British Airways : Case Studies : British Airways Case Study : Change

In this report based on our chosen company the British airways, we will cover the leisure provision related to the public, commercial and voluntary point aspects.

At the present time, the airline industry faces many cost pressures. The industry has made remarkable achievements in improving its efficiency. But cost pressures continue, from record high fuel prices to unjustified increases in charges from monopolistic airports, to further taxes imposed by governments (industryspotlight.org.uk). Higher costs inevitably lead to higher prices for airline passengers. Aviation is vital part of the United Kingdom. It is not only crucial in sponsoring almost 1 million jobs and £50 billion of GDP, providing around £8.7 billion in taxes to the Treasury of the country, but aviation is also fundamental to the success of economic benefits from air transport in the United Kingdom (Roberts-Hughes, 2014). Aviation supports exports, services, manufacturing, foreign direct investment and of course tourism. This sector gives us opportunity for the holidays and visits of family and friend in different parts of a country and also around the world.

Culture change in working practices resulted to series of clashes between the airlines’ authority and the staff members. British airways experienced poor handling of other staffs inside the organizations (Telegraph, 2013).

“The images, metaphors, or frames that we hold, both of managing and of change, influence our ideas of what we think managing change is all about” (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009). As people we all see through our own eyes, we call see a different perspective and have a different reaction to what is coming next. As human beings we react differently to situations. Situations of change are transitions that some are able to adapt to quickly while others have a hard time. Being the leader of that change can be difficult and helping make a change does not come easily or effectively. Keep and Newcomer (2008)

Change is a strange word and brings up many different responses. According the Merriam-Webster (2016) the simple definition of change is “:to become different: to make (someone or something) different: to become something else” Just the word change can bring a great array of emotions from fear, to dread, all the way to utter satisfaction. This paper will look more closely at the hard questions that must be asked before a change can be made. Taking into consideration the leader’s behavior, the followers experience, commitment, and values. The paper will wind up looking at change coming to fruition and what is to come. Now on to the hard questions.

The scenario upon which this paper is based relates to the British Airways Swipe Card Debacle case study from the textbook, Managing Organizational Change: A Multiple Perspective Approach (Akin, Dunford, & Palmer, 2009). The purpose of this paper is to analyze and discuss the organizational change associated to the implementation of a new swipe card system that led to strike of over 250 British Airways check-in staff, losing 40 million pounds and negatively effecting the company’s reputation. Additionally, this paper will relate the case study to several change approaches (organizational development, sense-making, change management, contingency, and processual) and identify key issues. Additionally, this

According to Kotter, establishing a sense of urgency is necessary for a change to be successfully implemented because it ensures that everyone believes that a change is necessary and therefore people more likely to commit to the change (Kotter, 2012). Establishing urgency can be difficult for organizations to implement. A primary reason can be traced to company culture (Kotter, 2012). Many companies have a culture of complacency, which causes them to be wary of change (Kotter, 2012). This complacency can be attributed to many sources which must be addressed if a company wants change (Kotter, 2012). This culture of complacency is existent at the Coast Guard Academy and the whole military in general. According to Theo Farrel and Terry Terriff, editors of The sources of Military Change: Culture, Politics, Technology (2002), historically, militaries tend to shy away from broad sweeping change due to their beliefs in the strategy of old. In summary, the military and the Coast Guard Academy, shies away from change because, in the words of many officers and cadets, “this is the way we’ve always done

British Airways faced the worst crisis in its history in the late 1970’s early 1980’s.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss organizational change and the management of that change. I will talk about the different drivers of change, the factors a leader needs to weigh to implement change effectively, the various resistances a leader may encounter while trying to implement change, and how various leadership styles will effect the realization of change. I will also discuss the knowledge I have gained through the completion of this assignment and how I think it might affect the way I manage change in my workplace.

Change is a double-edged sword (Fullan, 2001). Change is a word that might inspire or put fear into people. Leadership is challenging when it comes to dealing with change and how individuals react within the organization to the change. Marzano, McNulty, and Waters (2005) discuss two orders of change in their book School Leadership that Works; first and second. Fullan (2001) also adds to the discussion in his book Leading in a Culture of Change, with regard to understanding change. In Change Leadership, Keagan and Wagner (2006) discuss many factors of change and the systematic approach to change. Change affects people in different ways. Leaders need to be able to respond to the individuals throughout the change process.

The dispute between BA management and Cabin Crew from 2009 to 2011 caused extensive impact throughout the global condition. BA totally lost £150 million and the brand reputation had been affected seriously. It meant that BA has some problems about its change management. This academic report contains

“If you’re providing service at no cost to the taxpayer, then you’re doing quite well” (Changing the Culture of British Airways, 1990, p. 3).

The British Airways (BA) Debacle occurred because the management team planned and implemented a swipe card system which would allow management to use staff more efficiently and to record employees start and end time for each work day. However, the staff was not involved in the decision which led to a strike (Palmer, Dunford, & Akin, 2009).

Life at “old” British Airways lacked a unifying corporate culture. The 1971 merger of British European Airways (BEA) and British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), by the British Airways Board, only succeeded in putting an umbrella over two separate mature entities. The focus of the BEA had been to build a European airline infrastructure. BOAS was an innovator and pioneered the first jet passenger service. Neither company was concerned with cost or profit. British Airways was government run and according to Jick & Peiperl (2011) “success had less to do with net income and more to do with ‘flying the British flag” (p.26). This inefficient government structure was bogged down with

The company is headquartered in the Long Island City neighborhood of the New York City. Its main base is at John F. Kennedy International Airport.