An Interview with Tom Enders, CEO of EADS (Airbus) Part 2: Strategy and execution in the aircraft industry)

 

Tom Enders is the CEO of EADS, the parent company of Airbus, the giant commercial aircraft company.  EADS is a pan European corporation that employs over 140 000 people and generated revenues of nearly €57 billion last year. In the second part of this three-fold interview, Tom Enders talks about strategic execution at Airbus and EADS, how politics can influence strategic plans and the relationship between Airbus and Boeing. 

 

BOOK REVIEW “Competitive Strategy” by Michael Porter (1998)

Written in 1980, Competitive Strategy, has formed the basis of modern strategic thinking for three decades. Amazon says that the book is now in its 60^th edition and has been translated into 19 languages. It is still a great book to read though the recent bankruptcy of Michael Porter’s company, Monitor Group, has someone tarnised the image of the management guru. 

iFail….the Sint-Jozef business school, Belgium imposes the purchase of an iPad

The Sint-Jozef business school in Belgium has made the purchase of an iPad compulsory for all its students. This has provoked the ire of a certain number of parents who complain about the extra cost. What few people have mentioned is that the academic performance of the students will almost certainly diminish once they have an iPad. This often happens when the technology begins to dictate academic decisions.

BOOK REVIEW “Blue Ocean Strategy” by W. Chan Kim and Renee Mauborgne (2006)

Blue Ocean Strategy has been described as a must read for all business students. A lot has been written about it and I would have said practically everything had been said about it until I looked up the book on Amazon to see the current price.

According to the book seller, the people who bought this book also bought “How to Become an Alpha Male – Attract Women and become successful at seduction.” I am still trying to work out the link!

BOOK REVIEW: “Essentials of Strategic Management” by J. David Hunger and Thomas L. Wheelen (2010)

Key words

Strategy, management, information systems, corporate culture, technology management

Summary

The book gives an excellent outline of some of the fundementals issues in strategic management. The book is short and generally to the point. It provides good data summaries and ideas that can be put into practice in the business world. It is also realatively easy to read. It deals quite heavily with corporate culture and has some useful ideas on the importance of technology management in strategy.

Interesting quotes from the book:

Strategic management is that set of managerial decisions and actions that determines the long-run performance of a corporation.

BOOK REVIEW: “What is Strategy – and does it matter?” by Richard Whittington (2000)

Key words
Strategy, brief history of strategy, corporate, international trade, IBM, technology, resource-based of the firm, knowledge-based view of the firm, Apple, Walkman, Intel, Andy Grove, leadership, Japan, France, USA, UK

Summary

Richard Whittington, who has published extensively on strategy, offers a fascinating discussion on some of the key issues in strategic management. The book requires some background knowledge of the subject (perhaps not the first book to read then if you are new to this discipline) and then invites you to develop a personal view.

This is quite a useful book then once you have mastered some of the key elements of strategy. The book states clearly that it is designed more for a graduate or advanced undergraduate level.

Some keys facts:
The word ‘seduction’ comes from the Latin word “ducere”, to lead.

Only a quarter of the Japanese companies described ‘good short-term profits’ as their objective

Pascale ( 1982) reports that the Japanese do not even have a phrase for ‘corporate strategy’

When, in 1982, it launched its first personal computers, IBM predicted a market of 300,000 worldwide; a decade later, the installed base was 110 million. (Tate, 1991)

BOOK REVIEW: “Talent Management : Financial Times Briefings” by Stephen Hoare and Andrew Leigh (2011)

Talent Management: Financial Times Briefings by Stephen Hoare and Andrew Leigh

Key words

Talent management, strategy, organizational culture, corporate culture, generation Y and generation X, women in business, Marks & Spencer, UPS, oil industry, Deloitte

Summary

Talent management is defined as “what an organization does to recruit, retain and develop talent for its future benefit.” This closely linked to the strategy and corporate culture and therefore the long term success of the organization. Understanding how to manage employees then is a key factor to maintaining profits.