The Entrepreneurial Story of Henry Ford

Introduction: Being that my name is Ford Jordan, and I am doing a presentation on Ford Motor Company, I thought it was appropriate to write a blog on the life of Henry Ford. Being that we share the same name I felt a special affinity to this particular blog post. Henry Ford is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of the twentieth century. He is one of the most recognized names and his innovations have allowed the world to be able to afford and own cars. Henry Ford was born on July 30, 1863. He was the oldest child of William and Mary Ford. He was extremely gifted at engineering and always enjoyed building and taking…

The Internet: An Open Source Community

Have you ever noticed how most things on the internet are free? Or how the demo versions are as good as the real versions? How there are people who write blogs about solving problems for things they could have charged people for, but they did it for free?  This phenomenon is called Open Source. Wikipedia defines open source as a term that describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product’s source materials. It means that people show you exactly how they got their answer or made their products; there are no secrets everything is shown to you.  Open source is a methodology that the internet community strives for.  The Internet community want…

The Internet: A Different Culture, Breaking Social Norms

The business world of the internet is a very unique place to work, especially compared to other business environments.  Internet companies are extremely free thinking and put a lot of emphasis on enjoying work and expressing ones self.  It is very much a relaxed environment where everyone is trying to help everyone else succeed.  This is a stark contrast to other businesses in corporate America where making a profit is the chief goal and employees are just expenses that hurt the bottom line.  Industrial companies like GE that have a strict policies on getting rid of the bottom 10% of their company verses companies like Google that make its employees take mandatory breaks and relax.  Google also…

The Internet: Destroying Entry Barriers

The Internet changed everything.  No other invention has revolutionized our world the way the internet has.  The computer came the closes to potentially affecting us more, but the internet tore geographic barriers.  It allows people on different continents to talk effortlessly through chatting or email. It has opened up limitless opportunities.  With the power of the internet a small business owner can instantly have access to the world market and compete with industry giants like Wal-Mart or GE. Before the invention of the internet if a person were given the choice of being an average American Student or a genius in Bangladesh, India the American student would be the better choice because the American student…

What is needed for Economic Progress?

When England discovered the American colonies there were only a few natives and no capital structure, and by the time the colonies formed a new nation they had the population and resources to sustain a successful country. The American colonies d id eventually increase the standard of living for the people who lived there. This rise in the standard of living is called the Economic Progress.

What is Corporate Social Responsibility?

These are extreme examples of what can happen when corporations do not care about corporate social responsibility. With the collapse of WorldCom and the scandal of Coca-Cola, people realized that corporations need to be kept to a higher standard. Investors want and need to know that when they invest in a corporation the business is sound and the information they portray is accurate. If not, investors will not feel safe investing. Without investors, businesses will not be able to raise capital, which will eventually lead to the demise of the company. Another reason for corporate social responsibility is that with transportation now becoming faster and faster and people being able to communicate across the globe, people are no longer bound by geographic borders. Companies get involved in the health of workers, the education of employees and their children, working environment safety, and the pensions that sustain workers in retirement. Businesses have now become more powerful than governments. Just as in early modern Europe, when power shifted from the church to the government, it is now moving from governments to corporations. With the rise in power of corporations, people are demanding that businesses start acknowledging corporate social responsibility.