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Competition, technical writing, and the aerospace industry: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, 1929 to...

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Competition, technical writing, and the aerospace industry: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, 1929 to the Present.

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Identifier	Thesis 1716
Author	Wojtusik, Thaddeus A.
Title	Competition, technical writing, and the aerospace industry: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, 1929 to the Present.
Publisher	Central Connecticut State University
Date of Publication	2003
Resource Type	Master's Thesis
Abstract	In Alfred Chandler's The Visible Hand, written over two decades ago, the author answers a simple question, how best to explain the rise of the modern business in the United States? While regarding new technologies and burgeoning markets as necessary, Chandler determined they are not the basic preconditions for a company's rise and success. He observed that successful companies in the early 20th century were found in sectors where the "visible hand" of management successfully coordinated production and distribution of goods and services. This thesis tries to determine if Chandler's observations are applicable in today's modern aerospace defense industry. The creation and growth of the U.S. defense industry can be seen as a logical extension of the development of successful business enterprises that Chandler observed. While Chandler maintained that most successful enterprises enjoy the benefits of a large middle-class consumer economy, companies in the defense industry, however, must accept the reality that the U.S. government is and possibly will always be their primary customer. Therefore, companies to be successful in the aerospace defense industry must solve a unique puzzle: how to overcome technical challenges and how to create their market profile and expand their distribution patterns while remaining in the good graces of their primary customer. Companies that master this puzzle will have an almost natural ability to monopolize their market niche. In this view, one such company, Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, a world leader in helicopter manufacturing, has been regularly forced to adopt new strategies for corporate survival. My thesis is chronological as it tries to explain how the company developed, how it became depended upon the government and once started how it grew into its position of dominance in the helicopter manufacturing industry. The company's future in recent times has been dependent upon increasing its commercial product base, competing for a larger share of shrinking defense budgets or a combination of both. It has faced problems of securing a steady market-place share, complying with government mandates and using emerging technologies effectively. The thesis is divided into three interwoven parts. The company's attempt to establish a viable commercial market base by attempting to win contracts with foreign governments. Sikorsky's desire, at the same time to secure future US military government contracts while attempting to comply with mandates such as a paperless publishing process as a requirement to do continuing business with the government. My findings seem consistent with Chandler's observations found in the Visible Hand. Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation has demonstrated the ability to consistently develop technologies in order to expand their "visible hand" and create new market opportunities in their segment of the aerospace industry. The company's desire to create new products, their determined pursuit of a larger customer base and their expansion of their business to include aftermarket operations are the latest indications of a management in agreement with Chandler's ideas for a successful company. The overarching conclusion is that Sikorsky remains a successful enterprise; it must constantly face the constraints of dealing with the power of a dominant customer. It will continue to struggle with product development, technology advances, market considerations, customer requirements and government regulations as long as it remains in the helicopter manufacturing business. Sikorsky Aircraft, nevertheless, has been successful in the past and may have even a more remarkable future.
Subject	Sikorsky Aircraft (Firm) Aerospace industries
Department	Department of History
Advisor	Wolff, Robert S., 1966-
Type	Text
Digital Format	application/pdf
Language	eng
OCLC number	713733941
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Competition, technical writing, and the aerospace industry: Sikorsky Aircraft Corporation, 1929 to the Present.

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