BusinessvnandvnSocietyvnStakeholdersvnEthicsvnPublicvnPolicyvn17thvnEditionvnByvnAnn
evnLawrence
Chaptervn1-9
Chaptervn1
FAILUREvnBYvnDESIGN:vnBOEINGvnANDvnTHEvn737vnMAXvnTEA
CHINGvnNOTE
Thisvncasevnillustratesvnthevnfollowingvnthemesvnandvnconceptsvndiscussedvninvnthevnchaptersvnlisted:
1
©vnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.vnAllvnrightsvnreserved.vnNovnreproductionvnorvndistributionvnwithoutvnthevnpriorvnwrittenvnconsentv
nofvnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.
,Theme/Concept Chapter
ConflictvnofvnIntere 5
st
OrganizationalvnEthic 6
s
BusinessvnGovernmentvnRelations;vnGovernmentvnRegulat 7
ion
ProductvnSafet 14
y
CasevnSynopsis
OnvnMonday,vnOctobervn29,vn2018,vnLionvnAirvnFlightvn610vncrashedvnintovnthevnJavavnSeavninvnInd
onesiavnshortlyvnaftervntakeoff,vnkillingvnallvn189vnpeoplevnonvnboard.v n Thevnaircraftvnwasvnavnnearl
yvnnewvnBoeingvn737vnMAX,vndeliveredvntovnLionvnAir,vnavnlow-
costvnregionalvncarriervnandvnonevnofvnBoeing’svnmajorvncustomers,vnjustvnfourvnmonthsvnearlier.v n
ThevnMAXvnwasvnBoeing’svnnewestvnaircraftvnandvnthevncenterpiecevnofvnthevncompany’svnstrategy
vnforvnthevnshortvntovnmid-
rangevncommercialvnmarket.v n CEOvnDennisvnMuilenburgvnfacedvnanvnurgentvnanvnurgentvntask:vnto
vndeterminevnwhatvnhadvngonevnwrongvnandvnwhyvnwithvnBoeing’svnnewestvnandvnso-
farvnsuccessfulvnnewvnmodel.vnThevncasevnpresentsvnthevnhistoryvnofvnBoeingvnandvnitsvnexternalvnco
mpetitivevnenvironment;vnthevnevolutionvnofvnitsvnstrategy,vngovernance,vnandvnethicsvnpractices;vna
ndvnitsvnrelationshipvnwithvnU.S.vnregulatorsvnduringvnthevndesignvnandvncertificationvnofvnthevn737vn
MAX.v n WhatvnorganizationalvnandvnenvironmentalvnfactorsvnhadvncontributedvntovnBoeing’svndev
elopmentvnofvnanvnapparentlyvnunsafevnaircraft?v n WhatvncouldvnBoeing,vngovernmentvnregulators,vn
andvnitsvnairlinevncustomers
2
©vnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.vnAllvnrightsvnreserved.vnNovnreproductionvnorvndistributionvnwithoutvnthevnpriorvnwrittenvnconsentv
nofvnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.
,andvnothervnstakeholdersvndovntovnpreventvnunsafevnaircraftvnfromvnbeingvnmanufacturedvnandvnsoldv
ninvnthevnfuture?
TEACHINGvnTIP:vnWHEREvnTOvnUSEvnTHEvnCASEvnINvnTHEvnCOURSE
Thisvncasevnisvnintegrative,vninvnthatvnitvndrawsvnonvnmanyvnthemesvninvnthevntext.v n Instructorsvnmay
vnusevnitvnatvnthevnendvnofvnthevncoursevnasvnavnfinal,vnintegrativevnassignment,vnorvnwithvnthevnstudyvn
ofvnChaptersvn5vnandvn6vn(EthicalvnReasoningvnandvnOrganizationalvnEthics)vnorvnChaptervn7vn(Busi
nessvnGovernmentvnRelations).
3
©vnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.vnAllvnrightsvnreserved.vnNovnreproductionvnorvndistributionvnwithoutvnthevnpriorvnwrittenvnconsentv
nofvnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.
