Ford�s attempts to work with the Japanese market In the late eighties, the

devalued dollar in relation to the yen made U.S. exports of cars become
increasingly feasible. Ford showed a desire to profit from such an occasion when
it announced that it expected to soon export its American-made vehicles to Japan.
(9) Indeed Ford's overall exports increased from 36,000 in 1990 to 52,000 in 1992.
Since the late 1970's Ford task forces visited Japan where they learned
several different techniques of how the national companies there treated their
workers. Japanese never had to go to the bathroom. Although Ford did not have
the finances to change their organization completely, they could make some
modifications. One change Ford made was creating a program where the hourly worker
would get involved with decisions which were previously reserved to management. In
doing so hourly workers got paid time off to discuss what they did and how they did
it. (3) Such a change did bear good results. Ford realized by hard experience
when it exported models such as Taurus and Thunderbird, (Ford to take marketing
wheel in bid to boost japan sales, Nobuyki Oishi, May 30, 1992, THe Nikkei Weekly)
that entering in the Japanese market could be very difficult for several reasons.
First of all the Japanese consumers tend to have a bias towards products in their
own country, even if foreign products may be superior. Also the Japanese
government can be very protectionist and impose high tariffs. In the late 1980's,
Ford consequently decided to buy a small percentage of Mazda,(footnote - The late
1980s and early 1990's was an opertune time for American car manufacturers to enter
the Japanese market since many of their Japanese counterparts were forced to cut
down on their production for various macroeconomic reasons. Japan's Sharp Turn,
Business Week, March 2, 1992) a company that was not doing very well economically
at that time. In taking such an action Ford could begin participating in cars that
would be produced in Japan. The advantages to such a joint venture included: (1)
Handling the two problems expressed above since the cars that would be sold would
still be Mazdas; (2) No import costs or tarriffs; (3) A chance to gain experience
as to how a Japanese company worked with its personnel; and (4) a chance to learn
about the demands of the Japanese market. Ford took advantage of the the third
factor very well. One aspect of Japanese auto companies that Ford is just beginning
to adapt to in the U.S. is making a worker do several different jobs instead of
one. Ford also planned to adopt Japanese-style just-in-time parts delivery since
1990 in order to increase productivity. (Now Japan's Autos Push Into Europe, Tully,
Shawn, Time Inc. Fortune, January 29, 1990) Another change that Ford undertook
both in its foreign subsidiaries and in its domestic factories is a term called
Executive Education. In this the managers different functions, levels, and markets
around the world are encouraged to give their point of view to the top executives
of Ford and those executives are required to listen. In spite of that the
executives, who are almost all American, make the final decisions. (13) In
order to sell its cars better in Japan, Ford began in 1994 marketing its cars under
a Japanese name in Japan. Companies such as G.M. had been doing this kind of
marketing since the late 1980's for example when it sold under the name Vauxhall in
Britain and Opel in the rest of Europe. (1990 Time Inc. Fortune, January 29, 1990)
It is true that Ford has bought various foreign companies such as Jaguar and even
part of Mazda, but it hasn't marketed a similar car in two different countries
under different names. Soon after Ford began buying shares of Mazda, it began
buying stakes in AUtorama, a network which now has about 115 dealers and 340
outlets. Autorama, a dealer network, was mainly set up to for its image of a
company that was neither Japanese nor American. From 1990 to 1994 Ford has
steadily increased its share of both Mazda and Autorama until it owned 25% and 50%
respectively. (Ford of Japan Names Autorama Inc Chairman, Financial Report, July
1, 1992 and Los Angeles Times, December 28, 1993) In 1992 Ford began negotiating to
take over as its own importer from Mazda. When this was complet, Ford's local
affiliate controlled all marketing acivities in Japan including parts and services.
(Ford to Manage Import of U.S. Vehicles Sold in Japan, Japan Economic Newswire,
June 17, 1992) Around that time an Autorama Official planned to have Autorama
change its name to Ford in the near future. (Ford Nears Bigger Stake In Autorama,
Automotive News, June 1, 1992.) Unfortunately the cars that Ford produced (Ford
Taurus, Lincoln Continental, Thunderbird and the Probe) did not nearly as well as
their counterparts produced by Mazda (Fiesta, Laser, Telstar, and Spectron van)
(Ford to Manage Import of U.S. Vehicles Sold in Japan, Japan Economic Newswire,
June 17, 1992 and Ford looking to boost Japanese sales, Motor Report International,
July 6, 1992) for several reasons: (1) the steering wheel was on the left side
rather than the right side as most Japanese cars are; (2) Many of these models were
to big for a country which is so crowded and where gas costs so much; and (3) the
Probe looked much to showy for the tastes of people in a country which has the
slogan (The nail that sticks out get's hammered. (Footnote - It is ironic that Ford
was completely ignorant of such basic market demands while it was extremely
meticulous in complying with the rules and regulations that Japan requires to allow
a car to enter the country. - Ford Expands Export Commitment to Japan, PR Newswire,
September 10, 1992.) Around 1990 Ford set up Ford of Japan. And in 1993 it
appointed its first Japanese president named Yoshiaki Yamanaka who was a former
director of Autorama. (Advertising Age, June 7, 1993)