Global Connections through Technology - Etihad Airways - Case Study Example

Name Instructor Course Date Global Connections through Technology It is important for an organization to have a strong digital mastery in the current digital-rich and highly competitive world. Thus, it is the role of appointed “Lead Digital Consultant” to Etihad Airways to help the company succeed in the digital and competitive world. The success will come through proper integration of all the components for an organization to have digital mastery, which include digital capabilities, leadership capabilities, and leadership playbook that is used for digital transformation. Thus, the following paper is a design through which the Etihad Airways can apply to become a digital master. Etihad Airways Business Model Etihad Airways “Unification Business Operating Model” Resources allocation Flight departure preparation Loading the aircraft Flight Departure and Closeout Monitoring Flights Arrival of Flights and Closeout Unloading Aircraft Clean/Service the Aircraft Skylinks Skymiles Reservations Travel Agent Skycap Ticket Counter Crown Room Boarding Inflight Baggage Assessing Etihad’s Digital and Leadership Capabilities – Fashionistas From the above business model and unification business operating model, it is evident that Etihad Airways fits in the Fashionistas digital quadrant. Etihad’s digital capabilities are characterized by many advanced digital features, which include mobile and social in silos and a digital culture that exists in silos. Its leadership capabilities on the other hand are characterized by lack of an overarching vision and also have underdeveloped capabilities. Etihad Airways has a high level of digital capabilities compared to their leadership capabilities. Thus, the organization rides the wave of technology as a surfer with the aim of remaining top of the manner in which the market trends. However, the inadequate leadership abilities hinders the company from reaping the complete benefits of the technology. It is evident that Etihad over the years has bought as well as implemented a large number of systems and as a result, the company’s infrastructures appears to be chaotic (Kromberg 27). Thus, as the “Lead Digital Consultant” believes that for Etihad to become a digital master, the company requires a small spring-cleaning to the organization’s infrastructures because continued capitalization on the existing ones will only serve as a hindrance to new initiatives (Kromberg 27). Playbook for Etihad’s Senior Management to Becoming a Digital Master For Etihad Airways to move from being Fashionistas to digital masters within this competitive and digital-rich world, it is important for the company’s senior management to first understand what Digital Mastery is and why it is important for the organization. Due to its newness as a concept of management, it is important to look at the underlying theories of digital mastery, which will help discover, that the concept is a product of old ideas that have been merged to create new meaning (Kromberg 18). Digital mastery is thus defined as a management concept that is concerned with the ways in which companies achieve their competitive advantage through the utilization of digital technology helping them rethink ways in which they communicate with their clients, gain new clients, run operations, and manner in which they do business (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee). For a company to achieve digital mastery, the main ideas is to strike a balance between its leadership capabilities and digital capabilities coupled with a cooperation between Information Technology (IT) and business people. Therefore, to find this balance, the Etihad Airways must develop both its leadership as well as digital capabilities. The reasons why Etihad Airways need to achieve digital mastery is that IT is an integral part in approaches used by the company to do its business. Thus, the idea of having an IT department that is efficient and running smoothly with good infrastructures is inevitable if the company is to remain operative (Kromberg 18). Moreover, sustainable innovation has also become a dire requirement and hence, IT as an aspect of innovation has a large part to play in the future of Etihad Airways. For the company to survive in the current digital economy, it has to attain the capacity to get competitive advantage through using existing digital technologies to reconsider as well as become innovative concerning its models of doing business. Therefore, Etihad Airways need to focus on creating firm IT infrastructure foundation as well as capitalize on changing its digital capabilities and leadership capabilities that will help the company’s senior management become innovative thus attaining the digital mastery. Since Etihad Airways falls under the Fashinista quadrant, the senior management should embark on building the company’s leadership capabilities that will help it gain synergies throughout its digital efforts. The management should find a vision that is unifying and invest in its governance to help coordinate throughout the company. For example, the management may opt to build a digital unit or employ a chief digital officer (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee 25). However, to move from being Fashionistas to being Digital Master may require Etihad to put on investments as the management refocuses the company’s disengaged digital inventiveness and technologies into a digital program that is coherent and unified (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee 25). Etihad’s management should also understand that despite the pain in refocusing as well as reworking that the company has to undergo in the short run, the payoff in the long term will be worth it especially in terms of greater agility, lower costs, and lower risks (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee 25). The Playbook For Etihad Company to achieve digital mastery, it needs to enhance its leadership capabilities. Leadership capabilities refers to the ability possessed by a company to transform as well as gain complete usage from fresh capabilities or also, meet new challenges. Hence, for the company to achieve that, it means that its top-tier leadership should focus on forming direction, creating momentum, and driving the desired change all the way to the core. Leadership