, TEACHINGvnTIP:vnVIDEO
InstructorsvnmayvnwishvntovnintroducevnthevnclassvndiscussionvnwithvnavnshortvnvideovnofvnthevnLionvn
Airvnflight.vnThevnfirstvn4vnminutesvnofvnthisvn9-
minutevnsegmentvndepictsvnthevnfatalvnflightvnofvnLionvnAirvn610,vninvnwhichvnavnjournalistvnridesvnin
vnavnsimulatorvnwithvnanvnexperiencedvn737vnpilotvnwhovnrecreatesvnthevnflightvnfromvnthevnperspecti
vevnofvnthevncockpit.v n (ThevnremaindervnofvnthevnclipvndepictsvnthevnEthiopianvnAirlinesvncrashvnandv
nisvnnotvnrelevantvntovnthevncase.)v n Viewersvnmayvnfindvnthevnvideovnclipvndisturbing,vnevenvnterrifyi
ng.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxPsxmU_ocI
TEACHINGvnTIP:vnSTARTINGvnAvnCASEvnDISCUSSION
Onevnwasvntovnstartvnavnclassvndiscussionvnofvnthisvncasevnisvntovnaskvnstudentsvntovnhuddlevninvngrou
psvnofvn2vntovn4.vnGivevnthemvn5vnminutesvntovnwritevnonevnorvntwovnsentencesvnbeginningvnwith:vn―
OnevnreasonvnthatvnBoeingvnproducedvnanvnunsafevnaircraftvnwas…‖v n Theyvnshouldvnthenvnhavevnav
nrepresentativevnwritevntheirvnsentence(s)vnonvnthevnboardvnorvnsharevnonvnavncommonvnelectronicvnp
latform.vnThevninstructorvnmayvnthenvncategorizevnthevnanswersvnandvnusevnthemvnasvnavnjumpingvnof
fvnpointvnforvntakingvnupvnvariousvnissuesvnraisedvnbyvnthevndiscussionvnquestions.
Samplevnanswers:v n OnevnreasonvnthatvnBoeingvnproducedvnanvnunsafevnaircraftvnwas…
ThevnculturevnofvnBoeingvnhadvnshiftedvnfromvnavnfocusvnonvnengineeringvnexcellencevntovnavnfocusvn
onvnshareholdervnreturns.v n Thevncompany’svncapabilitiesvnforvnaircraftvndesignvnhadvndeteriorated.
ThevnFAAvndelegatedvnmostvnofvnthevnworkvnofvncertifyingvnthevn737vnMAXvntovnBoeingvnitself,vnsov
nthevnregulatorsvnwerevnunablevntovnexercisevneffectivevnoversight.
BoeingvnwasvnundervntremendousvnpressurevnbecausevnofvncompetitionvnfromvnAirbus,vnsovntheyvnd
ecidedvntovnupdatevnthevn737vnrathervnthanvndesignvnanvnall-
newvnplane.v n Thisvncreatedvnanvnunsolvablevnengineeringvnproblem,vnbecausevnthevnbiggervnmorevn
fuel-efficientvnenginesvntheyvnwantedvntovnusevndidvnnotvnfitvnundervnthevnwingsvnofvn737.
Boeing’svntopvnexecutivesvnandvndirectorsvnemphasizedvnshareholdervnreturnsvnovervnengineeringvn
excellence.v n Costvnandvnefficiencyvnwerevnmorevnimportantvntovnthemvnthanvnthevnqualityvnofvnthevn
aircraft.
Boeingvnhadvnspentvnsovnmuchvnmoneyvnonvnstockvnbuybacksvnandvnshareholdervndividendsvnthatvnth
eyvndidvnnotvnhavevnenoughvnleftvnovervntovninvestvnproperlyvninvnR&Dvnandvnaircraftvnengineering.
Boeingvnhadvnavncodevnofvnethicsvnbutvndidvnnotvnseemvntovnenforcevnit.v n Itvnignoredvnworrisomevnsu
rveyvnresultsvnandvndidvnnotvnlistenvntovnseriesvnwarningsvnfromvnseniorvnmanagers.
ManufacturingvnofvnthevnMAXvnwasvnrushed,vnpossiblyvnleadingvntovndefectsvninvnaircraftvndelivere
dvntovncustomers.
4
©vnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.vnAllvnrightsvnreserved.vnNovnreproductionvnorvndistributionvnwithoutvnthevnpriorvnwrittenvnconsentv
nofvnMcGrawvnHillvnLLC.