Singapore Airlines - Cabin Crew Management, Advertising Campaign, System of Measuring Quality - Case Study Example

Introduction: Singapore Airlines is one of the leading airline companies in the world. Since its formation, the company has managed to have a good financial performance. The achievements of the organization are attributed to the two business strategies that it uses, namely cost leadership strategy, and differentiation. This is an indication that the services of the company are affordable and unique (Acar and Zehir, 2010). The company values its employees. It recruits highly talented employees, and trains them. This is for purposes of imparting the desired skills in them. This paper analyses the business and HR policy of Singapore airlines. Changes in Cabin Crew Management The Cabin Crew of Singapore Airlines is an important element of the organization. The company constantly looks for talented and highly motivated individuals to fill in their positions of Cabin Crews. The company emphasizes on hiring people who are between 18 to 25 years. The reason the company gives into hiring these people is based on the fact that these people are energetic, and attractive (Acar and Zehir, 2010). Hence customers prefer being served by them. Furthermore, the company hires these young people because of the cultural believe of their target markets. Most people in Asia are not comfortable being served by young people. Insisting of hiring young and inexperienced people is not conducive for the organization (Russell, 2013). This is mainly because of the high costs that the company will use in training these people. To mitigate on these costs, the company should consider looking for experienced members of staff (Wyckof, 1989). This would save the organization some operational costs, hence leading to a reduction in the prices of its services (Russell, 2013). This situation is referred to as the cost leadership strategy. The airline industry normally experiences a high level of competition. To succeed, and achieve growth, there is a need of companies developing good and efficient strategies aimed at gaining a competitive advantage over their rivals. Cost leadership strategy is one of such measures. Hiring of inexperienced and young workers is very expensive for the organization. This is because the company will use a lot of resources to train and equip these people with the necessary skills. Furthermore, the company normally employs these people under contract. The contract normally takes five years, and it is renewable (Acar and Zehir, 2010). The company should only renew these contracts when the performances of its employees are high. This will help in increasing efficiency and effectiveness in the manner in which the organization carry’s out its business. The company should therefore continue to renew the contracts of its employees, based on their performance. Advertising Campaign The company uses the slogan Singapore girls for its advertisement and promotional strategies. Since the year 1972, the company has used this term to promote its products, and it has been successful. These women are normally depicted, dressed in a distinctive Sarong Kebaya dress, which depicts the Asian culture of dressing. It is a very prominent element of the marketing strategy of Singapore Airlines, and hence it should not be changed. These advertisements normally depict the Singapore Girls as submissive, and a flight loving individual when compared to their European counterparts. Some people might be offended that this is sexism, and an inaccurate depiction of women from Singapore (Acar and Zehir, 2010). However, this is not the case. These advertisements have an impact of depicting the women of Singapore as hospitable, beautiful, caring, and kind. This is a reflection of the Asian hospitality. The concept of the Singapore Girl is the logo of the company. The logo of a company is important because it gives a unique identity of the company (Wyckof, 1989). For example, Disney World is identified by the picture of Mickey Mouse, and Nike Company is identified by the Tick logo. On this basis, the depiction of the picture of a Singapore Girl would mean the identity of the company. Changing this advertisement strategy will be very expensive for the company (Acar and Zehir, 2010). It would force the company to identify a new logo, initiate a series of promotional measures aimed at promoting this logo. Furthermore, changing the concept of Singapore Girl would mean that the company is initiating a series of changes in the manner of doing business. This would lead to a loss of customers, who initially identified the company, through their use of the concept of Singapore Girls (Mariotti and Glackin, 2012). Furthermore, the use of this concept of Singapore Girls has been a successful advertising campaign; hence there is no need of changing it. System of Measuring Quality: In measuring the quality of its services, the airline company constantly monitors the various feedbacks that emanates from its customers. This is with the intention of improving the quality of the service the organization provides. Constant monitoring of this feedback is a good method of improving the quality of service that the organization provides. The company uses three valuation processes of measuring the quality of services it provides to its employees. The first process is a review of the performance of employees of the organization