How well do you understand the key factors that drive business performance in your organization and industry?
Boeing's understanding that to maintain their customer base, they must provide th customer a way to reduce their costs when having a Boeing plane.  This is were e-enabled environment comes in where IT is used to support every aspect of the plane, as the case mentioned this was also done by Airbus, their biggest competitor.  One thing with Boeing is it has a clear understanding of the its market and its' customer.  With the international diversity of the customer, came multiple business ventures with many international companies, from Japan to Italy, to India, To Russia... etc.    Boeing is competing in the international market with its international team of partners, very smart.

What must be done well to reduce costs, grow revenues, improve asset efficiency and achieve sustainable advantage?
IT plays a critical role in the success of Boeing and in providing a strategic difference, this is done by providing added advantage to the customer when purchasing a Boeing vs. a competitor's plane.  When deciding on IT, we have to look at how this solution will drive the revenue growth, asset efficiency and cost savings.  The strategy and the choices made must be visionary of the future and the business goals.  While an IT investment has future rewards that may not be measurable today, they must still adhere and support the business goal and strategy. 

How can IT be used to improve business perfromance?

IT can be used in many ways to improve business performance for Boeing, providing management with right data at the right time to make the correct decisions is critical to even the most capable managers to support their decision making.  Knowing what their partners, customers and competitors are going through, can help lead them to better protect themselves against what the may occur in the future. Also, with the international market that Boeing has, providing a centeral location for customers / partners can go to get their questions answered.