F/A‐18 Hornet Strike Fighters have accumulated more than 9,000 flight hours and since November have demonstrated reliability and maintainability two to three times better than the…
Abstract
F/A‐18 Hornet Strike Fighters have accumulated more than 9,000 flight hours and since November have demonstrated reliability and maintainability two to three times better than the F‐4 and A‐7, the aircraft the Hornet replaces, it was announced recently by McDonnell Douglas Corporation.
John-Gabriel Licht, Jamie O’Brien and Marc Schaffer
This case has three primary objectives. First, it allows students to think through a conceptual cost and benefit analysis associated with the decision-making process in line with…
Abstract
Theoretical basis
This case has three primary objectives. First, it allows students to think through a conceptual cost and benefit analysis associated with the decision-making process in line with basic economic thinking. Students will revisit core concepts of marginal benefit vs marginal cost, the notion of opportunity costs and the role of sunk costs in this type of analysis, while also highlighting the nature of market structure, oligopolies and competition across firms in an industry. The second goal of this case is to consider the role of business ethics in the DC-10 case: specifically, to consider the potential influence of moral awareness and moral disengagement in unethical decisions made by McDonnell Douglas. Students will develop an understanding of these concepts and solidify their learning by applying them to the case and engaging in active discussion. Finally, the third goal of the case allows students to explore organizational culture and specifically offer recommendations for organizations thinking about the link between decision-making, the role of ethics and culture.
Research methodology
The technical reports released by the National Transportation Safety Board along with secondary data such as available public data such as news reports were used to round out the synopsis of the case study.
Case overview /synopsis
This case explores the accidents of two McDonnell Douglas DC-10s in the early 1970s at the onset of the jumbo jet race between Boeing, Lockheed and McDonnell Douglas. It explores the series of events during the “Windsor Incident” in 1972 and the subsequent accident over Paris in 1974. It explores the reasons why the cargo door on the DC-10 was faulty and subsequently why the door was not fixed. It examines the interplay of industry suppliers such as McDonnell Douglas and how they interact with oversight authorities such as the Federal Aviation Authority. The Teaching Note focuses on the economic thinking at McDonnell Douglas, behavioral ethics and organizational culture.
Complexity academic level
This case is best explored over a 90 min session but could be expanded to take up one 3 h session. The authors have used this case format in an undergraduate organizational behavior class, an MBA Leadership and Organizational Change class, and an MBA Economics of Managers class. It works particularly well in the MBA setting, as students with work experience can see the links between the mistakes made by McDonnell Douglas and their workplaces.
Details
Keywords
From all indications from both company pilots and others who have flown and examined the MD Explorer, the new commercial helicopter from McDonnell Douglas, the potential…
Abstract
From all indications from both company pilots and others who have flown and examined the MD Explorer, the new commercial helicopter from McDonnell Douglas, the potential operators, known within McDonnell Douglas as the “Blue Team”, who contributed to its design and development, are getting exactly what they asked for.
Karl‐H. Grote, Michael L. Walo and Jeffrey L. Miller
“The battle is won in the strategy room, not on the battlefield.” These words by Sun Tzu are certainly very important for the implementation of new technologies, such as solid…
Abstract
“The battle is won in the strategy room, not on the battlefield.” These words by Sun Tzu are certainly very important for the implementation of new technologies, such as solid freeform manufacturing (SFM). Experiences of strategies to incorporate these systems to the “manufacturing battlefield” will be discussed and suggestions given for the efficient use by employees. Looks, for example, at IPPD training strategy at McDonnell Douglas Aerospace and outlines the eight modules involved in their training. Focuses also on training in rapid prototyping outlining the various elements involved.
Details
Keywords
McDonnell Douglas Corp. has announced that it has signed a contract valued in excess of $400 million with Motorola's Satellite Communications Division, Chandler, Arizona, to…
Abstract
McDonnell Douglas Corp. has announced that it has signed a contract valued in excess of $400 million with Motorola's Satellite Communications Division, Chandler, Arizona, to launch the majority of the satellites needed to form the global wireless Iridium telecommunications network.
