Obviously Boeing didn't think they'd have planes falling out of the air (that's bad for business), but I suspect the drive to remain competitive and keep shareholders happy led those further down in the organization to push sloppy solutions (as the article described). That's been my lifelong experience working professionally in the US. It's hard to believe those design oversights mentioned were missed by multiole teams of people.
As the article pointed out, Boeing did their best to keep these software system changes as quiet as they could, so they wouldn't have to go through a new certification process, which is extremely costly (less costly than having planes crash though). That's not something you do when safety is the top priority but it is when the priority is profit.
My central point though is that inherently in the framework of capitalism, the endless pursuit to increase profits by reducing costs (and increasing revenue) will inevitably lead you to the opposite in order to find the optimums you seek. Sometimes, business choices that seem good lead to losses or choices that seem bad lead to gains. You often have to fail (cross the boundaries) in order to see where the boundaries of success lie for various cost saving attributes. All businesses play this game and safety is one of many factors always on the chopping block. Sometimes you have to push safety to see exactly how much investment in safety is truly needed.
As the article pointed out, Boeing did their best to keep these software system changes as quiet as they could, so they wouldn't have to go through a new certification process, which is extremely costly (less costly than having planes crash though). That's not something you do when safety is the top priority but it is when the priority is profit.
My central point though is that inherently in the framework of capitalism, the endless pursuit to increase profits by reducing costs (and increasing revenue) will inevitably lead you to the opposite in order to find the optimums you seek. Sometimes, business choices that seem good lead to losses or choices that seem bad lead to gains. You often have to fail (cross the boundaries) in order to see where the boundaries of success lie for various cost saving attributes. All businesses play this game and safety is one of many factors always on the chopping block. Sometimes you have to push safety to see exactly how much investment in safety is truly needed.