April 2013
| Business World Magazine | 181
Sprung from
south bend
General consumers may often look upon a
mechanism with only regard for its main,
overall function. A plane, for example,
flies through the air, a submarine traverses
through the water, or a nuclear plant pro-
duces energy. Regardless of the primary
purpose of such huge assemblies, its func-
tion is all facilitated through the function-
ing of much smaller components, sometimes
obscured from view, yet without them, the
overall mechanism would cease to operate as
efficiently, or as safely, as one might depend.
An appropriate illustration of the point
happened several years ago when an airline
pilot was famously forced to land his aircraft
in New York’s Hudson River, a maneuver
prompted by engine failure occurring after
impact with a flock of birds. In the course
