СИТУАЦИЯ для АНАЛИЗА

“Henry Ford and Alfred Sloan Jr.”

Генри Форд в сравнении с Альфредом П. Слоуном-младшим.

Генри Форд и Альфред П. Слоун-младший быливеликими руководителями. Они противостояли друг другу в 20-х гг., когда впервые возникла концепция управления как профессии я научной дисциплины.

Генри Форд представлял архетип авторитарного предпринимателя прошлого: склонный к одиночеству, в высшей мере своевольный, всегда настаивающий на собственном пути, презирающий теории и "бессмысленное" чтение книг, он считал своих служащих "помощниками". Если "помощник" осмеливался перечить Форду или самостоятельно принимать важное решение, он обычно лишался работы. Hа фирме "Форд Мотор" только один человек принимал решения с любыми последствиями. Форд расценил предложение Альфреда П. Слоуна о реорганизации "Дженерал Моторс" следующим образом: "...картинка с развесистой клюквой посредине... Человек вынужден слоняться взад-вперед, и от ответственности каждый увиливает, следуя мудрости лентяев, что две головы лучше одной". Общие же принципы Форда были суммированы а одной фразе: "Любой покупатель, может получить автомобиль любого цвета, какого пожелает, пока автомобиль остается черным".

У Форда было достаточно оснований насмехаться над новомодными идеями Слоуна для фирмы "Дженерал Моторс". Форд сделал свою модель "Ти" настолько дешевой, что ее мог купить практически любой работающий человек.

Примерно за 12 лет Форд превратил крошечную компанию в гигантскую отрасль, изменившую американское общество. Более того, он сделал это, постигнув как построить автомобиль, продаваемый всего за 290 долл., и платя своим рабочие одну из самых высоких ставок того времени — 5 долл. в неделю. Так много людей купили модель "Ти", что в 1921 г. "Форд Мотор" контролировала 56% рынка легковых автомобилей и заодно почти весь мировой рынок. Фирма "Дженерал Моторс", которая в то время была конгломератом из нескольких небольших полунезависимых компаний, хаотично перемешанных: за проволочной оградой, располагала всего 13% рынка и дрейфовала к банкротству.

К счастью, семья Дюпонов ради спасения огромных капиталовложений в акции "Дженерал Моторс" приняла на себя ведение се дел, пока крах еще не разразился. Пьер С. Дюпон, сам крупный сторонник современного управления, назначил президентом фирмы Альфреда П. Слоуна. Слоун быстро превратил а реальность планы, над которыми издевался Форд, тем самым введя в практику то, что остается до сих пор главным принципом управления крупными компаниями. Реорганизованная "Дженерал Моторс" располагала крупной и сильной группой управления, а множество людей получили право самостоятельно принимать важные решения.

Слоун как личность был полной противоположностью Форду. Последний был несгибаемо жестким, своевольным и интуитивным человеком, а любимыми словами Слоуна стали "концепция", "методология" и "рациональность". Человек не шлялся взад-вперед, как предсказывал Форд. Напротив, на каждого руководителя были возложены определенные обязанности и дана свобода делать все, что необходимо для их выполнения. Важно и то, что Слоун разработал хитроумную систему контроля, позволявшую ему и другим руководителям высшего уровня всегда быть в курсе того, что происходит в их гигантской организации.

В то время как "Форд Мотор" сохраняла верность черной модели "Ти" и традиции, согласно которой босс командует, а остальные выполняют, управленческая команда Слоуна быстро воплотила в жизнь новые концепции в соответствии с изменяющимися потребностями американцев. Фирма "Дженерал Моторс" ввела в практику частые замены моделей, предлагая потребителю широкий ассортимент стилевых и цветовых оформлений и доступный кредит. Доля "Форд Мотор" на рынке резко сократилась, а рейтинг се руководителей сильно снизился. В 1927 г. фирма была вынуждена остановить сборочный конвейер, чтобы переоснастить его под выпуск весьма запоздавшей модели "А". Это позволило "Дженерал Моторс" захватить 43,5% автомобильного рынка, оставив "Форду" менее 10%.

Несмотря на жестокий урок. Форд так и не смог прозреть. Вместо того чтобы учиться на опыте "Дженерал Моторс", он продолжал действовать по старинке. В следующие 20 лет фирма "Форд Мотор" едва удерживалась на третьем месте в автомобильной промышленности и почти каждый год теряла деньги. От банкротства ее спасало только обращение к резерву наличных в 1 млрд. долл., который Форд скопил в удачливые времена.

