Henry Ford was born in 1863 and died in 1947 . He did n’t just witness important issue in United States history ; he avail make them happen . Ford ’s innovations andhis namesake car companyare a essential part of our current economical organization . And he did n’t just make cars — he totally revolutionizedthe process , inventing unexampled systems and methods that are still in use today . People are complicated beast , though , and Henry Ford had some controversial opinions and beliefs that , for better or for bad , affect his bequest . For instance , he was a sleep with anti - Semite , harboring deep preconception against Jewish mass . And some of his line practices that were initially deliberate reformist may have had darker motivation . As a issue , a lot of Americans still find strongly about the man . One junto wants to gloss over his unsavory quality , arguing that his prescribed share to the American economy and manufacture outbalance the fact that he was n’t a very skillful person . Others believe that his wretched intervention of other people , and ethically questionable business pattern , should n’t be excused .
Which side are you on ? Before get to up your idea , let ’s take a spirit at some of the myths about Henry Ford .
5: Went to See a Man About a Horse
Henry Ford allegedly said , " If I had asked people what they want , they would have saidfaster horse . " It ’s one of the most famous quotation attributed to him . However , there ’s short , if any , grounds that he ever actually made this program line [ reservoir : Vlaskovits ] . In a sense , it does n’t really matter — in the opulent scheme of Henry Ford , this is a pretty innocuous assertion . ego - righteous , but harmless . And anyway , it ’s supposed to explain why he build the Model T the way he did , even though his method were unheard - of at the time . Whether he say the quote or not , he still build the Model T and changed history . So why does it weigh , then ? Well , Henry Ford and Ford Motor Company are still case studies for innovator everywhere . And that quote stand as a dividing channel between two schools of cerebration . The first believes that founding should be in Inner Light of feedback from consumers and market research . The other side remember that inspiration should n’t be hold back by picayune details such as feedback from consumer .
As we ’ll hash out in the coming pages , Henry Ford get down out on one route and then got lost give out down the other , irrespective of what he did or did not say .
4: Kingpin
The myth die hard that to hold open money , Henry Ford re - engineered the Model T ’s longest - go parts to a lower quality . The Model T was plan for affordability and dependability , a great source of pride to Ford . Indeed , Model Ts tended to last longer than competitors ' cars . As the story goes , though , Henry Ford reportedly transport a bunch of engineers out tojunkyardsto study Model Ts . They came back and told him that the junked Model Ts were pretty uniformly worn , with the exclusion of one part : the kingpin , which showed very little wear on nearly every example . Ford then allege that new kingpin should be engineered to a lower tone criterion so they would n’t outlast the rest of the car . historiographer seem to check that this in reality happened [ source : Snopes ] . However , the myth is that Henry Ford was willing to sacrifice the overall quality of his cars , and cheating his customers for the rice beer of pinchingpennies . But that at once contradicts Ford ’s other tone initiatives , where he pass real money to produce a better car . Henry Ford just understand it as smart business not to spend redundant money where it would n’t have been of any supererogatory benefit .
3: He Didn’t Read His Own Newspaper …
… and he had no idea what it was saying .
Henry Ford maintain ties with Adolf Hitler , ofttimes sound out horrendously offensive things , and even published a paper called the " Dearborn Independent , " that was full of anti - Jewish hate speech . For years , historiographer and Ford jockstrap claim that Henry Ford was not involve in the day - to - day business organisation of carry the newsprint and rarely actually read it ; therefore , he could not be hold responsible for what it published . moreover , some of Ford ’s supporter go so far as to lay claim that Ford really had no idea how offensive his viewpoints and statements were to the people around him [ source : Woeste ] . This myth , based on a fabricated quote by unethical historiographer , hang in even after it was expose . Ford was action for libel , and research worker have found lawyers ' platter from the eccentric , which show that Ford ordered the paper to terminate write and print inflammatory mental object in 1922 , and to begin back up in 1924 . The case never kick the bucket to trial because Ford staged acar accidentto avoid hold to go to judicature .
Henry Ford may have manipulated his way out of testifying , but there ’s no way he ’s off the claw for the anti - Semitic cognitive content in the " Dearborn Independent . "
2: He Was a Progressive Manager
On the open , Henry Ford follow up a circumstances of different programs and policies that help his doer . Some of his supporter tout these as " progressive " or even " handsome " ideas . Without any backstory , that interpretation is understandable . But as we ’ve already discussed , Henry Ford was anything but freehanded . In his defense , his motivation was n’t really gain . He simply wanted to improve the agency he move his line of work . Despite Ford ’s seemingly home - favorable insurance , though , he really did seek to control much of his employee ' animation outside the plant . As the biggestauto manufacturerin the existence ( at the meter ) this behavior had far - hit effects . Ford was peculiarly vexed by the hypothesis ofunionization , and worked so hard to prevent his employees from organise that the National Labor Relations Board had to ill-use in . In the late thirties , when the unions were pluck up steam throughout Detroit , Henry Ford was excogitate shutting down his company to prevent it [ reference : History.com ] . He eventually dedicate in . In 1941 , Ford signed a contract with the United Auto Workers .
As you ’ll see on the next page , the myth about Henry Ford ’s " reform-minded " workplace culture is deserving discussing even further .
1: That “Liberal” Wage Hike
This is perhaps the most dogged Ford myth . It ’s dependable , Henry Ford raised payoff to a story unheard - of at it the time : Assembly line doer had the potential to earn $ 5 a day . But it was n’t so they could grease one’s palms their own Model Ts , as is wide repeated . Ford was n’t a loose genius . He did n’t particularly wish about his workers ' individual economic state of affairs . He just want his workers to cease getting fed - up and walking off the line mid - chemise , which be the manufacturing plant in wasted time , reduced or lost productiveness and the headache of constantly hire and train new employees . After the pay increase , productivity and timber improved , turnover was subjugate and Ford was satisfied he ’d made a soundinvestment[source : Leef ] . However , with that increase , worker had to agree to a computer code of conduct that applied on the Book of Job and on personal clip . They could n’t tope , gamble , or tolerate their wives to work outside the home . immigrant had to take English . Ford even employed a committee who would make home visits to assure these standards were met .
So even though Henry Ford forge methods that changed manufacturing always , his ' large buddy ' approaching to employee direction was n’t one that was specially celebrated — or wide espouse .
Henry Ford Myths FAQ
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Rather than take a stand on the pro - Henry Ford / anti - Henry Ford argument , I have to wonder how much more difficult it would have been for him to function the elbow room he was in the net era . It would be so much more difficult to get away with the variety of things he did with the mass medium and consumer watch every move . Of course , that should be said about mass of the prolific and controversial businesspeople ( and politicians and entertainer ) alive today , and it does n’t seem to discontinue a lot of them from opening their mouths . There are some flaws in this transmission line of inquiring , I be intimate . But if Henry Ford had n’t automatize manufacture , someone else surely would have . We ’d still have our machine , laptops , smartphones and everything else by now , so it ’s really heavy to let some of his doings playground slide . But one of the most interesting thing about Henry Ford is that he seemed to think he was operating in a vacancy — that people would buy his cars , but not really pay attention to anything else he did . And that just would n’t fly now .
