Henry Ford - A Great Innovator

The Criticism Contd...

He refused to give customers a choice in the color of their cars, remarking jokingly, "Any customer can have a car painted any color he wants, so long as it is black."³² He is said to have acted on the basis of his prejudices and emotions quite often. He outrightly refused to even contemplate any changes to his favorite Model T. On one instance, Ford employees put together an upgraded version of Model T to surprise Ford. But Ford, far from being impressed, he openly showed his resentment by kicking the wind-pane and trampling on the roof of the car. A Ford employee at the time said, "We got the message.

As far as he was concerned, the Model T was God and we were to put away false images."³³ Ford sometimes displayed 'startling ignorance' in relation to world events. His quote "History is more or less bunk" was widely publicized, and gave people the feeling that he was ignorant of everything outside his own narrow field. In 1919, The Chicago Tribune published an editorial titled "Ford Is an Anarchist."

This prompted Ford to file a suit for $1,000,000 in damages. The editorial said he was an "an ignorant idealist" and an "anarchist enemy of the nation," who was "so incapable of thought that he cannot see the ignominy of his own performance." This was largely because of his antagonism to America's involvement in World War I.

Ford was not in favor of labour unions in his company. He rejected the formation of unions outright. Ford made this very clear to his employees, saying, "We'll never recognize the United Automobile Workers Union or any other union."³⁴ During the 1930s, Ford unleashed a 'reign of terror' against employees who sympathized with unions. His henchmen assaulted the United Auto Workers (UAW) in 1937, in what came to be known as the 'Battle of the Overpass,' for distributing pamphlets in support of unions. In an interview to The Associated Press in February 1937, Ford insisted that all his workers should "stay out of unions." He also rejected the signing of automobile code of the National Recovery Administration (NRA),³⁵ which laid down that employees enjoyed the right to organize and strike.

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32] As quoted in the article, "Henry Ford is Dead at 83 in Dearborn," The Associated Press, April 8, 1947.

33] As quoted in the article, "Henry Ford and the Model T," posted on www.wiley.com.

34] As quoted in the article, "Henry Ford," posted on www.rotten.com.

35] NRA is an administrative bureau, established under the National Industrial Recovery Act of 1933. It is engaged primarily in formulating industrial codes.

Case Details

Case Code : LDEN025
Themes: Corporate Social Responsibility, Entrepreneurship
Case Length : 13 Pages
Period : 1903
Organization : Ford Motor Corporation
Pub Date : 2003
Teaching Note : Not Available
Countries : USA
Industry : Automobile

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