Was Henry Ford a Good Manager? Essay Sample

The aim of this paper is to study the activity of Henry Ford, analyze how he achieved success and define whether his management was good. The history of Ford Motor Company shows up all the abilities and gifts of Henry Ford as a founder of major company in the world. He was not an innovator but he was able to find, detect and attract famous and prominent people. His main task was to hire a company of young, qualified men who trusted him and believed that his ideas would promote Ford Motor Company and would make it one of the worlds best industrial organizations.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

In 1908 Henry Ford set in operation The Model T. It was not difficult to drive, service, and handle on bumpy roads. It became a great success at once. Ford was able to sell quickly all the Model Ts that his workers could make; but he desired to make all that he was able to sell. The Model T was a trustworthy vehicle which was produced for the mass consumer and was sold at a reasonable price. Ford raced and tested this vehicle on numerous occasions to prove how comfortable it was. The main half of all the cars that were sold in 1918 in America was a Model T (CarDataVideo).

As for Welfare Capitalism, it is necessary to mention that it was capitalism that was concerned about the welfare of workers. Social welfare occupied the first place that is why Henry Ford was a follower of such system. In order to hire good employees, Ford decided to raise the wage of his workers to $5 per day. There was no such a salary on other enterprises before in 1914. Also, Henry Ford considerably doubled the average salary. He tried to create comfortable conditions of work to stimulate his employees to work more and in the year 1920 he offered to introduce the forty hour week.

Ford had a difficult nature. He always had his own opinion and he was rather contentious and had a complicated personality. Ford was criticized for his stubborn management style because the company's struggles were provoked by him. He did not want to unite with the industrial union of vehicular workers, and to stave off his good workers from uniting, he made secret agents and company security service control his workers. To win workers confidence and increase the productivity, Ford raised wages thus changing turnover rates to more than 50% (Allen).

Moreover, Henry Ford was largely famous for his style of management of a dictator. He made a decision on every question in the company and sometimes even controlled the activity of his workers outside of work. Ford was firm and determined in his vision of the management. Ford's exacting style of administration and vision for constructing vehicles could become also his weak point. Ford was able to join the production of all vehicles in one company, and the company finally monitored all departments of the car producing process, including the production of raw materials and possessing rubber plants abroad. The Model T was a great luck in the market, but it was represented only in black color for more than twenty years, and Ford was criticized for deficiency in the product range and lack of diversity in his work (Gunderson).

To sum up, Henry Ford had his own style of management but it is difficult to call him a good manager. He was a dictator and imposed his opinion to his employees but at the same time he did all his best to improve working conditions. He told them what to do. To become a good manager, he needed to involve his employees in improving the process of constructing vehicles and making decisions in working process.