MANAGEMENT PLANNING PROCESS OF BOEING Douglas E Williams MGT 330 April 4, 2010 Rickie Baldwin The Boeing Corporation is a major leading distributor of aircraft, satellites and defense systems. According to Boeing (2010), “Boeing is the world’s leading aerospace company and the biggest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Boeing also designs and manufacturers rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. ” Planning is an essential element of any business, and Boeing focuses a lot of attention to planning.
Boeing’s management needs to consider the ramifications of legal issues, ethics, and social responsibility throughout the planning function. Management at Boeing through strategic, tactical, and contingency planning will continue to dominate the aerospace industry. Boeing has a long reputation of aerospace leadership and innovation. Boeing employees more than 155,000 people worldwide. With a huge number of employees, managing a big company such as Boeing can be an overwhelming task. Due to this, Boeing is comprised of one of the most diverse, talented and innovative workforces (Boeing Corporation, 2010).
This is one factor that influence Boeing’s operational planning where the company can to expand the product line and services to their customers. Having the right business development and strategy is how it all starts. Another factor that influences the operational planning of the company is that more than 90,000 employees hold a college degree that includes 29,000 of employees with advanced degrees (Boeing Corporation, 2010). Legal Issues Legal issues can complicate the planning process and put the company in a difficult situation.
Every major corporation including Boeing has incurred some form of legal issues. Boeing has been sued in the past concerning differences in gender pay and used aggressive strategies to defend their position by their legal team. With the previous lawsuits, Boeing claimed attorney client privilege to hide internal documents prepared by their attorneys about pay differences and earlier cases were thrown out (Holmes & France, 2004). Boeing quickly settled out of court avoiding a trial which minimized negative public relations with the company.
In a statement, Boeing stated it has been and will continue to provide an environment in which employees are treated fairly and have opportunities to build successful careers. Another legal issue was a chief financial officer forced to resign due to improperly employing a senior ranking U. S. Air Force officer who had authorized inflated multimillion dollar contracts to Boeing. Boeing has also been subject to charges of bribery of government officials and theft of proprietary documents. With a strong legal team from Boeing, they were able to minimize negative news and perception toward the company.
Ethics Integrity is the key for success of a corporation such as Boeing. Boeing has to ensure all their practices and produces are held to a very high ethical standard. Boeing has an ethics policy in place to protect management and their employee. Through an experience dated back to 2003, where Boeing made headlines for high profiles ethical lapse, CEO, Jim McNerney implemented a management platform promoting more open communication with employees and management and strict disciplinary action for failing to adhere to ethical rules. Boeing employs over 155,000 people stretched across over 67 countries.
Boeing is one of the largest manufacturing companies in the world. A corporation of this magnitude has to proactively evaluate their policies and practice when it comes to ethical concerns. Boeing has set up a hotline for reporting suspected violation of it policies. Boeing stands committed to placing itself in an elite category, when it comes to ethics. Social Responsibility The role of Boeing’s Global Citizenship (GCC) function is to align and integrate the interests, motivations and resources of our stakeholder, sharing what we know and who we are in order to convene, collaborate and lead in improving our world (Boeing, 2010).
This group is devised of part time and full time employees who invest the effort in local and corporate resources in communities through volunteering. Their guided focus is education, arts and culture, health and human services, civic and environment. Boeing has donated millions domestically and internationally in efforts show their social responsibility abroad. Boeing has also collaborated with Brazilian bio-fuel makers to research and deliver alternative fuels sources, which plays a major role in reducing air pollution. Boeing stands firm in the constant pursuit to better serving the communities.
The Boeing Corporation has been successful due to the company stakeholders. The company’s stakeholders are comprised of the customers, employees, shareholders, and communities. The management model used to express the companies planning and focus is effective for planning, acting, analyzing, and reinforcing methods that produce results (Spindler, 2008). Boeing is a company that promotes growth and leadership with the employees. Boeing employees will share the successes and failures of the company at all times. Due to this, Boeing receives dedicated, performance-driven management.
Quality time and continued education of all employees have help Boeing determine technical barriers. Boeing needs to plan both strategically and tactically while still developing contingency plans to remain competitive in the aerospace market. Boeing’s largest competitors are Airbus, Lockheed Martin, and BAE systems North America just to name a few. Strategic Plan The planning process begins with the development of the strategic plan, which documents the strategic direction and completes with an operating plan and goal deployment throughout the organization.
Boeing has keeps a strong strategic plan capturing markets abroad, bringing forth new innovations to the industry, building a domestic and international workforce and excelling in financial strides. With these areas as the focus of their strategic plan, they have become a global entity. As each area has changed with the sign of times, Boeing has become more dynamic in their ability to regroup and focus, which further redefines their plan. Tactical Plan The tactical plan is where plan meets the action and become an ”Action Plan”.
Boeing has succeed in a great majority of their plans which is evident they are tactically organized. Boeing has divisions and department who specialize in compartmental goals defined in the strategic plan. An example of this would be the goal of new development in fuel technology. They have compiled a team of experts and scientist who have collaborated with their global spears of influence. There are tested alternative fuels sources, but Boeing is determined not only to find a blend that not only works with their aircrafts, but those of others as well. This thought process has made them an elite organization.
Contingency Plan A contingency plan involves anticipating and planning in the event an alternate recourse needs to take place. In the past one of the contingency plans Boeing has resourced was the need to have supplier and subcontractors work on their behalf to complete outstand projects. In the current situation this may very well present a need soon, should Boeing and their subcontractors miss assembly deadlines. In all, Boeing has made sound decisions for their economic and global future. They stand proven of what planning management in for success which ranges over 90 years.
They have learned viable lessons in ethics, legal issues and social responsibility. These lessons have carried them to new heights and they continue to soar. The development of a multitude of strategic plans, tactical plans and contingency plans have allowed them to face the odds, remove challenges and escalate in the areas of potential. References Bateman, & Snell, (2009). Management Leading and Collaborating in a Competitive World (8th ed. ). : The McGraw-Hill Companies. Boeing Corporate Sponsorships (2010) Retrieved April 4, 2010, from http://www. boeing. om/companyoffices/aboutus/sponsorship/current. html Boeing Ethics (2010) Retrieved April 4, 2010, from, http://www. boeing. com/companyoffices/aboutus/ethics/ Boeing. (2010). Global Corporate Citizenship. Retrieved April 4, 2010, from http://www. boeing. com/companyoffices/aboutus/community/ Business Week (2004, June 28). Cover Up at Boeing. Retrieved April 4, 2010, from http://www. businessweek. com/magazine/content/04_26/b3889088. htm Spindler, Michael J. (2008). Management Planning – Boeing’s Future on Track. Retrieved April 4, 2010, from http://www. articlesbase. com
