Publisher's Synopsis
An example of European co-operation, Airbus Industrie has destroyed the old American monopoly in commercial airliner production, taking about a third of all new orders and creating considerable US-EU friction.;This book describes the process by which the individual European countries involved in the Airbus consortium were able to overcome enormous obstacles and successfully integrate their very different aerospace industries to create a new industrial giant.;At the heart of the dispute over Airbus's future lie its unique internal structure, its unusual operational and cost control systems, and the role of government support in its success. These are all described, as are the tensions inherent in accommodating divergent national interests. These last mean that, while Airbus successfully vies for orders in the competitive global airframe business, even its own members and supporters have questioned the continued viability of an organization whose structure and operation at times seem wholly at odds with the logic and practice of a fully transparent, accountable, and efficient business organization.;This should be a useful book for understanding the workings of a major, if highly unorthodox, industrial operation and for understanding a potentially crucial area of post-cold war international trade tension.
