Changing the Culture at British Airways

Changing the Culture at British Airways 1. Problems you identified from the case Macro: The first problem changing the culture at British Airways was the merger of the BOAC and BEA. In 1971, the Civil Aviation Act became law and the board was to control policy over British Airways but both BOAC and BEA remained autonomous, each with its own chairman, board, and chief executive. This caused a split within British Airways throughout the 1970s and in the mid-1980. The second problem BA faced was the threat of privatization. In 1984 the government passed legislation that made BA a public limited company.
The third was productivity was bad compared to other leading foreign airlines. The fourth was poor service. Poor customer service to the employees and customers led to reduced passenger numbers and high fuel costs. This created a reduction in profit (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 25-29). Micro: The first problem BA had that is not obvious was the change in the organization and culture. There need to be a more institutionalize change. New culture fosters a strong commitment to service. Also, the lack of unity and loyalty caused the airline to not be focused. There was a lack of recognition.
This caused a lack of unifying corporate culture. Also, training needs for managers were needed. Organizations need to change to adapt to the changes inside and outside the organizations (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 28-35) 2. Causes BA will have these problems because they merge two companies with very different style of management, government regulations. They lost millions because of the mindset the management had which questioned why the need for change if we’re making a profit. The lost was great also because people were operating effectively and not efficiently.

They believe that if you’re providing service at no cost to taxpayers then you’re doing well and the cost of paying a high price for advance technologies. There was not enough management time devoted to managing the changing environment because it was all focused inwardly on resolving industrial relations problems, on resolving organizational conflicts. Both companies had done its share of pioneering. BA needs to be reorganized to have shared desires. This resulted in a financial crises and downsizing of employees (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 35). 3.
Organizational Systems Affected Structural: The Leadership indicated that BEA was concerned with building an airline infrastructure than it did in profit. This was reflection a de-centralized leadership style and BOAC was concerned with the jet airliner which was focusing on the task. The merger caused BA to be very controlled with a lot of rules and regulations. Privatization by the British government made BA a public limited company. (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 26, 34). Psychosocial: Employees expressed their pleasure on being treated with respect.
When the merger took place, both BEA and BOAC will have to be loyal to each other and unite. A greater challenge is to change the mindset of employees at all levels. The mindset is a shared way of thinking and behavior within in an organization. They are reflected in accepted behaviors and attitudes. The mindset becomes very powerful in gaining unity and focus within the organization. It provides a common focus and increases the intensity of the work being done (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 39). Technical: BA will have to cut cost and drive customer service.
The technological innovation plays and important role. If everyone works together there would be a more cohesive environment and the ability to manage change. When other airlines were not considered and competition was not a factor, BA was successful economically but there were no satisfaction with customer service (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 26). BA need to encourage workshops was great within the organization, having done this customer assessment of the competitors allowed the employees from thinking more about the internal company policies and practices and more time interacting with the customers.
Customer may become involved in product design. The more interaction between the customer and employees, the more a customer views is reflected on the organization (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, pp. 40-41). Managerial: BA Managers would have to be very proactive and have a need for change. They made Lord King the Chairman in 1981 and he recognized that a major cooperate change was needed. The leaders at BA must manage through principles. A change was needed in the culture. The leader must articulate and communicate the principles to be successful (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 9). Goals and Values: The BA would have to have contribute to its customers, investors encourage a shared vision and values, enable employees to act by encouraging greater cutomer and cost consciousness, adaptability initiative, accountability, and teamwork. To accomplish these goals, managers will have to model the way (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 50). 4. Alternative Solutions One alternative solution to changing the culture at BA is to not resist the change and take an untraditional approach.
The greatest effort would be overcoming the mindset of employees at all levels of an organization. Another alternative is managers don’t have to micro-manage. It creates a negative environment. BA focus was primarily on cutting cost and driving customer service. This is a difficult challenge. BA would have been more successful if they would have put the people before the task (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 39). 5. Recommendations and Implementation Plans BA needs to change to adapt to the changing internal and external environment through a restructuring of their organization.
They should start out there merger with a vision statement and uniting as one complete team. They need to move with the times, out with the old and in with the new. With the globalizations and technology, organizations have moved from mechanical to a gradual approach. The mindset of the employees at all levels of the organization need to be changed. BA also needs to analyze their organization through the eyes of the customer perspective. The more interaction between customers and employees the more a customer perspective is instilled within the organization.
There need to be work-groups such as self-manage work teams. BA needs to be reflexive and learn from their past (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 42). Training needs to be implemented. There must me a willingness to change for all employees and managers. BA will have the ability to become re-energized and meet the needs of the customers through innovation and being resourceful (Jick & Peiperl, 2011, p. 50). References Jick, T. D. , & Peiperl, M. A. (2011). Managing Change: Cases and Concepts, Third Edition . New york: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc..