Dr. Erik L.’s Post

🚀 New Boeing CEO Kelly Ortberg Takes Bold Step! 🌟 Location: Seattle office ✈️ (2,300 miles from Arlington HQ) This highlights his dedication to the idea that overcoming obstacles requires being on-site where the work is happening. 🔧🏗️ Product Definition: Role: CEO of Boeing 👔 Focus: Addressing quality issues 🛠️ and improving production processes 🏭 What: Ortberg’s decision to work from Seattle, Boeing’s original home 🏠, is a strategic move to be closer to production and quality control. 🔍 How: By relocating to Seattle, Ortberg aims to gain a firsthand understanding of the challenges 💪 and work directly with the teams on the ground. 👷♀️👷♂️ Why: This move is seen as a commitment to solving Boeing’s ongoing quality issues 🔧 and restoring the company’s reputation. 🏆 What It Does: Enhances communication 🗣️ between leadership and production teams, ensuring more accurate and timely problem-solving. 💡 What It Will Accomplish: Aims to improve product quality 📈, reduce incidents 📉, and rebuild trust with customers and regulators. 🤝 Financial Impact: Potentially reduces financial losses 💸 by addressing production flaws and avoiding costly incidents. Could lead to long-term financial stability and growth. 🚀 Technical Synopsis: Kelly Ortberg, Boeing’s new CEO, is making waves by choosing to work from Seattle, the company’s original home 🏠. This decision is a strategic move to address Boeing’s quality issues 🛠️ and improve production processes. By being closer to the action, Ortberg aims to gain a clearer understanding of the challenges 💪 and work directly with the teams to solve them. This move is expected to enhance communication 🗣️, improve product quality 📈, and ultimately lead to financial stability for Boeing. 💰 Keywords: Boeing CEO, Kelly Ortberg, Seattle, quality control, production, leadership, aviation, aerospace, business strategy Hashtags: #Boeing #Aviation #Aerospace #CEO #Leadership #QualityControl #Production #Seattle #Innovation #Engineering #Manufacturing #AviationSafety #TechLeadership #BusinessStrategy #CorporateMove #AviationIndustry #TechNews #AerospaceEngineering #FinancialStability #AviationTech #Boeing737Max #AviationIncidents #AerospaceQuality #AviationManagement #BoeingCEO

This article from INSEAD about how changes in Boeing's culture and priorities as an organization led to its recent troubles has really struck a chord with me. In case you do not follow aviation news, Boeing is currently under pressure from regulators and investors for a series of troubling incidents with its 747 MAX planes, which includes losing a fuselage cabin panel midair on an Alaska Airlines flight because Boeing didn't put in some bolts on a door plug. What is interesting is that the article suggests that Boeing gradual descent (pun intended) originated as far back as 1997, when it acquired McDonnell Douglas. The acquisition led to a leadership shuffle and a different set of priorities - one with an obsessive focus on cost savings. That led to more outsourcing, more layoffs and shortcuts when it came to product design and development. The funny thing is, these strategic decisions were all successful in driving growth for a while - Boeing's stock price continued to go up, and Boeing's previous CEO, David Muilenburg, was actually named "Person of the Year 2018" by an aviation magazine, before he was fired by the board. The article resonates with me because at a much smaller scale, I have experienced the same script in a few different organizations. It generally goes like this - company acquires or gets acquired, new leaders get brought in with an incentive to drive short-term growth (especially leaders from acquired firms who need to hit their earn-out targets), organization starts taking shortcuts, people and culture get de-prioritized and long-term thinking gets thrown out the window. The funny thing is, the script always ends the same way. The only difference is how long the plane keeps flying without a cabin fuselage. Jokes aside, it is easy to blame the person in the cockpit when a plane-wreck happens, but humans are generally primed to self-optimize, and the bigger issue is perhaps the model of capitalism that we have all grown used to - one that is obsessed with more profit, more growth and higher CEO compensation, at any cost. This is a model that encourages a "grab and dash" mindset, in which some people win big in the short-run, and everyone is worse off in the long-term. The good news is that the world is gradually coming to terms with the downsides of "growth at all cost", and investors are penalizing companies who fail to consider their impact on a broader group of stakeholders and the environment. Whether we will achieve a more "enlightened" model of capitalism over time is anyone's guess, but in the meanwhile, be prepared to read the same tired scripts and uninspiring sad endings. #organizationalbehavior #leadership #growth #sustainability

Boeing’s just-announced search for a new leader looms as the premier succession drama in modern corporate history. Boeing desperately needs a superstar featuring a totally different profile from its last several pilots. That’s the only way it can recast its production processes and procedures to regain its old record of safety excellence following the two fatal crashes in 2018 and 2019, and the notorious door-panel blowout over Portland in January. That Boeing picks the right CEO is of paramount importance to the future of both the global aerospace industry, and the U.S. economy given the planemaker’s role as America’s largest exporter. The company’s production stall has already worsened an airplane shortage that’s forcing customers worldwide to slash flights and raise prices. That Boeing lands smoothly is also critical to the expansion of low- and ultralow-cost carriers essential to keeping fares in check. Read more: https://lnkd.in/e54r7jCg

It will be interesting to see who Boeing will appoint as their new CEO. Whoever it is, they will need to shift the focus away from shareholder value, buying back shares to boost stock price and enhanced dividend payments and focus instead on ensuring that they have a safe and efficient production line where quality is central to everything they do. Currently their main rival, Airbus, has a bigger order book, higher productivity and a better safety record (that’s fewer failures and less passengers killed) and something not to be ignored for the sake of a higher stock price.

