[munchbunny]

I heard someone say this and I can't remember who, but it seems very appropriate. One of the key responsibilities of the CEO (and by extension upper management) is to acknowledge reality. When the company is given permission to act on what it already knows, then employees have the right incentives to do the right things and not just the things that won't get them fired.

In that sense, it absolutely is the fault of Boeing management for not acknowledging reality.