capabilities will be an important tool to help with change projects within Etihad. To achieve Digital Mastery for Etihad will change from investing in the most new fashions within the IT industry and become focused on utilizing IT as an instrument to help improve the company’s customer value. Consequently, this will make it easier for Etihad employees to engage in their work activities through empowering them as well as improving Etihad’s business processes. Once the company’s leadership capabilities are enhanced and combined with digital capabilities, Etihad will become a strong company investing in the right technology and for the correct reasons. Moreover, this improvement will also enable the company to follow up on its investments all through its transformation process thus helping it attain the desired results through anchoring its business process within technology culture (Kromberg 18). To help Etihad Airways achieve Digital Mastery level, the company leaders should follow the following playbook. Step 1 is to frame the company’s digital challenge – the company’s management should create awareness regarding digital opportunities as well as threats which will help them in knowing at what point to start and that which they should assess Etihad’s digital maturity. Therefore, the company’s senior management should design a realistic vision ensuring that all the top team is aligned the set goal (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee 173). Step 2 involves focusing on Investments – after designing a realistic vision; Etihad’s senior management should translate the vision into a roadmap that is actionable. This includes building cross-silo management structures and putting in place funding for the company’s transformation. Step 3 will need the senior management to mobilize the organization through sending clear signals about the company’s ambitions and the transformations it aims to achieve. Thus, the company’s management should build a momentum as well as engage its workforce through setting new behaviors and commencing on evolving Etihad towards a culture that is more innovative (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee 174). Step 4 will involve sustaining the transition by building the necessary foundational skills required. Etihad’s management should align its reward structures in such a manner that it will be possible to overcome existing conventional organizational barriers. Additionally, the management should also monitor as well as measure the company’s transformational progress and iterate when and where it is necessary. However, since Etihad is evidently in the Fashionistas quadrant, the company’s senior management should invest more on mobilizing the organization. Through improved leadership capabilities, the company’s senior management will be able to earn the trust of their employees and thus mobilize them into action resulting to the success of the transformative change program (Westerman, Bonnet and McAfee 209). According to a survey conducted by Westerman, Bonnet, and McAfee (2014, 209), 64 percent of workers feel that organizations’ top management do not adequately share their vision regarding digital transformation with all people within the organizations. Thus, for Etihad Airways to achieve Digital Mastery, its senior management will have to mobilize the organization in order to achieve a high impact through doing these three fundamental things. 1. Signaling – the management will have to market its ambitions as well as the benefits associated with digital transformation in a sufficient and clear manner to the entire organization. 2. Obtaining the freedom to engage – Etihad’s management should ensure that its building a momentum that is sufficient with its employees through co-creating solutions as well as involving those individuals who will be the key to ensuring that the change happens. 3. Setting fresh and new behaviors – Etihad’s senior management should ensure that they are actively motivating a shift in culture through utilizing digital technologies to help change ways in which people in the organization work and cooperate. Maintaining Digital Mastery After becoming a Digital Master, Etihad Airways will have to strive to maintain a healthy balance between its digital capabilities and its leadership capabilities. Digital Mastery is not just about putting digital technologies in place to help offer a competitive advantage at the present (Kromberg 22). It concerns creating a capacity to utilize digital technologies to help stay ahead of competition which in return will help the company to effective adopt to market changes and to some extent, become the key driver behind market changes. Therefore, after achieving digital mastery, Etihad Airways has to keep its eyes open for innovation opportunities (Kromberg 22). Therefore, Etihad’s senior management should understand that the journey towards being a Digital Master does not have an end and innovation and change becomes an integral part of ways in which the company does its business. The existing trends in the market environment makes the company’s ability to innovate a crucial component in remaining alive as well as ahead in the market’s constantly changing environment (Kromberg 22). The rate at which technology is being developed has continued to increase at an exponential speed and thus Etihad Airways need to hone its innovative skills and change its leadership approaches in order for the company to keep up with the continued increase in development pace. Conclusion In conclusion, for Etihad Airways to become a Digital Master in this technological and highly competitive world, the company has to apply the right technologies, which will be tightly integrated to help support as well as fulfil its distinct core business strategy (Ross N.p). With a focused strategy, Etihad will experience an incredible digital transformation. Works Cited Kromberg, K. H. How to achieve digital mastery at Maersk Line. Master's Thesis. Copenhagen: Copenhagen Business School , 2016. Ross, Jeanne W. "Design a Digital Strategy That Works." 02 February 2015. Havard Business Review. https://hbr.org/webinar/2015/02/design-a-digital-strategy-that-works. 21 December 2016. Westerman, George, Didier Bonnet and Andrew McAfee. Turning Technology into Business Transformation. USA: Harvard Business Review Press, 2014. Read More