1. What internal resources and assets does Ford have that may give it a competitive advantage?
2. How should Ford compete?
3. What has leadership done to implement strategy, and what challenges remain?

In 2015 Ford Motor Company was forecasting slow but steady growth, with sales projected to be the best they had been in years. Ford, which was one of the world’s most profitable companies until 1999, had been struggling for survival since 2003 and had faced its largest single-year loss in 2006. Although foreign automakers had been aggressively targeting the U.S. market during this time, some of the important reasons for Ford’s decline had been internal: frequent leadership and organizational changes, poor leadership, loss of touch with customers, and a failed diversification plan.

Not only were there problems inflicted by previous leadership, there were also certain systemic problems characteristic of large-scale organizations. Over the years, Ford’s product development and manufacturing systems – once its distinctive competencies – had gone awry. The highly bureaucratic organizational culture impaired communication and hampered the firm’s effectiveness. Competitors had proved better in creating customer value. Ford’s leadership needed to bring back the company’s purpose, focus on re-building distinctive competencies, and create a culture dedicated to excellence and ethical (cooperative) behavior. This culture was critically necessary for creating customer value and achieving corporate success.

In an attempt to improve the financial condition of the struggling automaker, a new chief executive officer, Alan Mulally, had been selected in September 2006. Mullaly, a former executive vice president of the Boeing Company, was expected to use his expertise and leadership skills to rebuild the corporate culture and regain Ford’s ability to compete in a global industry. Mulally stated that “the bigger-is-better worldview that has defined Ford for decades was being replaced with a new approach: Less is More.” Ford needed to pay more attention to cutting costs and transforming the way it did business than to traditional measurements such as market share.

The vision was to have a smaller and more profitable Ford. Mulally’s “ONE Ford” message was intended to communicate consistency across all departments and all segments of the company, requiring people to work together as one team, with one plan, and one goal: “an exciting viable Ford delivering profitable growth for all.”

Mulally started by closing plants, cutting jobs and laying off employees; increasing plant utilization and production levels; refocusing on the Ford brand by selling off the brands Jaguar, Land Rover, Volvo, and Aston Martin, as well as discontinuing Mercury. He also made structural and procedural changes in the company, especially in top management. Mulally had had the full support of the Ford family, including chairman of the board Bill Ford. This confidence appeared well-founded when Ford was able to avoid the bankruptcy scenarios used by GM and Chrysler and posted sales in 2010 that made it the world’s top-earning automaker once again.

By 2013, although problems remained in Europe, Asia, and South America, Ford had seen sales recover in the U.S. to its best performance ever. This performance confirmed Mulally’s vision and allowed him to retire, hand picking his successor, Mark Fields, to take over in July 2014. Fields was facing an industry in disruption: not only were global markets hard to predict but technology shifts and consumer preferences were changing the nature of the whole transportation experience. This would require significant innovation, and an adaptable, nimble organization that could deliver. Would Mullaly’s, and now Field’s, vision of “ONE Ford” help Ford Motor Company accelerate its progress, drive organizational excellence and create profitable growth for all?