Boeing's rolling strategic restructuring means every major fire burning at the company is interconnected. The latest from The Air Current is insight into what's holding up a deal with Spirit AeroSystems (it's Airbus, but why?) and how the chess pieces moving around on the board for the (second) most important U.S. job search in 2024. Yes, there's an entire section of this deep dive called 'CEO politics'. #staycurrent

An interesting idea: I am intrigued by the idea of Boeing selling off Boeing Global Services to raise cash and refocus. What PE or strategic do you think would be the best fit for this business, given the size and restrictions? https://lnkd.in/gQSVziZn #aviation #privateequity #PE Airbus

In reading today's news about Boeing's new #CEO, Kelly Ortberg, I'm reminded of my friend and former Partner, Aaron Sorensen PhD's research into the risks and results of internal/external CEO candidates, published recently in Directors & Boards. Certainly, Boeing faced immense pressure for an external hire and it will be interesting to follow Ortberg's turnaround effort. #CEOsuccession #executivesuccession #externalversusinternal #turnaround #predictiveanalytics #successionplanning #crisismanagement #talentacquisition #aerospaceanddefense #AandD Lotis Blue Consulting https://lnkd.in/eF3jTxpP

Boeing's CEO announced his resignation today, alongside other leadership moves. Richard Aboulafia's been critical for the better part of a decade on a series of moves that he views as the "financialization" of a great American engineering company. He's highlighted a few things - but what popped to me is that aerospace companies face similar challenges to other industries, but on a vastly difference time scale / complexity. To the layperson, a planemaker might seem similar to an automaker. But are they actually? Automakers are well known for squeezing their suppliers to the brink of bankruptcy to get the best price. Can Boeing or Airbus do the same? Last year, Dave Calhoun announced Boeing wouldn't produce a new plane this decade. Putting aside whether that's the right strategic decision from a product perspective - how does it impact your workforce? The best young engineers want to work on new & engaging products - how will you compete to hire/retain them knowing they won't work on a new plane for at least a decade? If it's been more than a decade since your last new plane launch, where will your experienced engineers & project managers be? How will those lessons learned & knowledge transition to the next generation if they've transitioned, are retired, or near-retirement? If you were a fresh-faced 24-year old engineer working on the 787 (launched in 2009, assuming 10-year process), then you're 54 by the time 2030 comes around. Are you still with Boeing? How many of your peers are still around? The good news is that lead times are long & Boeing won't lack for customers any time soon. If they look back at the last decade and decide that mistakes were made, the Board & Management have ample runway to change course, and you can be sure that given Boeing's importance to national security there will be plenty of political will to support the turnaround. #strategy #aerospace #cfo

Boeing Faces Tough Questions Amid Earnings Results CEO Candidates and Spirit AeroSystems Talks: 🌀Speculation surrounds potential CEO successors and Spirit AeroSystems deal. 🌀Uncertainty persists over who will lead Boeing after current CEO departure. 737 MAX Output Challenges: 🌀Boeing grappling with slumping 737 MAX jet output due to safety crisis fallout. 🌀FAA's imposed cap on monthly deliveries adds pressure on production targets. Financial Strain and Stock Performance: 🌀Boeing's stock down 34% this year, amidst revenue fall expectations. 🌀Analysts express concerns over cash burn rate and slow delivery pace. Future Direction and Integration: 🌀CEO transition coincides with potential acquisition of Spirit AeroSystems. 🌀Questions arise about deal structure and integration plans. Financial Outlook: 🌀Expected first-quarter adjusted loss of $1.76 per share and $4.5 billion cash burn. 🌀Debt and cash reserves indicate financial capacity for potential deals. Link to Reuters Article - https://lnkd.in/gQtqCT9v

Who Will Replace Boeing’s CEO? #Whats_New: There are potential #CEO candidates who could potentially lead #Boeing and help in resolving the company's challenges. It is very important to find a suitable CEO with the right combination of skills and experience to navigate Boeing through its current difficulties, which include the #737MAX crisis and other issues. Boeing must carefully examine potential candidates from both within Boeing and outside the company who may be able to steer Boeing in the right direction and restore its reputation. https://lnkd.in/dzE8EJwV