In a move designed to rally support for Ford's Way Forward restructuring plan announced by company officials on Monday, Dearborn Truck Plant Manager Rob Webber announced that starting next week, only Ford vehicles will be permitted in the parking lot at the plant.
Non-Ford vehicles may still park in employee lots, albeit across the street.
I'm personally a firm believer in supporting your employer in any way possible, however I have very mixed feelings about this type of enforcement. Does anyone have any experience with this type of ban in other industries?
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When I worked at Dell, there was an unofficial “Dell only” policy for consultants with laptops. We joked that the #2 brand of computer was “Yellow Post It Note” laptops, as consultants would have what were obviously compaq or IBM laptops with the logo covered with a post it note. Didn’t really fool anyone. It would be harder to disguise a Honda, I think!
In the future, Ford will be looked upon as another bizarre chapter in “batch manufacturing” history whose last few chapters are now being written……
It is accepting its defeat!
Ford should convince their employees/consultants to buy and use its vehicles rather than using this type of cheap tactics.
You should win people at home first before going to street.
It used to be this way. No longer than 10 years ago, you couldn’t park a competitors vehicle in the ‘premium’ spots. What’s wrong with this? It is obviously not going to, nor is meant to, save the company. But if you’re asking people to do their part and they can’t even buy the products they make, what is that saying about those people. Do you think the offices of Coke have Pepsi machines all over? Or that the M&M’s people sit around popping Hersey’s Kisses? If you can draw a paycheck, then you can buy the product.
The old saying, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make him drink.”
In my mind, this rule takes it one step further and tries to force their employees heads under water. They’re trying to FORCE their employees to drink.
Seems to me it is more effective to make the horse thirsty. This is not the best way to approach the situation. If Ford wants their employees to buy their own vehicles, maybe there is a bigger issue that should be looked at…
When I worked at a GM engine plant, I saw tons of Ford and Chrysler pickups in the parking lot (the Ram pickup was very popular). The UAW encouraged this “buy from your brothers and sisters” mentality, where it was more important to support the UAW than your employer. Driving a Ford was OK, because it was UAW built. As a salaried employee, that always ticked me off.
In the ’70’s I worked for an automotive parts manufacturer. The Japanese were moving into the U.S market and the President of the company stated that U.S. cars would get the prime sites and that anyone who bought a new U.S. car could choose his/her parking space. A janitor bought a new Chevy and parked it in the President’s space for a month. It was good for a few laughs and some joshing, but it made us all understand where our money came from. The company is still in operation, a Shingo award winner, but it is now a company owned by a Japanese and German consortium.
In the uk a friend of mine parked his Vauxhall, a GM car in the ford car park on the way to see a ford buyer. When he returned he found what appeared to be a menacing group of Ford emplyees standing around his car. Approaching the group with some trepidation they asked him “What do do think of the car?” he replied nervously “Its OK!” to which the leader said to “Well! I expect its no worde than the c**p we make”.