Synopses & Reviews
A history of aviation that examines the modern-day manipulation of the industry by big business
-- Explores both the early history of aviation and the ongoing, transoceanic battle between two massive corporations
From humble beginnings -- fostered by the turn-of-the-century equivalent of garage tinkerers -- the aviation industry has grown to become one of the most significant on the planet. Its growth has paralleled the spread of heavy industry, and each successive war has given aviation a huge boost. In the U.S., one corporation emerged to claim almost total dominance of the vast market for jetliners: Boeing. This aircraft manufacturing firm held sway over its territory virtually unchallenged for decades, until the almost magical rise of the European Airbus consortium.
Birds of Prey follows the story of the airline industry's growth and its significance to heavily developed nations. It focuses on an important part of that history -- the ongoing struggle between two forces of international commerce. It describes the inner workings of these corporations that are almost nations in themselves: how each company first conceives a product -- the Airbus or the 747 -- and then creates the need for that product. And finally it tells how, by manipulation both overt and covert, the battling giants marshal their various resources to achieve their ends of getting more orders for their factories.
"As a thriller, Birds of Prey is not short of high-octane excitement. Lynn vividly charts corporate strategy and counter-strategy as Boeing's hegemony gives way to a titanic struggle between the U.S. and Europe". -- Management Today
Synopsis
A fast-paced report of international corporate intrigue that explores both the early history of aviation and the ongoing, trans-oceanic battle between two massive corporations. Birds of Prey is the story of an industry now essential to heavily developed nations. And more than that, it is a paradigm of business, the ongoing story of the struggle between two forces of international commerce. It describes the inner workings of these corporations that are almost nations in themselves: how a product is conceived of - the Airbus or the 747 - and then the need for that product is created. And finally it tells how, by manipulation both overt and covert, the battling giants marshall their various resources to achieve their ends: more orders for their factories. And on this level, the salespeople have familiar names: for Airbus, the star salesman was the late French President Francois Mitterrand; for Boeing, it is President Bill Clinton.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [231]-233) and index.