An early example of the world's best selling mid‐sized business jet, the BAe 125 (formerly referred to as the HS125), arrived at the Science Museum recently. Along with such…
Abstract
An early example of the world's best selling mid‐sized business jet, the BAe 125 (formerly referred to as the HS125), arrived at the Science Museum recently. Along with such celebrated aeroplanes as the Vickers Vimy and the Spitfire, it will be one of the highlights of the Museum's refurbished Aeronautics Gallery when it re‐opens to the public late in 1992.
The first preproduction fire control radar (FCR) for the AH‐64D Longbow Apache has arrived at McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., signaling the beginning of a new stage in the…
Abstract
The first preproduction fire control radar (FCR) for the AH‐64D Longbow Apache has arrived at McDonnell Douglas Helicopter Co., signaling the beginning of a new stage in the Apache Modernisation Program.
Jeremy R. Brees, Jeremy Mackey and Mark J. Martinko
This paper emphasizes that employee attributional processing is a vital element in understanding employee aggression in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to summarize…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper emphasizes that employee attributional processing is a vital element in understanding employee aggression in organizations. The purpose of this paper is to summarize attributional perspectives and integrate recent theoretical advances into a comprehensive model.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper achieved its objectives by reviewing and integrating research and theories on aggression, cognitive processing, and attribution processes to explain how employee aggression unfolds in the workplace. Propositions are suggested.
Findings
It was found that early conceptualizations proposing that employee attributions and attribution styles would play important and significant roles in predicting employee aggression were supported by recent research enabling theoretical advancements.
Originality/value
Over the last 15 years, research advances show how attributions influence employee aggression. This paper integrates recent theoretical advances with prior empirical evidence and provides a comprehensive model exhibiting how attributions influence aggression in the workplace.
Details
Keywords
Rolls‐Royce Tay 620 engines will power a new fleet of Fokker 70 airliners ordered by Alitalia. The value of the business to Rolls‐Royce is US$75 million (almost £50 million).
The purpose of this paper is to examine what decisions to prosecute, sent to the local police districts from the Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs (the body…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine what decisions to prosecute, sent to the local police districts from the Norwegian Bureau for the Investigation of Police Affairs (the body responsible for investigated charges against the police), can tell us about the challenges the police face in becoming a learning organization.
Design/methodology/approach
The data for this paper were collected in connection with the subproject that studied how the police districts handled the cases they received from the Bureau for Administrative Evaluation. This project was carried out in 2008‐2009 and is based methodically on a study of 33 (of a total of 35) different cases from 2007, which ensures a broad thematic scope.
Findings
The willingness of the leadership to take responsibility for the organization's systematic ability – and liberty – to ask fundamental questions about dominant values and norms, and thus to promote experiential learning, varied greatly. Whether the administrative cases were perceived to belong on the individual or the organizational level had great impact on how the cases were defined when they came back to the local police district, which again decided how the cases were handled. This had consequences for the degree to which the cases were the subject of individual or collective learning processes in the police district.
Research limitations/implications
The role of the police as custodians of law and order may paradoxically limit the organization's ability to learn from potentially criminal events and cases that come from the Bureau for Administrative Evaluation. This contributes to a weak system focus and a strong individual focus, where individual shame bearers are created and double‐loop learning is avoided.
Practical implications
To ensure that the learning systems are actually used and function as intended, it might be apposite to have regular litmus tests of the development by analyzing the handling of concrete events and patterns which emerge over time. An important element in this connection is to observe how leaders deal with potentially shameful incidents, both internally and in the public light, and thus constitute the police organization's boundaries to the outside world.
Originality/value
The paper argues that the police's role as custodians of law and order paradoxically may contribute towards limiting the organization's ability to learn from potentially criminal events and cases that come from the Bureau for Administrative Evaluation.