Генри форд эссе на английском. Биография генри форда
Henry Ford (1863–1947) was an industrialist who changed the face of automobile manufacture in America, becoming the epitome of American Capitalism. He lent his name to ‘Fordism’ – efficient mass production.
Henry Ford Early Life
Henry Ford was born in 1863 on a farm in rural Michigan, near Detroit. From an early age, he expressed an interest in mechanical devices. He was given a pocket watch at the age of 15, and he developed a reputation for being an experienced watchmaker.
Shortly after his mother passed away, Henry left the family farm to seek employment in Detroit. He worked his way up to becoming an engineer at the Edison Illuminating Company. By 1893 he had become chief engineer and gained the recognition and encouragement of Thomas Edison. Henry Ford retained a deep affection for throughout his life.
It was working as chief engineer at Edison’s that he was able to work on a petrol drive quadricycle. His testing was successful, and this enabled him to develop the quadricycle into a small car; this proved the basis for the famous Model T motor car introduced in 1908. The Ford Motor Company was formed in 1903 with the backing of $28,000 from various investors.
Working Practices of Henry Ford
Henry Ford astonished the industrial world by offering a daily wage of $5 a day. Even by today’s prices that was a very good salary. This wage was far above what anywhere else offered. At a stroke, it solved the problem of labour turnover and encouraged the best workers to come and work for Ford. Through paying high wages, Ford was able to encourage the highest level of labour productivity. Although many criticised his seemingly over-generous pay, he also pointed out, that the high wage helped the workers to be able to afford the cars they were making.
However, Henry Ford was hostile to the role of trades unions. For a long time, he battled against the trades unions, refusing to have anything to do them. However, by 1941, with the workers on strike, his wife encouraged him to capitulate to the United Auto Workers (UAW).
It was Henry Ford who also revolutionised the production line processes. He helped to develop the assembly line method of production and was always seeking to cut costs. Although he did not ‘invent’ the assembly line, he did make one of the most successful commercial applications of its potential. This led to his decision to give customers any colour they choose so long as it was black.
“Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” – My Life and Work (1922) Chapter IV, p. 71
The motive for insisting on black was because black was the quickest colour to dry and therefore the cheapest.
The impact of the assembly line was to help reduce the cost of the Model T motor car. It helped Ford become the dominant firm in the motor car industry. An estimation from 1932 suggested Ford was producing 33% of the world’s automobile production.
Henry Ford had a dislike of war. He helped to fund a peace ship to Europe in 1915 and spoke out against the ‘vague financiers who encourage war’. He never really got involved in the Second World War effort, though he allowed other officials in the Ford company to transform Ford into one of the biggest military plane builders in the war.
Henry Ford also subscribed to various anti-semitic pamphlets. Although he later apologised for some of his anti-semitic views, admired Henry Ford. Ford is the only foreigner mentioned in Mein Kampf. Hitler wanted Volkswagen to mirror the production techniques and philosophy of Ford Motor company.
Henry Ford was also noted for some of his inspirational self-improvement quotes – emphasising hard work and self-sufficiency.
“You will find men who want to be carried on the shoulders of others, who think that the world owes them a living. They don’t seem to see that we must all lift together and pull together.”
As quoted in Wisdom & Inspiration for the Spirit and Soul (2004) by Nancy Toussaint, p. 85
Towards the end of his life, he spent considerable time with his friend Thomas Edison , who moved into West Orange, New Jersey.
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Знаменитый автопроизводитель Генри Форд родился 30 июля 1863, на ферме его семьи в округе Уэйн, под Дирборном, штат Мичиган. Когда Форду было 13 лет, его отец, подарил ему карманные часы, которые маленький мальчик постоянно разбирал и собирал. Друзья и соседи были очень удивлены и часто обращались с просьбами отремонтировать их часы.
Невпечатлившись сельскохозяйственной работой, Форд покинул дом в возрасте 16 лет, для обучения роботе машиниста в Детройте. На протяжении следующих лет он научился умело управлять и обслуживать паровые двигатели, а также изучил бухгалтерское дело.
