The four major competitors for General Dynamics are: Textron, Boeing, and Lockheed Martin. Textron specializes in Bell Helicopter, Cessna Aircraft, Beechcraft, and other components. Boeing manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, and satellites worldwide. It also provides leasing and product support services. Lockheed Martin focusses in aerospace, defense, security and advanced technologies company with worldwide interests. History General Dynamics started its business in 1877, originally known as Electric Boat Company. Their objective was to create and innovative warship submarine. It was not until 1952 that General Dynamics was born as a parent company for Electric Boat. The company was very successful and the different wars …show more content…
It was a very innovative type of submarine which was powered with nuclear propulsion system. This new system used the Westinghouse Electric S2W naval reactor which allowed the submarine to stay submerged for longer periods than the ones powered with electric power. This new technology allowed the submarines to increase their distance and speed abilities. It was very significant in 1958 during Operation Sunshine that the Nautilus was submerged for 96 hours and traveled a distance of 1830 miles under the Arctic ice cap. It was the first time that a watercraft toured the area of North Pole. After many missions, the Nautilus was considered as a National Historic Landmark and became a museum which opened to the public on 1986. ("U.S. Navy marks 1954 debut of submarine Nautilus, nuclear fleet." Military History. March 11, …show more content…
Sure enough, they obtained a contract from the U.S. Army to build the M-1 tank. As well, got hold of new contract to develop Tomahawk cruise missiles and Trident nuclear submarines. Despite all these opportunities, the company continued its pace of unethical decisions. This time, was investigated for overbilling the U.S. Army. The result of the investigation forced General Dynamics to work with McDonnell Douglas in these projects, which caused that the value of the missiles to drop one third of their value. In 1985, General Dynamics was banned from contracting with any governmental agency. This ban, was imposed by the U.S. Navy and institutionalized by Ethics Resource Center, a non-profit organization based in Washington. Luckily, many changes occurred for the company, management was changed and a new Code of Ethics was imposed and enforced. The company had a tremendous turn around after 1985. As a result, the company stock dramatically dropped to $8.56 after the ban was announced. (Figure #1, page