Building the Boeing 787

Building the Boeing 787

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Summary

Boeing is a legendary aerospace organization that collaborates with various native and foreign companies in order to provide quality products and services to its customers. With its clientele comprising of governmental security agencies from various countries, this commercial institution has been outsourcing substantial services and commodities from foreign suppliers. An analysis of Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft indicates the proceedings and outcomes of this production program. For instance, there are several benefits and potential risks of this outsourcing scheme although the advantages outweigh the business threats. Despite its benefits to the society, some analysts argue that these proceedings result in the exportation of American jobs overseas. However, an evaluation of these claims indicates their unstable nature in terms of factual details.

Building the Boeing 787

Question 1

The process of outsourcing a lot of work to foreign suppliers in the construction of 787 is beneficial to Boeing. To start with, the corporation is in a position to monitor the global technological development through the incorporation of various advancements in its operations. Consequently, risks associated with technological laggardness are minimal. The foreign suppliers also aid in reducing the input costs by investing their resources in the project. Additionally, these foreign suppliers are specialists of different aspects of the plane construction proceedings (Hill, 2013).

This enhances the construction of a superior aircraft while reducing the expenditures and time taken to complete the scheme. This also widens the international market for the final product, providing higher returns to the company. Despite these advantages, the outsourcing proceedings of a large number of foreign suppliers have several potential risks to Boeing. Firstly, the partners involved may have different quality considerations, a feature that may adversely affect the quality principles of Boeing. This may include improper assembly of aircraft components or inconsistency in delivery programs (Norris & Wagner, 2009).

In instances where the corporation fails to deliver the final products to the customers on time, Boeing may incur hefty penalties or loss valuable clientele. In some cases, the partners may have alliances with other companies, leading to deterioration of quality as well as reduced returns for this aircraft-manufacturing firm (Hill, 2013). Where the management of Boeing does not realize the problem in time, it may incur severe losses. Nonetheless, an analysis of the potential risks and benefits of the project indicates the feasibility of the outsourcing scheme. This is because the administration has the capability and resources to conduct particular organizational activities that will aid in suppressing the potential business threats.

Question 2

            The hitches in the management of an international supply chain by Boeing were mainly because of an inferior inventory coordination system as well as lack of sufficient resources. Owing to these management-related problems, Boeing lacked proper synchronization of its global supply chain (Norris & Wagner, 2009). Subsequently, the involved stakeholders lacked proper communication among themselves and the management (Hill, 2013). For this reason, the central management system regarding the sales record of this legendary commercial organization suffered from intense dissonance.

The lack of sufficient resources heightened the problems in the global supply chain of Boeing. This is evident when a corporation from Canada, which was in partnership with Boeing, had to subcontract some aircraft parts from an Israeli company without following the needed procedures or maintaining high levels of communication with the main firm (Norris & Wagner, 2009). Effective incorporation of technological aspects in the management sector is helpful in ensuring that such problems do not occur in any business institution.

For instance, Boeing can introduce a system that allows electronic transfer of crucial information with its partners involved in the international supply chain. This will promote high levels of communication among all the stakeholders. Consequently, the company’s supply chain in different geographical regions of the globe will be receptive and elastic depending on the customer or business environment. Through such an electronic transaction program, it will also be possible for the administration of business organizations like Boeing to identify possible threats in time. This will enable the formulation and execution of appropriate measures that will suppress problems in the global supply chain of a particular product.    

Question 3

            Various reviewers argue that the outsourcing proceedings of Boeing equates to exportation of American jobs to other countries. However, a review in the operations of this commercial organization indicates the unmerited nature of this criticism. To start with, the headquarters of Boeing is in Chicago. For this reason, most employees in the company are Americans. Although this aerospace firm has close to 160,000 human resources in several foreign nations, this number is lower than the labor force present in its American production center (Norris & Wagner, 2009).

Additionally, citizens of the United States conduct most managerial and assembly duties in the foreign countries. These statistics show that the American nationals benefit more from the company in terms of employment than foreigners do, a fact that discredits the argument regarding Boeing exportation of American jobs overseas. As a way of responding to this condemnation from certain analysts in the United States, the administration of this aerospace organization should present detailed statistics to the American public regarding the differences in the records of their human resources department in the branches at the United States and other foreign countries.

This comparison will provide incontestable information, which disregards these unapprised claims. In addition, the management of this business institution should provide facts that indicate the sectors associated with its operations. For instance, Boeing incorporates several systems of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facet from different companies located in the United States. These citizens are also responsible for the coordination of these technological programs in other countries (Norris & Wagner, 2009). For this reason, the American human resources benefiting from the activities of Boeing surpass those in its foreign business centers. In conclusion, the activities of this aerospace corporation present the possible benefits and threats related to the management system of a company.

References

Hill, C. W. L. (2013). International business: Competing in the global marketplace. New York: McGraw-Hill Irwin.

Norris, G., & Wagner, M. (2009). Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Minneapolis, MN: Zenith Press.