I am beginning to wonder about the similarities between the Ford Motor Company (FoMoCo) and Facebook.
FoMoCo was a center of innovation in the early 20th century--and driven so by its CEO, Henry Ford.
FoMoCo was a center of innovation in the early 20th century--and driven so by its CEO, Henry Ford.
Having pushed GM into bankruptcy, FoMoCo ruled the auto industry.
It was a profitable rule, and Henry Ford bought all maner of raw materials to assure that FoMoCo assembly lines were always supplied.
It was a profitable rule, and Henry Ford bought all maner of raw materials to assure that FoMoCo assembly lines were always supplied.
FoMoCo was progressive with wages--Henry Ford wanted to make sure there was a population that could afford to buy his cars. FoMoCo was the first American corporation to pay $5 for a day's work.
But then something happened in the mid-1920s. Innovation at FoMoCo stopped. Henry Ford's dictum that a customer could choose any color so long as it's black put Ford at a disadvantage to GM, which used colors to differentiate its cars and allow consumers chose in what to buy.
At GM, innovations began to rule the day, and GM ascended to takeover rule of the industry. And Ford? It stagnated.
With that stagnation began a downward spiral. Henry Ford was virulently anti-union and he made sure that there was no questioning of anything that he said or did. The Ford workforce quaked at the bodily threats of FoMoCo's security detail.
By the end of WW2, FoMoCo had become irrelevant to the American auto industry. Many wondered if the company would be around in 1950.
Enter Henry Ford II, who overhauled the company--effectively reversing any if not most of his grandfather's decisions from the past 20 years.
Enter Henry Ford II, who overhauled the company--effectively reversing any if not most of his grandfather's decisions from the past 20 years.
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