BMGT 110 Paper

BOEING Corporation

How to Become and Remain a Successful Business

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Jack Finkenbinder

UMUC BMGT 110

BOEING Corporation


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There is one company that is world renowned in the aviation

industry. If you just say the name Boeing anyone in the civilized

world will almost always say something like “They make

airplanes.” What most people do not know is the Boeing

Corporation is involved in much more than just making airplanes.

Boeing’s is the world's leading aerospace company and the largest

manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft

combined (Boeing, 2013). Additionally, Boeing is involved in more

than just manufacturing the standard airplanes most people see.

It also designs and manufactures an array of other aerospace

equipment from helicopters, to electronic and defense systems, to

missiles, and advanced information and communication systems,

just to name a few. Boeing also is one of the key service

providers to NASA; it also fulfills the primary contract for the

International Space Station. The company provides products and

support services to customers in 150 countries and is one of the

largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales. It has a long tradition

of aerospace leadership and innovation, and continues to expand

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its product line and services to meet emerging customer needs.

The company has a broad range of capabilities that include

creating new, more efficient s commercial airplanes; integrating

different types of military platforms, advanced technology

solutions that reach across business units; and host of many

other types of aviation technology. Boeing employs more than

170,000 people across the United States and in 70 countries. This

allows for its company to represent one of the most diverse,

talented and innovative workforces anywhere. A very interesting

fact about its employees is more than 140,000 of them hold a

college degree. This includes nearly 35,000 advanced degrees in

virtually every business and technical field from approximately

2,700 colleges and universities worldwide (Boeing, 2013). The

Boeing Corporation is a company I would truly enjoy working for

because of its ability to continually expand its vision and its

creativity. I am going to discuss in-depth about what makes

Boeing Corporation the most successful company in the aviation

industry today and for the foreseeable future.

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Every successful business must have a vision. To thrive in

the 21st century, businesspeople need vision, the ability to

perceive marketplace needs and what an organization must do to

satisfy them (Boones & Kurtz, 2013). I find it very interesting

that the Boeing Corporation has taken a unique approach when

establishing its vision. Boeing has an overarching company

vision, which provides a broad and lofty inspiration goal to its

employees. The Boeing Company vision statement is: "People

working together as a global enterprise for aerospace

leadership." (Farfan, n.d., pg. 1). It took me a little by

surprise in the way Boeing approached the vision statement. I

have spent the past twenty years in the Air Force and the one

thing I could always count on was a very detailed oriented vision

statement. It changed throughout my time serving depending on who

the Chief of Staff of the Air Force was at the time, but it was

always detailed. I do have to say though I like the approach

Boeing has taken because it gives not only the employees but also

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customers a clear and simple understanding of what the company is

trying to achieve.

Boeing did not stop at just providing its employees with a

vision. It took it one-step further because the vision statement

is very broad. The company ensured it supplied its employees with

the right tools that would allow them to be successful in their

jobs. Beyond the reference to leadership, the company vision

doesn’t provide much specific guidance, so Boeing employees are

also provided with a set of Boeing Business Imperatives, which

Boeing believes will help the company achieve its vision. The

Boeing Business Imperatives are: •"Detailed customer knowledge

and focus that understand, anticipate and respond to customer

needs. •Large-scale systems integration that continually develops

and advances technical excellence. •A lean enterprise

characterized by efficiency, supplier management, short cycle

times, high quality and low transaction costs” (Farfan, n.d. pg.

1). I have learned from my experience working in the aviation

maintenance field that in order for a company to meet and exceed

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the goals that have been set. The employees must have a clear

understanding of how the company expects them to achieve the

goals. Boeing has accomplished that task by providing three

simple, clear, and concise expectations for its employees.

Now that we have identified the Boeing Company’s vision we

must look further to see how the company translates it into its

mission statement. A good definition of a mission statement is a

written explanation of an organization’s business intentions and

aims. It is an enduring statement of a firm’s purpose, possibly

highlighting the scope of operations, the market it seeks to

serve, and the way it will attempt to set itself apart from

competitors. A mission statement guides the actions of employees

and publicizes the company’s reasons for existence (Boones &

Kurtz, 2013). The Boeing Company has gone outside the box with

its “mission statement.” Because it does not have an official

mission statement but likes to refer to it as a mission-like

statement. The following is the company’s mission-like statement,

“We are constantly re-examining our capabilities and processes to

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ensure that our company is as strong and vital as our heritage.

In fact, our culture mirrors the heritage of aviation itself,

built on a foundation of innovation, aspiration and imagination”

(Farfan, n.d., pg. 1). I am amazed at how this company

continuously not only challenges but inspires its employees to

think outside the box and to come up with new ways of doing

business.

