Report on Organizational Design and Development at Travel Group (TG)

This report provides a detailed analysis of Travel Group's (TG) organizational design and development. It begins by assessing the current matrix organizational structure and its appropriateness for future growth, considering the impact of a merger. The report then evaluates external factors affecting the company using a PESTLE analysis, including political, economic, socio-cultural, technological, legal, and environmental influences on the travel and tourism sector. Furthermore, the report offers specific recommendations for Travel Group to improve its organizational design and development, aiming to achieve its sustainability goals. The report concludes with a summary of key findings and suggestions for future strategic considerations, emphasizing the need for adaptability and responsiveness to the dynamic global travel market. The report highlights the bureaucratic organizational structure of TG, its strengths, and weaknesses, and offers insights into how TG can leverage its resources to enhance its global reach and customer interaction.

Running head: ORGANISATION DESIGN AND DEVELOPMENT
Organisation Design and Development
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Abstract
The underlying aim this report is to evaluate the notion of organizational design and
development in the context of Travel Group (TG), which the result of merger, which has
taken place in the year 2013. Organizational design and development are the most significant
and systematic processes, which aim to improve the effectiveness and productivity of an
organization. In this paper, the current organizational structure of TG has been discussed. It
had been observed that matrix organizational structure is being followed in the organization,
which is helping them to develop a collaborative working environment in the organization. In
this paper, the external factors, affecting the travel and tourism has also been discussed.
Furthermore, recommendation will also be provided to TG in order to improve their
organizational design and development and thereby achieve their sustainable goal.
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Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................4
Assessing the current organisational structure of TB and its appropriateness in future:...........4
Evaluating the external factors, which are current affecting the internal functionality of TG:. 8
Providing recommendation design and development of the organisation, through which TG
can achieve its sustainability goal:...........................................................................................11
Conclusion:..............................................................................................................................14
References:...............................................................................................................................15
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Introduction:
Organizational design is defined as the method of combining the structure of an
organisation with that of its goals and objectives along with the ultimate aim of accelerating
its efficiency and effectiveness. In the same way, organisational development is a planned,
comprehensive and systematic process, which intends to improve the effectiveness of the
overall organisation (Okeyo and Kabare 2019). Organisational development comprises of
multiple activities such as intervening in its processes, structure and culture and assessing
organisational behaviour, development of human resources and putting stress on
organisational change, which are the key factor of moving an organisation towards
appropriate direction.
This paper would put forth the discussion of organisational design and development in
the context of Travel Group (TG). The current organisational structure of the company and its
effectiveness in future will be discussed on the paper. The external factors, which are
currently affecting TG will also be identified. Furthermore, recommendation will also be
presented to TG to achieve its goal of sustainability through appropriate design and
development.
Assessing the current organisational structure of TB and its
appropriateness in future:
Organisational structure is defined as the system, which outlines the way, through
which certain activities can be undertaken in an organisation for the sake of accomplishing
organisational goals and objective. Such activities encompasses of rules, roles, and
responsibilities, which play a pivotal role in the way of running the internal functionality of a
firm in a systematic manner (Arenas et al. 2019). In addition to that, organisational structure
also plays a pivotal role in order to determine the way of flowing relevant information in
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between different levels of the organisation. The inclusion of appropriate organisational
structure helps in guiding the staffs by creating proper layout regarding the official reporting
relationship. This is the way, through which organisational flexibility can be maintained,
which is very much needed in terms of keeping the staffs happy and satisfied (Santana and
Gil 2018). According to the case study, Travel Group, the famous public limited company in
Germany is the result of merger decision regarding the rebranding practice of Travel UK.
Now, it is important to assess the existing structure of Travel Group and its effectiveness in
future.
The hierarchy in the Travel Group comprises of all the working professionals, who
work on regular basis for the sake of accomplishing its goals and objectives. In TG, matrix
organisational structure is being followed and the employees have to maintain good
relationship with both functional manager and product manager. There are some of the pre-
specified norms, being followed by Travel group in order to divide their hierarchy (Abbott
and Bamforth 2019). According to the theory of “Rational system perspective”,
organisational structure is highly oriented with formalisation, which is one of the greatest
way of generating strategic behaviour throughout the organisation. As per this theory, it is
important to divide the work between the workers and managers, which is the key of
maximising the amount of efficiency.
The organisational structure of TG comprises of the power and authority and the roles and
duties of the individual people, who are working for the organisation. Detailed discussion of
the organisational structure of TG is presented below:
Board of Directors
This is the central power and decision making authority of the organisation, who offer
the entire organisation with strategic direction. The board of directors of TG holds the
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responsibility of taking all the relevant business related decision, which can have a firm
impact on attaining long term success from business (Miah et al. 2019). In addition, the board
of directors of TG also plays a crucial role in terms of ensuring the fact that all the due
processes are being followed in accordance with the specific business plan. In addition, it is
the role of board of directors of Travel Group to decide the most effective team work and
approve the request of project team. The board of directors comprises of CEO, the
communication committee and interoperability committee (Sigala 2017).
