Ford Of Europe Research Articles

Trading in the Single European Market

The Chairman of Ford of Europe discusses the implications of a unified European market for the automobile industry. Ford already has a well established unified European approach to research, engineering, product development and manufacturing, and fully supports the single European market. He describes the existing market barriers within Europe, such as regulations on exhaust emissions, different tax and insurance structures, and other distortions of the market system. While some of these will be swept away in a unified European market, there will still be national and regional differences within the market resulting from differences in culture and wealth. Another aspect addressed is the problem of bringing about free and fair trading between Europe and other trading partners such as Japan.

Television in the Workplace: Ford and FCN TV

Television is increasingly creeping into non-traditional spaces such as workplaces. As part of that movement, Ford Motor Company of Europe uses television as a key component of communication between top management and subordinates. The company broadcasts over its internal television system various Ford-related video and news stories to its plants in five countries—UK, France, Belgium, Spain, and Germany. As an employee in Ford of Europe's internal-communications team based in Cologne, I witnessed first-hand the inner dynamics of the deployment of television in a pan-European setting. Through television, the company is crafting a transnational corporate identity among its multi-national workforce, interpellating viewers in the various local sites within a larger “Ford family.” While television can act as a unifying force, the deployment of the technology also exacerbates tensions within the transnational entity as inflected by site-specific concerns—white collar/blue collar, international/national, management/union, labor/leisure, and public/private. Layered on top of this multitude of tensions remains the inherently propagandistic nature of developing news for a captive audience. For myself and others at the company, irony became a necessary tactic, to use DeCerteau's terms, to cope with the presence of a potentially monolithic technology in the prototypical transnational corporation.

Classic operational concepts plus touchscreen

A new HMI configuration (human machine interface) hitherto unique in the automotive industry provides an ideal addition to two previously competing operational strategies, with control elements for the display dialogue (classic) and touchscreen technology. Now the driver is offered a free choice between steering wheel actuation of the combi display, touch- screen in the central console and voice control. Developed by Ford of Europe, the system bears the name FordConvers+. The OEM describes the path from the “vision of simplicity” to the first integration in series production.

Ford employees feel the difference

PurposeThe paper seeks to reveal how Ford of Europe communicated the importance of its “Feel the Difference” brand strategy to more than 20,000 European employees.Design/methodology/approachThe paper describes how media‐rich learning was devised and implemented, and the results it has attained.FindingsThe paper describes how the entry point to the learning experience is a scrolling 360‐degree panoramic menu depicting an auto‐show environment which brings together Ford of Europe, dealers, national sales companies, the press and, most importantly, the public, in an event that showcases future product development. Users explore the environment by clicking on three‐dimensional objects found at an auto show. In this way, it offers an opportunity to experience the Ford brand and forms a good environment for a communications piece.Practical implicationsThe paper shows how e‐learning can be used to make learning fun and memorable.Originality/valueThe paper reveals how innovative e‐learning can be used to great effect among employees who may be cynical about internal marketing initiatives.

Sustainable management of vehicle design

Ford of Europe's Product Sustainability Index (PSI) is a sustainability management tool directly used by engineers, i.e., not by sustainability or life-cycle experts. PSI is looking at eight indicators reflecting environmental (life-cycle Global Warming Potential (GWP), life-cycle air quality potential, sustainable materials, restricted substances and drive by exterior noise), social (mobility capability and safety) and economic (life-cycle cost of ownership) vehicle attributes. Ford Galaxy and S-MAX are the first vehicles where this tool has been applied from the beginning of their development. The results show significant improvements compared to the predecessor. This has been externally reviewed according to ISO 14040.

