Background of Emirates Airline - Essay Example

Organizational Development & Change Name Institution Date Table of Contents Running Head: ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CHANGE 1 ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT & CHANGE 12 2 Table of Contents 2 Introduction 3 Background of Emirates Airline and organizational context for change 3 Why change was initiated 4 Various parties involved in the change process and the implications of change for them 5 How the change was implemented 7 Effectiveness of change 8 Recommendations on the change process 10 Conclusion 10 References 11 Introduction Organizational change happens when a company makes a change from its present state to some aspired future state. Modern day business environment needs organizations to undergo transformations almost consistently in order to stay competitive. Factors like globalization and liberalization of markets as well as swiftly evolving technology has forced organizations to make swift response so as to survive in the competitive global market. Organizational change management is an important portion of the change process and is a procedure of planning and executing change in a company in such a manner as to reduce resistance from employees and cost to the company, whilst maximizing the efficiency of change effort. This report looks an organizational change situation at Emirates Airline, why the change was initiated and how the change was implemented. It also looks at the various stakeholders involved in the change process and implications of change for them. Background of Emirates Airline and organizational context for change Emirates Airline is a portion of the Emirates Group which has created an international reputation for travel, tourism and aviation. The Emirates hub is situated in Dubai international airport and the group is under the ownership of the Dubai government. According to Smith,   (2002), Emirates Airline began its business in 1985 with only two leased aircraft. The company was created in reaction to cut back of operations by the Gulf Air at that time. The major changes that have taken place in Emirates Airline include expansion of its airline services and penetration into new destinations and use of highly improved information technology scheme. Changes in diverse companies are vital since it permits an organization to adjust and deal with constant changes in the international market. The surfacing of internet and information technology has influenced the way the company has been performing and delivering its services in the past years (Mills & Dye, 2008) The organization has adopted different information technology system and utilized the internet to reach its clients across the globe and to research on the recent trends in international businesses. The organization also utilizes technological facilities which enhance it to improve its operations. These changes have led to an extremely, broader competitive business portfolio to accomplish the needs of clients in a swiftly congregating airline industry. The company is recognized for its operation of a wide range of aircraft fleet from diverse aircraft families like Airbus A340, Boeing 777, and Airbus 330. In order to be capable to keep its policy of maintain a young fleet, Emirates Airline has been capable to consistently renew its fleet. In July 2008, Emirates Airline acquired its initial Airbus A380 and in August 2008, and become the second airline come to fly Airbus A380 (Butler & Keller, 2008). Why change was initiated According to McCallum (2002), organizations undergo changes in order to respond to the ever changing global markets. Emirates Airline initiated the change in order to attain a greater market share and attain a competitive advantage in the aviation industry. Through expansion of services and acquisition of new aircrafts, the company has attained a greater market share and has been able to increase its profitability. As a competitive and internationally recognized airline, Emirates has been capable to attain a strategic position in the international market. In the real sense, when the company streamlined its business, it had the benefit of its big size and with numerous successive years of huge profits, the organization has beaten its key rival organization to develop into a model organization. The decision of Emirates Airline to focus upon a diversified market and through considering and getting into cargo shipping and increasing customer service has led the company to its present position as a top international trend. The company has also been characterized to have the capacity to adapt to the transforming market conditions so as to maximize profits. Identifying with and listening to clients has permitted the company to develop a corporate culture that has little similarity company of the precedent years. Tayeh (2006) notes that the capability of the company to consistently improve and renew its services whilst efficiently managing the demands , needs and expectations of target clients is the key to the maintenance of the leader status of the company and is also is the driver behind attainment of strategic position. Various parties involved in the change process and the implications of change for them The key stakeholders involved in the change process in Emirates Airline include employees, organizational management and the government of Dubai. Organizational change had an enormous effect on stakeholders who are a portion of or interact with Emirates Airlines Company. The change implied that all stakeholders such as employees, management, and the Dubai government had to react to novel circumstances that arose as a result of the change process. Efforts to improve or change any business aspects might threaten some individuals and lead to resistance to organizational change. Therefore, for the change process to be effective in Emirates Airline, the company had to identify the key stakeholders including management, and employees. Organizational change implies that every stakeholder needs to feel that they are involved in the process. Every stakeholder had a need to be aware of their importance in the business when developing new change plans (Bateman & Zeithaml, 2005). Emirates Airline stakeholders were provided with an understanding of possible impacts of the change on their individual jobs as well as the entire organization. Bateman and Zeithaml (2005) note that change management is an approach that makes sure that change is smoothly and thoroughly implemented and the long term gains of change are accomplished. The focus of change management in Emirates Airline was on the broader impacts of change, especially on individuals, and the way, as teams and individuals, moved from the past situation to the current situation. In order to effectively manage change, it was necessary for the company to attend to the broader effects of changes on organizational stakeholders. Together with putting into consideration the tangible effects of change, it was vital for the company to think about the personal effect on the affected stakeholders, together with their moves towards behaving and working in novel ways to support organizational change. This enhanced their feelings on the likelihood of flourishing along with their willingness to undertake their duties effectively. Early involvement of several types of stakeholders allowed them to reflect on and balance their diverse viewpoints and needs. It helped to reduce the probability of conflict and disagreements during implementation of change and also helped the company to display