The effects of streamlined operations on the perceived quality success criteria at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Fort Worth

Abstract

The reduction in the US defense budget has resulted in reduced employment at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics – Fort Worth site by more 20,000 employees within the last decade. The company pursued a strategy to increase productivity and quality with the reduced work force while maintaining not only the public trust, but also the trust of its employees. Maintaining employee trust is directly linked to employees’ belief in the security of their employment. While the recently won Joint Strike Fighter contract will cause the need to expand, today’s competitive aerospace environment implies the need to maintain those strategies that resulted in that contract. Due to the requirement for high employee involvement, the company embraced a strategy to develop an environment that fostered a committed and highly motivated workforce. The University of North Texas, Center for Quality and Productivity assisted by completing a quality success factors survey to assess the employees’ perceptions of quality. As the questionnaire was analyzed, it was discovered that the cohesive work force was homogeneous in its strong identification with the quality goals of the company.