Organizational Behavior in Emirates Airlines - Case Study Example

Title Page Table of Contents Organization Behavior in Emirates Airlines: Using Team Work and Group Dynamics for Project Implementation 3 Introduction 3 Company Overview 3 Issues Faced 4 Purpose 4 Literature Review 5 Dynamics of Group Work 5 Types of Teams Available for Employment 7 Using Teams for Projects 9 Analysis 10 Organizational Culture 11 Group and Team Behavior at Emirates Airlines 11 Implementing Group Behavior based Teamwork Framework 12 Advantages of Using Teamwork Approach 15 Managing Effective Working Relationships for Problem Resolution 16 Conclusion 18 References 20 Organization Behavior in Emirates Airlines: Using Team Work and Group Dynamics for Project Implementation Introduction Company Overview Emirates Airlines is part of the Airline Service and Aviation Group titled the Emirates Group. The airline operates in over 100 markets across the world employing a fleet covering 200 air crafts. The company headquarters are located in Dubai, with its home ground financed Dubai International Airport which is the hub of air travel in to and from Europe and Americas to Middle East, Asia and Australasia. The company employs a diverse workforce for its cabin crew, management as well as ground operations. Emirates Airlines uses innovation and continuous learning along with its strategic global positioning to its advantage for expanding operations from a central location. The main competitors of the company include British Airways, Qatar Airways, Virgin Atlantic, Singapore Airlines and American Airlines. Aside from this the company competes with regional budget airlines as well in its markets of operation. The two key strategic advantages that have aided the company in establishing its current position in the market include the rapid growth that it has seen since its inception and the incomparable excellent quality and customer service which have furthered their business expansion plan. Issues Faced Emirates Airline is continuously looking for innovation and new ideas in terms of management, product and service development as well as operations. The company is highly focused on efficiency and keeping its strategic lead from the competitive advantage it has in the market from being innovative. In this regard the company has been involved in making changes to its customer service centers to allow for a customer facilitating system which enables the customer servicing staff to manage the flow of customers in the service centers. A proposition of a queuing system by the vendor Wavetech is being implemented by the company. However as the product is being managed and developed by the external vendor Wavetech the company is facing significant problems in terms of lack of proper requirements assessment and disparity in the end user requirements and the requirements perceived by the vendor. Moreover there are significant communication problem between the management at Emirates Airlines and the outsourced vendor Wavetech which are resulting in more inefficiencies and problems in the software development and implementation. Purpose The purpose of this report is to provide a plausible solution for the highlighted problems and issues being faced by Emirates Airlines in the management of relations and communication with its technical vendor Wavetech. In this regard it is proposed that a group work and team based approach can be used by Emirates Airlines to resolve its problem of communicating with its software and hardware vendor. The paper provides an assessment of group dynamics and team based approach from a theoretical point of view and how it can be employed for technical projects. The framework for the implementation of the group work based project team for the purpose of problem resolution and project development is provided along with the strategic benefits that can be reaped by using the team oriented approach to resolve the issue. Literature Review Dynamics of Group Work When it comes to group behavior and dynamics, much is available in terms of literature on the subject. The literature highlights that group work oriented teams can be employed for the purpose of research and development, conflict resolution as well as for managing technology and innovation and integration with business process (Rosen, 2004). The most useful thing about group behavior employed for the purpose of resolution of problems and technology implementation is that strategic objectives for the purpose of the problem resolution can be built, with shared risks and responsibilities which makes managing the issue and working towards a solution easier and more feasible. Group dynamics for work based teams is best explained by Richard Hackman (2002) who provided that groups are only successful when they are able to satisfy the internal as well as the external clients, developing capabilities that they can employ in the future and when the members are satisfied with the objectives and the results of the group. To increase the likelihood of successful groups working for attaining an objective Hackman (2002) provides that the team should be real, operating with a direction which compels the member, motivating them to attain results, having a structure which is facilitated by supportive context and expert coaching. Tuckeman (1965) provides that group behavior especially for the purpose of a task which involves group based decision making is based a four stage model. In such groups, these four stages pertain to forming, storming, forming and performing and for project based teams another stage exists which is titled adjourning. In the forming stage, the team