Ранняя карьера
В 1888 Форд женился на Кларе Але Брайант(Clara Ala Bryant) и временно возвратился к сельскому хозяйству, чтобы прокормить его жену и сына, Эдселя. Но три года спустя, он был нанят в качестве инженера в Edison Illuminating Company. В 1893 его природный таланты позволил ему вырости до главного инженера.
Все время Форд вынашивал свои планы относительно безлошадного экипажа, и в 1896, он построил свою первую модель, Ford Quadricycle. В этом же году он встретился с руководителями Edison Company и представил свои автомобильные наработки лично Томасу Эдисону, который поощрил Форд на строительство второй, улучшенной модели.
Ford Motor Company
После нескольких испытаний конструкции автомобиля, в 1903, Генри Форд учредил Ford Motor Company. Форд представил Model T в октябре 1908, и в течение нескольких последующих лет, компания добилась 100-процентной прибыли.
Еще больше Форд стал известным благодаря своим революционным видением производства недорогого автомобиля, сделанного квалифицированными рабочими, которые зарабатывают устойчивую заработную плату.
В 1914 он спонсировал развитие передвижной ленты сборочного конвейера для массового производства. Одновременно, он вводил заработную плату в размере 5$ в день (эквивалент 110$ в 2011) как в результате чего он стремился сохранить лояльность лучших рабочих к своей компании. Простые в управлении и дешевые в ремонте, именно поэтому половина всех автомобилей в Америке в 1918 была Ford Model T.
Философия, филантропия и антисемитизм
С социальной точки зрения Генри Форд имел, на первый взгляд, противоречащие точки зрения. Форд учредил часть прибыли компании, сотрудникам, проработавшим в компании более шести месяцев и, самое важное тем, кто провел их жизни респектабельным способом.
“Социальный отдел компании” изучал вредные привычки, тягу к азартным играм и другие негативные стороны кандидатов, при вынесении решения относительно приема на работу. Форд был ярым пацифистом и противником Первой мировой войны, даже финансировал мирные судна в Европу. Позже, в 1936, Форд и его семья основывали Ford Foundation, для выделения грантов на исследования, образование и развитие. Но несмотря на эти филантропические склонности, Форд был также преданным антисемитом, всеми способами поддерживающий еженедельную газету The Dearborn Independent, которая придерживалась таких же взглядов.
Генри Форд умер 7 апреля 1947, в возрасте 83 лет от кровоизлияния в мозг, недалеко от его Дирборнского поместья, Фэр-Лейн(Fair Lane). Генри Форд является одним из самых великих бизнесменов Америки. Очень сложно переоценить его вклад в развитие американской экономики в период её становления. Его наследие будет жить еще в течение многих десятилетий.
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1.Генри Форд был изобретателем, меценатом и успешным американским бизнесменом. Форд был основателем все еще популярной компании "Ford Motor Company", первым успехом которого был автомобиль Ford Model T", который был выпущен в 1908 году. Генри Форд изменил путь, по которому машины проектировались и строились, вводя сборочную линию завода по производству транспортных средств в массовых количествах, что привело к снижению цен для потребителей и быстрому росту автомобильной собственности на всей территории Соединенных Штатов. Генри Форма родился 30 июля 1863 года в Диарбоне, Мичиган, Соединенные Штаты.
2. Родители Форда были ирландскими иммигрантами, их семья жила на ферме вместе с генри,который был самым старшим из 6 детей. В семье было хорошее воспитание с приличным доходом, однако Генри считал,что там было слишком много работы,но недостаточно дохода с земель. Форд начал свою карьеру в качестве ученика машиниста в 1879 году
, а затем вернулся на ферму семьи в 1882,прежде чем начать работу с компанией Westinghouse,улучшая их паровые двигатели. Затем Форд пошел работать на Edison Illuminating Company, гдев 1893 стал главным инженером.Генри Форду всегда нравились механические вещи, он всегда пытался улучшить или создать более полезную технику. В 1893 он создал свой первый автомобиль с бензиновым двигателем типа «багги» или Квадрацикл, который был абсолютно самоходным. Затем он основал Detroit Automobile Company с несколькими другими инвесторами, чтобы улучшить его дизайн, но вскоре после этого компания обанкротилась. Затем Форд основал Henry Ford Company,которую он тоже покинул,прежде чем в конце концов, основать Ford Motor Company в 1903 году.
