- Case study
Read the following case study and assume that it is current. Then complete the tasks at the end.
British Airways is a global airline first established in the 1930s combining earlier air services set up a decade earlier. It now offers over 800 services a day. BA flies a range of aircraft manufactured by Boeing, Airbus and Embraer to all six continents across the world.
Recent media coverage of the airline has suggested some major issues with customer service, with the Sunday Times suggesting from a survey of their newsletter readers that 55% of readers would never fly with BA again (Craig, D. 2017). Customers had faced very long delays due to flight cancellations and a reluctance to offer free refreshments to delayed passengers. The same article focussed on a major systems failure which affected 75,000 passengers and drove a surge in compensation claims and questions about BA’s IT capabilities, and in particular, its cost-cutting ethos.
Customers completing the Sunday Times survey complained of poor hotel accommodation for those delayed at airports overnight, a reduction in the benefits of the airline’s loyalty scheme and a considerable reduction in on-board perks such as free drinks. What was once promoted as “the world’s favourite airline” now appeared to customers to resemble a low-cost airline carrier except for the price of the fares. “Smaller seats, less leg room, no free drinks, expensive sandwiches, BA stands for Budget Airline” was one reader’s response (Craig, 2017). The general view was that BA was no longer talking to its customers, ignoring the traditional loyalty many customers had shown. Another respondent in the survey suggested “it’s sad to see BA losing ground to cheaper competitors when setting right the basics of the company would easily return it to preferred status” (Craig, 2017).
The systems failure was just one incident, but the way the company dealt with its customers has caused major implications for the way the company is run. Front-line staff dealing with customers were trying to offer help and support, but the culture of budget-cutting was putting them in a difficult position.
References:
Craig, D. (2017) Readers ready to boycott BA. The Sunday Times June 4th, 2017.
Assignment task(s)
There are 3 tasks set out below. Please complete all three tasks.
Assume that you have just been appointed as the new CEO of BA.
Task 1
Recommend a suitable form of leadership style which you plan to adopt to take the airline forward into a new era, explaining your reasons for the choice.
Task 2
Discuss how to encourage the development of a corporate culture which will reduce complaints and increase customer and stakeholder satisfaction.
Task 3
As the new CEO, you face a steep learning curve. Assess the competences which you might need to acquire and draft a development plan for yourself in order to achieve the relevant competences. You should draw on your own personal competences in designing this plan.