In order for a company to be successful it must develop

objectives. Objectives set guideposts by which managers define

the organization’s desired performance in such areas as new-

product development, sales, customer service, growth,

environmental and social responsibility, and employee

satisfaction (Boones & Kurtz, 2013). Boeing has committed its

team of employees to a set of core values that not only define

who they are but also serve as the guideposts to help them become

the company they would like to be. And they aspire to live these

values every day. There are a few key components to Boeing’s core

values that I feel truly help the company be the successful

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company that it has become, leadership, integrity, quality, and

customer satisfaction, (Boeing, 2013).

Leadership has to be at the forefront of any organization

for it to be successful. Boeing puts a lot of emphasis on

training its employees at every level to ensure that it will be a

world-class leader in every aspect of its business. It does this

by focusing on management performance, also in the way it

designs, builds and supports its products, and in its financial

results (Boeing, 2013).

A company is only as good as its word. Once that has been

compromised it is very difficult to rebuild the trust you once

had. Boeing takes great pride in instilling in its employees the

importance of having integrity, always practicing the highest

ethical standards, and by honoring its commitments to customers

and employees alike (Boeing, 2013)

We cannot always tell the quality of a product by just

looking at it. We usually have to test it out to make sure it

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functions the way it was intended. Boeing is always striving for

continuous quality improvement. The company empowers its

employees to speak up and identify areas that need to be improved

upon. This will allow it to remain among the world's premier

industrial firms in customer, employee and community satisfaction

(Boeing, 2013).

The customer is always right. Boeing understands that

satisfied customers are essential to its success. It continually

strives to achieve total customer satisfaction by understanding

what the customer wants and delivering it flawlessly. If there

are issues or concerns from its customers the company has a very

detailed oriented team to address and resolve the perceived

problem to the customers’ satisfaction (Boeing, 2013)

Boones and Kurtz (2013) discuss three different styles of

leadership. The first is Autocratic leadership which is centered

on the boss. Autocratic leaders make decisions on their own

without consulting employees. Next you have Democratic leadership

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which includes subordinates in the decision-making process.

Lastly, you have Free-rein leadership which provides minimal

supervision and allows subordinates to make most of their own

decisions. There is no one correct leadership style. The Boeing

Company has combined all three leadership styles in its company.

Boeing invests a lot of time and money in training and mentoring

its current leaders and its future leaders. Boeing recognizes

that its people have been the source of its innovation and

success for nearly 100 years: Their creativity, passion, and

desire to develop the next great innovation have made Boeing the

world's aerospace leader. The company also acknowledges that as

its people grow as leaders, the company grows (Boeing, 2013). The

company has taken a four tier approach to ensure its employees

are provided with the proper tools to be the best leaders.

It provides a foundation for success. “Leadership

development is the foundation for the continued success at

Boeing. Through the disciplined approach to leadership

development, guided by leaders at every level of the company, it

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strives to always improve the skills of its people (Boeing,

2013).

Boeing also provides a clear path and a roadmap to aide its

employees in becoming invaluable leaders both at work and in the

community. The senior leadership at Boeing stated “Our path to

leadership starts with a common language and common understanding

about who we want to be. To establish expectations about how we

conduct business, progress as leaders, and lead others, we

developed six Leadership Attributes: Chart the Course, Set High

Expectations, Inspire Others, Find a Way, Live the Boeing Values,

and Deliver Results. Our roadmap for growth, productivity, and

financial performance: Vision, Leadership Model, and Management

Model: provide direction and goals that set the course, support

decision-making, and make the right choices” (Boeing, 2013).

Boeing takes great pride in the fact that it encourages

promotion from within. In fact, nearly 95 percent of today's

senior leaders were promoted from within its own workforce.

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Developing our leadership pipeline is as important to our senior

leadership team as is delivering quality products and services to

our customers (Boeing, 2013).

The company not only talks the talk but it walks the walk

when it comes to developing its employees. It invests $150

million in internal learning programs and $82 million in tuition

reimbursement annually to a select number of schools that provide

the areas of study strategic to its business. It provides its

people with a number of opportunities to learn and grow as

leaders, including daily interactions with leaders, formal and

informal mentoring programs, and development programs at the

Boeing Leadership Center. A very interesting fact about Boeing is

its vice presidents mentor at least two employees each year, who

have shown the potential to become future leaders in its company.

Boeing also takes the opportunity to offer its employees

rotational and development assignments, as well as collaboration

tools that help them learn from one another. The company has also

created its own leadership center which provides both current and

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aspiring Boeing leaders the opportunity to attend leadership

programs where they can team up to share best practices and

tackle actual business issues. Boeing vice presidents teach at

least two programs at the Boeing Leadership Center annually. By

bringing leaders together from around the world, Boeing can

accelerate business changes in response to the needs of a global

business environment (Boeing, 2013). It is clear to me that

Boeing has taken the right approach to ensure that it will remain

competitive not just today but for years to come.

The span of management, or span of control, is the number of

employees a manager supervises (Boones & Kurtz, 2013). The Boeing

Company is such a diverse company and spread across the globe to

at least seventy different countries. It has incorporated both a

centralized and decentralized decision making authority. If there

is a team working in research and development they are given wide

latitude in making decisions on their respective projects. They

are not required to get approval from upper-management. However,

if an employee is working in the expansion department and is

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looking to open a new plant in another state or country then the

decision is centralized to the top of the respective management

chain (Boeing, 2013).

