McNerney’s new flight plan

BizWeek’s Stan Holmes got some face time with Boeing CEO Jim McNerney, and filed this report http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_11/b3975088.htm?chan=innovation_innovation+%2B+design_top+stories on the new boss’s plans, style and vision for the company.

Key Quote: “Rather than simply giving speeches about management virtue, insiders say that McNerney is trying to lead by example. He wins praise from co-workers for paying attention to the small things like remembering people’s names, listening closely to their presentations, and not embarrassing underlings in public. That marks a sharp distinction from the blunt Stonecipher and the remote Philip M. Condit … McNerney doesn’t travel with a big entourage or even spend much time on Boeing’s plush 737 business jet. ‘Harry and Phil used to have dozens of handlers. Phil had a private chef on the [737] and an aide-de-camp, but Jim mostly flies on the smaller Challenger,’ says a Boeing executive who has worked under all three …”

The story in itself is interesting, but I’m finding the reader responses below even moreso:

“With nearly 23 years of employment at Boeing Aircraft St. Louis, mostly in quality assurance, I observed a culture where lapses in ethical behavior were the norm rather than the exception,” writes “Mike.” “Those who questioned the system, myself included, generally paid the ultimate price, termination with denial of severance pay.”

And, in case you missed it, here’s a column I did last month on the same topic. http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/06/02/08/100bus_corliss001.cfm

Key Quote: “But only time will tell if these are the right moves, and whether they’re being made with conviction. After all, Stonecipher declared a new campaign for ethical behavior and mandated companywide ethics training — wildly unpopular with rank-and-file workers here in Everett — just before he was booted in disgrace for having an affair with a female subordinate.”