Differentiating between Market Structures in Boeing Corporation

With only a few large companies across the globe (Boeing, MD, and Airbus), the commercial aircraft industry essentially exhibits the qualities of an oligopolistic competition with intense rivalry. Here is an analysis of competition in the commercial aircraft business using Porter’s Five Forces.

The industry environment was also in Boeings favor at the time. Boeing had a history of dedicated customers. The company had been making commercially successful jet aircraft since it first developed the “707”. Boeing was so successful at manufacturing the jet aircraft, that it was one of two companies left making them. This advantage gave them the ability to be a powerful supplier. The expense of the development process also made it extremely difficult for new companies to even enter the market. Boeing faced only one competitor at this point; Airbus (Pearce, Robinson, 2003).

As the two largest producers in the commercial aircraft industry, Boeing and Airbus have been in a long rivalry for over two decades. Because of its huge research and development cost and a volatile market demand situation, the large commercial aircraft industry has only a few viable producers that can successfully operate in this industry. At the end of 1996, there were three competitors in the industry – Airbus, Boeing, and McDonnell Douglas (MDC). When Boeing announced in December 1996 the merger between Boeing and McDonnell Douglas, the dispute has again started between Boeing and Airbus. The merger was expected to go under

Both potential and existing competitors influence average industry profitability. The threat of new entrants is usually based on the market entry barriers. They can take diverse forms and are used to prevent an influx of firms into an industry whenever profits, adjusted for the cost of capital, rise above zero. In contrast, entry barriers exist whenever it is difficult or not economically feasible for an outsider to replicate the incumbents’ position (Porter, 1980b; Sanderson, 1998) The most common forms of entry barriers, except intrinsic physical or legal obstacles, are as follows:

1) An Oligopolistic market structure is a structure where very few large businesses sell a particular standard Good or differentiated Good, and to whose market entry proves difficult. This in turn, gives little control over product pricing because of mutual interdependence (with the exception of collusion among businesses) creating a non-price competition meaning they are the ‘price setters’. A good rule to help classify an

Factors that can limit the threat of new entrants are known as barriers to entry. In this case barriers to entry are low because: there is no government intervention to prevent businesses from entering the industry, resources are abundant, and customers’ switching costs are low as well as fixed costs to start this type of business.

The organization and characteristics of a specific market where a company operates is referred to as market structure. While markets can basically be classified by their degree of competitiveness and pricing, there are four types of markets i.e. perfect competition, monopolistic competition, monopoly, and oligopoly. In perfect competition markets, many firms are price takers whereas monopolistic competition markets are characterized by the ability of some firms to have market power. In contrast, oligopoly markets are those in which few firms can be price makers while monopoly market is where one firm can be a price maker.

In the market for large aircraft demand the emerging niche for very large aircraft (VLCT aircraft seating more than 400 passengers) saw only two competitors: Boeing and Airbus. Even though both competitors’ moves were clearly marked by technology enhancements, and different target markets but both exhibited strategic interdependence.

After a few number of mergers & acquisitions to become the world’s largest, most diversified aerospace company, Boeing enterprise now include: North American Aviation, McDonnell Douglas, Rockwell International, Hughes Space & Communications, and Jeppesen.

Dominating the commercial aircraft market for decades, Boeing is considered to be the most highly competitive U.S aerospace industry. “U.S. firms manufacture a wide variety of products for civil and defense purposes and, in 2010, the value of aerospace industry shipments was estimated at $171 billion, of which civil aircraft and aircraft parts accounted for over half of all U.S. aerospace shipments. The U.S. aerospace industry exported nearly $78 billion in products in 2010, of which $67 billion (or 86% of total exports) were civil aircraft, engines, equipment, and parts” (Harrison, 2011). However, its position of influence has lessened in recent years. This is due to its main competitor, Airbus, who in recent years has made significant

The Boeing corporation had been a very successful company in the mid-1990s. At the time, it dominanted the market in commercial aviation with an additional thriving sideline in the military and space contracts market. Boeing faced and then overcame a huge number of challenges but also took advantage of many opportunities that were offered up by the aerospace market in the late 1990s. The company faced a number of challenges. In wake of he the first Gulf War, the incumbent economic slowdown severely decreased the market demand. Also, the Boeing encountered stiff competition from the company Airbus which many experts have attributed to heavy subsidies by European government that gave the company an unfair advantage market advantage. For instance, in 1999, Airbus outsold Boeing for the first time in the company's history and delivered to the market more airplanes than the Boeing company did in

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.

Another quality of perfect competition that may be overlooked, but is vital to this industry is the ease of entry into the market. Start-up franchises within this market structure can begin operating with relatively low initial investments (compared to other industries). This is not the case where monopolies are concerned. There are numerous barriers to entry into monopolistic market structures, capital being one of the most prominent barriers.

As the largest aerospace company in the world, the Boeing Company employees more than 153,000 people in some 67 countries. The great dominance of Boeing is due to its 1997 merger with McDonnell Douglas Corporation, an aerospace manufacturer, and its 1996 purchase of the defense and space units of Rockwell International Corporation, an aerospace contractor. The corporation is the world’s number one maker of commercial jetliners and military aircraft with more than 9,000 commercial planes in service worldwide, including the 717 through 777 families of jets

An oligopoly, is when there are only a few number of companies that control a specific market. The barriers to entry can be both legal/political (ie. number of licenses awarded to cell phone operators) to the fact that the companies themselves create a "cartel like" attitude effectively brushing of the market new entrants through aggressive measures like undercutting pricing on new smaller entrants, controlling inputs for production, etc.