ide products that the marketplace needs at the time it needs them, and at prices that the market can support. Aircraft have long development cycles, and are also characterized by long life cycles, so that research and development that is going forth today may not produce results for several years. At the same time, planes that are introduced to todayÆs market may have a productive life, both to primary and secondary markets, of more than 30 years.
The company also understands that although the bulk of its success has come from the commercial sector, it also has military contracts and must consider itself an international organization if it is to effectively compete in todayÆs market. To this end, the company has aggressively pursued a global presence, which it has successfully attained, and it has sought markets where it can quickly become the dominant supplier.
A prime example of this strategy is the example of the 737, now the worldÆs most popular aircraft. Originally, the 737 was intended to challenge the McDonnell Douglas DC-9, a faster aircraft that had been on the market for three years when the 737 was introduced. The 737 fell short of internal marketing forecasts, so the company sought out other markets to provide demand for the new product.
The markets that the company settled on were largely overseas, where airlines often had inexperienced pilots. The planeÆs slower speed as compared to its primary competition was thus turned into a competitive advantage, and the company made minor design modifications in order to make the plane even more attractive to inexperienced pilots and the limited airport facilities available in developing countries (for example, by enabling the plane to use asphalt rather than concrete runways). Developing nations soon placed large orders for the 737 and changed what could have been a marketing failure into a production success for the company.
Boeing has some centralized functi...