by the senior flight attendant working in the same flight. There is no need of changing this style of measuring the quality of service that employees provide to the organization (Acar and Zehir, 2010). This is because junior stewards will always work under the guidance of senior stewards. They have the capability of knowing whether the stewards are effective in handling their duties or not. They are aware of the qualities they need from their stewards, and hence they have a better chance of determining whether the hired steward has the necessary skills or not (Wyckof, 1989). The second level of checking the quality of work by stewards is conducted by their trainers. These are the people who trained these stewards, and hence they know the skills imparted. On this basis, having their opinions is essential in this process, and improves the quality of their work (Acar and Zehir, 2010). There is no need of changing this process. The third stage in this appraisal system is a review by the customers of the organization. This is the major strength of this process (Russell, 2013). Through their participation, employees would feel part and parcel of the organization. Furthermore, by allowing customers to appraise their employees, then chances are high that the organization will manage to identify the various needs of their employees. This is because the customers will identify the qualities of a cabin crew they want, the kind of service they want, and the type of treatment that an organization should give them. This information is important in determining the marketing strategy that Singapore airlines should use in convincing customers to use their services (Acar and Zehir, 2010). Furthermore, the company will identify the various needs of customers, and develop policies aimed at satisfying the needs under consideration. Customer satisfaction is one of the strategies that business organizations use to penetrate a given market, and increase its market share. Organizations that do not satisfy the needs of their customers cannot achieve some elements of growth (Mariotti and Glackin, 2012). This justifies their participation in the appraisals of the cabin crews. There is no need of changing this threefold standard of measuring the quality of services that the organization receives from its employees. It is mainly because the organization will get accurate information regarding the performance of its employees (Russell, 2013). The management is able to eliminate bias by using three different stakeholders in appraising the performance of its employees. Based on these facts, there is no need of changing the methods which the organization uses to measure the quality of work of their employees. Change of Policies: The organization does not violate any of its six policies that it uses in management. These six policies are democratic organization, delegate authority, small units to carry out its tasks, training, retraining, and creation of an environment that makes it possible to delegate authority. The organization has been careful to implement all these policies (Acar and Zehir, 2010). However, the policy that needs to be changed is democratic organization. In a democracy, decision making is slow, and there are many bureaucratic channels to follow. Singapore airlines is a large company, hence there is no need of implementing a bureaucratic style of leadership (Wyckof, 1989). Decisions have to made from the top, and lower offices have to implement the decisions under consideration. This would improve the performance of the company (Mariotti and Glackin, 2012). An example of a company that authoritarian type of leadership thrived is Apples. This is under the leadership of Steve Jobs. Through this type of leadership, Steve Jobs was able to turn Apples into a leading Information Technology company. Slot Machines: The introduction of Slot Machines is a better idea. This is because it is a differentiation strategy, aimed at distinguishing the airline from its competitors. Differentiation is a strategy that enables a company to develop unique products, hence attracting customers to it (Russell, 2013). Singapore airline has managed to achieve success through the use of such a policy. Conclusion: Singapore airlines manage to achieve profitability because of its efficient business and HR strategy. The policy of the company to appraise its employees through three levels is efficient in identifying the quality of its service. Using the concept of the Singapore Girl is an efficient advertising strategy. This is because people are able to identify with this logo, as it symbolizes humility, and a hospitable culture. The six strategies of management are also effective in ensuring that Singapore airlines achieve its objective. However, the most important one is the training and retraining of its employees. This is because it imparts the necessary skills to the employees of the organization. References: Acar, A. Z., & Zehir, C. (2010). The harmonized effects of generic strategies and business capabilities on business performance. Journal of Business Economics and Management, 11(4), 689-711. Mariotti, S., & Glackin, C. (2012). Entrepreneurship & small business management. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson Prentice Hall. Russell, J. (2013). Malaysia-singapore airlines. S.l.: Book On Demand Ltd. Wyckof, D. (1989). Singapore Airlines. Harvard Business School, 1, 1-22. Read More