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Personally, I think the issue isn't one of degrees or qualifications, but rather one of values. The CEO prior to this one (Muilenburg) also had degrees in Aero
by IshanMi 3y ago
Personally, I think the issue isn't one of degrees or qualifications, but rather one of values.
The CEO prior to this one (Muilenburg) also had degrees in Aerospace Engineering, but chose to value profit maximization over things like security and a good engineering culture. Innocent people had to pay the price for it.
- colinng 3y agoAre we reading the same sources? The ex-CEO, David Calhoun, has a degree in accounting. https://www.boeing.com/company/bios/david-l-calhoun https://www.boeing.com/company/bios/david-l-calhoun > Calhoun has a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Virginia Tech.
- Andoryuuta 3y agoThe former CEO does (Dennis Muilenburg), but not David Calhoun.
- IshanMi 3y agoYou're right about Calhoun- I was actually referring to Dennis Muilenburg, the CEO who was fired in 2019 after the two 737 MAX crashes and the subsequent groundings. My comment wasn't clear enough- I'll edit it for clarity.
- ibeckermayer 3y agoThe financialization of management at Boeing has been an issue since well before 2019. See: https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=213075 https://www.airliners.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=213075
- elygre 3y agoDavid Calhoun is the current CEO until the end of the year.
- p_l 3y agoThe CEOs that triggered various financialization moves were engineers by background, too
- throwaway81523 3y agoThey had previously worked under "Neutron" Jack Welch, who had a PhD in chemical engineering. What a wide trail of destruction that guy left.
- throw0101c 3y ago> The CEOs that triggered various financialization moves were engineers by background, too They were engineers by degree. When was the last time they looked at a CFD or FEA model? I have an EE degree, but haven't looked at antenna or power systems design in many moons: I have no background in them (working sysadmin stuff).
- cqqxo4zV46cp 3y agoWhat are you proposing then? The CEO not do…CEO stuff? This is a common no true Scotsman argument on HN, where ‘real engineers’ are treated as some sort of shorthand for “someone that has the same values that I do”.
- throw1234651234 3y agoI think he is proposing that tech company CEOs have some hands-on engineering experience at least for a short while. I agree with that - "MBA only" bosses really have no idea what it's like to be on the ground. I can't even emphasize how true this is, "no idea whatsoever" is a huge understatement. I thought they were faking to be lazy at first, but they really don't understand that some people need to actually do the work and what goes into it. And I say that as an MBA/CFA before engineering.
- rrrrrrrrrrrryan 3y agoMany great CEOs of engineering-focused companies are pure suits with no engineering background. The CEO is mostly a figurehead, whose only actual responsibilities are to manage the investors and build out a leadership team. Some CEOs take on more, but they really don't need to in order to run a successful company.
- cryptos 3y agoIsn't accounting "finance engineering"? :-)
- TheLoafOfBread 3y agoAnd cleaning staff are actually floor engineers. Everything is engineering if you are imaginative enough.
- ant6n 3y agoNah, cleaning staff are hygiene technicians.
- jraph 3y agoWell, in English, "engineer" does seem to also mean technical worker (what we call "technicien" in French), in addition to "ingénieur".
- guappa 3y agoIn my country to be an engineer I have to have a university degree of a certain kind, then do a state exam for the national engineering association, then pay a yearly fee to remain an engineer. I'm a bit discontent how just about anyone of my coworkers in USA can be a whatever engineer :D
- willcipriano 3y agoIn America we look at the ideas someone has rather than what degree or membership they may have purchased.[0] [0]https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/04/beaverton_man_claims_oregon_st.html https://www.oregonlive.com/portland/2017/04/beaverton_man_cl...
- guappa 3y agoThat's why salesmen whose only job is to promise literally whatever to customers are called "sales engineers"… because of their superior ideas -_-' Studying and learning and taking exams? Nah… that's boring. I'm going to point out that you have this exact system for lawyers and doctors… you can't just have ideas and be a lawyer or a doctor.
- _giorgio_ 3y agoClearly you don't have a degree in engineering. If you had one, you would know how much you need to suffer to explain to non technical people why a development direction is better than another, and how much it will profit the company in the end.
- ttyprintk 3y agoYou could tone this better. The clearest argument is that cost cutting for stock buybacks involves the same thinking, whether accountant or engineer. Since 2014, the CEO is explicitly compensated this way.
- _giorgio_ 3y agoI can't tone this better. And a request about tone - while completely forgetting about the real problem - explains exactly what I mean with engineers not being listened to. Non technical people are always talking about themeselves.
- arkey 3y agoThat's the whole point. That's precisely why you need managers with backgrounds in engineering in a business based on engineering.
- dagw 3y agoThe whole point is that the previous CEO and the one that arguably kicked off this whole mess did in fact have both a degree and background in engineering. Your mindset and business philosophy matters far more than your degree.
- mlrtime 3y agoI personally don't see a big reason why the CEO of Boeing needs a Engineering degree. This seems to me to be a scapegoat, there are plenty of bad CEOs with Engineering degrees. I'd argue that the COO or another position needs to have this qualification and have the power to bring up these risks to the CEO/Board. Someone needs to understanding engineering, be close to the ground but also have the power to bring things up to the CEO to make appropriate decisions.