Although the title of this book clearly signals William Hartung's feelings about Lockheed Martin (i.e. he doesn't like them); the book was actually a very good read, and once you adjusted for the clear bias against Lockheed Martin, it did contain a lot of relevant and valuable information about one of the Giants of the Aerospace Industry today. Having only recently retired from Lockheed Martin; I found the book particularly interesting. I would probably never have read the book, given my other interests and my preference for fiction, but for Lockheed Martin Corporate sending out an e-mail warning to employees not to respond to media inquiries regarding the book. Much of the book predates my time in Lockheed Martin; however, I was in Air Force Systems Command during the C-5A and C-5B fiascos, and the author's analysis of what happened on both sides of the fence appear to be accurate based upon my recollections. Through much of the last decade, I have lived through the rise of the "Services Sector". What was once simply "Services", is now "Information Systems and Global Solutions".
Lockheed Martin is not a Saint; but then it is not the Devil that Hartung would suggest, either. Big is not inherently bad, and it is unfortunate that Hartung paints the Lockheed Martin workforce with the same brush he uses to criticize Lockheed Martin executives. The aerospace workforce is a highly educated, trained and motivated group of people, that work hard and actually make things happen. As a group they are unmatched in the world -- there is no other workforce in any other industry, that does so much for this country and the world. In a word, they are amazing-- and Hartung unfortunately misses this point, among others. Lockheed Martin Management is another matter. Like almost every other group of managers, directors and presidents in every large (and small) business in the world, they are a mixed collection of the good, the bad and the ugly. Unfortunately, no one has ever come up with a method for insuring that only the rightous and ethical are allowed to command; and Lockheed Martin has done no better at this than others. My personal observation and opinion lead me to believe that the current senior management of Lockheed Martin Corporation, Robert Stevens and Chris Kubasik, are among the best in the business world today. The quality of management varies considerably as you move out from the center, however. As noted, this is not unique to Lockheed Martin.
This is a good read, and I would highly recommend it to any one trying to understand the Aerospace Industry and Government Procurement. Mr. Hartung is an excellent researcher, and he writes well. I don't agree with his underlying position that Lockheed Martin is slowly becoming Big Brother - it may provide a lot of different services to the government, but the government is still giving the orders, and if Lockheed Martin wasn't performing the contract, somebody else would be; and probably not doing as good a job.
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