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| Defining
the Future |
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More balance means greater stability, strength and
agility. We can move people, ideas and technology across
Boeing, and respond quickly and decisively to emerging
opportunities, whenever and wherever they exist.
Now that we have a broad portfolio of businesses, we are not complacent.
We continue to build on our strengths. We are exceptionally well positioned in
all of our core businesses. Our balanced portfolio is creating greater strength,
financially and technologically, and providing a diversity of business opportunities.
We remain focused on delivering outstanding performance and growing the company.
Our strategy remains consistent. First, run healthy core businesses — no
exceptions and no excuses. Next, leverage our strengths to enter new markets
where we have the customer knowledge or the technology to make an immediate impact.
And finally, open new frontiers in aerospace with the potential to transform
the future.
Execution Execution
is the key to running healthy core businesses — the
key to satisfying customers and investors alike. Part
of execution is always doing what you say you are going
to do.
Recognizing that the tragedy of September 11 seriously affected our
airline customers, we said that we would take immediate and decisive action to
match capacity to demand within our commercial airplane business, and we did.
We said that we would continue to make a profit in that business, and we have.
To cut production rates in half while simultaneously shortening flow times and
reducing unit costs is a remarkable feat. But we did just that in 2002. And we
will continue to become leaner and more efficient in 2003 and beyond. We said
that we would not be drawn into a discount or giveaway battle with Airbus, and
we haven’t. Our orders booked in 2002 are priced to provide a fair return
for Boeing shareholders. Finally, we said that we would continue to invest in
the future of this business, and we have — pursuing an all-new airplane
with real market impact and further derivatives within existing families of airplanes. |
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This is an extraordinarily dynamic time in the aerospace
industry — with distressed conditions in some areas
and robust growth in others. The commercial aviation
market is experiencing its most severe downturn ever,
and recent airline announcements confirm that recovery
in the United States will be slower than many had expected.
Conversely, our defense, intelligence and noncommercial
space markets remain strong, with significant growth
expected in several key areas.
To tell you how Boeing is doing, there are three topics that I want to
cover in depth:
 Strategy
Execution
Markets
It begins with strategy. A robust strategy does not change every
day. It can stand the test of time — and all manner of unforeseen conditions.
Execution means the same thing in business that it does in sports,
games of skill or the arts. It means performance at a consistently high level — regardless
of the lie of the ball, the luck of the cards or the complexity of the music.
“Markets” is an active concept. The best companies do
more than respond to market conditions. They shape the markets of tomorrow.
So how does this apply to Boeing?
Strategy In 1996,
we adopted a new strategy. As a new CEO, I wanted us
to excel in all principal aerospace markets to reduce
our dependence on the cyclical commercial airplane market.
We set out to create a diversified aerospace company
of unrivaled breadth and balance. And we did, through
a series of mergers and acquisitions of key defense and
space businesses. |
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