Henry Ford was an industrialist. He is considered the most victorious businessperson in America. He was the founder of Ford motor company. He was born on 30th July 1863 in Dearborn in Michigan United States. Henry’s parents were Irish immigrants. They lived in a farm together with their six children. Henry is considered the eldest. The family was comfortable living in the farm. In addition, they had enough income to sustain them. Though the family had sufficient income, Henry believed that there was a lot work to be done and also the income was not enough. This forced him to improve the transportation in the area and the country. Henry argues that he was driven by the life in the farm to develop new ways of transportation. This is evidenced by the quotation below (Schaefer, 2005, p15).
“It was life on the farm that drove me into devising ways and means to better transportation. I was born on July 30, 1863, on a farm at Dearborn, Michigan, and my earliest recollection is that, considering the results, there was too much work on the place”. In 1879, Henry started his job as an apprentice mechanist. He worked for three years before returning home in 1882.In addition, Henry started to work with the Westinghouse Company. They serviced steam engines. In 1893, Henry returned to Edison illuminating company where he worked as a chief engineer. Henry devoted most of his time and funds in carrying out experiments on gasoline engines.
The experiments proved successful in 1896 after he completed the Ford quadricycle. The vehicle was self propelled and he tested it on 4th June. After carrying out several test drives, he decided to improvise new ways to enhance the vehicle. Most of the people in the industry approved his work and encouraged him to continue developing new vehicles. For instance, Edison was satisfied with Ford’s experiments and encouraged him to develop a second vehicle. Ford developed a second vehicle which he completed in 1898.Later Henry established the Detroit automobile company together with other investors. The company was aimed at improving Henry’s design.
The company did not last for long as it went bankrupt after some time. He got financial support from William Murphy to establish the company. The Detroit Company produced low quality vehicles. The vehicles were also expensive. As a result, Ford and the investors dissolved the company in 1901 due to high production costs. In 1901, Henry developed the “26 horsepower automobile”. Ford saw the project successful and he decided to form a new company together with other stockholders in the previous company. The group formed the Henry ford company in 1901.Hernmry Ford worked as the chief engineer in the Henry ford company.
After working in the company for several years, Henry left the company to establish ford motor company. He left Henry M. Leland in charge in 1902. After Henry left, the company name changed from Henry Ford Company to Cadillac automobile company (Schaefer, 2005).After leaving the Henry ford company, Henry worked together with Tom cooper to produce “the 80+ horsepower racer 999”.Later Henry formed the Ford and Maclcomson limited together with Alexander Maclcomson. The company produced automobile vehicles. Ford designed an automobile vehicle that was not expensive while working in the company.
The company faced crisis as it did not have enough spare parts after the dorge brothers demanded payment for the products they had supplied to the company. Maclcomson and other investors persuaded the dige brothers to accept part of the new company. As a result, Ford motor company was reincorporated in 1903.The Company had a capital of $12,000 (Wood &Wood, 2003).The ford motor company proved successful after developing the model T vehicle in 1908.The introduction of the Model T vehicle changed transportation in the country. Before, people found it difficulty to move from one place to another due to lack of enough vehicles.
This is evidenced by the following quotation “a hundred years ago there were hardly any cars on the roads” (Middleton, 1997, p6). It also changed the transportation industry in the country. Henry ford became one of the richest and famous people around the world after owning ford motor company. Moreover, Henry is credited with the mass production. He developed an assembly line method that helped improve production in the country. The mass production technique helped produce cheap goods. Further, Ford supported workers to be paid high wages. He established the “welfare capitalism” in the country. The organization was aimed at improving the welfare of his workers and reducing the employee turnover. Before, most of the departments employed 300 men in a year.
He argued that organizations should try to keep the best employees so as to be effective. He increased the wages of his workers$5 in a day. He also has a global vision. He believed that consumerism was the best method to bring peace in the world. Henry fought hard to lower the cost of production. This in turn resulted to a wide range on technical innovations in the country. It also led to increase in the number of business in the country. For example, it led to development of the franchise system. The franchise system helped in the placement of dealers in various parts of the city (Middleton, 1997).
Apart from contributing a lot in the automobile industry, Ford also contributed in charity work. He established the “Ford foundation” where he channeled most of his wealth. He contributed in the development of various facilities in the community. For instance, he contributed in the development of a vacation residence in Georgia. The center was named after him. That is “Ford plantation”. He also helped in the construction of a chapel in the community. Additionally, helped in building a school house in the community. He moved the school house from the Sterling to wayside Inn. This made the schoolhouse more successful.
Moreover, Henry created employment opportunities for many residents in the community (Zuehlke, 2007).In 1920, Henry became popular because of “Fordism system”. The system was aimed at increasing salaries and lowering the cost of consumer goods. It was also associated with modernity. However, his new system of “anti-Semitism” became a hot topic in 1920s.Antisemitism refers to discrimination of the Jews. The advocates of “anti-Semitism” hated Jews and their ethnic background. They also hated their culture and religion. The advocates considered Jews as an inferior group in the country. In addition, the advocates denied the existence of Jewish in the country. Most people have associated the discrimination of Jewish with Henry Ford (Ford, 2006).
Reference
Ford,H.(2006).My Life and Work. Filiquarian Publishing, LLC.
Middleton,H.(1997).Henry Ford: the people’s car-maker. Oxford University Press
Schaefer,L.M.(2005).Henry Ford.Capstone Press
Zuehlke,J.(2007).Henry Ford. Lerner Publications
Wood,J.C.,&Wood,M.C.(2003).Henry Ford: critical evaluations in business and management. Routledge
