Abstract

The Aerospace Industry is at the forefront of technological innovation, both at product level and manufacturing and support levels. We draw upon our experience in this sector to illustrate the increasing challenges that large scale complex organizations, exemplified by this sector, are facing. We examine why traditional methodologies are no longer globally appropriate and discuss how work on multi agent systems and emergence is promising the means to overcome the limitations of traditional approaches. Furthermore, we draw upon our research on relating organizational structure to performance to illustrate how such potential solutions can be applied to organizational complexity. Finally, we conclude by looking at the future of this industry and the technological solutions that may play a part in its evolution. © 2004 IEEE.