is goes through an orientation and introductory session of sharing experiences and getting to know the other members of the tea. The project requirements, the strategic goals and objectives as well as informal structure of the team is developed at the formation stage. The dynamics of project teams involve a team leader who at this stage is responsible for converting the objectives of the project and the team to all members. The storming stage involves the team members gradually commencing work together. As the work is commenced, conflicting ideas, sentiments, and personal as well as work based contradictions arise. Often group members at this stage can get agitated and riled due to the increased interpersonal tensions prevalent in the group. Conflict resolution, guidance and role and responsibility settlement from the point of the group leader is the most significant task at this stage of the group. By the end of the previous stage the members of the group conform to the assigned roles and settle down to arrive at the norming stage. Efficiency is increased in the team by the time they reach this stage and instead of being concerned with individual goals, the team by now starts operating as a group working towards the goals and objectives of the team. The nest stage of the group formation is the performing stage where the actual work is conducted by the group. Productivity is highest at this point, with focused task oriented progress being made by the group members. The decision making and the problem resolution at this stage is not in the hands of the leader who can delegate responsibility and decision making power to the other group members. At the end of the performing stage for project oriented groups, an adjourning stage is present. At this stage the group wraps up, with the members of the group breaking off from the team having attained the group objectives. They then go back to their respective positions where they were assigned before the commencement of the project or they can be assigned to new project depending on the case. Types of Teams Available for Employment A number of different models for group and team behavior are available in the literature. Teams can be of various types depending on their purpose, duration, management style, formation and dissolution style as well as in terms of the communication flow in the teams. The most commonly formed teams include the traditional teams, cyber teams, cutting edge teams, task force teams, committees, organizational work force teams, cross functional teams as well as project teams (Levi, 2007). The traditional teams are the normal permanent teams which involve multiple people working in a group for a set common object, with the team not being broken up after the attainment of the objective. Such teams normally involve strategic marketing teams and product management teams. The temporary teams on the other hand are those which get broken down after the achievement of the set goals and objectives. Also in times of excess work temporary teams might be made by organizations which are present only to work as long as pending or extra work is remains unfinished. The task force is a strategic team which works specifically on a mentioned task or project. The problems that are targeted by this team are usually of critical nature and involve strategic level of decision making. Committees are general teams which are created for raising and addressing the interests of an individual or a group of people. Normally committees are involved in activities that are important for the stakeholder point of view, with political undertones. The organizational workforce on the other hand is a specific tea, which is made in organizations only where a team leader who is usually expert in the respective field guides the team members. The team member is responsible in this team to drive the team members, manage any resident conflicts, make them perform and manage productivity in order to attain the set objectives of the team. Self managed teams on the other hand are dynamic teams that do not require any leader. In such team the individual members are responsible for their respective tasks and assigned roles and work in collaboration with each other to attain the objectives set. Motivation, mentoring as well as management of conflicts as well as work flow management is all conducted by the members of such teams. Cross functional teams include members coming in from diverse backgrounds and functions of the organization (Levi, 2007). These members act as the specific representatives of the respective functions while providing their specific skills and functionality for the achievement of the set objectives of the teams. Virtual teams are being observed more commonly now with the launch of technology projects and management of decision making and workflow across long distances. The characteristic of virtual teams are such that there is little face to face personal interaction amongst the members of the team. Usually computing and networking technology is employed in order to communicate, with workflow between the members being managed through and electronic data interchange systems. Using Teams for Projects Many times of teams have been analyzed and discussed, however for the purpose of the problem at hand the best type of team that can be employed to resolve the issue is the project team. Project teams are unique as they combine characteristics of many teams discussed earlier. Project teams are those which are employed for the sole purpose of conducting and executing a project and therefore have a time frame within which they are supposed to achieve the