Key enablers for the effective implementation of QFD: a critical analysis

PurposeThis paper presents the concepts and principles of quality function deployment (QFD) as they have been implemented by Ford company. The paper illustrates the essential linkages between external and internal customers to suppliers (i.e. “Voice‐Quality‐Satisfaction” Chains).Design/methodology/approachThe paper considers some of the details of changes that are occurring to support the “Breakthrough in Quality”. One of the key elements of the Ford Motor Company engineering quality improvements program (EQIP) within Europe has been the linking of some seven‐quality tool techniques including QFD as the core link. For the purpose of improving QFD, it is both useful and rational to look at ways in which it can be linked to, or integrated with other quality tools. The Ford EQIP training process argues that QFD, within a customer focused engineering (CFE) process is a key tool in linking all other tools, through the QFD process itself.FindingsThe paper also looks at discussions on QFD linkages with other quality tools and processes. This sequence of QFD linkages to other single, or dual linked quality tools finishing with some engineering processes is particularly discussed. Among these are Pugh Concept Selection, Taguchi methods, experimentation, failure mode effects analysis (FMEA), value management, quality benchmark deployment (QBD) and benchmarking, process management, statistical process control (SPC), team oriented problem solving – eight disciplines (TOPS 8D), and systems engineering.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough the manifestation of the Ford customer satisfaction process has been reviewed as the CFE QFD process within Ford of Europe, its adoption and awareness is still limited. As a result of this, it is critical to review the research topic of customer satisfaction with a focus on how Ford Motor Company as a whole approaches this key goal through the use of various marketing, sales and marketing research office (MRO) initiatives.Practical implicationsIt discusses the various arguments and proposals that link together the end user customers voice to the internal customer‐supplier chains that act on the customer input and feedback to improve product quality and ultimately deliver higher end user satisfaction.Originality/valueThe paper concludes with a discussion of the use of QFD with other quality tools and processes, the role of QFD within total quality management (TQM) processes, and team working.

Ford of Britain: A diminishing role in ford of Europe

In this paper, Michael McDermott highlights Ford of Britain and its changing role in Ford of Europe's operations. A review of the literature on foreign direct investment provides a framework for evaluating Ford Motor Company's current position and future strategy in Europe. This suggests that the company is in decline and in particular, that Ford of Britain has reached a stage where foreign divestment is likely: the Iberian peninsula is emerging as an attractive strategic alternative. The author concludes that, while the UK is losing its strategic importance as a market and a production base for Ford of Europe, any key decision to divest by the parent company is likely to involve lengthy analysis and therefore give time for public policy-makers to consider possible safeguards.

How Ford is building a communications superhighway

Early in 1991, Ford of Europe became the first company to implement a private, all–ditigal network crossing international boundaries. Delivered, installed, and serviced by Siemens, Ford of Europe's ISDN–based wide area network (WAN) is designed to support CAD/CAM terminals, together with 14 000 digital and 3000 analogue telephone handsets. Vastly improved transmission speeds, outstanding reliability, centralized network control, and substantially reduced communication costs are projected. In addition, Ford of Europe is working with Siemens on WAN2, which will extend ISDN services to Ford's suppliers and dealers.

Quality engineering

Ford of Europe has as its mission ‘to continually improve our products and services to meet our customer needs’. The company is adopting Taguchi's philosophy of Loss Function analysis and the Quality Function Deployment planning tool to support its Total Quality culture.

Joined Cases 25 and 26/84, Ford Werke A.G. and Ford of Europe Inc. v. Commission of the European Communities, Judgment of 17 September 1985. Application under

Joined Cases 25 and 26/84, <i>Ford Werke A.G. and Ford of Europe Inc.</i> v. <i>Commission of the European Communities</i>, Judgment of 17 September 1985. Application under

Joined Cases 228 and 229/82, Ford of Europe, Inc., and Ford Werke AG v. Commission, Judgment of 20 February 1984, (1984) 1 C.M.L.R. 64

<i>Joined Cases 228 and 229/82, Ford of Europe, Inc., and Ford Werke AG</i> v. <i>Commission</i>, Judgment of 20 February 1984, (1984) 1 C.M.L.R. 64