GENERAL ELECTRIC AIRCRAFT ENGINES: AN ORGANIZATION ANALYSIS
This research analyzes the General Electric Aircraft Engines Group from an organizational perspective. General Electric Aircraft Engines Group is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the General Electric Company. The findings of this analysis are presented in discussions related to (1) an overview of the organization, to include historical background and current status, (2) management and leadership, (3) business focus, (4) a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, including factors affecting current operations such as delays in aircraft delivery schedules, (5) strategy, and (6) financial performance.
The General Electric Aircraft Engines Group competes in the market to provide power plants for jet aircraft--both civilian and military--on a global basis. Major competitors are Pratt and Whitney in the United States and Rolls-Royce in the United Kingdom (Great, 1992, p. 17). The choice of engines for jet aircraft is largely the decision domain of the aircraft purchaser, as opposed to the airframe manufacturer; thus the General Electric Aircraft Engine Group markets its products to both end users and manufacturers of airframes.
The jet aircraft engine industry has been in the doldrums for quite some time as a consequence of chaos in the airline industries around the world. Over the longer-term, however, predictions are for an industry turn-around, with a demand for more than 32,000 new jet aircraft engines through the year 2010 (Kandebo, 1992a, pp. 59-60). A recovery in the airline industry is the critical factor that will determine the accuracy of this prediction.
The General Electric Company employs approximately 268,000 persons (Seligman, 1993, p. 1008). The General Electric Aircraft Engines Group employs approximately one-sixth of that total.
The General Electric Aircraft Engines Group remains profitab...