Lockheed Martin Chairman and CEO Vance Coffman on achieving mission success

Abstract

Executive OverviewLockheed Martin Corporation was formed in 1995 with the merger of two of the world's premier technology companies, Lockheed Corporation and Martin Marietta Corporation. In 1996 Lockheed Martin completed its strategic combination with the defense electronics and systems integration businesses of Loral. Lockheed Martin currently employs about 125,000 people worldwide and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, and integration of advanced technology systems, products, and services. Its operating units are organized into broad business areas, including aeronautics (e.g., tactical aircraft, airlift, and aeronautical research and development), space systems (e.g., space launch, commercial satellites, government satellites, and strategic missiles), systems integration (e.g., missiles and fire control, naval systems, platform integration, and C4I), and technology services (e.g., federal services, energy programs, commercial IT, and aeronautical services). In 2001 Lockheed Martin reported total sales of $24 billion in addition to a record sales backlog of more than $71 billion. Dr. Vance D. Coffman, Lockheed Martin Corporation's chief executive officer and chairman of its board of directors, was elected to his current position in 1997 after serving as the corporation's president and chief operating officer and, earlier, as executive vice president and chief operating officer. Previously, he served as president and chief operating officer of Lockheed Martin's Space and Strategic Missiles Sector. Prior to the merger of Lockheed and Martin Marietta in 1995, he served as executive vice president of Lockheed Corporation. Before that, he was president of the Space Systems Division of Lockheed Missiles & Space Company and a vice president of the corporation. Born in Kinross, Iowa, Dr. Coffman holds a bachelor of science degree in aerospace engineering from Iowa State University and master's and doctoral degrees in aeronautics and astronautics from Stanford University. Coffman joined Lockheed's Space Systems Division in 1967 as a guidance and control systems analyst. Alter leading the development of several major space programs and large ground data processing systems, he was appointed a vice president in 1985. division vice president and assistant general manager in 1987, and president of the Space Systems Division in 1988. While in that position, he was responsible for the Hubble Space Telescope, the M1LSTAR satellite communications program, and the Follow-on Early Warning System (now called the Space Based Infrared System). As CEO and chairman of the board, Coffman presided over Lockheed Martin's financial turnaround during a period of worldwide defense and aerospace industry consolidation (as two dozen companies shrunk to four or five) as well as the successful Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) bid that holds the potential for $300 billion in future sales. Dr. Coffman currently serves on the board of directors at Bristol-Myers Squibb Company and 3M. He is also a member of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE), the American Institute of Aeronautics & Astronautics (in which he became a Fellow in 1996), the American Astronautical Society (in which he became a Fellow in 1991), the American Defense Preparedness Association/National Security Industrial Association, and the Security Affairs Support Association.