Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Change Management In British airways
Introduction

This research report aims to evaluate on BA's change management program that
resulted in long-running industrial disputes between its management and crew
members in 2009-2011, by using the change management framework
...


BA's Background

British Airways (BA) was born in 1972
...
BA flies to more than 400 destinations worldwide
and it’s vision is to be the most admired airline across the world’s key cities
...
Moreover, according to
the Michel Porter's five forces model, the bargaining power of the suppliers and
the customers' power are also making more challenging and threatening
...
On the other hand, consumers nowadays are more choices and widely
availability, so they are more and more sensitive in terms of quality or prices
...
Therefore, the organization constantly must create the changes
relationship with the management, strategies, goals, culture, politics, leadership
and so on
...


And also to protect and improve its current position in today's competitive market
place
...
During the time of
Colin Marshal as CEO, he made the corporate culture democratic and introduced
a new culture focusing on marketing and customer delight as “ Putting People
First” program, means based on the attitude and behavior of its employees that
already designed and formed, and from that to get the customers expectation by
fulfilling their needs and preferences
...
Even though the
most impressive aspect of BA’s cultural change is not so much sophistication of
the PPF program itself, nor the commitment of executive time, but the extent to
which other employment policies and practices were changed to fit the new
culture and the continued emphasis on these practices and programs
...
However, in early 1997, BA's management attempted to adopt change
for mitigating its fiscal crisis as cutting £1 billion labor costs from cabin crew and
introduced voluntary redundancy program
...
Although it was reported as strike action by the
Union because they lose both pension rights and travel concession, but Cabin
Crew accepted management's offers and stopped their action, when BA has
agreed to restore travel concession and a two-year pay raise worth up to 7
...

Even though it was weak and not that much effective in change management, BA
had addressed and overcome the change process deal with the certain barriers
and resistances
...
When 2008 world's economic crisis comes, especially as for airlines is
rising fuel prices and currencies changing, of course BA by itself cannot control
and unavoidable, and so BA have to make the change in order to overcome its
financial crisis
...

Moreover, introduced a two years pay freeze from 2010 and even replaced
emergency as low cost carriers
...


Evaluation on the nature of BA's strategic change

Change should be limited to what is intended in the first place (Oakeshott)
...
Lewin
described the three stage model of change approaches based on unfreeze –
change – refreeze structure
...
Afterward, step to the movement for
development of new attitude and behavior for the implementation of change
...
In the case of BA's
strategic change, there is no unfreeze stage, especially without communicating
and information to the Union before making the changes
...
The main problem for BA is the poor management approaches in
relation to the strategy
...
Without having proper
relationship and explanation, without taking negotiation and agreement, BA
implemented and executed the strategic changes
...
So, the Union can't accept that sudden announcement
of unreasonable strategic change and so resisted to that
...
Consequently the conflict is keep growing until 2011,
even BA offered to deal but cabin crews keep rejected the offers and more
enthusiastically prepared for further strike
...


The change management strategy, as outlined by the BA
management

The result of the change process whether success or not is associated with the
strategy that introduced by its management
...

Since BA's change structure is engaging with the emotion of human beings, BA
should have start the negotiation and agreement by offering incentive to staffs

not to resist change
...
When the Union announced
back of a pre-Christmas strike because of BA's own benefit plans of cutting work
force and freeze pay, but then BA threatened back to the employees as whoever
involved in the industrial action they will going to lose their travel concessions
and even can lose their jobs
...
Using
coercive power may useful in case of setting strict employee disciplines
...


The challenges and difficulties in implementing of BA's changes
strategies

When the staffs already used to the way of the organization does exist,
introduction of change can meet with resistance
...
When the long-running dispute with cabin crew began, it was about to change the
cost saving structure
...
Because 14 peoples will have to perform 15
peoples' job, that's made more stressful to the employees as well as the service quality
...
For some who still can effort money even the recession period, they may
just want to provide them with the class and better quality services
...
On the
other hand, the industrial action from its crew members prevented the passengers flying from UK
airports, and so drop in overall passengers numbers
...


Conclusion

First of all, I described the contextual information about BA organization and
history of BA's aspects of cultural changes
...
The more competition, the more threatening to make change, and to
state competitive, organization must consistently react and change
...
When the world economic crisis comes
together with the raising fuel prices, the airlines organizations crisis with the
financial difficulties
...
However,
BA made the change lacking theoretical, that's means without having the
unfreeze stage of Lewin's model
...

Moreover, I did realized that BA is using the coercive power leadership style to
control the industrial actions
...
And
the effects is hit BA's services level and drop the passengers numbers, as well as
the brand reputation
...
Change management
are importance for BA, since there are industrial disputes between the
management and crew members in 2009 – 2011
...
And so, the
quality of change leadership and the change approaches have to take into
consideration
...

Which is also one of the only seven airlines that fly to all six inhabited continents
...
BA also operates a worldwide air
cargo business, largely in conjunction with its scheduled passenger services
...
BA flies to more than 400 destinations worldwide and it’s vision is to be
the most admired airline across the world’s key cities
...
Not only BA, many of airline organizations have faced
financial crisis and even some are bankrupted
...
Hence, the competition has strengthened in an
economy crippled by recession
...
Therefore, BA needs for changes to overcome such situation as
permanently change the costs structural and in market conditions
...
Nonetheless, that change is
complexed with ethic, which damages employees economic interests' (material
opposition), which is perceived as unfair because treatment differs between
groups and individuals and often regarded as a breach of rights (ethical
opposition)
...
Hence, BA
have been affected and lagged with the lacking change approaches
...
However, the
strategies BA did used is lacking unfreeze stage of Lewin's Model
...
Thus, the cabin crew
left behind the change readiness because it's too sudden and unreasonable
...

However, BA did used the coercive power leadership of force and fear to accept
the change (Compliance Theory) and explicit and implicit coercion of threatening
back as whoever joins the strike will losing jobs and remove travel perks (Kotter
and Schlesinger)
...
By referring to
the chart of the power and motivation to block changes, BA's position is to define
problems and attempt to collaborate
...

(Hofstede's cultural dimension)
...
Peoples are the type
Masculine rather than Feminine, more expected for material reward and
motivation incentives
...
Hence, the strike became more huge and both
parties suffered
...
Since the
Union stands up for the equality and serving politically the best interests for all its
members, and also always seek opportunities to improve their living standards
and qualities consequence of an effective relationship with employees and
government
...
As the result, the Union will no longer respect and sufficiently credible to
BA anymore
...
The major problems
faced by cabin crew is motivation disappointed and under pressured
...
Moreover, when BA introduced the low cost carriers
as the way of full time staffs must be reduced, then the remaining staffs have to
work overtime but underpaid
...
Since 14 people have to performed 15 people's
work force, that's really stressful
...
Moreover, when the staffs react with strike action, BA threatened back and
removed the travel concessions
...
There is no promotion, no
encouragement, no material reward and no motivation incentive
...


Managerial challenges as experienced

Managerial challenges as experienced in such situations may deal with the
acceptabilities, behaviors and willingness to change
...
According to Kotter and Schlesinger's model of minimize
resistance to changes in organization, BA's case is pointing certain weakness in
its change management
...
BA
made the change as cutting jobs and freeze pay, that's just one side
effectiveness to overcome its fiscal crisis
...
Notwithstanding, when BA removed the travel concessions of
workers who took part in the industrial action, further with some also facing
disciplinary action, for e
...
Hofstede's
cultural dimension of UK is also encouraged and reflected in this situation
...
There is also
having misunderstanding, means lack of communication and consultation
between BA's management team and cabin crew
...
Moreover, without even consulting with the employees and
taking account of employes' decision
...

Since BA reduced the number of staff on long-haul flights following a voluntary
redundancy and part time working program, even introduced a two year pay
freeze plan, the staffs's motivation and emotion are always under the pressured
of overwork and threatened of losing jobs
...


Advise approaches

Since BA's change structure is engaging with the emotion of human beings,
negotiation and agreement will be the better approaches
...
First of all, before making and planning for any
change process, BA's management should have the proper understanding upon
the successful change program linking with theoretical
...
Although, there are having several change approaches for successful
change, I would like to extract from Kurt Lewin's model, and Kotter and
Schlesinger of six change approaches to deal with this resistance to change
...

Linking these three stage with Kotter and Schlesinger
...
Time is needed for people
to understand the changes and feel highly connected
...
Before planning and making any strategic change, which
is in unfreeze stage, BA's management team should have educate the detail of
change process to the staffs and deeply communicate with them
...
Since, employees are
resisting change due to certain adjustment problems, BA's managers can headoff potential resistance by supportive of employees during difficulties times
...

Consequences of all these, employees may at lease consolidate and may find
the way for accept and along with the change
...


Stepping to the change stage with negotiation and agreement
...
However, BA always released
the announcement of cutting work force and pay freeze all of sudden, without
even communicate with the employees and that's also no benefit for cabin crew
...
BA is already loses
out on market share leading to financial crisis, so BA may itself can't effort to get
employee's satisfied and motivate
...
For e
...
And somehow the pay freeze is just for certain period of time and after
BA's financial recovered, this will be comeback with better pay conditions
...
An effective manipulation technique is to
co-option with resisters
...

Therefore, anchor the change into the culture as identify barriers to sustaining
change
...
Moreover, provide facilitate training for staff where to fit
into new environment and support all stakeholders
...


Conclusion

When the staffs already used to the way of the organization does exist,
introduction of change can meet with resistance and so the first part of the
change is usually the most difficult and stressful
...
Start
form the economic crisis, which brought about raising the fuel prices and
changing currencies, which are deeply relationship with airline industries, and so
the competition increased and airline market collapse worldwide
...
So, BA introduced the
strategic change by reducing expenses, especially cutting labor cost from its
cabin-crew
...
Hence, the industrial disputes between its
management and crew members
...
Lastly, advised approaches for overcoming
resistance to change dealing with Kurt Lewin's three stage model of successful
change approaches, and Kotter and Schlesinger of six change approaches to
handle such resistance to change, and effectively winning support for a
management of change strategy and program of implementation for
development
...


References

Dr
...
griffith
...
au/dspace/bitstream/handle/10072/16761/44338_1
...
bbc
...
uk/2/hi/business/8127705
...
bbc
...
uk/news/business-12604860

BBC News
...
bbc
...
uk/news/business-13368142

BBC News, Q&A: What's the BA dispute about?, 12 May 2011, credit from
http://www
...
co
...
telegraph
...
uk/travel/travelnews/8508691/BA-dispute-a-timelinetravel-chaos
...
theguardian
...
theguardian
...
theguardian

---