Introduction
Lockheed Martin is the largest aerospace and defense contractor in the world with annual revenues over $45 billion. Globally, the company employs approximately 115,000 employees. (MarketLine, 2015, p. 3). Headquartered in the Washington, DC area, the company has held the number one spot on Washington Technology’s Top 100 list for 21 years. Moreover, the chances of the company retaining that title for years to come is very likely, as the number two position holder, Northrop Grumman, currently has half the revenues of Lockheed Martin (Wakeman, Lockheed captures top spot for 20th year, 2014).
Lockheed Martin’s primary customer is the United States federal government, which provides over 80% of their revenues (MarketLine, 2015, p.…show more content… To illustrate, a SWOT analysis (see Table 1) as performed to provide insight in to Lockheed Martin’s successes and in the critical areas that Lockheed Martin leadership must focus on to increase their strengths and capabilities (NetMBA, 2010).
SWOT Analysis
A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis is the examination of a company’s internal organizational strengths and weaknesses, as well as the organization’s external opportunities and threats that could harm their business operations (NetMBA, 2010).
Defining Lockheed Martin’s organizational resources and capabilities with the use of a SWOT analysis reveals the company’s organizational behavior. So, the categories used for the analysis were organizational environment, leadership, and human resources to provide the specifics that are necessary to tell the company’s story (UMUC.edu, 2015).
SWOT Analysis…show more content… Thus, name recognition, reputation, and importance in the marketplace attracts employees who want to work for a great company and work on mission critical programs. Lockheed Martin leverages this position through ethics. The art of practicing ethics is knowing what is “right, fair, and honest,” and abiding by it, no matter what (Organizational Behavior, 2014, p. 445). From Lockheed Martin’s values, through their people to their end product, the company fosters ethics in everything they do. The stated values are “Do What’s Right. Respect Others. Perform with Excellence” (Ethics, 2015).
Weaknesses
When analyzing the organizational environment of Lockheed Martin, it is important to point out that they have multiple environments. Because organizational environments are unique, every business segment has its own culture (Organizational Behavior, 2014, pp. 645-646). It is virtually impossible to make them all the same. In essence, the business segments have to act like their own company in order to succeed in their own mission, which contributes to the corporate mission (Morton,