Posted by

Barry Siskind

Community Manager

 

I thought it’s time that we shared our impressions about books we have read and enjoyed (or not). I recently completed Fordlandia, a book written by Greg Grandin and published by Picador in 2009.

 

The story chronicles Henry Ford’s attempt, at the beginning of the twentieth century, to make a significant dent in the world-wide rubber market.

 

Grandin opens with a brief history of Henry Ford’s rise to power and fortune with the creation of mass production for the Model T. By 1910 he was ranked as one of the wealthiest individuals in the world.

 

Rubber was in short supply and Fords’ dream was to bring his version of mass production to the Amazon jungle.  It was an ambitious project to say the least and after 30 years, tens of millions of dollars, and the loss of thousands of lives the project was abandoned.

 

Grandin gives the reader a glimpse into the mind of Ford who believed that what worked well in the U.S.A. could be replicated in the Amazon. The book opens with Ford’s accent to the heights of capitalist power through his business acumen and social conscience. Ford workers were paid above scale, they were taken care of in Ford housing, the benefited from Ford healthcare and education.  But there was also a dark side.  At Ford’s insistence his workers were told to refrain from such evils as liquor and tobacco.  Ford had a covert security force who would barge into private homes to ensure that the sanitary conditions that Ford preached were kept. and that the workers used the little land they had to cultivate flowers and vegetables as no animals were tolerated. This same group often used intimidation to ensure Ford workers purchased Model T’s.

 

The book gives the reader a glimpse of an era that saw the world at war, the excesses of the twenties and the great depression of the thirties all in the shadow of a man consumed with a vision and ego to match. It was speculated that Ford might have abandoned the project sooner but for the name he had given his city in the Amazon – “Fordlandia.”

 

The lessons learned are many. One that comes to mind for our industry is that those who attempt to take a strong brand and replicate it world-wide must pay attention to culture, politics, business habits and attitudes in local communities. The lesson Ford learned nearly a century ago can be applied today. Cloning a trade fair and assuming that a formula that works well in one location will work in another without making adjustments may be doomed to failure.

 

The author has an engaging style and had clearly done his homework. It was a good read.

 

Have you read a good book lately that you would like to tell us about? Don’t be shy; we really want to hear from you.