3. Ford Motor Company выпустила самый успешный автомобиль Модели T в 1908 году. Как правило, автомобили раньше строились по одному и были доступны только очень богатым людям, но Форд продолжает улучшать путь,по которому создавались автомобили. В 1913 автомобили были массово выпущены одной из первых движущейся линией сборки. В 1918 году половиной из общего количества автомобилей в Соединенных Штатах являлась Модель Т, 15 млн. автомобилей были проданы, и производство Модели T было окончательно остановлено в 1927 году. Форд также интересовался в политике, но никогда не был успешным как политик, и безуспешно баллотировался в Сенат как демократ. Он также имел твердые политические взгляды о труде, и как рабочая сила должна быть расценена. Он платил своим работникам больше денег за меньшее число рабочих дней и сделал 5-ти дневную 40-часовую рабочую неделю нормальной частью трудовой жизни. Генри Форд создал Ford Foundation в 1936 году, чтобы содействовать развитию человеческого благосостояния за счет исследовательских грантов, образовательных грантов и развития. В 1947 году, в возрасте 83 Генри Форд умер от кровоизлияние в мозг, и был похоронен на Ford Cemetery в Детройте.
The History Of The Ford Motor Company Essay, Research Paper
The History of The
Ford Motor Company
It all started with a dream, a dream for all families to own a car, a dream
man, Henry Ford.
Henry Ford was one of the most brilliant entrepreneurs in creating Ford
and the assembly line at the same time, it was his controversial
characteristics and unorthodox approach towards administrating the Ford Motor
Company which resulted
in the formation of one of the most successful corporations in the world. At
the turn of the century everything was booming, the growth of the economy and
stock market increased
the job opportunities as well as morals. As a result of this industrial
revolution, out of the woodwork came a humble yet driven man, Henry Ford.
Between the five dollar a day
plan, his policies on administrating the company, and his relations with his
Ford was often presented as a suspicious character. This controversial
behavior characterized the success of the company, it did not lead to his own
downfall as many suspect. The Anti-Semitic accusations, and the belief that Ford
was taking advantage of
his customers, were by far overshadowed by his brilliance and strong hand in
Of course, there were not always supporters of Henry Ford. If fact, there
many people who believed that Henry Ford was so controversial that it
prevented the potential of Fords from becoming greater than it is today. By the
mid twenties Ford was already the worlds most successful automobile company in
the world, but their great reputation would soon decline. Ford?s five dollars
a day pay plan for all employees signified the overwhelming success of the
company. Many believed this success was short-lived
with the new policies dealing with the workers which soon followed. With the
need to increase production and lower costs, in the mid 1930’s Ford cut all Ford
worker s wages in half, workers were expected to work faster, and harder,
department heads were ordered to ban all talking and whistling while work was in
progress. All of this was a plan by Ford
to make sure he knew every move of his workers, he was very possessive. Also,
began to fire older workers and hire younger ones, his ideology was that the
younger workers could work more productively and more efficiently, which in turn
would send more money flowing into his pockets. What resulted was quite humorous
in fact. Black hair
dye became a hot seller in the Detroit area. Older workers tried to disguise
their age by dying their hair black. Ford?s manipulation of his workers was
immoral and unjust.
There was no industrial democracy, workers were forced to do what they were
would be out of a job.
Henry Ford s controversial behavior reflected badly on himself and on the
Ford Motor Company. The Anti-Semitic views expressed by Henry Ford could never
be denied, it was common knowledge in fact that Henry Ford was prejudice, he
even wrote an article
in the Dearborn Independent expressing his ideas that Jews were the cause of
many peoples problems. Henry Ford was sued by a man by the name Aaron Sapiro in
the early 1930’s. Sapiro had evidence that Ford threatened himself with
Anti-Semitic sentiments. Ford was recorded as saying, ?Sapiro is a shrewd
little Jew, the bible says Jews will return to
Palestine, but they want to get all the money out of America first. Sapiro
should be kicked out because he is trash.? The result of the trial was
humiliation for the Ford company
and Henry Ford himself. After a hung jury in the first trial, the case was
dropped when Ford
wrote a lengthy retraction and apologized for his statements. Ford s was
profits and production among the worlds best, all as a result of Henry Ford s
ego. Therefore, by 1931 Ford lowered in the ranks, controlling only 28% of the
market 2nd to General Motors
Henry Ford was the godfather of the automobile industry in the early 1900 s.
