Boeing faced the biggest blow in 1999 when airbus, their biggest competitor delivered more airplanes than Boeing. This was then followed by a shrank down of Boeing’s earnings and a consequent laying off of 9,300 employees out of the 126,000 employees that it had.
During the gulf war, there was massive loss of business for different fleet companies including the Boeing. The war lead to threats directed to the passengers and even the airplanes. Some of the threats include the security threats to potential airplane passengers.
A mature and growing market made up of informed people who demanded variety and value for their money also put pressure on Boeing to produce quality products. (Hitt, Ireland & Hoskisson 2009)
The Economic downturn which affected different countries had a negative impact to the jet market and these led to many companies quitting their plans of deploying the systems that were developed by Boeing. These gave the company an upper hand to be able to talk advantage of the available passengers.
In 1997, Boeing was faced with an embarrassing failure to meet schedules on deliveries to its company customers. This led to a tarnished reputation for Boeing.
In the first quarter of 1998, Boeing went through a production delay that made it experience a 90% reduction on profits. Some opportunity that the Boeing had in the late 1990s included acquisitions. These acquisitions propelled it to become of the world’s biggest aeroplane companies.
Boeing also launched the first elements of the e- enabled environment which included the 777 which was first used by united airlines. This gave Boeing an upper hand in the aeroplane industry since no other company had ever developed such an application before.
Boeing uses e- Enabled advantage as one of the latest approaches to be in course with the varied and ever growing aviation market. They do this by tactically differentiating the services and products by use of information technology. The use of the information technology integrates information from pilots, the maintenance personnel and flight operators.
The e- Enabled advantage tools and services included the following
- Airplane health management
- Electronic flight bag
- Maintenance performance toolbox
- Electronic log book
Reduction in airline costs due to the improved efficiency. This is in line with the company’s strategic goal of improving customers’satisfaction. Boeing decided to introduce applications made in costume so that customers could choose which applications would best suit their needs and therefore enhancing their specific satisfaction. This ensured that everycustomer’s needs were met.
The reliability of dispatch to various destinations also increased as the e- Enabled advantage also broughtwithit an on- board network integration cabinet that was centrally placed (Jessup & Valaciah 2008). This has further been improved by the introduction of an on board performance electronic checklist and calculator. This feature ensures that luggage is dispatched to their correct destinations.
It also reduced the standing and waiting hours for passengers and consequently reduced the planes take off delays and also reduced the number of flight cancellations. There was also an improvement in services for passengers aboard planes and aircrafts. The e-Enabled system improved the security in planes because of the introduction of the electronic flight bag.
The invent of this e enabled system, has helped crews and airline operators to know and understand the situation and condition of a plane and increase their awareness thus enabling prompt reactions in case anything goes wrong.
Boeing has been able to provide its customers with excellent services in the competitive airplane industry. By differentiating its products using the e -enabled advantage, Boeing has been able to set itself apart from the other companies because of increased operational efficiency.
Boeing biggest risks are war and terrorist attacks as well as shortage of supplies.the e -Enabled advantage can deal with the problem of supply shortage by using a supply chain called Integrated Material Management and also by use of the Airplane Health Management application, they are able to detect beforehand that there would be shortage of material and therefore deal with it before it results to bigger problems.
Boeing as a company has a lot to gain in terms of profits with the invention of the e-Enabledadvantage, first because no other company had thought of using information technology to integrate and disseminate information. The company therefore enjoys a monopoly in this. Secondly, the e-Enabled advantage is so efficient that most airplane companies prefer to use it so as to satisfy the customers and help them achieve their goals.
With the introduction of the Airplane Health Management and Fleet Management applications, Boeing successfully managed to differentiate its products. The Health Management Application helped in detecting which planes needed repair before and after taking off. The Fleet Management application helps to determine the best root even after the plane has taken off so that no time is wasted on the ground in trying to figure out which route is best.
References
Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D. & Hoskisson, R. E. (2009). Strategic management: Competitiveness and Globalization (Concepts and Cases): Mason: South Western Cengage Learning Inc.
Jessup, L. M., & Valaciah, J. S. (2008). Information Systems Today: Managing in the Digital World. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.