Introduction
Management planning involves the use of many approaches in business undertakings to ensure efficiency and productivity is achieved. In the course of business planning several factors have to be considered including legal, social and economic implications of the intended management plan.
In this report we are going to analyse several measures and strategic plans undertaken by Boeing through its management planning and the implications of these plans on several issues or subjects. The report is going to look into legal, ethical, strategic and even contingency planning undertaken by Boeing.
Safety
The issue of safety is very paramount in many spheres of business, especially in the aviation industry where Boeing is a major industry player. Safety is considered a legal, ethical and social responsibility in that safety affects the lives of many people through various ways. For instance Boeing owes their customers safe airplanes that they can travel in, because if Boeing produced many faulty airplanes then they could face lawsuits from victims or disgruntled customers.
Aviation authorities such as the FAA take safety seriously and in cases where an airplane manufacturer is found to be at fault concerning ignorance of safety procedures in the production of its airplanes then serious legal implications are bound to occur (Spindler, 2008). Authorities such as the FAA usually fine airline manufacturers in cases of design flaws in their airplanes since these problems usually lead to fatal consequences like air crashes in which many lives are lost.
A good safety record is important in building an organisation’s reputation, airlines and other customers in the aviation industry take safety seriously into consideration during product acquisitions. In its management planning Boeing has undertaken safety plans during the manufacturing of its airplanes; the company usually conducts a lot of products safety tests. As a social responsibility measure, Boeing has recently undertaken measures to produce fuel efficient airplanes.
These measures are aimed at ensuring environmental safety is enhanced by the firm globally, environmental protection is a social responsibility cause that should be undertaken by firms like Boeing (Ijjasz, 2004). Boeing’s production of less noisy and fuel efficient airplanes show its commitment towards environmental safety as the aviation industry experiences phenomenal growth.
Over the years Boeing has strived to produce airplanes that reduce CO2 emissions to the atmosphere and thus all these efforts are a testament that safety is vital within the Boeing Company (Ijjasz, 2004).
Education
Several factors affect the strategic, tactical and operational plans that affect Boeing and education is one important factor highly considered in management planning at Boeing. The aviation industry is a fast changing industry that requires various initiatives to stay ahead of the competition.
Boeing uses education especially within the organization to spur growth and initiate projects aimed at producing innovative products. Education plays a critical role in Boeing’s manufacturing processes since engineers have to apply knowledge sourced from different places.
The use of education is at the heart of Boeing’s strategic plans as the company makes use of research and development (R&D) to come up with new technologies that make it stay ahead of competition. Boeing employs a lot of capable engineers who play a critical role at the company and to empower their engineers, Boeing spends lots of monies in training and employing quality engineers (Spindler, 2008).
Boeing’s range of products which span the airline, space and military industries are highly sophisticated and thus they require technical expertise to use these products. As an operational strategy, Boeing educates most of its customers on utilisation of its products (Boeing, 2010). It conducts pilot training programs, military tests and offer technical expertise and support on products and airplanes sold by the company.
Education at Boeing is highly emphasised as employees at all levels of the company are educated on technology as measure of reducing technical barriers that may exist between employees. This strategy ensures that employees are technologically aware of the various technologies that exist and that lack of understanding does not stand in the way of the company movement into the future (Spindler, 2008).
Innovation
Innovation plays an important role for Boeing because the aviation industry is a fast changing and technological industry. Boeing has been an innovative leader in the aviation industry, for example the company’s launch of the Boeing 747 series of huge airplanes that ensured transportation of a large number of passengers.
This was a first in the aviation industry that led to other companies following in pursuit of Boeing’s innovative practices. Boeing’s strategy of using innovation to set trends and to stay ahead of competition has endeared a lot of customers to its products (Ijjasz, 2004).
In the crowded field of military manufacturing, Boeing has come up with innovative products such as stealth bombers and use of sophisticated satellite surveillance systems. Boeing acquisition of McDonnell Douglas, a military contractor a long time ago ensured the company acquired technology to be used in producing sophisticated military products.
As a strategy of staying ahead of competition, Boeing has invested a great deal in acquiring and developing new technologies that ensure the company’s airplanes and products operate efficiently and competitively in the market.
Boeing innovation in the military field has grown over the years to involve technologies in areas of surveillance, mobility and global strike. Boeing’s military technology is state of the art and lately it has produced naval equipments such as the F/A-18E/F Super Hornet which is capable of advanced combat missions both in the air and at sea.
Due to the wide range of products, Boeing has divided the company into various divisions as a plan to attach employees in their core sectors (Boeing, 2010). This strategy has guaranteed the exchange of technology and knowledge between divisions which has transcended traditional operations leading to turning of innovative ideas into high quality products.
Customer Satisfaction
In the operation of a business planning, one important reason in conducting planning is to be aware of the customers’ needs. Boeing takes their customer needs very importantly, customer satisfaction guarantees Boeing of continued growth and sustainability of its business operations. Boeing has a wide array of products ranging from military, civilian and space oriented technologically advanced products which satisfy the needs of the different customers they cater for (Spindler, 2008).
The mantra ‘customer is king’ is believed and closely held at Boeing, where employees and management go out of their way to meet the needs of the customer. For instance the US government’s high expenditure in military benefits Boeing due to the fact that the company is able to anticipate the needs of its customer and thus come up with high end satellite and rocket launching systems to be used by the military.
Today consumers are very demanding and thus the increased air traffic has not elude Boeing’s attention, therefore the airplane manufacturer has manufactured airplanes capable of covering long haul flights within a short period of time. To cater for the huge air traffic, Boeing has manufactured long haul aircrafts capable of carrying many passengers such as Boeing-747X (Boeing, 2010).
Customer prefer working and buying products from reputable and responsible manufacturers, the recent concerns of environmental protection and reduction of green house gas emissions has made many companies to realign their strategies to respond to these concerns. Boeing in relation to environmental protection has pioneered technologies which ensure that their airplanes are fuel efficient and reduce emissions during their flights.
Customer needs are the reasons behind the varied range in Boeing products, for instance Boeing has smaller aircrafts to cater for local short regional flights. Safety concerns raised by customers have been addressed by Boeing through use of technologies employed by the company in producing military planes to make commercial airline operations safer.
Conclusion
The procedure for business planning involves factoring a lot of strategies and procedures which ensures that an organisation’s goals and objectives are met according to expectations.
Boeing is a large aviation manufacturer that has global presence and in order to maintain its position in the industry, it has identified plans that make it unique and stuck to these plans to remain competitive. Management planning involves making use of efforts from different stakeholders to come up with strategies or policies to be followed in achieving an organisation’s goals and objectives.
Boeing’s are mainly centred towards customers’ needs and involvement of all stakeholders especially employees in producing quality and effective products. Boeing’s focus on people and trying to address and satisfy their needs through technology and using simple but efficient techniques in planning, analysing and emphasizing plans which generate results.
References
Boeing, Inc. (2010). Boeing Company Overview [PowerPoint Slides]. Web.
Spindler, M. (2008). Management Planning – Boeing’s Future on Track. Web.
Ijjasz, E., Victoria, J. & Rodriguez, M. (2004). Strategic Planning: Boeing. Web.