The development of his River Rouge plant was considered a industrial cathedral,
hundreds waited month after month in front of the employment building hoping to
foreign immigrants it meant hope and a successful future. The River Rouge
over 50,000 employees, Pols, Lithuanians, Germans, almost every western
Europe country could be represented at the Ford Plant. Like a father Henry Ford
began educational programs, teaching his illiterate employees how to read
English, company picnics, and dinners were all part of Ford s policies that were
so unusual, yet so brilliant at that time.
Of the most controversial actions of Ford was his hiring of criminals, in
fact it was said that thousands of former criminals were taken on the Fords
payroll over the course
of the years, all at Mr. Fords Requests. Not only was this a highly
questionable decision, but it startled everyone. It was odd, especially when
there was such a demand to work
at Fords. Why would Henry Ford want to take the risk of hiring potentially
dangerous felons? Nobody would be able to answer this question better than Ford
s right hand man Harry Bennett. Bennett has said that Henry Ford was very
sympathetic towards criminals,
even that he would try and, in a sense, rehabilitate them. Not only did the
new workers please Henry Ford, but they also helped the company itself. Ford s
controversial new
policy of hiring criminals not only surprised the River Rouge workers, but it
swept across the nation. Many news articles were printed concerning Ford s
policies. In effect Ford
was receiving free advertising. Whether it was his intent or not, Ford s
ideas, sometimes eccentric helped market the company for the good. In 1914 Henry
Ford hired John R. Lee to update the companies labor policies. Five dollars a
day was to be split into half wages
and half profits. Ford employees would only receive profits when they met
specific standards of efficiency and were cleared by the sociology department.
On January 5, 1914 Henry Ford?s announcement of the incredible five dollar a
day plan swept the newspapers across the nation. The Detroit Journal announced,
The surprise of the labor leaders and
the consternation of manufacturers, Henry Ford announced on Jan 5, 1914 that
a minimum wage of five dollars a day would be instituted immediately in the Ford
plants, along with a profit sharing plan for all male employees.
Not only did Henry Ford?s new deal shock the nation, it sent a tremendous
of workers to Detroit. For the next ten years people would do anything to
become a worker of one of Henry Ford?s plants. It was unheard of to be offered
five dollars a day by any automobile company. In fact the average salary for
most was a mere two fifty a day at GM and Chrysler?s. But Henry Ford?s five
dollars a day plan was truly an illusion, it allowed for greater control of his
workers. It was said that The five dollar a day plan was an important early
attempt at implementing a corporate welfare program. Ford wanted to
see his company prosper, his employees were a part of this company. The
of the Sociology department would allow Henry Ford to exploit his employees
private lives. Employees were advised by investigators on how to live in order
to receive his/hers share of the profits. The result of this was a tight knit
community with no corruption. This department also monitored the daily
happenings in the plant. In fact, the department had over 1000 informers who
would notify the department if any stealing or illegal plans were taking place.
Social workers conducted extensive interviews on subjects ranging from household
finances to sexual patterns. It was stated at that time that, the intrusion into
workers lives, in the minds of Ford officials, was a small price to pay for
increased wages, efficiency, production, and in the end profits for the Ford
Many felt that this socialist system was infringing upon the democratic
the workers specifically the right to privacy. Observers claimed that workers
were forced to act like robots in order to keep their jobs, but this was not the
case. Henry Ford created the
stability and order that any corporation needed to succeed in the early 20th
century. Some may say that Ford was a sort of father to the workers he employed.
After all, a father is always harshest to the ones he cares for most. And that
was what Henry Ford was.
