Case Study : The B & W

The Boeing Company designs, develops, manufactures, sells, services, and supports commercial jetliners, military aircraft, satellites, missile defense, human space flight, and launch systems and services worldwide. It operates in five segments: Commercial Airplanes, Boeing Military Aircraft, Network & Space Systems, Global Services & Support, and Boeing Capital. The Commercial Airplanes segment develops, produces, and markets commercial jet aircraft for various passenger and cargo requirements; and provides related support services to the commercial airline industry. This segment also offers aviation services support, aircraft modifications, spare parts, training, maintenance documents, and technical advice to commercial and government customers. The Boeing Military Aircraft segment researches, develops, produces, and modifies manned and unmanned military aircraft, and weapons systems for global strike, vertical lift, and autonomous systems, as well as mobility, surveillance, and engagement. The Network & Space Systems segment researches, develops, produces, and modifies strategic defense and intelligence systems, satellite systems, and space exploration products.

This paper of Philip Condit and the Development of the 777; describes the management, and technological changes that Philip Condit made to the development style of the Boeing Company. Before Philip Condit took over the 777 program, Boeing had been making airplanes in the same fashion as it had been doing for 70 years prior. Mr. Condit saw the chance to bring Boeing into the 21st century not only with the new technology of computer aided drafting, but with modern management techniques as well. The 777 program proved to be the perfect testing ground for a companywide change in the way Boeing did its business.

On July 28, 1935, the first porotype of the B-17 or also known as the B-299 took off from Boeing Field in south Seattle on its first ever test flight (Boeing “B-17”). Seattle Times reporter Richard Smith dubbed the new plane, with its many .30 caliber machine-guns, the “Flying Fortress,” (qtd.in Boeing). A name that Boeing quickly adopted and trademarked for the gigantic bomber (Boeing “B-17”). The U.S. Army Air Corps designated the plane as the B-17. Boeing created the plane in response to the Army’s request for a large, multi-engine bomber. The B-17 financed entirely by Boeing, went from the design board to flight tests in less than a year. In Boeings description of the B-17 was a low-wing monoplane that combined aerodynamic features

Boeing pursues Product Differentiation strategy in order to create competitive advantage over Airbus. Boeing differentiates its products by increasing number of seating capacity, engine capacity, innovating new winglet designs and by manufacturing wide range of products in respect to the change in market

Boeing corporations is an American based Multi-National-Corporation that designs, produces and distributes both military and commercial Aircraft. As a Multi-National-Corporation, Boeing has offices and factories in different countries and have a centralised head office in Chicago where they coordinate global management. One of Boeing's flagship products is the Boeing 787-Dreamliner which is a mid-range commercial aircraft. The Boeing 787 is one of the latest Boeing Products that demonstrates the principals of a Multi-National-Corporation. It sources components, from 7 different countries, as well as utilising research and technology facilities across 20 countries worldwide.

After sucessfully selling military aircrafts adapted for troop transportation in the 1950’s and introducing commercial aircrafts model 707, 727 followed by 737, Boeing has since then become a leading producer of military & commercial aircraft.

Market Share Airbus will launch their new large, long distance plane A380 in 2006. This plane can be a dreadful competitive product to Boeing. If Boeing falls behind regarding innovations, fuel efficiency and other attributes of a long haul airliner, it will soon lose its market share. In order for Boeing to compete in the aviation industry, it is crucial to take on some risk and develop this new 7E7 project. This helps the company to fight against its competitors and recover from the slump in the industry.

It is suggested that the travel industry and the aerospace and defense industry as a whole will continue to grow on the basis of the strong demand emanating from domestic demand as well as globalization. This may give a major boost to the demand for 7E7s as the airlines are already concerned about high fuel costs intensifying out of increased demands from emerging economies like India and China and reduced production. Better design modifications is going to be a major strength for the 7E7 as Boeing is betting on the future of small-mid size airplanes which can fly short as well as long distances with its fuel efficient engines. From an investment perspective, with interest rates at it's lowest in decades, with 911 behind us, and barring a major pandemic such as SARS, the timing seems right for Boeing to pursue this endeavor.

In a strategy similar to that of Airbus, Boeing absorbed its largest rival, McDonnell Douglas, in 1977. Boeing’s newest entry into the market is the 787 Dreamliner, a revolutionary jetliner manufactured with up to 50 percent composition materials and designed to increase fuel efficiency and reduce environmental impact. The aircraft has suffered several problems since the first model rolled off the line in 2007, most notably with the lithium-ion battery pack. These issues were resolved in 2013 and Boeing expects the 787 to be incredibly successful due to new demand for super-efficient airliners, a result of rising global fuel prices. Boeing is the wworld’s largest aerospace company, and the leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. The company designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. They are a major

Boeing Company has been and is still at the forefront of the aviation industry. The late 1990s were a time of trial and transition where the company encountered and overcame a number of

6.2 The Boeing model adopted was to spread the design and development to suppliers on a global scale with costs met by suppliers (Ostrower & Lublin, 2013). A strategy such as this should have been tightly controlled from the outset. Without this control, difficulties in assembly and ill-fitting parts requiring redesign added to the delays experienced by the project (Denning, 2013), with hundreds of Boeing engineers sent to various companies to solve technical problems (Tang & Zimmerman, 2009).

The Boeing Company was formed in 1916 by William E. Boeing in Seattle, Washington. The following year they had a twenty eight person payroll which included pilots, carpenters, boat builders and seamstresses. The lowest wage was fourteen cents an hour, while the company's top pilots made two to three hundred dollars a month. When the company was short on money, William Boeing used his own financial resources to guarantee a loan to cover all wages, which was a total of about seven hundred a week. ("Boeing History," n.d)

The Boeing Corporation is one of the largest manufacturers in the world. Rivaled only by European giant Airbus in the aerospace industry, Boeing is a leader in research, design and manufacture of commercial jet airliners, for commercial, industrial and military customers. Despite enjoying immense success in its market and dominating an industry that solely recognizes engineering excellence, it is crucial for Boeing to ensure continued growth through consistent strategy formulation and execution to avoid falling behind in market share to close and coming rivals.

After the highly successful launch of the Boeing 777 with United Airlines in June 1995, Boeing experienced a drought of novel commercial aircrafts for the next several years. So, later in 1990s, the 747X and Sonic Cruiser projects were cancelled due to insufficient market interest. As a result, in January 2003, the 7E7 project was announced. The leader of the 7E7 project is Michael Bair. Boeing hopes the 7E7 project will help it regain the commercial-aircraft sales that the company had lost over the years to Airbus.

The B707 was the first aircraft developed by Boeing in 1958, it is a narrow body , mid-size and a four turbo-fan engine aircraft ( Pratt & Whitney ) . Some people call it ( seven oh seven ) and it has different modules ( series ) that contains different capacity from 140-189 passengers .The Boeing 787 was produced in 2007 , it is a long-range , wide-body , twin turbo-fan engine ( GEnx or Rolls Royce ) aircraft . Passenger’s seat varies from 242-335 dependant on the series of the aircraft. Of course both aircrafts varies from the internal structures ,but almost the same design for the outer structure (body shape ) , and I’ll demonstrate the differences and similarities between both aircrafts , from structure design to the innovations made to the B787 , that surely made us look at the Boeing industry in a different perspectives.