Report on Ryanair and British Airways - Essay Example

334). With the message “To fly. To Serve.” British Airways has access to almost 169 different destinations in the world. Ryanair When the aviation industry of Europe went into the phase of deregulation in the late 1990s, Christopher Ryan, Liam Lonergan and Tony Ryan’s infant Ryanair received just the opportunity that it was looking for to make an impact on the global aviation industry (Schein, 2006, p. 41). Following the model of Southwest Airlines, Ryanair has also been able to replicate the success enjoyed by Southwest.

The company now flies to more than different destinations and posted revenue of over 4.3 billion Euros for the year 2012. Important here to note is that Ryanair is a low cost budget airlines and follows a Southwest model, whereas, British Airways has refrained from doing the same (Purcell, et al., 2004, p. 214). Organisational Culture and Organisational Structure and Design There is empirical evidence which conclusively suggest that strong organisational culture and organisational structure have the potential to provide stability to organisations.

In fact, certain organisations, over the years, have been able to outclass their competitors and withstand the pressures of globalisation, competition and macro environmental forces, primarily, because of their strong organisational culture or suitable organisational structure. Organisational culture plays a boundary defining role (Mills, et al., 2006, p. 334; Purcell, et al., 2004, p. 214). In other words, it draws a clear line between the organisation and others, thus, creating an “us versus them” feeling amongst the employees to motivate them to work for the goals of the organisation (Purcell, et al., 2004, p. 115).

Organisational structure, on the other hand, refers to the patterns of relationships and interactions within the company. The greater the individuals within an organisation have to communicate and interact; the greater becomes the need for finding an appropriate and suitable organisational structure and design for the organisation (Griffin & Moorhead, 2009, p. 74; Cunliffe, 2008, p. 75). Outline of the Paper This paper is an attempt to explore and analyse the organisational culture and organisational structure of British Airways and Ryanair, the two giants of the aviation industry in Europe.

Not only the paper would comparisons between these two organisations but relevant theoretical material would also be used to analyse the suitability and relevancy of the organisational culture and structure of these organisations. Discussion Organisational and Structure and Design at British Airways and Ryanair It was during the year 2008/09 that British Airways made it apparent to the world that it wants to reinvent the organisational structure and restructure the hierarchy to make a much leaner, agile cost effective and responsive organisational structure.

British Airways realised that in the times marked with European Sovereign Debt Crisis, global economic meltdown, financial crunch, decreasing consumer confidence and recessionary pressures, it is almost impossible to survive within the highly competitive airline industry in the absence of taking more radical steps (Tosi & Pilati, 2011, p. 574). However, the organisation also realised that in order to make changes at the organisational level, they would have to start at the top and begin this change from the top