respective objectives. They often employ cross functionality combined with task force orientation. The duration and life of the team is limited, with a definite stage of adjourning when the project wraps up and the project team is dismantled. Usually the project team employs highly skilled members having a diverse skill set bringing diversity and technical expertise to the group. Projects specifically those that employ the implementation of technology and systems make use of project teams. In fact the project management guides provided by PMBOK and PRINCE as well as PRISM all are based on managing projects using different types of teams (Weiser and Morrison, 1998). For this purpose it is suggested that Emirates Airlines should also employ a team to fill the gap between the management and its outsourced vendor for being employed for the implementation of the customer management system at ticketing and customer servicing stations. Using teams for the purpose of managing projects enable the organization to collect the right kind of skilled people, having the desired personality types for the implementation of the project and the resolution of the problem to enable collaborative tension to exist in the team. This collaborative tension is used to employ autonomy as well as flexibility in achieving the goals and objectives of the project through a systematic approach taken to manage the project. The characteristic of teams employed for projects are that they are usually short lived, and temporary in nature, with the team being formed for as along as it takes for the project to be successfully implemented. The team is usually created at the discretion of the heads of the organization or the senior level of management involved in the project. A project team leader is assigned who is responsible for managing, controlling and driving the team, while also enabling internal as well as external communication between the team and the stakeholders of the project. Project teams are highly successful in problem solving (Weiser and Morrison, 1998) paying attention to the detail and delivering on time results. The benefits provided by them range from competence and skill collaboration to project specific benefits for the stakeholders. Analysis The framework of organizational behavior at Emirates Airlines is influenced directly by the mission statement and the vision of the company to be innovative and achieving excellence in quality and customer service while empowering the employees and fostering growth and sustainable development in the airline and aviation sector. The culture prevalent in the society is highly conservative but the company has diversified intensely which is why the management perspective is open to learning, cooperation, collaborative strategies for growth as well as induction of innovation at all levels of the management. The formal structure of the organization is distributed hierarchies characteristic of large firms, but the Middle Eastern origin retain the level of hierarchy and control orientation as part of the organization culture. Despite this team based management approach is prevalent in the organization. Organizational Culture The organization culture in place at Emirates Airlines is focused towards diversity in the workplace and work efficiency and productivity for long term sustainable growth of the company. The mission statement of the company reflects the organizational culture. As part of its culture the Emirates Airlines focuses on development of the employees, with a dedicated training sector built for the purpose, and making its employees work together in teams sharing the goals and objectives of the organization. The cultural background of the country of origin highly affects the organizational culture as well in terms of the management style employees, and ethical decision making model used and the concern for all stakeholders of the business. Group and Team Behavior at Emirates Airlines An assessment of the company provides that the Emirates Airlines is already highly focused on the group based management. From the time of recruitment of the management, the company puts the employees in group based roles, specific to the level of management seniority as well as the division of operation. The dynamicity of the teams is employed by the company as it helps in better idea generation, and more easy flow of creativity for strategy development and business operations. A combination of team models are employed by the company in the form of traditional teams as well as cutting edge and task force teams. In the recent years the cyber teams, specifically in the higher level of management and for technical operations are being employed by Emirates Airlines. The communication in and across teams is encouraged by the organization while technical communication innovations are employed for long distance team communication across the organization. As a result for the proposed team based approach for the management of the problem and its resolution will be feasible and easier to implement. The reason for this is the availability of technically and functionally skilled management at Emirates Airlines with an orientation towards creative thinking which can be of considerable use in project teams. Implementing Group Behavior based Teamwork Framework In order to resolve for the problem at hand regarding the implementation of a customer service facilitation system in collaboration with a vendor, a project team can be best employed by Emirates Airlines to manage the task. As the issue involves significant collaboration and communication between the software and hardware vendor and the point