Growing up, I always heard the saying “The sky is the limit!” ...but now I find myself wondering, is that still true? With the recent focus on space, the creation of the Space Force, and the race to space tourism, I think the Aerospace and Defense industry would answer that with a resounding...no. The sky is NOT the limit. In fact there is so much beyond the sky. And although the sky may not be the limiting factor, there are many factors that will impact the future of the Aerospace and Defense industry.
Some challenges include:
Competing in a monopsony, meaning the customer controls the market. This allows the customer to introduce competition, limit exclusivity with one vendor, and sometimes will allow them to fix the profitability or scale of programs. This fundamentally changes the customer and vendor relationship in the market.
Many industries are feeling the heat right now in terms of attracting the RIGHT talent, the aerospace and defense industry is no exception. In the current market, it’s been tough to attract the talent, with the appropriate skillset, and background. And we all know that in order for your business to perform its best, it needs the BEST people.
Competing to win programs with a limited customer set. When there are only a few customers, it makes the fight for every project and relationship with every customer critical and even more competitive.
This industry is also unique in that defense contractor innovations are typically co-funded or co-created by customers, which affects the overall margins of company’s.
The final challenge that I’ll list is another that spreads far beyond this industry, supply chain issues. This is a very widespread issue, and could affect not only timelines for projects, just also greatly impact the cost.
So… how can you combat these issues to continue pushing limits and moving forward? (Er...flying high? C'mon you know some witty air travel reference...) To keep things running smoothly, ensuring things stay on time and on budget, you and your team need to understand the language of business. So many people we’ve met over the last 20 years are in business, but don’t really GET business. That’s where we at Acumen Learning can help! Our strategy, finance, and business acumen training courses teach leaders to improve performance, make bolder more profitable decisions, and outperform the competition. And let’s be honest, who doesn’t need that?
As one of my icons once said, we want to help you take your business… “To infinity and beyond” (yeah, I just quoted Buzz Lightyear).
To learn more about our business acumen training, and how we’ve helped in the Aerospace and Defense industry in the past, check out our website.
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