Chief of Boeing sees non-stop China flight ( 2003-08-01 10:53) (China Daily)
Phil Condit, president and chief executive officer
of Boeing, could easily be mistaken for a philosopher or, more precisely, a
dreamer, because he seems preoccupied with visions of the future.
President and chief
executive officer of Boeing Phil Condit is seen in this undated file
photo. [newsphoto.com.cn]
"The thing I spend
most of my time thinking about is where this company should be 20 years from
now," the 62-year-old president said in an interview in Beijing earlier last
month.
"Our business has a very long cycle. Commercial airplanes, launch vehicles,
military aircraft are 20, 30, 40-year programmes. If we are not planning ahead
today, we will not get there."
As for 20 years from now, some of the questions he asks include: "What will
China look like?"; "What will happen in the United States?"; "What will the
airline industry be like?"; and, "What will the cutting-edge technology be?"
Some of the questions don't even have answers yet, he said.
A Good Listener
Condit was both composed and humble while speaking with reporters in a suite
at the St. Regis Hotel. He even joked that, if allowed, he would rather not wear
a suit and tie to press conferences as he hated to look too much like a CEO.
The plain-spoken man who worked his way up through the company over 38 years
has earned a reputation for his down-to-earth, amiable persona. Condit
frequently walks the cavernous hangars where Boeing planes are built to talk
with workers, a practice which has made him popular with staff even though he
has had to lay off thousands of employees in recent years.
"I learn best by discussing things," said Condit. "So I talk with people both
inside and outside Boeing, discussing where the future market is going, where
the company is going, what technology will shape the future."
He added that he tried to follow a principle a friend once shared with him:
"None of us is as smart as all of us."
Born in Berkeley, California, Condit has been an aviation enthusiast all his
life, earning a pilot's licence at the age of 18.
He began his career as an engineer for Boeing in 1963 after graduating from
the University of California at Berkeley with a degree in mechanical
engineering.
Condit rose through the ranks at Boeing, serving on nearly 20 different
assignments over the years. He made his mark as leader of the team responsible
for developing the 777 widebody jet, the first plane to be designed exclusively
by computer and one of the most successful jets in the company's history.
In 1997, Condit was elected chairman of Boeing, the seventh since the
company's founding in 1916.
Think Globally, Act Locally
Though always ready to listen to others' ideas, Condit maintained that he has
enough guts to stick to what he believes in to steer Boeing.
"The end word is mine," he said. To illustrate, Condit said that in the
letter to shareholders that appears in the company's annual reports, it was his
signature at the bottom, even though many people contributed to the contents of
the letter.
The globalization and transformation of Boeing is one of the strategies
Condit wants to push through.
"A global market is inevitable. So is global competition," Condit has said.
If Boeing is going to be the best, he added, it has to include the best
people, ideas and technologies from around the world in its business, products
and services.
For the last five years, Condit has been implementing a globalization
strategy. The aim is to diversify the business and reduce heavy reliance on
commercial aircraft, which used to make up 80 per cent of Boeing's revenue. The
transformation, however, has met with challenges, even inside Boeing. Some said
it constituted a "mission impossible" for a huge and conservative technology
company like Boeing. They also worried that with Boeing going global, foreign
countries would deprive US employees of their slice of the pie.
But Condit was determined. "The most dangerous thing for a company to do is
to stand still," he has said. "Our transformation was designed to prepare the
company for the 21st century."
Then came the flurry of acquisition deals that have fuelled Boeing's global
expansion. The acquisition of Rockwell Aerospace and the historic merger with
McDonnell Douglas strengthened Boeing's aviation and military business. Other
acquisitions, including the Preston Group, Jeppesen, Continental Graphics,
Hughes Space and Communications, and Hawker de Havilland in Australia, have
opened new frontiers for Boeing in integrated services.
The result? A better-balanced portfolio that has reduced reliance on the
commercial aircraft business, an integrated military defence business and
service business that accounts for 50 per cent of the portfolio mix, and nearly
160,000 employees working for Boeing in more than 70 countries.
In an effort to streamline the transformation, Boeing moved its headquarters
from Seattle to Chicago two years ago.
"If we had stayed in Seattle, home to the commercial aircraft unit, there
would have been a very strong tendency to focus on operational issues instead of
long-term strategies," Condit said.
The "think globally, but act locally" policy is serving Boeing well. In 2001,
the company established its International Relations Department to help build up
leadership in foreign markets.
"The most important thing is that it brings a much more globalized
perspective to a technology company," he said.
Long Partnership with China
Although Boeing is still in the early stages of that process, Condit hopes
that, in the end, "people will see Boeing's name and think of Boeing as their
neighbour".
Condit encourages people to expand their horizons via travel, because he has
faith in the power of communication.
"I am a very strong believer that as people get to know each other, very good
and pleasant things happen," said Condit. "When you get to know different
people, you realize that they are actually very similar, with the same
aspirations and the same hopes."
Even today, Condit feels gratitude to his grandfather who took the family to
Europe when he was 12.
"My hope for my children is a world where people can travel, meet each other
and enjoy each others' cultures, in a stable, peaceful world."
Condit hopes his company will play some sort of part in uniting the world,
and he considers China a market of great importance.
"We are entering a long partnership with China," said Condit. "We see that
partnership expanding. There are opportunities for more joint ventures, more
production, but we are dedicated to that long-term process."
Boeing has had a co-operative relationship with China for more than 30 years
and supplies 70 per cent of the commercial planes now flying China's skies.
Boeing also orders parts manufactured in China for use in its aircraft.
According to the company's projections, China's aviation market will increase
by 7.6 per cent annually over the next 20 years to become the second largest
such market after the United States.
By way of illustrating the great potential of the Chinese market, Condit
compared current per capita air travel rates in China with those in the United
States.
Americans take 2.5 airplane trips per person each year, while China air
passenger travel averages just 2 per cent of the US figure.
"Consider the market of 1.3 billion people. If the number of trips goes up by
a factor of 50 over that of a mature market like the US, (it is clear) how vital
China's market could be in the future," said Condit.
He even encouraged China to participate in developing Boeing's proposed 7E7
airplane. Boeing is betting its future on the super-efficient jet, production of
which is scheduled to start in 2005.
"As we build production capability in China, whether we're talking about
modifications, building airplanes, making airplane parts, all of these things
contribute to building recognition that Boeing is part of China," said Condit.