 

Вопросы:

1. Кто был лучшим менеджером — Форд или Слоун? Почему?

2. Какие внутренние и внешние факторы содействовали успеху фирм "Форд Мотор" и "Дженерал Моторс"? Какие факторы оказали влияние на упадок фирмы "Форд Мотор"?

3. Хотя и сегодня "Дженерал Моторс" больше "Форда", обе фирмы сконструированы и управляются схожим образом. Почему это так?

4. Какова важнейшая причина поражения Форда?

In 1909 the Oakland Motor Car Company united with Oldsmobile and Buick under the umbrella of GM. But two years before this merger, at the end of 1907, the first Oakland car was already related, in a curious way, to the other marques. Alanson P. Brush had been the assembly inspector for the 2000 engines and transmissions built by Henry Leland for the Olds curved dash. Afterwards Brush went on to become chief engineer for Leland's newly organized Cadillac Automobile Com­pany, designing and patenting its earliest engines.

Fortified by his success Brush opened his own engi­neering laboratory and was sought out by Edward M. Murphy, a successful carriage maker from Pontiac, Mich­igan. Brush became responsible for the complete design of the first Oakland — built by Murphy's Pontiac Buggy Company—a relatively light car with a 96 in. wheelbase and a 159.1 cu. in., 2cyl., vertical engine. Cylinder heads were of the screw-in type; the pistons moved up and down in unconventional unison, balanced through the use of a counter-rotating weighted shaft to produce 20 hp.

The Model K, Oakland's first 4 cyl., became a popular car primarily on the basis of its superior hill-climbing ability. Its production increased from 491 units in 1909 to 4639 units in 1910.

Oakland soon lost the services of Brush and Murphy; the former establishing his own company, the latter, prior to an untimely death, joining William Durant at GM. Despite this erosion of talent Oakland managed to pro­duce 2000 cars in a two-year period. In 1912 it placed eighth in sales in the industry. A year later Oakland introduced its first 6 cyl., along with a fast 4 cyl. that was equipped with a self-starter.

Early concepts for self-propelled vehicles. 100 years.or more before their advent late in the 19th century, were not for personal transport but to replace the hauling power of six or more horses. The very word "truck" is of ancient Greek derivation - trokhus a wheeled vehicle for carrying heavy loads. Il came to define a heavy, horse-drawn wagon. When early automobile chassis were adapted to commercial use. "motor" was prefixed lo "truck" lo distinguish the self-propelled from the horse-drawn wagon. "Truck" and "trucking" have conic to embrace a multiplicity of commercial vehicles, a gigantic industry vital lo American life.

Buick embarked upon the building of trucks early in 1910. Early Oldsmobile, Cadillac and Oakland trucks, -.among others, were often derived from passenger car chassis. Bui as a rule automobile chassis, with their light 'frames, engines and transmissions, were not suitable for heavy payloads. This led independent truck builders lo develop stronger, slower and more powerful chain-drive gasoline engines as well as electric motors capable of haul­ing five and six Ions. Two such companies, the Rapid Motor Vehicle Company founded in 1904 in Detroit and the Reliance Motor Company of Owosso, Michigan started in 1902, were represented by GM sales forces and subsequently consolidated with GM in 1911 lo form Gen­eral Motors Truck Company at Pontiac, Michigan. The new company was created specifically lo build heavy-duty trucks and buses. GMC Truck & Coach Division came into being in 1943 when GM finalized the purchase of Yellow Truck and Coach Manufacturing Company, a merger of the GM Truck and Yellow Cab Manufacturing companies.

During the spring and.summer of 1911 rumors of an alliance between Louis Chevrolet and William Durant circulated in Detroit. Then, during the latter part of the year D urant launched a trio of interrelated ventures, the Mason Motor Company, the Little Motor Car Company and the Chevrolet Motor Car Company. Although the companies' first cars-—the Little Four and Six' and Chevrolet's Six Type С Classic and Model H—met with an appreciative reception, it was the Chevrolet "490" with electric lights and self-starter that arrested car buyers' attention. The 490 was announced on December 16, 1914, shown at the New York Auto Show in January 1915, and placed on sale on June 1, 1915.

There were few adults in America who did not know that $490 was the cost of a Model T Ford. Within 17 days of putting the new car on the market the Chevrolet Motor Company had accepted orders, all secured by cash depos­its, for 46,611 490s valued al $23,329,390. The 490 was assembled in franchised plants throughout the country to reduce costs and speed deliveries, offering a superior car lo the Model T at a competitive price. During the summer of 1914 more than 1000 new orders were received every day. "A little child can sell it," Durant would boast. Six weeks after the 490 went on sale the Model T's price was reduced to $440.