The financial success was extraordinary. By 1914 Ford s had over 600 cars
daily rolling off the assembly line. Between 1914 and 1921 earnings soared from
25 million to 78 million.
All of Ford?s effort s and expectations came to a pinnacle when, at the
close of 1923 there were 6,221 passengers cars in the city of Detroit, one for
every 6.1 persons. Of these 6,221 cars, 41% were Fords.
Henry Ford was not a greedy man, his sometimes unorthodox behavior and
policies epitomized the success of the company. Throughout the depression he
offered a sense of hope for his
employees. By offering jobs to outcasts he became very controversial, but he
had reasons. Ford wanted his workers to be moral citizens, people that could
offer The Ford Motor Company loyalty, leadership, and trust. A result of this
was the financial success of the company. Henry Ford knew what he had to do in
order to accomplish his goals. Ford knew he might not always be accepted in the
community, he also knew that this was the risk he had to take. It was all clear
when he said, ?We re going to expand this company, and you will see it grow by
leaps and bounds.?
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company entered the business world without fanfare on June 17,
1903, when Henry Ford and 11 associates filed incorporation papers in the state
of Michigan. With an abundance of faith but only $28,000 in cash, the pioneering
industrialists gave birth to what was to become one of the world’s largest
corporations. Few companies are as closely identified with the history and
development of America throughout the 20th century as Ford Motor Company, and
perhaps no other American firm is as well known around the globe.
At the time of its incorporation, Ford Motor Company was a tiny operation in
a converted Detroit wagon shop staffed with about 10 people. By the end of 1913,
just 10 years later, the company was producing half the cars in the United
States. Paralleling Ford Motor Company’s domestic growth was a foreign expansion
program that began just one year after the company was formed. On August 17,
1904, the first foreign branch, Ford Motor Company of Canada, Ltd., was
incorporated in Walkerville, Ontario. Production at this modest new plant began
>From this small beginning grew a global network of manufacturing and
assembly plants, sales operations, parts depots and dealers, with Ford Motor
Company represented in more than 200 nations and territories spanning six
Today, Ford Motor Company is the world’s largest producer of trucks and the
second-largest producer of cars. The company has operations in more than 30
countries, and employs more than 340,000 men and women at its factories,
laboratories and offices around the world. Additionally, about 60,000 companies
worldwide supply Ford Motor Company with goods and services. The company’s
annual sales exceed the gross national products of many industrialized nations.
In 1998, Ford Motor Company sold more than 6.8 million vehicles worldwide. In
As with most great enterprises, Ford Motor Company’s beginnings were modest.
The company had anxious moments in its infancy, balancing precariously on the
brink of bankruptcy until cash inflows from sales began. The earliest record of
a shipment is July 20, 1903, approximately one month after incorporation, to a
Detroit physician. With the company’s first sale came hope. A worried group of
stockholders, warily eyeing a bank balance that had dwindled to $223.65,
breathed more easily, and a young Ford Motor Company had taken its first sure
steps. During the next five years, Henry Ford, as chief engineer and later as
president, directed a development and production program that started in a
converted wagon shop on Mack Avenue in Detroit and later moved to a larger
building at Piquette and Beaubien streets. In the company’s first 15 months,
1,700 Model A cars chugged out of the old wagon shop.
In 1988, Ford Motor Company made a strategic decision to develop a new global
car. Engineers in Europe, the United States, and other design and development
centers were already increasingly combining their resources on existing programs
with significant results. The similarities between the various world markets
also were growing, as legislation reached new levels of harmony and car buyers
on different continents found their product tastes and motoring needs were less
different than they had been in the past. And so, the mid-size family car
program known as CDW27 was developed for many countries. It was named Mondeo in
Europe, Taiwan, and the Middle East. Slightly modified, it went on sale in North
America as Ford Contour and Mercury Mystique. The Model T was designed for
simplicity. The Ford CDW27, on the other hand, was a highly sophisticated car
with two all-new, state-of-the-art, high-output engines; a new electronically
controlled transmission; new electronic traction control; air bags; anti-lock
brakes and other technological refinements desired by customers. CDW27 became
the prototype for a new approach to product development that is both highly
efficient and customer-driven a global «platform strategy» that uses
many common components to produce vehicles that are widely differentiated to
meet the varying needs of different regions. This program proved that true
globalization was possible, and that customer-focused teams were the way of the
competitive future.
