Current and Desirable Structure Lockheed Martin Corporation - Case Study Example

LOCKHEED MARTIN CORPORATION by: Presented to: Course/ Class: University: City and state: Due date: Current and desirable structure The topmost management by Robert Stevens is credited for the quality management offered to the company. Having built his career as a Marine and spent most of his time working for Lockheed Martin in diverse capacities, Stevens has a vivid understanding of the niche and therefore knows what the company should avail (Wardlaw, 2011, p. 3). This is the most important leadership that any company should possess. To enable company offer exceptional products, Lockheed Martin Corporation strategically concentrates on innovation and leadership that will culminate into achieving Full Spectrum Leadership. The introduction of excellent products such as F-22, F-35, and C-130J aircrafts is strictly a consequence of innovation and leadership style in the company. To affirm commitment to innovation and leadership, Lockheed Martin assumes a decentralized structure in line with their product technologies or rather business segment. These four vital technologies are Information Systems and Global Services, Aeronautics, Electronic Systems, and Space Systems. The option of decentralized system was also motivated by the difficult task of managing different ventures in a centralized system. This decentralized structure is shown in the diagram below. Figure 1: Martin Lockheed structure (Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2012) Lockheed Martin acquired the current fame principally from Aeronautics segment where the company develops aircrafts for military usage in the United States. Concisely, the segment is involved in constructing combat and air mobility aircrafts and other technologies of similar kinds. The outputs from this segment are F-35, F-22, F-16, C-5M, and C-130J aircrafts (Wardlaw, p. 5). Electronic Systems segment is the largest and has multiple subunits that are expected to provide future growth to Lockheed Martin as United States move towards a highly mobile and sophisticated military force. The subunits are classified into Mission Systems and Sensors, Missile and Fire Control, and Global Training and Logistics (Wardlaw, p. 6). Briefly, the products from the segment include surface ship and submarine combat systems, tactical missiles, mission operations support, simulation and training support, and aircraft carriers. The ultimate objective of this segment is to enhance readiness of the United States Armed Forces for missions. The Information System and Global Service have a responsibility of offering management services in addition to information technology solutions. This segment strategically creates software for purposes of processing data and gathering information that will be used by government and private body. Finally, Space Systems segment concentrates on satellites, space transportation systems, defence mechanism, and space shuttle replacement (Wardlaw, p. 7). The space systems produced are utilized by private and public sector in addition to NASA and United States Military. It is clear from Figure 1 that the top management of all four segments reports directly to head office at Bethesda. This structure has the advantage of easy formulation and dissemination of corporate strategy given that communication is made directly from company head office to section managers in all segments. To add on this, each segment is autonomous with the ability to make their own decisions, which then trickles down to individual units in the segment. The success of the segments is attributed to centralized communications and information systems that facilitate coordinated functioning in the decentralized segments. Lockheed Martin moreover has a plan of centralizing financial and accounting services with a view of realizing consistency in practices in the four decentralized units. This will go further to eliminate misreporting and misunderstanding across the decentralized parts. It is imperative to appreciate the role of “project-based virtual organization concept” in organizing and allocating resources to project with reference to goal as opposed to division or geography. Through this concept, the company has bridged geographical differences by using internet and video conferencing. The benefit of this concept is that Lockheed Martin distributes resources in a manner that is viewed to be smart i.e. the company is able to work competitively across boundaries. In a move to revitalize and reduce operational costs, CBSNews (2012) revealed that Lockheed Martin was planning to subdivide electronic systems into separate portions. Similarly, the global training and logistics unit will be apportioned to the divisions created by the division of electronic systems. This restructure is anticipated to salvage $50 million yearly given that the management team of 200 in electronic systems divisions and the global training and logistics units will be eliminated. The new structure is further oriented towards offering excellent customer support around the globe in addition to ensuring sustainable long-term growth. Recommendations The first recommendation to the company illuminates on management planning and control. It emerged from the case of F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Jet that Lockheed Martin Company management did not take full