Sociology Boeing The Struggle Against Capitalism Discussion

The Downfall of the Boeing doctumentary demonstrates public goods, planes are a fast means of travel. Planes are convient for traveling at a faster pace as opposed to driving for hours or days, they are readily available throughout the day and go to many needed destinations. The film also displays information asymmetries. Like discussed in the presentation about the Ford Pianto case, an example of this is the failure to properly train the pilots about the MCAS system. Even though the technology advanced and new training should have been given, it was not a mandatory process. One in which the company ignored, in order to save on the heavy cost of training the pilot and to continue the flow of business. In not doing so, it may have been the reason for two plane crashes in a five month span. The merge with Boeing and McDonell-Douglas did have its pros and cons. The pros being that Boeing gained knowledge of military sectors, while being able to sustain in a competing market. The con being that they changed there infrastructure. A company that had a family oriented and consitent base, was now ungoing changes. The core of company was changing, as expressed by long time workers in the company, as seen in the documentary. Competition made engineers rush to assemble planes quicker and cost efficient. The FAA looking pass the faults of the plane, causing missed errors that may have made the planes unsafe. This is where I belive economic power comes into play. All the Boeing company cared about was the money in the end. They were in such a rush to get everything out to beat the competition the Airbus.

The documentary did what it needed to do. Like all media, it showed what it wanted to convey. Boeing was a well established company, that prospered for a long time. Due to a capitolistic society, one in which the state does not interfere and allows the public to compete and trade amongst themselves. The Boeing company started to face competition and jeopardization of its once stable company. As times and technology changed, the free market of capitalism forced the company to make changes and do things in order for survival. Merging with once a competitor in order to face other competition. This in turn caused a change in the infrastructure. As conveyed by the doctumentary, the long time employees of the company noticed the change of direction in the company. Capitalism put Boening against the wall. It caused the members in power to make quick decisions, ones in which were not always quick decisions that were made in the past. Capitalism creates angst. The end goal of capitialism is to make the almighty dollar, get as rich as possible. Unfortunatly it comes at the cost of morals. When in the battle of competition to be the most profitable, corners have and will be cut. The pressure of sucess and gain can sometimes cause failures in judgement. Even though there was advancements in the MCAS system, the training that should have been delegated was dismissed due to the fact that it was a major cost. There was no consequences to these actions due to the fact that there was no further training based on a technicality in the rules of pilot training. That very training may have prevented the two crashes that occured within five months of each other. However, the doctumentary, like most media, conveyed the message it wanted to convey. Media comes in all forms. Internet, social networking, newspapers, news channels, even word of mouth. All forms of media represent the same idea. The idea to convey their message, the way they want, the way they feel, and most importantly, the way that they feel will persuade you the most.

While I was watching the film regarding the downfall of Boeing, it became clear to me that Boeing chose to use the notion we learned called information failure. Like what was discussed with Ford and the Pinto, Boeing was looking for ways to help bolster sales and fight against the competition. When Boeing merged with McDonnell Douglas, the quality and respect for safety and transparent business practices went away. When Airbus started to take the lead in market share with their new plane, Boeing was at a loss. It would take them too long to develop a new model plane to try to fight back and gain back the loss in the market it was losing. Instead, they added new software to the 737, rebadged it to the MAX, and went to market touting the new benefits of the “new” model. It knew that if they required additional training for the pilots, they would still lose ground. They chose to use video training for MCAS and not to disclose fully the new training necessary for the operators of the new 737-MAX. Due to Boeing’s previous record of safety, training, and development, everyone believed that the new model would be great and they ordered them in mass numbers. After the merger, Boeing was just concerned about Wall Street, stock price, and executive bonuses. When the accidents happened, they took a quiet stance and even tried to blame the location of pilot training on the two crashes. It wasn’t until some of the employees and some memos became known to reporters that the real reason for the plane failures came out. Corporate greed leads to shortcuts, not providing and disclosing fully about the MCAS system, and the need to build the stock price.

As discussed in lecture capitalism is essential in making deals and profits with others. This plays a big role in society in which helps with goods and services. During the lecture Essential Features of Capitalism, it states “Production is organized for the market” insinuating there will be products/services that are able to be put on the market. If a product or service can make it to the market will be produced even if there is a low use value to this item. Regards to an item such as the fidget spinner as mentioned there is another product that correlates with this and is called pop it fidgets. This item is not as useful as another item may be worth but still holds a value due to the demand of these products. All ages are granted to use this product, but the main target audience is young kids. This item helps kids who need something to be occupied with if they need to be distracted or need a sensory item in their hands. This is a great product to sell because it is in high demand and there are many ways you can use this product. This example helped me change the way I thought about capitalism because I had many of the same customers call/ask if we sold this product in our stores or when they will be restocked. This made it clear to me that capitalism is what determines if something is produced and what gets sold to society. It is very interesting to see which items are being sold based on the productivity it has with society.