Currently Ford Motor Company is ranked second on the Fortune 500 list of the
largest U.S. industrial corporations, based on sales. In 1998, worldwide sales
and revenues totaled $142.6 billion. Net income, excluding one-time items, was
$6.5 billion. Although Ford Motor Company is best known as a manufacturer of
cars and trucks, it produces other products, including industrial engines,
glass, plastics, and a wide range of automotive components. Ford also is
established in many other businesses-including financial services, automotive
replacement parts, and electronics. In 1997, the company created Visteon, a
wholly owned enterprise of Ford Motor Company, to explore and expand the market
for components around the world.
On November 1, 1993, Alex Trotman became chairman and chief executive officer
of Ford Motor Company. Born and raised in England and educated in Scotland,
Trotman had a world view. He spent the first half of his Ford career in product
planning in Europe, where he played a key role in establishing Ford of Europe.
Within three weeks of his appointment as Ford Motor Company chairman and CEO,
Trotman initiated a year long series of studies and development efforts to
further globalize the company. The results of this effort led to Ford 2000. Ford
2000 is an initiative that became effective on January 1, 1995, and began with
the consolidation of Ford’s North American and European operations. It continues
with a commitment to bring the entire Ford worldwide organization into a single
operation by the year 2000.
Ford 2000 created a global management team. This has allowed the company to
eliminate duplication, initiate best practices, use common components and
designs for the advantage of scale, and allocate resources wherever they are
needed to best serve market needs. Ford 2000 combines the power, resources, and
reach of a world company with the immediacy, intimacy, agility, and spirit of a
small one. In October 1999, the company announced plans to take Ford 2000 to the
next level by creating strategic business units that complement its global scale
and structure. These new units add a brand and regional influence that will
allow the company to better connect with consumers.
As Ford Motor Company approaches its second century and the new millennium, a
member of the Ford family again holds a top leadership position. William Clay
Ford, Jr., a great-grandson of Henry Ford, was elected chairman by the board of
directors, effective January 1, 1999. The board elected Ford Automotive
Operations President Jacques Nasser as president and chief executive officer,
also effective January 1, 1999. The changes coincided with the retirement of
Trotman, who had served as chairman, CEO and president during his 43 years of
service to Ford. Ford Motor Company is committed to fully utilizing the rich
diversity of its human resources. Company leadership believes that diversity
will be the engine that powers the creative energy of corporations of the 21st
century. Successful companies will be those that are able to draw on the diverse
talents of their people to stay on the innovative and competitive edges of their
Ford Motor Company started this century, with a single man envisioning
products that would meet the needs of people in a world on the verge of
high-gear industrialization. The company is ending the century with a worldwide
organization that retains and expands Henry Ford’s heritage by developing
products that serve the varying and ever-changing needs of people in the global
www.ford.com/default.asp?pageid=95
www.fomoco.com/history.html
www.coen.com/info/casehist/ford/
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www.businesshistory.net/ford.html
Топик Генри Форд рассказывает об американском промышленнике, владельце заводов по производству автомобилей по всему миру, изобретателе и авторе 161-го патента США. Его лозунгом были слова: “Автомобиль – для всех”, и завод Форда выпускал наиболее дешевые автомобили в начале эпохи автомобилестроения. Форд известен тем, что впервые стал использовать промышленный конвейер для поточного производства автомобилей. Генри Форд родился в семье эмигрантов из Ирландии, проживавшей на ферме в окрестностях Детройта. Когда ему исполнилось 16 лет, он уехал работать в Детройт, а в 1891-1899 годах уже исполнял обязанности инженера-механика, а позже и главного инженера в “Электрической компании Эдисона”. В 1893 году, в свободное от работы время, сконструировал свой первый автомобиль. С 1899 по 1902 год был совладельцем “Детройтской автомобильной компании”, а в 1903 году основал “Форд Мотор Компани”, существующую по сей день. В 1914 году Форд ввел самую высокую в США минимальную заработную плату – 5 долларов в день, допустил рабочих к участию в прибылях компании, построил образцовый рабочий поселок, но вплоть до 1941 года не разрешал создавать профсоюзы на своих заводах. Форд был одним из первых, кто реализовал на практике идеи “капитализма благосостояния”, направленные на улучшение условий жизни рабочих и на сокращение текучести кадров. Форд оставил личное состояние, которое оценивается в 500 – 700 млн. долларов, завещав большую его часть в “Форд Мотор Компани”, Фонд Форда и другим некоммерческим организациям.
