C+FORD+Q9d

= __Ford - Case Study__ = Ford was originally based in Dearborn, Detroit (USA).

Henry Ford originally chose this location for several reasons:
 * The land is flat and thus easier and cheaper to build on.
 * There is a body of water nearby - good for shipping, energy and
 * Steel was being produced in factories nearby so transportation prices would have been much lower.
 * Dearborn is in the suburbs of Detroit. This means that land prices would have been lower that if they had been based in the city centre.

Henry Ford attracted workers to his factories by offering higher wages than most companies at the time (1914). He payed his workers $5 (The equivalent of around $100 in today's money) per day. He called this "Wage motive", and it was highly effective. I nstead of constantly changing employees, this plan attracted the best mechanics in Detroit to work for Ford. This increased productivity, and substantially lowered training costs. Ford cars are assembled in other countries to avoid high costs - wages are lower in LEDCs such as Brazil and land may also be cheaper in such locations. Having plants in other countries lowers both the risk and damage done to a company should a strike occur. Non-localisation also means that no model of car will be location-specific.



__**SOURCES OF INFORMATION**__ Information was obtained from David Waugh's "New Wider World" second edition textbook, which has been updated and revised to match the exacting requirements of all the latest GCSE and Standard Grade specifications. It is considered as the best Geography textbook available for today's students. "The New Wider World" also provides an excellent stepping stone to AS and A-Level Geography. The second edition now includes new materials covering recent developments and events in geography throughout the world and in GCSE specifications. It also includes new chapters on Settlement Growth, Urban Change and Managing Resources, with greater emphasis on issues involving social, economic and environmental change and their management. It is recommended that teachers buy "The New Wider World Teacher's Resource Book", which has been completely re-written to provide brand new activities and extensive case study material with extra exam support for teachers and students using the textbook. Some other information & images were obtained from Google.