What Went Wrong with the Boeing 737 Max?

19 Jul 2023

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How did the evolution of Boeing’s organization and management lead to two tragic plane crashes within six months, in which a total of 346 people died? Harvard Business School professor Bill George discusses the long roots that ultimately led to the crash of Lion Air flight 610 in October 2018 in Indonesia and the crash of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 in March 2019 in Ethiopia. He discusses the role cost cutting, regulatory pressure, and CEO succession played in laying the foundation for these tragedies and examines how Boeing executives responded to the crises in his case “What Went Wrong with Boeing’s 737 Max?” (https://store.hbr.org/product/what-went-wrong-with-boeing-s-737-max/320104?sku=320104-PDF-ENG) This episode originally aired on Cold Call on April 20, 2021. You can also listen to this episode on HBR.org, and wherever you listen to podcasts: - HBR.org (transcript available here): https://hbr.org/podcast/2021/04/what-went-wrong-with-the-boeing-737-max - Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/what-went-wrong-with-the-boeing-737-max/id1156646189?i=1000517908277 - Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/5ksGABjxeKgvFfibozDjCl?si=ad5903f731f64555 - Stitcher: https://www.stitcher.com/show/cold-call/episode/what-went-wrong-with-the-boeing-737-max-83318275 - Google Podcasts: https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cDovL2ZlZWRzLmhhcnZhcmRidXNpbmVzcy5vcmcvaGFydmFyZGJ1c2luZXNzL2NvbGQtY2FsbA/episode/dGFnOmF1ZGlvLmhici5vcmcsMjAxNi0wOS0xNjpjb2xkLWNhbGwuMDE0Ng?sa=X&ved=0CAIQuIEEahcKEwjQxPyp5JiAAxUAAAAAHQAAAAAQLA Series Description: Harvard Business School’s legendary case studies, distilled into podcast form. About Harvard Business Review: Harvard Business Review is the leading destination for smart management thinking. Through its flagship magazine, books, and digital content and tools published on HBR.org, Harvard Business Review aims to provide professionals around the world with rigorous insights and best practices to help lead themselves and their organizations more effectively and to make a positive impact. Learn more at www.hbr.org. Chapters: 00:00 – Intro 1:56 – What’s the Cold Call? 5:17 – The First Crash / History of Boeing 10:29 – Cutting Costs at the Expense of Safety 15:15 – The CEO’s Role 17:35 – Main Takeaway 19:24 – Outro Follow Harvard Business Review: https://hbr.org/ https://www.linkedin.com/company/harvard-business-review/ https://www.facebook.com/HBR/ https://twitter.com/HarvardBiz https://www.instagram.com/harvard_business_review/ Sign up for Newsletters: https://hbr.org/email-newsletters #HarvardBusinessReview #business #management #harvardbusinessschool Copyright © 2022 Harvard Business School Publishing. All rights reserved.

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