Culture At Boeing – Can it Shift Back?

Boeing, once a masterful aerospace manufacturer, has been on a downswing for decades now, and the company knows it. This has “placed Boeing’s executives psychologically in the domain of losses,” and led to Boeing’s divestiture of key suppliers, which resulted in less oversight of the quality of those supplies.

When Boeing then repeatedly pressed their suppliers and “squeezed substantial cost cuts from [Boeing’s] supply chain,” the smaller companies made the decision lower the quality of the product. This is evident in the recent 737 MAX issues Boeing has shown which were traced back to improper quality assurance practices between Boeing and key suppliers.

By putting a spotlight on how Boeing’s corporate culture has shifted away from quality manufacturing, this has forced Boeing to at least take actions indicating that a culture shift back to their roots is happening. The lip service has been going on for several years without significant movement, but now we see Boeing looking to buy back Spirit Aerosystems, a key supplier, a marked step away from the panicked divestiture Boeing made in 2005.

These recent and very public shocks may be enough for Boeing to take a good look at who is making their decisions and what guiding ideology they are using to do so, but I’m not hopeful.