Vision, strategy, and performance measurement Ford Motor Company's 1998 annual report states:

Ford Motor Company's vision for the future is to deliver superior share¬ holder returns and to become the world's leading consumer company that provides automotive products and services.

A message from the president and CEO explains:

What is a consumer company? It's an enterprise that is continuously gather¬ ing unfiltered consumer insights worldwide to:

■ Connect with current and potential customers and anticipate their present and future needs;

■ Translate consumer needs into a competitive advantage, using fast cycle time and generation of breakthrough products and services;

■ Focus on building sustained relationships;

■ Effectively manage a portfolio of brands; and

■ Continuously grow shareholder value Stating that the consumer focus is the foundation of the company's vision and strategy pyramid, the report continues:

We are leveraging Ford's five areas of competitive advantage—strong global brands, superior consumer satisfaction and loyalty, best total value to the consumer, nimble organization with leaders at all levels, and corpo¬ rate citizenship—to drive continuous improvement, and to speed our transformation and growth.

Referring to Ford's four main businesses—Automotive, Ford Credit, Visteon, and Hertz—the president and CEO stated:

We give each business its own profitability and growth targets. Then, each one breaks down its business into meaningful pieces to grow and improve. We're also pursuing synergies across the four businesses to accelerate growth, sharpen our competitive advantage and improve asset efficiency We're also maintaining the flexibility to add to, or delete from the portfolio over time, with a focus on superior shareholder value.

Operating priorities and financial milestones are stated for each of the four mam businesses. For example, Ford Automotive Operations' stated operating priorities are quality and trust, profitability and business structure, consumer focus and growth, major process improvements, and teamwork and corporate culture. The financial milestones include a return on sales in North America of at east 5%, earnings growth in Europe, improved operating results in South 62 Chapter 2 America, and total costs down $1 billion from 1998, for a constant volume and mix.

REQUIRED

(a) What is the significance of stating the vision as "the world's leading con¬ sumer company that provides automotive products and services" rather than "the world's leading automotive company"?

(b) What are some critical performance indicators for Ford in the area of con¬ sumer perspectives, and how would you measure the indicators? Con¬ sider the broad range of interaction a consumer may have with Ford or its products and services, and also consider environmental issues.

(c) What other critical performance indicators might Ford use, given its stated objectives?