Transformation at Aircraft Corporation Division

Aircraft Corporation Division produced military aircraft in Western Europe. It was experiencing an especially challenging year in 2009. In addition to the worldwide financial crisis, the Division was dealing with massive uncertainty related to launching its new flagship aircraft, which was behind schedule and above cost targets. In this difficult context, Aircraft Corporation's Board of Directors had set goals to increase overall revenues, as well as the share of revenues originating from the Division. The recently appointed CEO and chairman of Aircraft Corporation Division felt the urgency of transforming his division in order to help its corporate parent achieve its objectives. What should be the first step in his action plan for achieving this transformation? Should he set up an internal new ventures unit? Establish an outpost in Silicon Valley? Launch a corporate venture capital fund? Or engage with technical inventors worldwide through crowdsourcing? The Division's peers and rivals had tried each of these approaches with mixed results.