Is there a GE-like Solution in Boeing’s Future?

Boeing and General Electric have both seen the long-term impacts of the Jack Welch school of management.  The effects include a lack of investment in new products, excessive cost cutting that cuts muscle and not just fat, poor labor relations, and an inevitable cash flow crisis as competitors make significant inroads into once market leading positions.  GE had Jack Welch implementing a focus on shareholder value for the enterprise.  At Boeing, several GE disciples came to Boeing in the McDonnell-Douglas merger in 1997, commonly viewed as the turning point that destroyed Boeing’s engineering-driven culture that built the company’s success.

GE was eventually forced to solve its problems by splitting the company into three separate business units, spinning off two of them into separate entities.  Boeing may be in a position in which it will soon be forced to consider a similar process.  Boeing’s three business units produced $77.794 billion in revenues in 2023, with Commercial Aircraft accounting for $33.901 billion, Defense, Space and Security bringing in $24.933 billion, and Boeing Global Services bringing in $19.127 billion.