covers from the Curtiss motorcycle & dirigible engine, WW I, Golden Age, and it's peak in WW II. The company was left behind in the jet age,
As part of Twayne’s Evolution of Modern Business Series, the book focuses on the interrelationship between technology and business within the tumultuous American aviation industry and tells the story of the path that one corporation took. The authors assert that Curtiss-Wright’s failure to maintain a balance between manufacturing, marketing, and management was at the root of the corporation’s troubles.
The authors contend that World War II was the turning point in the history of Curtiss-Wright. The only American manufacturer capable of immediately meeting the demands of the Allied aviation programs of 1938–43, the corporation concentrated on the quantity production of aircraft that were soon obsolete in light of the rapid pace of technological change. Instead of cross-licensing designs and subcontracting other producers for component parts, the corporation overextended its managerial and engineering resources to expand its own production facilities. Consequently, when Curtiss-Wright attempted to introduce new designs, such as the C-46 transport or the R-3350 radial engine, there were significant developmental problems. Curtiss-Wright’s promise of untested technologies in large quantities and the failure to deliver them resulted in a considerable loss of prestige and the scrutiny of congressional investigators.
An internal battle erupted between weak and indecisive managers who favored the use of profits to expand engine research and development versus aggressive stockholders who wanted a dividend. The victory of the stockholders effectively put Curtiss-Wright on the path to decline. https://muse.jhu.edu/article/33483