Ford on Deal and Kennedy's "Strong Cultures"

1. Ford Representing Culture
in the Automobile Industry
By: Madeleine Cherney

2. Article
Overview
My Article discusses the importance of
culture at Ford. It goes over what the most
important parts of their company’s culture
are and also how much their culture affects
their company.

3. Concept This presentation is based on chapter 4 in
Katherine Miller’s Organizational
Communication textbook. More specifically, I am
relating the concept of culture and Deal and
Kennedy’s “Strong Cultures” to the automobile
industry. I have narrowed down the automobile
industry and will only be talking in-depth about
Ford’s culture.

4. Concept
Continued
The Cultural Metaphor
“In using a cultural metaphor for the
investigation of an organization, we are again
looing for the qualities that make an organization
what it is. What makes Google different from
Apple?” (Miller text, pg. 71)

5. Deal and
Kennedy’s
“Strong
Cultures”
1. “Values are the beliefs and visions that members hold
for an organization.”
2. “Heroes are the individuals who come to exemplify
and organizations values.”
3. “Rites and rituals are the ceremonies through which
an organization celebrates its values.”
4. “The Cultural network is the communication system
through which cultural values are instituted and
reinforced.” (Miller text, pg. 72)

6. Culture at Ford
Ford’s organizational culture is highly
valued in the company. The only way that
they will reach their goal of industry
leadership is if they hold to what their firm
believes to be appropriate driving
principles for the company.

7. Higher up and
Further in
Ford’s Vision and Mission Statements are
the company culture’s driving force.
Their vision statement is:
 “people working together as a lean,
global enterprise for automotive
leadership.” (panmore.com, vision and mission statement)

8. Maintaining
Vision of
Leading the
Industry
 Global leadership
Emphasis on stakeholders
Lean business
These points in Ford’s vision statement
emphasize their high achieving culture.

9. On a Mission
“One Team. One Plan. One Goal.”
Ford is on a “One Ford” (panmore.com, mission
statement) mission to become the leading
automobile industry in the world. This is an
integral part of their culture.

10. Mission
Statement
Breakdown
 One Team: People achieving harmony while working
together to form a well cut global enterprise for
automotive leadership. Ford measures this by: Customer,
Employee, Dealer, Investor, Supplier, Union/Council,
and Community Satisfaction.
One Plan: Operating with profit is a must so quick
restructures of the company are common. Quickly
producing new products, keeping up with the newest
desires for cars. Ford must work together as a single
team.
One Goal: “An exciting viable Ford delivering
profitable growth for all.” (panmore.com, mission statement)

11. Ford’s Values
in Relation to
Deal and
Kennedy’s
“Strong
Cultures”
 Ford values working together on teams
 Ford values delivering effective results
in a timely manner
 Ford values employees being a role
model to other employees
 Ford values functional and technical
excellence

12. Ford’s Heroes
in Relation to
Deal and
Kennedy’s
“Strong
Cultures”
The hero of Ford is Henry Ford
himself, the founder of the company. He
will always be the hero as his last name is
the company’s name. He is someone who is
known around the world by his name and
his company, Ford.

13. Ford’s Rites
and Rituals in
Relations to
Deal and
Kennedy’s
“Strong
Cultures”
Employees who greatly excel at Ford are
rewarded with raises and promotions, just like at
any other successful company. Information
regarding special treatment such as picnics and
awards for individual employees is not disclosed
however.

14. Ford’s Cultural
Network in
Relation to
Deal and
Kennedy’s
“Strong
Cultures”
Ford puts to use multiple cultural
networks for communication. They have
newsletters and websites. Additionally,
employees are encouraged to put to use
face-to-face communication as this is the
most reliable and useful way to
communicate. Ford is certainly on top of
their game when it comes to modern
cultural networks.

15. Advantages
and
Disadvantages
Overall, Ford’s company culture is very
beneficial for working towards their goals. However,
all aspects of their culture must be closely inspected.
 Advantage of Ford’s organizational culture is the
immense amount of teamwork and the unity this
brings about
Improved business from what it was before this
newer implication of culture.
One disadvantage is that Ford never addresses the
concept of flexibility. If flexibility was
implemented, better problem-solving processes
would be brought about. Also, there would be more
open-mindedness in the company.

16. Questions
 Is it possible for any two organizations to have
the exact same culture?
 In the automobile industry, what is the most
important aspect of each company’s culture?
 What is the single most true way a company
can better develop their culture?
 Are any cultures actually better than another or
is the way people view different cultures solely
based on how individuals are raised?

17. Thoughts for:
 In order to better a company’s culture, an open
mind must be kept. This is so that perhaps ideas
from other more advanced cultures can find
their way into your organization.
 If everyone was simply more accepting of
other cultures besides their own, the business
world would be a more relaxed place. This goes
for the automobile industry and all other
industries.

18. What’s Next?
The automobile industry’s culture and each
individual company’s culture continues to grow
every second of the day. Ideas are constantly put
to use and wasted on how to make cultures better.
Some cultures stay relatively the same over the
years while others change rapidly with each new
leader of the company. What does the future
culture of the automobile industry look like?

19. Culture is
Important in
the Automobile
Industry

20. Works Cited
 Lombardo, J. (2017, February 5). Ford Motor Company’s
Organizational Culture Analysis. In Panmore Institute . Retrieved
from http://panmore.com/ford-motor-company-organizational-
culture-analysis
 Miller, K. (2015). Organizational Communication Approaches and
Processes (Seventh ed., pp. 71-72). Stamford, CT: Cengage
Learning.
 Thompson, A. (2017, February 5). Ford Motor Company’s Vision
Statement, Mission Statement. In Panmore Institute . Retrieved
from http://panmore.com/ford-motor-company-vision-statement-
mission-statement