Life on Line

Environment & Strategy

Competitive , Mass production , economies of scale , price

Technology

The moving assembly line proved tremendously efficient, helping the company to far surpass the production levels of its competitors while making its vehicles more affordable

Control

Selection Criteria

* Mundune , physical work required less intellectual effort , men performing such work were supposed to have lower intellect.

* Basic requirements for matching the task and the person but focus on standardization through you control.

* Craftsmen were no longer challenged to perform complex tasks but were de graded to perform shorter and increasingly repetitive jobs. This lead to greater control on the production process and skilled and unskilled workers.

* Supervisor – control function of speed shifted to indirect control and visual control.

Problems

* Alienation from work and physical fatigue. Lack of self expression , creativity and identification with work.

Solutions to improve employee commitment

* Job Classification – grading jobs and providing a career to people .

* Welfare schemes.

* After the success of the moving assembly line, Henry Ford had another transformative idea: in January 1914, he startled the world by announcing that Ford Motor Company would pay $5 a day to its workers. The pay increase would also be accompanied by a shorter workday (from nine to eight hours). While this rate didn't automatically apply to every worker, it more than doubled the average autoworker's wage.

* While Henry's primary objective was to reduce worker attrition—labor turnover from monotonous assembly line work was high—newspapers from all over the world reported the story as an extraordinary gesture of goodwill.

* Thousands of Workers Flock to Detroit

* As expected, employee turnover diminished. And, by creating an eight-hour day, Ford could run three shifts instead of two, increasing productivity.

* Henry Ford had...