What are ford's core competencies

External and Internal Environments Assignment 11

External and Internal Environments Assignment
Business Administration

External and Internal Environments Assignment

This assignment will look into the strategic management and strategic competitiveness of the Ford Motors Company and comprehensively the industry under which it operates. Besides, this assignment will look into the five forces of competition and select the two most influential forces and evaluate how Ford Motors has addressed the two factors in the recent past Additionally, this paper will speculate the possible improvement of the company's ability shortly. It will also look into the external threats affecting this corporation and the opportunities for ford to explore to advance its competitive advantage. Each external factor has its threats and opportunities. The topmost factors that will be highlighted in this paper are the economic factor and technological factors.

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General Environment
This paper will examine the external factors that have influenced Ford Motors in the recent past. It is critical to note that the demand for more quality options at affordable prices goes up. For example, ford had to cut costs and reduced product development time. Such demands from customers lead to the realization of low profit (Farooq, 2020). The general motor company's economic impact started in the late 20th century when the mobility industry had gained momentum and was the key driver of the economy. Concerns such as climate change, congestion, and climate change began to influence economic growth, hindering the production of new cars (Wee & Wu, 2009). On the other hand, increased technology growth greatly impacted the automotive industry as autonomy increased and more efficient, interactive self-driving cars.

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Segment 1

Ford motor company highly regards the changing economic dynamics and identifies it as a critical macro environment factor. The economic factors offer both opportunities and threats at the same time. For instance, the US economy's constant growth stands as a great opportunity as it means that the public is getting better wages and can afford to buy cars. It is worth mentioning that THE us is Ford's biggest market; hence this would play to their advantage (Enkhbayar, 2018). Most developing markets also depend hugely on US automotive companies like ford to supply them with automotive, and the company has a limited presence in this region. As such, this is one key opportunity that ford has been closely monitoring to maximize the potential it offers. However, on the downside, the strengthening US dollar stands as a threat because it reduces Ford products' attractiveness and reduces profits margin to avert the company from suffering a major blow to maximize the foreign market's opportunities and improve its efficiency.

Segment 2

Technology is a factor that helps Ford Motors to compete effectively in the macro environment and maximize its potential. Modern technology keeps changing at a fast pace, and this is an opportunity that Ford must tap into to ensure they stay ahead. The increased internet penetration across the globe and the rise of mobile computing use creates an opportunity for the company to add mobile service support and venture into mobile marketing. Ford must also maximize the increased use of online fulfillment services to help deliver products to customers worldwide (Enkhbayar, 2018). Despite the numerous opportunities that technology presents to Ford Motors, there are also impending threats that might negatively affect the company. Ford has a limited network of alternatives; the company should diversify and create multiple alternative fuel stations to improve competitiveness.

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Five Forces of Competition
From looking at Ford Motors Company Five Forces analysis, the main competition rivalry is the externals environment. The main two forces that significantly facts Ford motor company are the consumers' bargaining power and competitive rivalry.

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Force 1

Ford faces competition from aggressive firms such as Toyota that have dominated the market dues to their innovative products. The exit barriers also pressure companies to keep competing with the limited market instead of closing down the business because of the high cost of the investment; hence they remain to exert pressure on the company. Ford faces competition from established companies like General Motors and other upcoming companies; hence the market is stiff. Ford motors must first address the external factors linked to competition and maximize its competitive advantage by being innovative and aggressively marketing their products.

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Force 2

Ford customers play a critical role in influencing the business. Like any business, ford must strive to meet the customers' customer base's continually changing needs face moderate switching cost due to the customer's habits of moving from one fit to another. However, this habit is a bit infrequent due to the big-tickets systems nature of the automobiles. Most Ford automobile products are moderate in terms of the price and their general contribution to the overall company revenues.

Future Improvements
In the current time, technology has changed automobiles and introduced more sophisticated technologies that allow autonomy, use of the radar, Lidar, and camera technology. It is without a doubt that the future will. The market's dynamic nature will force Ford Motors to overcome years of complacency and inertial to innovate and pioneer new concerns that will improve its brand and improve its strength. The market is changing at an incredible pace, and it is eliminating the long noted high cost, extremely unpleasant selling process ad poor service. Many auto manufacturers are striving to drive out costs and give the customers affordable products. Internet technology will be the center of most of this technology as it bridges the gap between the manufacturers and the ultimate customer both efficiently and effectively.

Greatest External Threat
The greatest external threat facing ford is the Global competition from established companies and the fluctuating global oil process. In the long run, technological companies such as Apple and Godley threaten the company because they might have marketing and innovative capabilities to develop driverless cars. The instability of the oil process is also seen as a key threat to Ford.

Greatest Opportunity
Ford Motors is linked with exponential growth and expansion dues to its expansive penetration in the market. The company's recent initiative to invest in research and development to cultivate the innovation culture is one of the key potential opportunities that will help place the company in a better position in the future. The company is also better positioned to improve its financial standing by enhancing its supply chain to better innovation and operational expansion.

Strengths and Weaknesses
Ford Motors has a strength of widely accepted global recognition because of its successful marketing and advertising. The company also invests a big portion of its revenue in research and development; hence, it shows its commitment to improving its product and introducing new products. The company's standing reputation is dues to the outstanding adaptability to the contact changing markets over the years.

One of the most renowned weaknesses of ford's company is the product to recall in May 2016. About a million vehicles were returned to replace the faulty door latches, hence making the company incur, lose, and damage its reputation struggled to build in years. Forts are also highly dependent on the US market; hence it limits its profits. Also, it risks being overthrown from the market as experts predict more car sales will come from emerging markets such as India and China.

Strategy or Tactic

Initially, the main Ford strategy was to cost leadership to support the company’s competitiveness based on reducing prices to attract more customers. However, this strategy did not protect them from the competition; hence, the company now uses product innovation's strategic objective strategy to gain a competitive advantage.

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Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies
Ford boast of a global presence and big brad image with a big network of vendors, suppliers' ad distributors, and customer loyalty. The people mainly associate themselves with big brands like ford. The company also has a pool of skilled personnel who help drive the company to greater heights. The supply chain's deep network is a key backbone of the strong relationship between vehicle manufacturing companies.

Sources
Enkhbayar, A. (2018). Ford Motor Company's Financial Analysis.

Farooq, U. (2020). Ford PESTLE Analysis | PESTEL Analysis of Ford Motor Company. Marketing Tutor. Retrieved from https://www.marketingtutor.net/ford-pestle-analysis/.

Wong, M. K. (2019). An Analysis of the Effects of Operating Margin and Beta for Performance on Ford Motor Company.

Rychtyckyj, N. (2007). Intelligent systems for manufacturing at Ford Motor company. IEEE intelligent systems, 22(1), 16-19.

Wee, H. M., & Wu, S. (2009). Lean supply chain and its effect on product cost and quality: a case study on Ford Motor Company. Supply Chain Management: An International Journal.

Yang, Y. (2014). Employees management analysis at Ford motor company. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(10).