Running Head: FORD EDSEL CASE STUDY 1

Ford Edsel Case Study

William Taylor Pittman
PJM380-1 Project Management Tools
Colorado State University Global Campus
Professor Michael Laverty
June 15, 2014








FORD EDSEL CASE STUDY 2

Ford Edsel Case Study
Statement of Work
Project Overview
A bottom up design for a new automobile aimed at the medium-range price audience will
be developed. The design will be developed and styled innovatively considering the customer
taste change that will occur during development as well as market research. After development
of the design, testing and selective market feasibility studies will be performed on prototype
vehicles. After testing and approval, thorough market research will be conducted at this time in
an effort to provide the most relevant data to promote the vehicle. Once a demand has been
established from research, production will commence to meet projected demand. As vehicles are
produced, they will be distributed to dealers most suited to sell the vehicle. Once vehicles are on
the market, continuing market research will commence and actual performance will be compared
with predefined performance goals. The project will be terminated if certain objectives are failed
to be satisfied.
Objectives
Design and produce a mid-class price range automobile capable of selling one-hundred
thousand plus units per year sustainably for a period of at least three years.
Scope of Work
Design a mid-class price range automobile and produce prototype vehicles for testing.
Pending approval of testing and market research, approximately nine-thousand vehicles will be
FORD EDSEL CASE STUDY 3

produced per month over a period of twelve months. This rate of production can change
according to metrics established by current and projected demand.
Three Planning Levels
Level 1: Strategic Plan
The introduction of a medium price range automobile into the lineup of vehicles would
provide the company with an entry to the medium price range market. One-hundred thousand
units of the automobile will be thee production goal after twelve months in the market. Eighty
five to ninety percent of cars produced have to be sold to meet performance standards
Level 2: Tactical Plan
Designs will be developed based on envisioned concepts and initial market research. After the
designs are finalized they are then subject to approval from executive officials. If the designs do
not meet the standards, objectives, and or satisfy stakeholders, they will then be subject to
redesign. When designs are approved by senior officers, prototype vehicles will be produced for
testing and marketing. Research will be done on reactions involved will marketing efforts. If a
sufficient market exists, production of the automobile will then begin. The production goal is to
produce one-hundred thousand units within twelve months of production commencement. As
units are distributed to dealers and sold. Analysis of sales figures will be taken continuously to
assess its current viability as well as project future demand. The production of the vehicle will
cease or reduce in number if certain performance standards are not meet.
Level 3: Operational Plan
Production of the new automobile will source from four departments: design and
devilment, production team, marketing and research department and senior officers.
FORD EDSEL CASE STUDY 4

Initial Market Research: First, initial market research will be conducted by the
marketing research department with support from senior officers. If the market exist and idea
passes feasibility studies the project then moves onto the next phase: design and development.
Design: The design and development team will be primarily responsible for the designing
of the automobile. Expertise will be drawn from all four department sources, in order to design a
buildable, marketable, producible automobile.
Prototype Production: After design finalization, the production team will take over and
produce prototypes of the vehicle. They may consult design team members on how to construct
certain attributes of the automobile. Also, key stakeholder/executive officials are involved by
approving the prototype.
Market Research: The next phase of the project only involves one department:
marketing and research. The marketing and research department will use prototypes as a tool to
gather data consisting of customer interest, in addition to testing for road-worthy ness. If the
prototype vehicle passes safety regulations and satisfies customer interest expectations,
production of the automobile will commence.
Production: Production will require the resources of all four departments. The
department in charge of production, the production team will work closely with the design team
to ensure envisioned features are accurate to design.
Monitoring: In the final, longest phase of the project, monitoring, Cars are continually
produced, but project priorities shift to market research, advertisement, etc. During this period,
executive officials also must accept sales performance figures to determine whether to reduce,
increase, or cease production of the automobile.
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Responsibility Assignment Matrix

Task DDT P MRD SO
Initial market research R S
Iniitial Design R AR S AR
Prototype production S R MBC
Market resarch R
Production S R AR AR
Monitoring S R MBC


Work Flowchart








Stakeholder key:
DDT: Design and development team
P: Production team
MRD: Marketing and research department
SO: Senior officers
Role Key:
R: Responsible
S: Support
AR: Approval required
MBC: Must be consulted
Initial Market
Research
Initial Design
Protype
Design
Market
Research
Production
Monitoring
Aprovall by
senior officers Yes
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Answers to case study questions
1. The story of the Ford Edsel provides some key insight on the ways technical and
commercial performance can affect the outcome of a project. In automobile manufacturing, in
my opinion, I would rank technical and commercial performance almost equal in importance.
With project success being the sale of a desired amount of Edsels, commercial performance
would seem to be of more importance. However, technical performance is a key driving force
being commercial performance. If technical performance is not up to standards, this will be
reflected in commercial viability and desirability.
2. Although extensive market research had been performed, ultimately the Edsel failed
because of dated nature of the research. The feasibility and marketability of the automobile was
based too much so on historical data, dating back ten years. Ford failed to foresee the market
conditions at the time of release and produced a car that may have succeeded five years prior.
3. The Ford Edsel failed because of a variety of reasons. None of which were derived
from luck. In my opinion the Edsel may have been a success if the timing had been right. With
the influx of smaller, German, less expensive cars, and their popularity combined with the
economic recession at the Edsels launch ultimately caused the Edsels failure.