of customer contact employees, it is recommended that the company should create a team which has members of the senior management from the marketing department along with selected customer service staff from the point of contact stations involved in the team. The proposition provided is that Emirates Airlines should launch a project based team which will be responsible for working with the software and hardware vendor in terms of developing the technology solution and implementing it successfully at the customer service centers. The project team should include the members from the senior management of the company, specifically from the IT, Marketing and Customer Service departments. Aside from this technical IT staff will also be required who will be responsible for following the development of the technology platform for implementation at the point of customer interaction. The framework of the team would be such that a team leader who can be a MIS manager at the company would be assigned control of the team. The project team sponsors would be the senior management of Emirates (specifically the GM of Marketing). The objective should be set for the team whereby they would be responsible for gathering the requirements from the end users of the system, and communicating with the software vendor developing the technology solution the respective requirements highlighted. The requirements gathering for technological project implementation is one of the most complex yet critical tasks as improper requirements gathering can be costly when developing technology as the required results that need to be achieved remain undelivered with efficiency and productivity not being increased as is targeted by the systems. As a result the project team’s role in requirements gathering will reap significant benefits in facilitating not just communication between the company and the vendor but in the end development of the system as well. Going on the team can work in collaboration with the vendor in developing the technology solution, communicating continuous feedback and issues that might arise during the course of the solution development. These can be communicated to and fro between the senior management of Emirates Airlines and the vendors, with decision making power for non critical decisions lying with the team leader. At the various stages of the technology development from initiation, to prototyping, systems testing and roll out the project team can collaborate in the development of the technology. This will be significantly useful in the testing phase, where the testing of the software and hardware technology at the user end can be performed by the project team to assess for any problems and errors that might be generated at this stage. These can be effectively and instantly resolved at the testing stage before the systems can be rolled out. At the roll out stage, the project team can provide the supportive role of providing training to the end users. Master trainers can be dedicated from the project team who will first train on the system, familiarizing themselves with the interface, while learning all the troubleshooting options and techniques. They will then be responsible for the training of the final end users at all of the physical point of contact locations in the customer service centers. This will help in increasing efficiency while reaping the benefits of the system effectively as well. The additional task that will wrap up the team for adjournment would be monitoring the operations at the user end for 2 months after the implementation of the system. This is to provide any addition on the spot training while checking for unaccounted errors or problems that may occur. After this point the team can be dissolved, and wrapped up, with the cross functional members returning to their routine roles in the organization. Advantages of Using Teamwork Approach The project team as depicted above uses the group behavior model to work towards a set task which in the case of Emirates Airlines is the successful implementation of the customer service facilitating queuing system at the customer service centers. The main issue highlighted was the management of communication between the company and the vendor for the purpose of the development of the end user customized technology solution and the proper assessment of requirements at the end of the final system users. The using the team work approach specific to the project team, this issue can be successfully resolved and managed for. No new resources would be required for this project team, as the same human resource which is already resident in the company would be employed as part of the cross functional project team. This reduces the costs involved. The most significant benefit of using teams for problem resolution is that they able to resolve some of the most complex problems due to the enhanced level of creativity mix and skill set in team, as opposed to when individuals working alone perform the same task. The use of the project team for the highlighted purpose also provides the benefit of a high degree of involvement from the end users which will enable better requirements assessment as well as development and implementation of a more accurate and customized service solution by the vendor. The main problem of communication disparity between the vendor and Emirates Airlines will be well managed where the technological expertise of the vendor will be employed combined with the management and marketing expertise of Emirates Airlines, stemming from the marketing managers. Aside from this the productivity of the vendor and time management will be more