Ford, Henry (1863-1947), American industrialist, best known for his pioneering achievements in the automobile industry.
Ford was born on a farm near Dearborn, Michigan, on July 30, 1863, and educated in district schools. He became a machinist’s apprentice in Detroit at the age of 16. From 1888 to 1899 he was a mechanical engineer, and later chief engineer, with the Edison Illuminating Company. In 1893, after experimenting for several years in his leisure hours, he completed the construction of his first automobile, and in 1903 he founded the Ford Motor Company.
In 1913 Ford began using standardized interchangeable parts and assembly-line techniques in his plant. Although Ford neither originated nor was the first to employ such practices, he was chiefly responsible for their general adoption and for the consequent great expansion of American industry and the raising of the American standard of living.
By early 1914 this innovation, although greatly increasing productivity, had resulted in a monthly labor turnover of 40 to 60 percent in his factory, largely because of the unpleasant monotony of assembly-line work and repeated increases in the production quotas assigned to workers. Ford met this difficulty by doubling the daily wage then standard in the industry, raising it from about $2.50 to $5. The net result was increased stability in his labor force and a substantial reduction in operating costs. These factors, coupled with the enormous increase in output made possible by new technological methods, led to an increase in company profits from $30 million in 1914 to $60 million in 1916.
In 1908 the Ford company initiated production of the celebrated Model T. Until 1927, when the Model T was discontinued in favor of a more up-to-date model, the company produced and sold about 15 million cars. Within the ensuing few years, however, Ford’s preeminence as the largest producer and seller of automobiles in the nation was gradually lost to his competitors, largely because he was slow to adopt the practice of introducing a new model of automobile each year, which had become standard in the industry. During the 1930s Ford adopted the policy of the yearly changeover, but his company was unable to regain the position it had formerly held.
In the period from 1937 to 1941, the Ford company became the only major manufacturer of automobiles in the Detroit area that had not recognized any labor union as the collective bargaining representative of employees. At hearings before the National Labor Relations Board Ford was found guilty of repeated violations of the National Labor Relations Act. The findings against him were upheld on appeal to the federal courts. Ford was constrained to negotiate a standard labor contract after a successful strike by the workers at his main plant at River Rouge, Michigan, in April 1941.
Early in 1941 Ford was granted government contracts whereby he was, at first, to manufacture parts for bombers and, later, the entire airplane. He thereupon launched the construction of a huge plant at Willow Run, Michigan, where production was begun in May 1942. Despite certain technical difficulties, by the end of World War II (1945) this plant had manufactured more than 8000 planes.
Ford was active in several other fields besides those of automobile and airplane manufacturing. In 1915 he chartered a peace ship, which carried him and a number of like-minded individuals to Europe, where they attempted without success to persuade the belligerent governments to end World War I. He was nominated for the office of U. S. senator from Michigan in 1918 but was defeated in the election. In the following year he erected the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit at a cost of $7.5 million. In 1919 he became the publisher of the Dearborn Independent, a weekly journal, which at first published anti-Semitic material. After considerable public protest, Ford directed that publication of such articles be discontinued and that a public apology be made to the Jewish people.
Advancing age obliged Ford to retire from the active direction of his gigantic enterprises in 1945. He died on April 7, 1947, in Dearborn. Ford left a personal fortune estimated at $500 to $700 million, bequeathing the largest share of his holdings in the Ford Motor Company to the Ford Foundation, a nonprofit organization.
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