Impact of Organizational Culture on the Ford Production System (FPS)

Abstract

The Ford Production System (FPS) is a lean manufacturing system developed by Ford Motor Company (FMC) in 1995 as part of the "Ford 2000" program. It has resulted in significant cost savings, with individual plants implementing FPS saving an average of of $500 million per year. The study's goal was to examine the impact of FPS on FMC's organizational culture by addressing three research questions: 1) What was the organizational culture at FMC before implementing FPS? 2) How did FPS specifically influence FMC's organizational culture? and 3) What were the shortcomings or weaknesses that arose from implementing FPS at FMC? To gather and analyze the necessary data, the researcher adopts a qualitative literature review research approach, relying on secondary research to answer the three research questions. The investigation drew upon seminal works in the existing scholarly literature to frame the analysis. The study commenced with an overview of FPS, followed by an examination of its strengths and weaknesses. A comparison was made between the FPS approach and Toyota's lean manufacturing system, the Toyota Production System (TPS). The outcome of this study was to identify areas of FPS that could benefit from further refinement. The significance of the study lies in its contribution to assisting business organizations in successfully implementing the FPS lean manufacturing system. By exploring how organizational culture can enhance the successful implementation of FPS, which has proven challenging for many companies, this research provides valuable insights to help companies learn how to successfully implement the FPS by redesigning their organizational culture.