trategies for leadership A Ford case study INTRODUCTION In the commercial world, organisations respond differently to outside event s and the process of change. Some constantly seek op portunities for growth while others wait until changes are forced upon them. Some run out of energy and stagnate, while others develop and move forward in the face of stiffening competition. It is often said that „if you don‟t think about the future, you won‟t have one!‟Strategic planning is the process most successful companies embrace when determining the route to achieving their business objective. It is a powerful technique, which mobilises resources behind a plan and is one of the most important factors which distinguishes progressive organisations who have identified and communicated, externally and internally, the type of business they want to become. When Ford developed Ford 2000, it was accepted that the company, although successful, had reached a cross-roads. The business faced many challenges in a number of its competitive environments and req uired innovative solutions to boost global competitiveness, in order to sustain continuous growth. GLOBAL MANUFACTURING PRACTICES There are some 600 million cars in use across the globe. Automobile production is the world‟s largest manufacturing industry, with sales per annum of £350 billion. The industry supports jobs not only in automobile manufacture, but also in components, distribution, finance, insurance, repairs and maintenance, which in Europe alone amounts to 18 million jobs. In recent years, the industry has been characterised by the global manufacturing practic es of Japanese, Malaysian and Korean competitors, which have stimulated a series of innovative developments. A significant factor has been the adoption of lean production processes. „Lean production‟ was first coined by researcher John Krafcik, who wrote that „lean production is lean
