We tend to view our own industry, whatever it is, as unique. We’re prone to see our industry as having characteristics that distinguish it from other industries. I am often told by clients, “this business is unlike any other.”
Ford and General Motors are certainly different companies, but they are both in the auto industry. They are more alike than Ford and Neiman Marcus, or General Motors and General Mills. More broadly, Ford and General Motors are in the business of designing, manufacturing, assembling (and servicing and repairing) motorized/automotive equipment. So they bear some similarity to Caterpillar, Harley-Davidson, John Deere, and so on. But Ford or GM associates typically see themselves as having few if any meaningful common denominators with Yum Brands, or Procter & Gamble, or Delta Airlines.