[quanticle]

Just to elaborate on your point, the outsourcing model works for Walmart because Walmart is selling numerous separate products, rather than an integrated whole. It seems that Boeing forgot that lesson and started thinking of their airplane as a "collection of parts flying in close formation".

[jhghjmhnbgv]

Also very few of Walmart's products are critical path - if they run out of lemon scented cleanup squares the store still opens (gratuitous hitch hikers reference)