efficiency addressed through a dedicated team for the purpose of this project. The most significant benefit that would be reaped by Emirates Airlines through the use of project team approach to resolve the problem is that aside from the primary communication facilitation and conflict dissolution objective of the team, the team members will be able to attain training on the and system in the roles of master trainer, which they can further deliver to the end users of the system. This will allow the company to have a in house pool of trained professionals who in the future can allow for support trouble shooting through any unforeseen problems that might arise in the future. Teams in essence bring together individuals from different skill sets and background orientations, encouraging diversity in the team unit to work in a collaborative manner towards a set goal and objective. Employing teams, the diverse skill set and the experience of the team members can be employed by the Emirates Airlines for the purpose of issue resolution to not just solve the problem, but resolve it in an effective, efficient and cost effective manner through peer pressure based productivity motivators (Patterson et al., 2012). Managing Effective Working Relationships for Problem Resolution In general teams are more successful in achieving the set goals and objectives as compared to individuals due to the share resources, shared ideas and the high level of collaboration in the project teams with a stakeholder interest in the results. Specifically for the purpose of problem resolution teams can be highly effective as significant advantages can be reaped from the team oriented decision making process. This is because when it comes to definition the problem and getting down to the root of it, teams are more effective than individuals. The team members combined have different perspectives which enable the team to perceive the problem from more varying perspectives. Similarly when it comes to collection of data, teams are more effective in ascertaining exhaustive requirements and data for the highlighted project. In the same light, the development of strategies and alternatives for the solution of the problem, as required for the assessment of requirements from the user end specific to this case, can be performed employing a more exhaustive approach through team oriented group work. The usage of different group thinking techniques like the Delphi technique, brainstorming and nominal groupings allow for development of solutions which are more dynamic and creative than those that might be proposed by an individual. Challenging goals, which might seem difficult to achieve, can be best achieved by employing the team based approach towards management. The reason for this is that teams have the nature to nurture idea generation, creativity and tend to support and inspire the members of the team (Tichy, 1997). In regards to the facilitation of communication between Emirates Airlines and the technology vendor, and for the proper assessment of the requirements of the end user of the system being sought for implementation, these teams can play a pivotal role in continuing towards successful deliverance. The working relationship between the vendor and Emirates Airlines as well as the senior management, MIS and marketing management and the end users can all be managed effectively through the employment of proposed project team. Conclusion Conclusively it can be provided, that instead of using any other approach that involved employing individuals to manage cross company communication with the technology vendor, Emirates Airlines is better off with using a project team based approach to resolving the problem at hand. The communication problems and those of incomplete and improper requirements assessment can be best addressed by assigning a project team that works in collaboration with the solution development team at Wavetech to create a truly customized and relevant technological solution for Emirates Airlines for customer service facilitation. Teams have not just a higher collaborative skill set and perception of the problem, but are better at creating new ideas and managing communications across functional boundaries, which are the requirements of proper requirements assessment. The company is able to achieve high levels of productivity for technology development with fewer errors, which in turn results in lower costs being incurred by the company. Work flow and relationship management is better employed by the team who is focused on resolving the problem employing the cross functional skill set to the issue faced by the company. The involvement of the senior management in the project team also aids in ensuring the ownership and stake of the higher management at Emirates Airlines in terms of its commitment towards quality and innovation for customer service. References Weiser, M., Morrison, J., (1998), Project Memory: Information Management for Project Teams, Journal of Management Information Systems 14 (4), pp149-166 Levi, D., (2007), Group Dynamics for Teams, SAGE Publications Hackman, J.R., (2002), Leading Teams, Boston: Harvard University Press Tuckman, B. (1965), Developmental sequence in small groups, Psychological Bulletin 63 (6), pp 384–99 Rosen, A., (2004), Effective IT Project Management: Using Teams to Get Projects Completed on Time and Under Budget, 1st Ed., AMACOM Publisher: AMACOM Patterson, P.D., Weaver, M.D., Weaver, S.J., (2012), Measuring Teamwork and Conflict Among Emergency Medical Technician Personnel, Prehospital Emergency Care 16 (1), pp98-108. Tichy, N. 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