Case Study: The Airbus Internal Buyer Model

In this introductory chapter, the general overview of this study is provided along with the problem statement. The general overview gives the background information about the rationale for this study. Finally the structure of this thesis is discussed by providing a graphical representation of the different parts.

1.1 Problem statement

Organizations in modern times are battling out against their competitors both technically and strategically to retain a healthy share of the market. But apart from competitors organizations have to also tackle recent threat of the economic instability, currency fluctuations and other externalities (Shelegia 2012). A major concern for top managers especially in large corporations is keeping their operations efficient

Because of its ease of use, the method can be used in almost any possible industry like transportation, education, aeronautical or even health (Depamphilis 2012) .

The number and type of aircraft projects undertaken in Airbus is becoming more diverse and complex. And so to stay ahead of the competition, the company is trying to understand the current status of the effectiveness of its ongoing projects. The Airbus internal supplier model

(AIM) used for the A350XWB aircraft program is subject to criticism even though the project outcome turned out to be a success. The main goal of this study is to evaluate the existing situation of the supplier partnership model and find areas of improvement. Based on this information, the problem statement for this study is:

‘Can the existing supplier partnership system be improved and if so in which specific areas?’

The series of steps following this chapter including the data collection and analysis are performed to positively prove the above problem statement.

1.2 Background information

Benchmarking is believed by (Longbottom 2000)to be beneficial only for research

2.2 Synergistic approach to problem solving

Problems are a daily part of life, be it either in the personal side or professional side. The problems may be managerial or technical and so not everybody will be capable of solving them or have an idea to solve them. This is because the process that an individual takes to solve a problem is influenced by the individual‟s outlook, their processing capability, their way of communication and many others (Smith, Peterson & Schwartz 2002). In order to equip a person or group to deal with problems a general approach to solve problems is created which is structured, systematic and also usable for making improvements. This is called the problem solving model.

There are different approaches to problem solving and the most valued method is „Traditional problem solving‟. According to this approach, “there is only one objective reality and the reality is discernable” (Gobbo 2008, p. 3). The traditional approach focuses more on finding the

“true” answer by concentrating on the problem to be solved with a collaborative approach in an organizational setup. It starts by understanding the current situation, identifying the