He should then personally solicit by

visitation if possible--by correspondence at the least--every man on that list and then making

necessary memoranda, know the automobile situation as related to every resident so solicited. If

your territory is too large to permit this, you have too much territory.” Ford (1922, p55). This helped

build up the creditability of Ford within the community as people could put a name to face of the

dealer or servicemen, which gave Ford creditability as a company.

Early in the construction of Model T there was a law suit being pressed against Ford Company as

they would not agree to join the union. The public were aware of this situation as it was highly

advertised. It was advertised that anyone who bought a Ford had bought themselves a ticket to jail

or were classed as criminals among their peers. Ford could see this was causing an issue in the

community. Ford was so confident that they would win the law suit he took an advertisement out in

all the principal news papers across USA stating this:

“In conclusion we beg to state if there are any prospective automobile buyers who are at all

intimidated by the claims made by our adversaries that we will give them, in addition to the

protection of the Ford Motor Company with its some $6,000,000.00 of assets, an individual bond

backed by a Company of more than $6,000,000.00 more of assets, so that each and every individual

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owner of a Ford car will be protected until at least $12,000,000.00 of assets have been wiped out by

those who desire to control and monopolize this wonderful industry.

The bond is yours for the asking, so do not allow yourself to be sold inferior cars at extravagant

prices because of any statement made by this "Divine" body.

N. B.--This fight is not being waged by the Ford Motor Company without the advice and counsel of

the ablest patent attorneys of the East and West.”

These advertisements gave the community assurance as well as its workers, which increased the

sales to high that year. It shows that Ford during a difficult time has taken power and shown the

community his vision that they are not doing anything wrong and should the law suit go in favour of

the prosecutor the Ford Company was willing to take full responsibility and not let the blame or

financial stress go to the purchasers.

11.0 Professional Ethics:

Ford was very high on his standards and expected anyone who worked for him to be as well. He

would not produce an automobile unless he was sure himself that it was safe no short cuts were

taken and it was constructed with the best material at the time. Ford’s ambition was ‘to have every

piece of machinery, or other non- consumable product that I turn out, so strong and so well made

that no one ought ever to have to buy a second one. A good machine of any kind ought to last as

long as a good watch.’ Ford (1922, p157).

The belief of competition was disregard as Ford believed whoever does a thing the best ought to be

the one to do it and it is criminal to try to get business away from another man, as you are trying to

lower your standards for personal gain.

As shown in section 9.0 the Ford Company would not employee anyone unless they meet the criteria

which help develop ethics among the workers as a majority of the employees already possessed high

ethics.

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12.0 Conclusion

Henry Ford was by no means a born leader; he was an exceptional mechanic with a natural aptitude

for all things mechanical. However as we have studied, Vince Lombardi stated, “Leaders are made,

they are not born. They are made by hard effort.” Hackman and Johnson (2009 p73) this was also

Ford‟s philosophy. He was a transformational leader possessing creativeness, vision, power and good

interaction. He catered for a mass market rather than focusing on a small percentage of the market

and in doing so he kept the product uniform and was able to introduce the concept of mass

production. However empowerment wasn‟t something Henry Ford was comfortable with sharing with

others; he felt he needed to be in full control to ensure his vision was fulfilled.

He was a charismatic leader using all three of the approaches outlined: sociological,

behavioural/attribution and communication. He possessed a talent for mechanical equipment and a

radical vision. He showed great personal commitment and confidence to his unique while still

attainable vision. In the early stages of the company his charisma increased as the success of the

company increased, exciting others forming a charismatic influence over his workers and the public.

He initially used two power sources to achieve his vision, via expert and reward power. As he became

majority share holder and president of the company he used legitimate power to achieve his goals.

Ford used reward and expert power in the beginning but as his legitimate power increased he

became authoritarian almost totalitarian in his leadership. Whilst he became authoritarian he still kept

his values behaving relatively ethically during his leadership.

As a diverse leader he didn‟t have a balanced approached looking after immigrants and African

Americans through his Sociological Department. However he used this same department to inspect

people‟s living conditions. In addition, he attacked the Jewish community. Being in the early 1900‟s

women didn‟t have right to vote but Ford still believed everyone was entitled to a fair wage and

although delayed women were eventually payed the same rate.

He had great influence as a leader and pioneered the automotive industry by inventing mass

production. He utilised the conveyor system to mass produce a vehicle revolutionising the

construction process in the early 20th century, this process is still used today in modern assembly

lines which has left Ford‟s legacy as the Godfather of mass production

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13.0 References:

1. Bak, Richard. (2003). Henry and Edsel: The Creation of the Ford Empire. Hoboken, New

Jersey: John Wiley & Sons

2. Gelderman, C. (1981), Henry Ford: The wayward Capitalist. New York, United States: The

Dial Press

3. Chandy,A. (2010) Henry Ford: Raising A Nation. Viewed April 19,2010, Retrieved from

http://www.buzzle.com/editorials/5-28-2004-54768.asp

4. Ford Model T tourer, 1916. (2009). viewed 24 April 2010, Retrieved from

http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database/?irn=214701&img=271124

5. Ford, H. (1922), My Life and Work. New York, United States: Arno Press : Doubleday

6. Hackman, M. & Johnson, C. (2009). Leadership: A Communication Perspective. Long Grove,

Illinois: Waveland Press, Inc

7. Henry Ford: Fascinating facts about Henry Ford

inventor of mass production in 1913. (2007). viewed 7 April 2010, Retrieved from

http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventors/ford.htm

8. Watts, Steven. (2005). The People’s Tycoon: Henry Ford and the American Century. New

York, United States: Vintage Books