Make-Or-Buy Decisions in Aerospace Organizations: Essays on Strategic Efficiency Improvements (2009)

Robert A. Goehlich focuses on the strategic aspects of decision-making within aerospace organizations, concentrating on the make-or-buy decision in order to examine organizational efficiencies. He develops a decision-supporting process, that handles approximately 50 propositions of make-or-buy decisions, systematically connected to strategic objectives, and organizational, product and environmental characteristics. The strength of this process lies in its ability to cover the entire spectrum of make-or-buy (the continuum from in-house to buy-off-the-shelf) in order to support decision-makers with holistic recommendations. This process allows one to determine the kind of organizational architecture that is best suited to a specified activity. The resulting computerized tool is applied to four case studies taken from the aerospace sector: (A) copy machine usage (as a reference), (B) aircraft final assembly production, (C) satellite rocket launch operation and (D) space tourism rocket development. In three of the four cases, the make-or-buy decision that is recommended by the tool mirrors instinctual, experience-based conclusions.