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Schumpeter: The last GE Man
Last edited Fri Jan 24, 2020, 04:41 PM - Edit history (1)
Schumpeter
The last GE Man
Can a new boss salvage the reputation of Boeing—and of his mentor, Jack Welch?
Business
Jan 11th 2020 edition
Jan 11th 2020
Editor’s note (January 9th 2020): After this article was published, American media reported intelligence assessments that Ukrainian International Airlines’ Boeing passenger jet which crashed outside Tehran on January 8th had been brought down by Iranian anti-aircraft missiles, not mechanical failure.
If anyone doubts that David Calhoun, who becomes Boeing’s new boss on January 13th, is taking on one of the world’s most difficult jobs, think again. On January 8th the firm was caught up in a new tragedy: the deaths of 176 people aboard a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet bound for Ukraine that crashed shortly after take-off in Iran. The aircraft involved is different from the 737 max planes that went down in two air disasters, in October 2018 and last March, killing 346 people and plunging Boeing into crisis. All the same, getting to the bottom of the accident amid open hostility between Iran and America will be yet another headache for a new ceo fighting to save the skin of the world’s biggest aerospace company.
{snip - any more requires a subscription. From the article:}
Such men brought with them GE values. Taking a cuee from Mr Welch, in 2001 Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, putting distance between the suits in the C-suite and the engineers. ... But in the process, engineers' input into decision-making was relegated, which may have contributed to the 737 MAX's tragic design flaws. "The seeds of the MAX disaster were planted years ago," [Harry Stonecipher, also formerly of GE, who led Boeing from 2003-05,] wrote recently.
The last GE Man
Can a new boss salvage the reputation of Boeing—and of his mentor, Jack Welch?
Business
Jan 11th 2020 edition
Jan 11th 2020
Editor’s note (January 9th 2020): After this article was published, American media reported intelligence assessments that Ukrainian International Airlines’ Boeing passenger jet which crashed outside Tehran on January 8th had been brought down by Iranian anti-aircraft missiles, not mechanical failure.
If anyone doubts that David Calhoun, who becomes Boeing’s new boss on January 13th, is taking on one of the world’s most difficult jobs, think again. On January 8th the firm was caught up in a new tragedy: the deaths of 176 people aboard a Boeing 737-800 passenger jet bound for Ukraine that crashed shortly after take-off in Iran. The aircraft involved is different from the 737 max planes that went down in two air disasters, in October 2018 and last March, killing 346 people and plunging Boeing into crisis. All the same, getting to the bottom of the accident amid open hostility between Iran and America will be yet another headache for a new ceo fighting to save the skin of the world’s biggest aerospace company.
{snip - any more requires a subscription. From the article:}
Such men brought with them GE values. Taking a cuee from Mr Welch, in 2001 Boeing moved its headquarters from Seattle to Chicago, putting distance between the suits in the C-suite and the engineers. ... But in the process, engineers' input into decision-making was relegated, which may have contributed to the 737 MAX's tragic design flaws. "The seeds of the MAX disaster were planted years ago," [Harry Stonecipher, also formerly of GE, who led Boeing from 2003-05,] wrote recently.