Interoperability Committee
Interoperability Committee is one the most significant parts of the organisational
hierarchy of TG, who hold the responsibility of making recommendation to the working
group, sub-committee and the project team of TG. It is to be noted here that the
Interoperability Committee has the full power of taking effective decision related to
organisational internal process and lead all the staffs to work together for the sake of working
collaboratively for the organisation. This committee comprises of multiple people such as
Director, Chief Manager, President, Division Manager, Vice President, Director – Marketing,
Director – Tour Planning, Finance officer, Director – Planning & Coordination, General
Manager and regional manager. It is the role of this committee to suggest timetable to the
board of directors, determines the content regarding specification and completing necessary
documentation.
Work Groups
Each of the working groups of TG are highly committed towards serving the need of
specific section of the company, in which they are working. The working group of TG plays a
major role in terms of identifying and analysing their scope of work. The working group of
TG includes rail, transport which comprises of air, car rental, rail and any other transport-
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related segment, hospitality such as cruise, hotel and any other travel industry related
segment, architecture and Travel Integration. This is the operation level hierarchy in which
the working professional of TG work on daily basis and interact regularly with the clients
(Sanchez et al. 2019). The working professional within this group comprises of various
people such as Manager, Sales Manager, Sales Manager, Manager of Customer Billing,
Marketing & Promotional Manager, Assistant Office Manager, Training Manager, Travel
Executive, associate, intern and receptionist who are extremely dedicated towards putting
their full effort towards smooth functioning (Feng and Tseng 2019).
Project Teams
The project team of TG comprises of efficient people, who are highly intended
towards competing specific functional work. The project team within travel group are created
within the respective working group. Both the working group and project team put their full
effort I the way of securing long term success for TG. The working groups are bestowed with
the responsibility of assessing the project proposals, suggested by the project team and
recommend their approval to that of the Interoperability Committee. In addition, the working
groups also reviews the outputs of the project team.
Communication committee:
It is the role of communication to work closely with the executive directors in order to
support the market positioning activity. The members of this committee all the necessary
materials related to marketing, take part in the marketing projects and provide necessary
assistance to the organisation for the sake of ensuring the fact that the current position of the
organisation has been understood by the organisation properly.
From the organisational structure of TG, it is evident that bureaucratic organisational
structure is being followed in TG. The decision making power is not only restricted to the
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board of directors, rather each of the people in the hierarchy, can take necessary decision for
the wellbeing of TG. However, the company is only putting stress on the local market, which
might not be effective in the long run. Currently, the global travel and tourism industry is
encountering with multiple issues. The factors of rapid development of social media,
gradually declining high street travel agents, continuing popularity of peer-to-peer travel and
the monopoly of Google regarding online travel search, are playing a pivotal role in the way
of shaping the internal functionality of the travel and tourism organisation (Sanjeev and
Birdie 2019). Such factors are acting as a driving force behind the companies like TG to
improve their internal structure and process for the sake of coping up with contemporary
environment. According to the case study, TG is offering their services to more than 30
million of customers around the world. Thus, the company should improve their
organisational structure and process in order to interact with the global customers with utmost
efficiency (Kwok and Koh 2019).
Evaluating the external factors, which are current affecting the internal
functionality of TG:
The nature of travel and tourism has become highly dynamic due to the inclusion of
wide ranges of travel and tourism organisations. There are multiple factors, which are highly
affecting the global travel and tourism sector in the contemporary times (Sigala 2017).
PESTLE is one of the major frameworks, through which the factors, affecting the global
travel and tourism industry can be understood. The factors are presented below:
 Political factors
This is one of the most significant factors, which are highly affecting the internal
functionality of travel and tourism industry. Governmental decision to open up the borders
especially for the foreigners are paving the way for the travellers to travel in various countries
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without any kind of restrictions. Now the people can access vast majority of destinations
without any kind of demarcation. However, this decision of opening up of the borders is
intern increasing the trend of terrorism (Baum 2016). Rapid development of terrorism is
largely affecting the internal functionality of travel and tourism industry. It is affecting the
travelling decision related to travelling. In addition, terrorism is also affecting the tourism
destination. For instance, terrorism is highly affecting the rate of revenue of the famous travel
agency like Thomas Cook.
It was reported that the company had faced a quarterly loss and missed the annual profit
target due to the terrorism attack in Turkey (The Guardian. 2020). Therefore, it is important
for the companies like TG to put stress on dealing with global customers. From the case
study, it is evident that the company is currently operating 7 airlines and 14 cruise liners.
Thus, it is important for TG to restrict on granting visa to everyone. In addition, the company
must start the security checking process in order to mitigate the issue related to terrorism.
