Cascading Effect of Boeing’s 737 Max Technology Development

During March and April 2019, many countries had grounded Boeing’s 737 Max 8 jets following two fatal crashes in a space of five months, between October 2018 and March 2019, killing 346 people. It was widely reported that the problem was with the software called Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS). Aviation experts across the world accused Boeing of being lax in following safety protocols during 737 Max jet’s development stage. It was reported that the company was in a hurry to face the fast growing competition from archival Airbus. Boeing faced a sever threat of losing its market share in the North American short haul market after the runaway success of Airbus A320. The A320 deployed several first of the kind technologies and grabbed significant market share in European and Asian short haul market. This article explores the strategies that Boeing followed while developing Boeing 737 jet technology over the years. Also the article focuses on the competitive strategy of Boeing in general while playing catch-up with its competitor Airbus. Secondary data was analysed to illustrate cascading effect on the technology development.