CEO Paper
Vance Coffman of Lockheed Martin
Explain the Different Ideas Regarding Organizational Behavior
For the purpose of this paper, I have chosen a CEO and company about which I knew very little beyond "aircrafts." It is true that Lockheed Martin manufactures aircrafts, but I learned a great deal more about its business structure, organization, culture, and especially of Dr. Vance D. Coffman. A man of many titles, including PhD, MS, Chairman, Director, engineer, and CEO ("Man on a Mission"), Vance Coffman was born in Kansas, in 1944, and served Lockheed Martin Corporation in a multitude of capacities that began with the position of guidance and control systems analyst in 1967, before becoming its Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board in 1998. After seven years of service in these titles and 37 years of service to Lockheed Martin (Beetz, 2004, Levy, 2003, "After 37 years, Coffman to retire"), Dr. Coffman announced his retirement as the CEO in 2004 and as the Chairman of the Board in 2005. At the age of 62, Dr. Coffman currently sits on the boards of several public companies, including 3M, Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, and Deere & Company ("Vance D Coffman").
A made leader, Vance Coffman started with Lockheed Martin, "the world's largest defense, Department of Energy, and NASA contactor ("Man on a Mission") as a strategic manager and "edge-pushing" engineer who contributed to many well-known and milestone projects for the company, among which are the Hubble Space Telescope, the MILSTAR satellite communications network, Iridium cellular phone system, and the Space-Based Infrared System ("Man on a Mission). Vance Coffman's accomplishments, awards, and honors span universities and corporations worldwide and are not only based on technolog ...