Setting our course
today for tomorrow
Phil Condit
Chairman and CEO
On
weekends I try to
do something where
I can see the results
immediately, like mowing a
lawn or planting trees. This
is because during the week,
most of the decisions, strategies
and plans I work on with
the business units and staff
take years, if not decades, to
come to fruition.
By almost any standard,
aerospace is one of the
longest-term businesses there
is. When we make a decision
to go forward with a
new commercial airplane, a
new launch vehicle or a new
broadband mobile communications
system, we're making a decision on
a product line that will likely be in
service for at least half a century.
And, to be successful, it has to fit
markets over that whole time period.
Nobody designs a car or a refrigerator
with the idea it's going to be
in service for 50 years or more. Yet
look at the 737, which first flew
in 1967. Today we're still building
new—and technologically far more
advanced—737s at a healthy rate on
a modern, moving assembly line.
These new airplanes will remain in
service for more than 30 years. So
here's an evolving product line that
will last at least 66 years with no
indication we're anywhere near ending
production.
Boeing's market strategies, too,
have the same long-term focus. For
instance, we believe very deeply in
network-centric operations and that
NCO is the key to the future of the
military. We're working hard on that
strategy today because we believe
that NCO will be important for at
least the next 50 years.
How do we formulate strategies?
A lot of Boeing people—including
business-unit leaders and marketing people—are involved in understanding
the markets, the customers, and
where they're going. Our strategies
have grown out of much research
and discussion.
In formulating Boeing's long term
commercial strategies we first
ask: What are the enduring needs?
What is the world going to look
like 20, 30, even 50 years out? How
might markets change? Are there
disruptive technologies? What are
the big, driving, fundamental factors?
And the most critical question:
What are the economics?
Where there may be disruptive
technologies, we have to make sure
we understand them as thoroughly
as possible. We must make our
long-term decisions from a knowledgeable
position—supported by
our core competency of detailed customer
knowledge and focus.
With military markets it's the
same thing. The enduring need there
is the proverbial “high ground.”
How does the military get the
advantage? If we can help our forces
see what the opponent is doing first,
and make good decisions faster than
the opponent can, our forces are
tremendously advantaged. That's the enduring need that drives
network-centric operations, a
business opportunity where
Boeing's core competency in
large-scale systems integration
is truly significant.
The reality is, if it's possible
to be more efficient,
if it's possible to make an
airplane or satellite that is
more economical, somebody
is going to do it. It's far better
that we do it than somebody
else. When a company is
lean, competitive and offers good
products at prices that people want,
the economics create new business
opportunities—and new jobs.
But no matter how robust and
well-thought-out our strategies are,
Boeing won't be around to see the
future unless we run healthy core
businesses and execute superbly.
Profits from today's programs provide
the funds for future programs.
At Boeing, we truly do rocket
science. We work on exciting things,
things that amaze people, things
that are almost magical. Just look
at the number of people who gather
to watch a shuttle launch, or the
fascination around next month's
Centennial of Flight. You can bet the
100th anniversary of the invention
of the home refrigerator won't evoke
that same kind of feeling.
The leadership of this company
has worked together with business
unit experts to form strong, robust
strategies. Now it is everybody's
job at Boeing to execute. If we do
it right, if we run healthy core businesses
and execute well, we can
build a prosperous, exciting future—building the future generations
of
“magical” products and services.
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