[dylan604]

You joke, but it absolutely should. Boeing is a great example of "when all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail". When MBAs are left in charge with no guardrails, this is what can happen. That's a great thing to teach to new MBAs. Every field has this potential pitfall. When you hyperfocus, bad things can happen. Know when to say when.

[mschuster91]

> Know when to say when.

People warned about exactly what happened already back in the time when the merger happened that introduced beancounter culture to Boeing.

The problem was, as always, no one listens to the warners and the whiners when there is money to be made.

[weard_beard]

The only counter to the money argument is tough regulation that results in jail time. If the whiners can point to an example of white collar criminal enforcement their complaints suddenly have teeth.

[DrillShopper]

> The only counter to the money argument is tough regulation that results in jail time

Okay, so it's functionally impossible with the current and likely next incoming US administration.

[phkahler]

>> When you hyperfocus, bad things can happen.

Highly optimized systems are fragile. They work well so long as everything stays the same. Optimizing for cost will compromise other things. Quality is not a varnish to be applied after you make something, it's designed into the product and production process from the beginning - by people who understand such things.

[kjs3]

If you get your MBA at Emory University, you learn about the New Coke fiasco. In a building named after Roberto C. Goizueta. The Coke executive responsible for New Coke. I suspect the irony is often lost on the latest cadre of MBA grads.

[ahoka]

They had actually better sales after the whole thing.

[kjs3]

Sure, after. That wasn't the plan, tho.

[DougN7]

But is the moral of the story that the guys that made the bad decisions got their bonuses and moved on, and aren’t affected by the aftermath? That’s what I fear the MBA’s will learn - don’t stick around.

[dylan604]

It's not just MBAs that don't stick around. Even in the tech world, it's common for people to bounce around. Usually what ever the vesting period is.

[SteveNuts]

Yeah I didn't really know how to articulate nuance of the sarcasm in my comment, I fully agree it should.

But it's such a massive clusterfuck for Boeing that it seems like MBA programs should be reformed from the ground up.

[fuzzfactor]

>They should teach it in every MBA program in the country /s.

As if it wasn't the result of what has been taught for decades, now coming of age more bigly than ever ;)

>MBA programs should be reformed from the ground up.

Who would do the reforming though?

Academic leaders? That could be like having the inmates running the asylum :)

From the ground up?

If you're not careful they could end up building an insane new institution at a massive scale in an image grandiose enough that it could crush GE or something ;)

[SteveNuts]

Yeah this is exactly why I added the /s

I don't know the answer but hopefully "the powers that be" take a really close look at this situation.

Every company in the US should do some serious introspection.