 Economic factors
The economic factors are playing a pivotal role in the way of running the internal
functionality of the travel and tourism organisations in a cost effective manner. The rate of
disposable income is increasing in a rapid manner, the living expenses of people is also
growing drastically. Now, the people have become highly inclined towards increasing their
spending for travelling. This is the positive factor for the travelling industry (Ateljevic and
Page 2017). This is helping the companies like TG to improve their economic performance
by attaining wide ranges of guests. In addition to that, the trend of sharing economy is rapidly
increasing, which is helping the companies like TG to offering the travellers with cheaper
alternatives to that of the traditional travel accommodation.
 Socio-cultural factors
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This is also a vital factor, which is highly affecting the internal functionality of tourism
industry. It is true that travel is highly fashionable. In addition to that, rapid development of
social media is highly influencing the travelling preferences of the people. In the era of social
media, the tourism organisations like TG are facing driving force in the way of improving
their online presence. With the social media popularity, the guests are becoming highly
inclined towards reviewing the various options before taking final decision. In addition, racial
expression is another major positive socio-cultural expression, which is highly influencing
the global tourism industry (Moutinho and Vargas-Sanchez 2018).
 Technological factors
Rapid development of internet and technology is largely influencing the global tourism
industry. Development of transport is the biggest technological factors, which can have a firm
impact on the global tourism industry. Due to such development, the travellers can access
cheaper and faster airlines. In addition, the features like Wi-Fi is playing a critical role in
terms of strengthening the degree of connectivity in the airports (Brondoni 2016). This can
help TG to keep the customers satisfied by offering them with cheaper and convenient
service. In addition, advancement of technology is also playing a major role in terms of
improving the availability of information. Now, the people can get various information
regarding the tourism destinations through the smart devices. This is helping the companies
like TG to keep the customers connected.
 Environmental factors
The rising level of tourism throughout the world is encountering with massive rate of
pollution. This is the biggest environmental factor, created by the mediums of transport such
as buses, trains and airplanes. Due to high usage of such transport, the rate of pollution is
increasing rapidly, which in turn is contributing towards global warming. In addition, the rate
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of volcanic eruption is rapidly increasing. Massive volcanic eruption in the most popular
tourism destinations like New Zealand’s North Island is encountering issues in the way of
attracting tourists (Salvioni 2016).
 Legal factors
Easier access to visa is one of the greatest legal factors, affecting the security of tourism
industry. Earlier, gaining visa was time consuming process (Costa et al. 2016). However,
now getting visa has become extremely easy process, which is boosting the economics of
scale in the tourism industry. Still, the strike by the baggage handlers in one of most popular
airports Brussels have highly affected the international travel and tourism industry. This is the
busiest airports in the world, which had faced issues like delay or cancellation of flights
(Bottonline.co.uk. 2020).
Providing recommendation design and development of the organisation,
through which TG can achieve its sustainability goal:
Appropriate design and development of an organisation plays a significant role in
terms of moving the organisation towards appropriate direction and thereby accomplishing
organisational goals and objectives. According to the case study, TG is the result of merger
that has taken place in the year 2013. The recent merger decision has acted as a driving force
behind the company to design their organisation properly in order to meet the sustainability
goal. From the case study, it is evident that prior to merger, the staffs were highly dependent
on the existing organisational structure. Thus, modification of existing organisational
structure might generate negative attitude among the staffs. Thus, it is recommended for TG
to manage the change properly in terms of aligning the staffs with organisational goals and
objectives (Muthoka and Wario 2014).
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According to McKinsey 7-S Model, it is the prime responsibility of the higher
authority of an organisation to define the best way of applying proposed strategy (Kasemsap
2017). It is suggested for the higher authority of TG to evaluate the effect of proposed change
on the future state of the organisation. This is the way, through which TG will be able to align
all the departments and process at the time of merger or acquisition. In addition, application
of this model can also allow TG to make necessary adjustment, which is the key of running
the organisation towards appropriate direction. The role of HR department is needed to be
considered in this context. The HR department of an organisation plays a major role in terms
of coordinating and handling all the functionalities of an organisation in a systematic manner
(Brondoni 2017). Thus, it is recommended for the HR department of TG to create job design
and implement new ways in order to help the staffs to work collaboratively. In addition, the
HR department in collaboration with the team leader should also apply the technique of job
design and allocate job in accordance with the skills and competencies of the staffs. This is
the way, through which high performance organisation can be acquired (Santana and Gil
2018).
As per the case study it can be recommended that, in order to initiate organizational
change, the company Travel Group should hire both the internal as well as e external
consultants. Internal consultants who are the professionals with the skill to solve
organizational issues involving, modification of an organization, maintaining compatibility
among management persons at the time of mergers and acquisitions. In other words, it can be
stated that, internal consultants are an individual or a group of individuals which assist in
solving any management and structural modification issues associated with an organization.
In this way, internal consultants contributes largely to the improvement of the performance of
an organization. An internal consultant will be any person well aware of the work culture,
organizational structure, work policies as well as principles of the organization they are
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