Ford needs to make some drastic changes to its corporate strategy. The Team Taurus concept proved to be very successful while developing that product line. It provided innovative ideas that created product differentiators that created a strong competitive advantage. The company also realized some large cost savings because of the processes that were put in place. This led to the Taurus / Sable having a strong impact to the bottom line. Ford needs to take that concept across its divisions and product lines.
Ford was facing several strategic issues as they entered the mid 1990's. The Team Taurus concept had been tremendously successful. However, that concept had not gathered strength throughout the organization and was losing traction within Team Taurus. They were encountering a loss of differentiation through increased imitation and a lack of innovation. The competitive landscape was changing, somewhat due in part to GM's own problems and the economic issues in Japan. Finally, Ford had gained a strong market share in the Truck and SUV market, but had little penetration in the other automotive segments. Overall, Ford had to make some key strategic decisions if they were going to succeed in the late 1990's.
Ford attempted to differentiate it's successful Taurus / Sable line in the later years through a few small innovative ideas. Unfortunately, due to the relative small nature of these ideas, the other manufacturers quickly imitated these ideas. One example of this was airbags. Ford was one of the first to make them standard, but Honda and Toyota promptly added the feature, removing this competitive advantage. When imitation is rapid, the benefits of being first to market erode before an impact in sales is discerned. Team Taurus had brought to the company many new ideas and processes. These fostered innovation, cut time to production, as well as cut costs. Unfortunately, Ford had fallen back on its conservative nature and left them unable to react quickly to changes in the market place.