In essence the 490 was the 4 cyl. Chevrolet stripped lo essentials, put on a 102 in. wheelbase and offered in any color so long as it was black. A simplified version of Chevy's 4 cyl. 170.9 cu. in. Model H engine, the engine of the 490 developed 20 hp, the same as the Model T. In almost three years Louis Chevrolet and William Durant brought the company to fourth place in sales and by 1916 produced 62,898. Chevrolet became a part of GM in 1918 and during its first year with the corporation sold 80,434 "Wonder Cars."

 

David Dunbar Buick, Eugene C. Richard and I |g Walter Marr share collective, if unequal, credit | Ц for developing the valve-in-head engine, a revolutionary principle that was eventually adopted Bass' by the entire automobile industry. The 2 cyl., 19 cu. in. engine developed 16.2 hp at 1200 rpm and 1.0 hp at 1230 rpm.

Before becoming infatuated with the automobile Buick built stationary and marine engines of considerable inter-national reputation. He built three cars in Detroit before moving to Flint, where his lack of managerial ability paused him to be overwhelmed by debt. His fleeting but genuine success lives on in the name of one of the oldest and most revered of American marques.

Buick had succeeded in building between two and three dozen cars before William Durant assumed full responsibility for the company in 1904. Within two months he demonstrated the same salesmanship that had already made him a fortune in carriages, taking orders for 1108 Buicks at the New York Auto Show.

The Buick valve-in-head engine was refined to the Dint that it produced the power to out-climb and out-)eed any vehicle in its class. Buick was the bedrock upon

which Durant began to build GM.

By 1908 Buick's production had risen to 8820; it almost dubled the next year and soared to 30,525 in 1910. Top- of-the-line this year was the company's first closed car, the Model 41. The sumptuous limousine utilized a 318 cu. 4 cyl. engine. Meanwhile the range of Buick trucks became more diversified.

The jaunty, 7 hp, 1 cyl. Olds curved dash quickly caught the public's fancy through publicity-provoking events and pragmatic advertising: "Nothing to watch but the road." A simple press of the foot was all that was needed to determine "whether your machine shall go at a snail's pace or at varying speeds limited only by your desires." That is if your desires didn't exceed twenty miles an hour! Five quarts of gasoline would last 50 miles, and 12 men could put their weighty 2100 lbs. on the little motorcar "without injurious effect."

Roy Chapin, on October 27, 1901, after being given a box of spare parts and a handshake and wished Godspeed, set off from Detroit to drive to the New York Auto Show. Seven days later, muddied and bedraggled, he arrived to be adulated by the press. Later a Manhattan dealer took orders for almost a thousand curved dashes.

Ransom Olds eagerly accepted a motor race challenge from Alexander Winton, America's foremost racer of gasoline cars. In April 1902 Winton and Olds met on Ormond-Daytona Beach, bringing Olds the distinction of being the First American racer to run on the sands of the "Birthplace of Speed." Olds' 1 cyl. "Pirate" and Win-ton's 4 cyl. "Bullet I" both clocked 57 mph. In 1903 Olds' 2 cyl. "Flyer" seta world's speed record of 54.38 mph for "light gasoline vehicles under 1000 pounds," and 42 sec. for a kilometer.

 

 

From its inception the Cadillac has symbolized the highest possible quality, a reputation that originated with one of the company's founders Henry Martyn Leland. Early and unique to the auto mobile industry was Leland's insistence on precision manufacturing. Every part was submitted to a limgauge test. Everything down to the humblest grease c;;, had to be standardized and interchangeable with absolutely no reworking to fit. Consequently Cadillac's manufacturing tolerances would not be surpassed elsewhere ii the industry for decades.

The general limit was set at one-thousandth of an inch and in some cases reduced to half this figure. As Leland would say, "It is the foreman's place to know that ever) piece of work turned out by his department is RIGHT, and it is his work to teach his men how to make it RIGHT. It doesn't cost as much to have the work done RIGHT the first time as it does to have it done poorly and then hire i number of men to make it right afterward."

Named to honor the French explorer Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, who had established in 1701 the Ville d'Etroit ("village of the straits"), the Cadillac Automobile Company was organized on August 22,1902. The first car was undertaken in September and completed on October 17. It was sold and shipped to Buffalo, New York; the second car went to Chicago. When the company exhibited at the January 1903 New York Automobile Show, 2286 ten-dollar deposits on orders were received by mid-week, and Cadillac announced "sold out," achieving one of the greatest sales coups of the era.