World-Class Service British Airways - Case Study Example

Identify the characteristics ical and scientific management that can be found in your industry today. (British Airways) Scientific management has been prevalent for a long time. It was introduced by F W Taylor in the early 20th century (O’Connor, 1996). The four main principles of scientific management included replacing the system or the work process by a scientifically designed method, training and developing the employees rather than leaving themselves to train themselves, ensuring that instructions were followed and equal division of work between managers and workers (NetMBA, 2002). Managers are responsible to issue instructions, ensure that they are adhered to and the result is overall efficiency. People were treated as machines. The Time and Motion studies were intended to give the managing of the industry a scientific approach, to reduce fatigue and improve efficiency and productivity (Schmidt, 1999). This resulted in breaking down of the work process which had to be executed in the least possible time with minimum effort. Economic incentives helped improve efficiency of the people but organizational development was stunted. Gradually people realized that economic benefits were insufficient to motivate people. The characteristics of scientific management underwent change. Peter Drucker exposed the drawbacks in scientific management of people (Cited by O’Connor). People formed the backbone of any industry. Human groups started taking the center stage. The employees were looking at work satisfaction as an equal to economic benefits. They wanted to be a part of the planning and production process. Their motivation became vital and it determined the way they were managed. He revealed that there was no limit to the quality of work that people, as individuals or in teams, could produce. Scientific management should enable flow of information downwards rather than upwards, work and responsibility has to be delegated. According to Drucker most problems in an organization are caused by systems, technology, and processes, hence the employees should be allowed to change the system. This would lead to enhancement of productivity and quality. The employees should be encouraged to understand the organizational goals and motivated to work towards a common purpose. They should be motivated to improve their own performance. These are essentials of scientific management, which British Airways had adopted. British Airways managed to turn low-quality service into world-class service. People are the intellectual assets and British Airways discovered how to make the most of the energy and creativity of its people to get the best results. In the engineering unit the top management wanted to reduce costs by 10 million pounds. Rather than reduce staff, they trained the people, gave them the authority to make decisions and then allowed them to suggest ways to reduce costs. This resulted in cost reduction of 25 million pounds without a single job being lost (Spitzer T Q, n.d.). It is constantly bringing about changes and in 2004, it has transformed its existing training strategy into an integrated learning program that manages hundreds of online and traditional courses for its global workforce (Shores). Explain why was there a need for the development of human relations and what this has accomplished? Although scientific management did bring about economic progress, the conflict between management and labor continued. Employees were seeking job satisfaction. Monetary compensation was not enough incentive. The Hawthorne studies proved that workers were interested in rewards and punishments for their own work groups. Studies were conducted to determine how work environment influenced productivity. The scientific or the classical approach did not take into account the socio-psychological factors but stressed upon formal leadership (O’Connor, 1999). The Hawthorne studies took into consideration individual preferences and helped to understand that an organization is a social system. This gave birth to the human relations movement and came to be known as the Hawthorne effect. Elton Mayo, the father of the human relations movement reasoned that individuals have a deep psychological need that their organization cares for them, that they can voice their opinions. Informal work groups and employee centered management brought about revolutionary changes in an organization. It helps to determine the attitudes and performance of individual workers. A human being can act in ways not covered by job description and job satisfaction increases productivity. Communication improves relations and people need social skills apart from the technical skills. Today it is practiced very effectively in every industry. In the competitive scenario in every industry and because of globalization, workers motivation is absolutely essential. This is necessary to retain the workers, to have a competitive edge, to increase productivity. Training is an essential element which is not merely transfer of knowledge from an expert to a novice. The Hawthorne effect holds that the introduction of anything new improves workers performance (Hardingham, 1997). The process of training itself gives importance to the worker, who feels secured and important. Anything new motivates and improves performance. An opinion survey of bank employees revealed that the employees want oppurtunities for training and development. They need to think of themselves as self-employed, in charge of their own careers (Burke, 1997). Everyone wants to feel marketable and compare their skills with others. Every industry, be it the banks, the airlines or the automotive industry, has adopted these changes to enhance productivity and retain staff. British Airlines follows these principles of motivation especially as employee turnover in this industry is high and job cycle low. Discuss the motivation techniques implemented by management in your industry (British airways) and explain how these techniques relate to motivation theory. All techniques used in Human Resource Management are extensions of the ideas of Elton Mayo. British Airways is an example of a British business, which has employed the HRM theory (ALOA, 2000). Taylor had argued, according to the theories of scientific management, that to achieve optimum results control and decision-making should be taken away from workers. British Airways moved away from the bureaucratic world of personnel management. At BA every manager is a Human Resource Manager. There is no separate personnel manager; each manager knows how to manage people. Managers and workers communicate directly. This acts as a great motivational factor. BA constantly endeavors to ensure that the values and goals of ‘The BA Way’ are effectively communicated to, and understood by its employees (BA S & E Report, 2004). At this crucial juncture when BA is experiencing rapid changes, the motivation and commitment of its employees is the key to success. To ensure that every worker is well aware of the challenges that BA has faced in the last three years, and to understand the feelings of people, it has conducted a research. They allow face to face communication which enables employee participation. They feel involved in the changes taking place in the business; they feel a part of the organization; they feel motivated that the organization values their suggestions. This conforms to the Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory where an employee has a need to feel that he is important for the company. Mayo’s experiment too revealed that productivity remained high even when the lights were switched off, because they had experienced they were being paid attention. The training department supports BA’s Employee Development Program. Managers are coached on the principles of effective communication. Frederick Herzberg, a psychologist believed that training was one of the keys to successful motivation of workers (ALOA). With a huge and diverse global workforce, training and development at BA is a constant challenge. With the help of Netg BA has been able to overcome this and now provides a global, high-quality e-Learning solution that can be accessed even by the 70 per cent of the company who are not office-based (Thomson Netg). BA believes in offering the staff more control over their own personal and professional development, and hence is creating learning pathways. This will allow the employees to understand the skills they require for a particular job. They will then be allocated training to attain this. Individual preferences and attention like these are in line with the Hawthorne studies, which fulfills a deep psychological need. British Airways has thus been able to meet the challenges of the industry by following the theories of motivation of different psychologists. References: ALAO (2000), Human Resource Management, 28 March 2006 BA S & E Report (2004), 28 March 2006 Burke W W (1997), The new agenda for organization development." Organizational Dynamics 25.n1 (Summer 1997): 7(14). British Council Journals Database. Thomson Gale. British Council - India. 28 March 2006 Hardingham A (1997), "How metaphors throw light on training issues. (alternative training paradigms)." People Management 3.n2 (Jan 23, 1997): 49(1). British Council Journals Database. Thomson Gale. British Council - India. 28 March 2006 NetMBA (2002), Frederick Taylor and Scientific Management, 28 March 2006 OConnor P D T (1996), Standards in Reliability & Safety Engineering, 28 March 2006 OConnor E (1999), THE HUMAN RELATIONS MOVEMENT (circa 1929-1951), 28 March 2006 Peopleandmotivation, 28 March 2006 Schmidt W V (1999), Seeing the Future, 28 March 2006 Shores R (2004), British Airways Global Learning Initiative Takes Flight with Oracle® iLearning and Thomson NETg, 28 March 2004 Spitzer T Q (n.d.), MANAGING THE HUMAN SIDE OF CHANGE, 28 March 2006 Thomson Netg (n.d.), British Airways, 28 March 2006 Read More