Case Study

“Philip Condit and the Boeing 777: From Design and Development to Production and Sales”

12/13/2010
Contents:

1. Executive summary 3

2. Problem statement 4

3. Data analysis 4

4. Key Decision Criteria 5

5. Alternatives Analysis 6

6. Recommendations 7

7. Action and Implementation Plan 7

8. Conclusion 9

Executive summary

The case study „Philip Condit and the Boeing 777: From Design and Development to Production and Sales“ deals with the launch and development key points of the Boeing 777 model in the 90s.

Generally, the aircraft industry is described as a very risky one as failure is the norm due to high product development costs. Furthermore it consists of a rival duopoly of the survival jet makers Boeing and …show more content…

If Boeing wanted to have future on the market, it quickly had to resolve this issue by planning a way of enhancing its competitive position relative to Airbus.

Boeing was also being urged by the United Airlines and also by other airline carriers to develop a brand new commercial jet, which was even expected to be the most advanced airplane of its generation.

The decision to be made in terms of this issue lies in the responsibility of Frank Shrontz, Boeing’s CEO, in 1988. The stakeholders to be further affected by it were the future customers of the 777 Boeing model – airline carriers from all around the world, like United Airlines. Also relevant to the outcome of Shrontz’s decision were the manager Philip Condit, put in charge for the 777 project, as well as all the others 10 000 employees and lower level managers, that were recruited to work on it. The situation was going to affect as well Boeing’s suppliers for structural components, systems and equipment, which were twelve international companies located in ten countries.

As first constrain for resolving the issue we can note that Boeing’s production system and manufacturing strategies were outmoded and needed to be updated. In order to create an aircraft, which could compete with Airbus’s latest ones, Boeing first needed to revitalize their mass production manufacturing system. Airbus also was ahead of Boeing because of their use of the most advanced technologies, and therefore Boeing had to introduce leading edge