that the stakeholders’ needs were treated equitably (McCallum, 2002). How the change was implemented The company effectively implemented change through proper communication and involvement of all the parties involved in the change process. Tayeh (2006) argues that Emirates Airline has expanded its operations to many countries particularly into non-Asian nations. This implies that the company was required to take up and observe majority of the international trends. The company successfully expanded into new destinations through adopting majority of the approaches used by air carriers in these regions. The company also came up with novel ways of increasing consumer satisfaction through the use of technology. The company endorsed online booking and improved customer and luggage care through the utilization of better technologies to keep customers and their luggage safe. According to Mills and Dye (2008) implementation of organizational change is a hard task, but is usually an essential one. Change should be implemented efficiently to be successful and poor communication is usually the cause of several organizational problems and resistance to change. Organization change was implemented in Emirates Airline through proper and effective communication where employees were adequately informed on the reason and importance of the changes. Lewis (2010) notes that employees are regularly ignorant of details regarding the issues of the organization. To raise their acceptance of change Emirates Airline employees were told why the change was needed and the why corresponding outcomes were needed for the survival, profitability and success of the company. In order to make sure that change was effective, the management also gave employees a chance to give feedbacks on the change process. It is hard to communicate and effectively implement change if an organization’s management isn’t sensitive to the concerns of comments of the employees. If organizational change is making employees to fell frustrated, they should be given a chance to speak out their grievances to a feasible degree. Receiving feedback from employees and clients also enables the management to understand how different stakeholders are feeling about the change. Emirates Airline managers overcame resistance to change through education and communication. This was achieved through informing the employees the nature of change as well as the logic behind it (Bateman & Zeithaml, 2005). Effectiveness of change The additional of more flights and destinations have made Emirates Airline to experience phenomenal growth. Doganis (2007) argues that the company has highly concentrated on long distance flights since the year 2000 and new destinations along with increased non stop voyages have been added to destination s in the United States, Argentina and Australia. The company steadily added destinations to south Asia in 2005. Presently Emirates Airline is the biggest global airline in India. Through expanding its operations in North America, Asia and Europe, Emirates Airline provides broader travel options to its clients. The company size of Emirates Airline is far beyond other airlines in the UAE. The broad bodied aircraft fleet of the company belongs to three major aircraft families; Airbus A330/340, Boeing 777 and Airbus A 380. It is the global biggest operator of Boeing 777 and is also the second consumer for the state of art Airbus A 380 with the acquisition of the airliner in 2008. Presently, the company owns 137 airliners and it is anticipated to add approximately 140 airliners. Organization change has enabled Emirates Airline to offer quality services to a wide array of clients According to Doganis, (2007), Emirates Airline is in the business to offer passengers with a dependable, friendly and sage transporatation together with other pertinent industrial services. The organization is devoted to making every flight special and memorable for clients. The convenience, comfort and safety are the most fundamental concerns of the organization as it offers superior airline services to its clients. The expansion success of the company is attributed to generic strategies which entail focused leadership strategy and the present approach of the organization is to position itself as a leader in the airline industry having a focus strategy in airline industry. On this basis, Emirates Airline management expands its business in order to reach more customers which enhance the company to be highly profitable. The change process at Emirates Airline has enabled the company to be capable to cater every of the several forms of customers. The company has been capable of implanting routes to a wider variety of destination across the globe. The expansion strategy is a good strategy since it enhances the company to offer complete commitment as well as organizational operations. Via this strategy, the company is has been able to outperform majority of its competitors within the airline industry and to attain a market share. The strategy has also enabled the company to improve the entire demand for air travel amid clients (Directory, 2007) Recommendations on the change process Airline companies in the international market are faced with stiff competition and therefore Emirates Airline must be capable of sustaining its competitive advantage and strategically position itself in Dubai as well as the international market. In order to achieve this, the organization should be capable of adhering to the needs of the clients for them to stay loyal to avail services provided by the organization. The company should also have the ability to apply improve the quality of the services it offers since the assurance of the quality service might result to customer loyalty and satisfaction, and employee satisfaction as well as profit growth. Utilization of information technology is a useful strategy for consumer service and Emirates Airline should therefore continuously upgrade its information technology systems to upgrade its service deliveries and meet and gratify the deeds and demands of customers. Conclusion Emirates Airline has undergone significant changes in order to stay competitive in the global market. The airline has expanded its services and implemented improved information technology systems in order to adjust and deal with the consistent changes in global markets. These changes have enabled Emirates Airline to offer more and quality services to a wider range of customers and have also enabled the company to tremendously grow and increase its profitability and market share in the airline industry. References Mills, J., & Dye, K., (2008). Understanding organizational change. New York: Taylor & Francis. Lewis, L., (2010). Organizational change: Creating change through strategic communication. New York: John Wiley & Sons. Bateman, S., & Zeithaml, C., (2005). Management: Function and Strategy. Homewood, IL: Irwin. McCallum, S., (2002). "The Face Behind Change." Ivey Business Quarterly, 62 (2): 73-76. Butler, F., & Keller, R., (2008): Handbook of Airline Operations. New York: Aviation Week; McGraw-Hill Companies Doganis, R. (2007). Flying off Course: The Economics of International Airlines. London: Routledge. Directory: (2007): World Airlines", Flight International. Doganis, R. (2001): The Airline Business in the 21st Century. Routledge, New York, Smith, M. J.  (2002): The airline encyclopedia, 1909-2000. Arizona: Scarecrow Press Tayeh, T. (2006). The View From Dubai: a speech by Senior Vice President Planning, international and Industry Affairs Emirates Airline; Euro control report (May 20th) Read More