Strength Of Symbolic Frame At Delta Airlines

The symbolic frame brings inspiration and makes their employees excited to work and commit to a place that has a unique identity. Symbolic leaders are passionate about

Delta Airlines in a major American airline company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The company was founded on May 30, 1924. They operate as an extensive domestic and international network. Delta currently operates a fleet of more than 700 aircraft and they employ approximately 80,000 people. In 2011 they were the world’s largest airline in terms of fleet size. Delta Airlines is a very successful company. Part of what makes them so successful is expansion, making good decisions in route selection and hubs location, being service oriented, having a strong operation management, being reactive in terms of prices, and offering low fares.

Following Bolman and Deal’s organizational structure and human resource frames, the third frame could arguably be the most impacting on an organizations employee’s sight and reference regarding their organization’s culture. Symbolic framing views organizations as theaters (Bolman & Deal, 2008; 2015), where its employees are acting out their duties and responsibilities grounded in the organization’s myths, values, ceremonies and rituals (Bolman & Deal, 2008; Henderson, 2015). In this regard, organizations are often judged more on their performance in a theatrical sense, than the product outcomes themselves, as the performance creates alignment in its employees (Smith, 2012). In the structural frame, we understood that organizations obtain efficiency through proper alignment in departmental and communication lines, identifying excess in order to streamlining processes. The human resource frame encouraged us to conceptualize that organizations achieve success by focusing on who is in the right or wrong position and acknowledging the needs of the employees, certifying that both employee and organizational needs should be met to promote organizational success. The symbolic frame challenges us to view the organization from a different perspective, looking deeper into the organization’s culture as the answer for alignment and unity toward a common goal. Symbolic framing aims to capture the hearts and minds of all those involved in the organization, as symbols are often the

• The Symbolic Framework draws on social and cultural anthropology. The organization is thought to be akin to tribes or theater; they are cultures that operate based on ceremonies, rituals, rules, myths, policies, stories, heroes and managerial authority (Bolman and Deal 1991, p. 16). Everyone in the organization is an actor who is basically playing a prescribed role (Bolman and Deal 1991, p. 16).

The Airline industry is a large and constantly growing industry. It facilitates economic growth, international investment and world trade and is therefore central to other industries as well for globalisation. There are various forces which lead to globalisation in airline industry. Key drivers of change are forces likely to affect the structure of an industry; sector or market. (1).

The symbolic frame focuses on symbols and meanings. Understanding the symbolic frame of an organization can help shape a culture that gives purpose and meaning to work. There is a definite relationship between organizational culture and successful project management. For example, the IMS project at company XYZ failed mainly due to low risk tolerance due to time constraint, weak unit integration within the team and inadequate support for any work related conflict.

September 11, 2001, was a horrific event that rocked the world and the way people viewed the safety of airline travel. The airline industry was hit the hardest after that day and it was uncertain if they could regain their customer’s

In today’s business industry, the globalization process has become an important aspect and fundamental force. The elements that contribute to globalization is the environment, culture, regulation and technology and production. While the advancements globalization has increased greatly, so has the advancements in airline industry with their aircraft (Shevell, 1999). Globalization also provides a great amount of potential profits to nations and their corporations (Button, 2008). Air transportation has evolved into a major industry (Kroo, 1999). The airline industry’s continuously grows and is facilitated through its international investment, tourism, world trade and economic growth (Kroo, 1999).

Delta airlines offer very comprehensive products and services including, Baggage services, check-in,ecertificate programs, In-flight services, pet care, and services for a person with special needs.

C.E. Woolman, the first leader of Delta Air Lines, believed that the company should take care of its employees so that, in return they would take care of customers. At the root of this care included effectively communicating with his teams and empowering them to make the right decisions. As Debra Nelson and James Quick reference in Organizational Behavior: Science, the Real World, and You, (2013, p. 283) “…communication, especially between managers and employees, is a critical foundation for effective performance in organizations…this is especially critical when leaders are articulating vision and achieving buy-in from employees.” The buy-in that Woolman received from his employees stemmed from his intentional engagement with them and expectation to provide the best customer service in the airline industry. Throughout its history, Delta has deliberately engaged its employees and has modeled a human resource management (HRM) system, which is the “term increasingly used to refer to the philosophy, policies, procedures, and practices related to the management of an organization’s employees” (Sims, 2002, p. 2). The HRM system at Delta has impacted its organizational structure, corporate communications, and shared decision making.

American airline industry is steadily growing at an extremely strong rate. This growth comes with a number economic and social advantage. This contributes a great deal to the international inventory. The US airline industry is a major economic aspect in both the outcome on other related industries like tourism and manufacturing of aircraft and its own terms of operation. The airline industry is receiving massive media attention unlike other industries through participating and making of government policies. As Hoffman and Bateson (2011) show the major competitors include Southwest Airlines, Delta Airline, and United Airline.

New technology: Internet (60% of seats were booked on-line), paperless operation, computerized, Reservation operation (not using call center)

While working on the inner structure of the company, a huge hurdle was the airline’s image, the proverbial “elephant in the room”. This was an airline that handed out food boxes as you boarded the plane. They had a “bloody awful” image Jick (2011), that needed an overhaul to appeal to the consuming public.

As with all airlines, Delta’s recent performance has been significantly impacted by industry shifts and external events. Terrorist attacks and escalating costs have significantly impacted Delta’s profitability in recent history (Rivkin 4). The company has also been losing valuable market share to the low-cost carrier Southwest Airlines throughout the southeast and specifically in the lucrative Florida market (Rivkin 8). JetBlue also began encroaching on key Delta routes, and this seems only likely to increase (Rivkin 9). Despite this, Delta has still performed better than any other legacy carrier (Rivkin 8). Still, recent history has brought several changes to this legacy carrier, and the company has turned its attention towards new competitive strategies.

.Furthermore, it is commendable that, the three core values of the company which reiterates the value of work and people, but allows the employees to have fun, are reinforced by the company at all times. From all indications, these unique core values have partially helped to catapult the airline to the financial statutes they are