An organization’s corporate culture is its system of

principles, beliefs, and values (Boones & Kurtz, 2013). We have

already discussed in an in-depth manner about Boeing’s

principles, beliefs, and values. I would now like to discuss its

corporate citizenship. Boeing firmly believes there is more to

being a successful company than just a profit margin. It defines

its responsibility to be a good corporate citizen as a

responsibility to its stakeholders including the communities

where its employees live and work to be a good "corporate

citizen" and lead by example. “Corporate citizenship at Boeing

means creating positive changes in all we do through the products

and services we provide and the way we operate our business in

the interconnected world in which we live.” (Boeing, 2013). The

company provides many different types of support to its employees

and local communities. It contributes to an “Employee Community

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Fund,” it also works with local colleges to enhance undergraduate

curricula and further the education of its employees, along with

many other noble causes.

The Boeing Company definitely uses both programmed and non-

programmed decision making throughout its company. The easiest

way to show it uses the programmed decision making process is it

must purchase toilet paper, light bulbs, office supplies, and

office furniture for it many different locations. It also uses

the non-programmed decision making process simply based on what

the company produces. It started out producing airplanes and has

evolved into a company that builds drones, electronic-warfare

countermeasure devices, satellites, and a whole host of other

leading edge technological gadgets (Boeing, 2013).

Boones and Kurtz (2013) describes current competitive

position as the factors that may help the company grow or could

cause it to fail. A very useful tool in this process is the SWOT

analysis. SWOT is an acronym for strengths, weaknesses,

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opportunities, and threats. A couple of Boeing’s strengths are

its ability to continually adapt to the advancements in

technology by hiring new employees who are trained in the latest

technological developments. As well as, allowing its current

employees to broaden their knowledge base by taking classes and

attending seminars that educate them on the changes being made

with new technology. Another strength of the company is its use

of the continuous product improvement process that promotes the

continuous focus of stream-lining its company’s processes through

looking for any wasted time, money, or resources, and removing as

much of the waste as possible without hindering its production. A

couple of its weaknesses are its strong ties to the Department of

Defense. Currently with the state of the U.S. Government being

partially shut down many of its employees are unable to work due

to the contracts being put on hold. Another potential weakness is

the creation of smaller more centralized companies in the

aerospace industry that have come on to the scene and have been

awarded contracts that have been predominately awarded to Boeing

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in the past because it was able to perform the task faster,

cheaper, and more efficiently. The most obvious opportunity

Boeing has is its vast reach across the different spectrums of

the aviation industry which provides it with a unique ability to

tap into the latest technological creations before its

competitors. The main threat to the company is the smaller

companies that have entered into the aerospace arena. These

companies have the potential to draw away some valuable contracts

from Boeing (Boeing, 2013).

The four basic types of organization structures are line,

line-and-staff, committee, and matrix (Boone & Kurtz, 2013). Most

companies use a combination of these and the Boeing Company is no

different. It uses the matrix structure mainly in its research

and development departments and some of its maintenance repair

facilities. Boeing also uses the committee structure with its

different Corporate Community Board. This board makes decisions

on recommendations it receives from employees on projects to get

involved with around the community or projects it would like to

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make a donation to. Boeing also uses the line-and-staff

structure. It utilizes it most effectively in its major plants

where it has a plant manager, who has overall authority and

responsibility, but relies on the, subject matter expert,

production manager who oversees multiple first-line supervisors

(Boeing, 2013). The vastness of this company is truly amazing and

how it seems to operate so seamlessly is a true testament to its

fine-tuned organizational structure.

The Boeing Corporation is such an amazing company and a

beacon for all other companies out there in the aviation field to

strive to become like. Its dedication to its employees and their

career progression is truly second-to-none. The amount of time,

energy, and ,money it devotes to ensure its employees are getting

the best training it can provide speaks volumes to its senior

leadership’s ability to understand the importance of an educated

and motivated workforce. We have covered many different areas

from the company’s vision, mission statement, its objectives,

leadership styles, span of management, its corporate culture, its

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levels of management, its current competitive position, its

different types of decision making processes, and its

organizational structure. I have truly enjoyed learning more

about this company. I come from an aviation mechanic background

so getting to see and understand how and why this company does

just some of the things it does has been just incredible for me.

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References

Boeing. (2013). About Us.

Retrieved September 24, 2013, from

http://www.boeing.com/boeing/companyoffices/aboutus/index.page?

Boone, L. & Kurtz, D. (2013). Contemporary Business. (15ed).

Hoboken, N.J., John Wiley &

Sons, Inc

Farfan, B. (n.d.). About.com Guide. Boeing Mission Statement - A

Tradition of Innovation,

Imagination & Aspiration

Retrieved September 24, 2013, from

http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company

-Mission-

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Statements/Boeing-Mission-Statement---Vision.htm

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