This is the first part of a continuing case on Boeing. Each part considers issues confronting Boeing as it attempts to manage problems associated with the Boeing $737$ MAX tragedy. Part $1$ integrates concepts covered in Chapters $1$ and $2$ of your textbook.

Read the case and answer the questions that follow.

CHAPTER $1$: THE EXCEPTIONAL MANAGER: WHAT YOU DO$,$ HOW YOU DO IT

Historical Background

Boeing has long been famous for producing passenger jets, but it didn't start out that way. Founder William Boeing established the company in Seattle in $1916$ with an eye toward weapons of war. Boeing became a supplier to Allied forces during World War II$,$ producing the iconic B$-17$ Flying Fortress and B$-29$ Superfortress bombers. The airplane maker launched its jetliner program after the war, developing the $707$ passenger jet and, eventually, the two$-$story $747$ jumbo jet. By the turn of the century, Boeing had acquired competitors North American Aviation, Rockwell, and McDonnell Douglas, becoming the leading producer of large commercial aircraft. ${?}^1$

Much of Boeing's early manufacturing of both military and passenger aircraft was at its Renton, Washington, factory. The company employed thousands in Renton through the decades and even started production of its newest generation of planes, the Boeing $737$ MAX, there in $2011.{?}^2$ Renton's $737$ MAX is the star of our case. But this case isn't about Boeing being the greatest innovator in aerospace history$-$which it is with over $13,000$ patents$-$or Forbes' claim that the company is the biggest contributor to U$.$S$.$ trade competitiveness. ${?}^3$ This is the tragic case of how managerial missteps on the Boeing $737$ MAX program cost lives and shareholder value.

This case begins by exploring the rivalry between Boeing and Airbus and how it contributed to the development of the $737$ MAX. We then turn our attention to the plane itself.