What a roller coaster ride Airbus had to go through over the last year or so. From - seemingly - having a lead with its A380 super airplane and possibly dominating the market for years to come, to having financial problems even investing into new airplane projects. The A380 disaster could in fact mean the end of Airbus being a successful company. Believing big is beautiful and is what clients need proved to be a fatal product management mistake, and too high an engineering risk. How a concern with the resources and the size of Airbus could make such big mistakes is staggering, but it just might have something to do with the fact that too many cooks (in Germany and France) are trying to season the soup. Now I think Airbus is losing out entirely and could become a big financial mess. The company has decided on a new plane that seems - at least from its looks - so boring and just derived from existing designs, that I have started wondering if they have run out of skilled product designers at Airbus, or most likely have now lost all entrepreneurial spirit to do anything new. How can you bring a product to the market (in 2013) that is, compared to your competition (in 2008), even less attractive? But look for yourself. Would you rather go for the old fashioned A350 or the futuristic 787 Dreamliner? Once more the Americans have shown the Europeans how to do product management and product marketing properly. So the choice is to buy A350 5 years later or go for a Dreamliner. I think it is obvious what will fit the airline companies' dreams...

The latest BusinessWeek edition (May 22) has an interesting report on how Boeing uses blogging for both internal use (all the way up to top management strategy discussions) and informing the public on hot aerospace topics.
Boeing is an interesting case for two main reasons: first, it is working on classified government projects that are highly sensitive; and secondly, Boeing is in cut-throat competition with its European rival Airbus. Both, one would expect, would make a communication tool such as blogging quite difficult if not impossible to use. Nevertheless, the company’s top management, such as James F. Albaugh, chief executive of its Integrated Defense Division (IDS) is quoted saying: “I had no idea how it would turn out, but I’m sold on it.” Examples of what they are doing exactly are:

• Randy Journal: Run by Randy Basler, a marketing VP, this public blog gives Boeing’s view on product and marketing strategies. Unlike other corporate blogs, comments are welcome.

Of course the start was not at all smooth. Basler had to find the right tone, content and level of openness (allow comments) before it attracted tens of thousands of viewers a day and got approval from Boeing’s own employees. On the other hand this blog is ideal to gain publicity since it uses the big public interest in the Boeing vs. Airbus competition.

• Flight Test Journal: This popular blog offers an inside look at the testing of Boeing’s new 777. Written by engineers and pilots involved in certifying the new jet.

Also this blog is -not surprisingly- attracting lots of readers since it reports from the inside and gives the readers the possibility to participate closely getting a first-hand view from the guys doing the tests and not from some journalists.

• Integrated Defense Systems: At two recent large gatherings of Boeing’s defense division, CEO James Albaugh set up blogs to engage executives on topics ranging from corporate strategy to ethics.

Since blog comments can be posted anonymously, opinions can be raised and made accessible, and that gives each employee a lot of power and the feeling that their opinions matter. A great motivational tool as well as a way to tap into all creative minds in the company regardless of their ranking. At the end all that matters is to find best solutions fast.

All of the above shows some of the power that corporate blogs can have. It seems like an ideal tool also for Boeing’s rival Airbus. Even more so, since it is not only an equally big company, but one with people in many different locations, nationalities and languages in Europe, that have to work together.