Ford’s Organizational Structure
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Introduction
Ford Motor Company, often referred to simply as Ford, is an American multinational automaker that has had a significant impact on the automotive industry since its founding in 1903.
The company was established by American industrialist Henry Ford, who revolutionized the automotive manufacturing process by introducing the assembly line (known as “Fordism” when they were introduced), which is credited with leading to the mass production of affordable cars for the average consumer. This has made Ford one of the most successful and recognizable brands in the world.
Ford is the second-largest U.S.-based automaker behind General Motors and the fifth-largest in the world based on 2015 output. At the end of 2010, Ford was the fifth-largest automaker in Europe. The company went public in 1956 but through special Class B shares, the Ford family still retain 40 percent of the voting rights.
Throughout its history, Ford has faced challenges including the Great Depression and the 2008 global financial crisis. Although the company struggled financially during these events, it didn’t need to be rescued by the U.S. Government unlike many of its rivals. Ford has also been involved in various philanthropic efforts, including the establishment of the Ford Foundation, which has provided funding for social justice and educational initiatives around the world.
Today, Ford has a workforce of 186,000 (as of 2020), produces millions of vehicles each year, and boasts annual revenues exceeding US$150 billion.
Ford’s Organizational Leadership
Ford Motor Company’s day-to-day operations are overseen and led by a group of senior executives who are responsible for setting the automaker’s strategy and executing the directives of its board.
Today, Ford Motor Company is led by Jim Farley, who became the company’s CEO in October 2020. Farley has been with Ford for over a decade and has held numerous leadership positions within the company. He has been credited with crafting the company’s commitment to innovation and sustainability, with a focus on electrification and autonomous technology.
Farley is supported and reported to by a team of executives who hold various senior leadership positions.
Ford Motor Company’s Board of Directors is the governing body of the automaker that’s elected by stockholders, with members often selected for their expertise in a particular area or their industry connections.
As with many boards, Ford’s largely holds an advisory role, but some do have wide-reaching powers, duties, and responsibilities as stipulated by corporate law and government regulations, particularly in heavily regulated industries such as finance and pharma.
Ford’s Organizational Structure
In any organization, an employee’s responsibilities are usually defined by their role, their immediate supervisors and managers, and any subjects below them. This means that all organizations naturally have an organizational structure, and its type depends on the nature of how relationships and authority flow throughout them.
The project-based nature of Ford Motor Company’s work means that it likely operates with what is known as a matrix organizational structure: a combination of two or more types of organizational structure, and Ford’s matrix structure combines functional departments with product groups on a project basis.
If, for example, a product group (i.e., consumer vehicles) intends to develop a new product, it will bring together functional departments such as engineering, research, and production together as part of a project to enable collaboration.
Although matrix structures feature elements of traditional management they are not as linear as the traditional top-down hierarchical structure.
Want to learn more about organizational structures and the role that they play within modern organizations? Here are some helpful blog resources that you can get started with:
Create this chart in Organimi!
You can download the CSV file of Ford’s org structure, import it into Organimi and start editing this chart right away! Here’s how:
- From your dashboard, select Data Import.
- Click the CSV tile.
- Click +Upload Your File.
- Select an Excel file from your device.
- In the Organization field, click the down arrow to select an organization.
- Click Create a New Chart
- Click Next and select: Organization Chart
- Select the auto-build tool to automatically build your chart.
- Voila!
Download CSV file:
Ford (68.88 KB)
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