A sign of change: Boeing dropping "world" at HQ

Modesty is not usually a word used to describe a company that makes massive airplanes, fighter jets and other technological marvels that can swing the nation's balance of trade.

Yet Boeing Chief Executive James McNerney prefers an unassuming profile. He has stayed out of the media spotlight since taking the helm in July, and his appearances on Wall Street's investor-conference circuit have been few and far between.

McNerney's low-key demeanor extends to the internal perception he wants to convey about Boeing's headquarters in Chicago. He no longer wants the city to be known as "world headquarters" of the aerospace giant. Instead, he prefers the more subdued "corporate offices."

The company plans to change the street-level signage at its home at 100 N. Riverside that says "Boeing World Headquarters." The sign atop the building will stay.

The change doesn't signify any changes in the company's commitment to Chicago, a Boeing spokesman said Wednesday, or dissatisfaction with its move to the city in 2001.

"Jim thought 'world headquarters' implied a pretentiousness that wasn't appropriate," said spokesman John Dern.

Bill Dugovich, a spokesman for the professional engineering union at Boeing, said, "World headquarters always had a negative connotation with employees. Now the company has recognized that."

Still, the change puzzled some Chicago business and political leaders who spent considerable time and money wooing the company four years ago when it announced it was leaving its hometown of Seattle.

The city and state gave Boeing $51 million in tax breaks and other incentives. The financial package wasn't so much for the 400 jobs but for the cachet of landing one of the world's most prominent corporations.

"I don't think it was too pretentious," said Gerald Roper, president and chief executive of the Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce.

The relocation did sting the thousands of employees in Seattle who believed management was bailing out on them at a rough time.

The commercial-airplane division, still based in the Puget Sound region, was wrestling with a slowdown that only got worse after 9/11 delivered a massive blow to the airline industry.

The perception that management distanced itself from the nitty-gritty of daily operations intensified when former Chairman and CEO Harry Stonecipher was forced to resign last year after admitting a romantic relationship with a subordinate.

The disconnect seemed to be evident to McNerney, as he spent his first few months on the job visiting the company's far-flung operations.

"The change serves a signal to the business units that we are all in this together," Dern said. "None of us is above another."