consideration of the program before its launch. Economic impact, resource allocation, and design issues had not been addressed in an appropriate manner. This shows management laxity, which ought to be eliminated in a venture that demands billions of resources. In essence, decisions made by managers should take into account all factors. There is no doubt that negligence on the part of management can amount to unprecedented losses and misfortunes. To ensure existence of Lockheed Martin Company into the future, it is imperative for the company to acknowledge the role of innovation in satisfying customers especially in the present world of constantly changing technology. A recommendation to the company is therefore to allocate more finances to talent development, research, and product development that ultimately leads to new invention. By investing in global talents, it means that Lockheed Martin Company will source the best human capital from around the globe. Specifically, features that should be looked at when sourcing the talents include innovativeness of a person in addition to academic performance in areas that correspond with the business of Lockheed Martin Company. The third recommendation seeks to eliminate company expenses and losses that accompany lawsuits. The recommendation is to institute a non-discriminatory policy that would serve the purpose of protecting the minority from any kind of harassment. As the world move towards globalization, it is apparent that people will demand equal opportunities. By paying attention to these laws, Lockheed Martin will fulfil the goal of working positively with people from diverse social, economic, and political background. At the same time, Lockheed Martin will divert its attention to more constructive activities as opposed to defending itself before a law court. Conclusion This paper offered a succinct discussion covering on Lockheed Martin Company, which was incorporated in the United States. The first section analyzed background of Lockheed Martin Company. It surfaced that the renowned company was formed in 1995 following merger between Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta Corporation. The main activities of the company were manufacture of aircraft for defences, internal security, and other purposes. Besides, the company manufactures military vehicles in addition to missiles and accompanying systems for customers. Due to expansion and quality engineering, the company has formed long-term contract with United States to manufacture various military products. The second section of the paper deliberated on sustainability issues where innovation is the guiding principle of Lockheed Martin. The other sustainability issue that surfaced from the paper was environmental care. To address environmental issues, Lockheed Martin considerably reduced air and water pollution in 2012. This goal was reached after investing in waste management and the use of solar, wind, and lighting energy. The paper went further to discuss the issue of stakeholders that has a critical bearing on sustainability of the organization. Apparently, Lockheed Martin recognizes the importance of customers, shareholders, and other stakeholders in business success. Employee welfare consideration, social factors, and leadership in the company as well were discussed as factors affecting sustainability of Lockheed Martin Company. Thirdly, the report presented a coherent assessment of current relevant ethical and social responsibility issues. Since Lockheed Martin Company concentrates on manufacture of military products for purposes of protecting lives and the nation, a number of ethical and social responsibility issues come to surface. One of the ethical concerns assessed in the paper was sale of artillery to countries at war. However, the paper made it clear that despite the fact that Lockheed Martin Company manufactures products for military usage; the company does not initiate war. Political upheavals were also identified as the current factor hampering performance of Lockheed Martin Company. A case in point was the proposed worker layoff before elections that was aimed at reducing defence budget. The successful lawsuit against Lockheed Martin Company in 2008 because of racial discrimination was another pointer that the company failed to practice appropriate non-discriminatory policies. The fourth section highlighted challenges of planning and managerial decision-making that faced Lockheed Martin Company. From the case of F-35, it was obvious that planning and control at the company was wanting and should be improved. Lastly, the paper discussed the current structure of Lockheed Martin Company, which was viewed to be highly decentralised with segments enjoying the autonomy to make decisions. Reference List CBSNews 2012, “Lockheed Martin reorganizing, cutting 200 jobs”, CBCnews.com, 8 October, n.p. viwed 10 October 2012, http://www.cbsnews.com/8301- 505244_162-57527896/lockheed-martin-reorganizing-cutting-200-jobs/. Lockheed Martin Corporation, 2012, “Structure”, lockheedmartin.co.uk, n.d. viewed 10 Oct. 2012, http://www.lockheedmartin.co.uk/uk/who-we-are/Structure.html. Wardlaw, T and Conner, G 2011, “Lockheed Martin Corporation”, leeds- faculty.colorado.edu, 15 April, viewed 10 October, 2012, http://leeds- faculty.colorado.edu/madigan/4820/Presentations%202011/Lockheed%20LMT% 202011%20Wardlaw%20Gertje%20Report.pdf. Read More