Change Management in Malaysia Airlines: A Case Study

Abstract
John Paul Kotter had developed a useful method to deal with changes, namely Kotter’s 8-step
change model. Via trust, transparency, and teamwork, the resistance of change will surely be
turned into receptive participants as long as the change occurs in an organization step by step.
Here are the eight steps:
1. Create a sense of urgency
2. Build a strong coalition
3. Form a strategic vision
4. Get everyone’s buy-in
5. Enable action by removing barriers
6. Generate short-term wins
7. Sustain acceleration
8. Institute change
MAS, a local organization that eager to change its current status by restructuring its management
style and improving the damaged public image. In this study, we are going to seek the changes
which had made by Malaysia Airlines (MAS) in terms of its management. So, let's look at the
changes further. Was is a successful change to MAS? Also, how MAS encourages the employees
facing uncertainty? And, what are the strategies that had been used in this restructuring process?
It is hoped that this study will encourage all of the organizations either small businesses or large-
size businesses willing to change and following the paces of technology in this age of
modernization and urbanization.

Background and nature of the organization
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is a national airline of Malaysia. It was settled up upon 12 October
1937 and has been also rated by Skytrax five-star airlines. For your information, Malaysia
Airlines operates domestic routes in Malaysia and international routes across Asia, Europe,
Australia, and the Middle East. Next, Malaysia Airlines is also holding a strong and powerful
slogan, namely "Journey Are Made By The People You Travel With." To be frank, Malaysia
Airlines face changes frequently. To further illustrate it, Malaysia Airlines joined and left
through many countries, constantly changing its name, changing its person in charge, and facing
losses. And after the MH370 incident, customers began to lose confidence in MAS, resulting in a
reduction in the number of customers for MAS. In short, MAS is changing the whole operating
system again and again in order to regain the trust of the customers as well as achieve the
mission statement sooner or later.

Definition of Change
According to the Oxford Dictionary, change is defined as to pass or make somebody/ something
pass from one state or form into another. To make it simple, it means starting new things besides
the origin and going through a whole new process by utilizing the existing resources such as
manpower, machine, and money. However, not every change is beneficial for an organization. In
fact, a successful change should be done by designing an effective and efficient plan, making
appropriate task delegating as well as regular monitoring and guiding. Henceforth, let’s view
deeper into the change of MAS.
Why must MAS change? There are three prime factors that caused MAS making adjustments
and changing its organizational structure. The three factors include employee issues, capacity
utilization, and communication.
For starters, employee issues were getting worse in MAS. This is because the employees were
depressed during the period of company layoffs and causing low effectiveness in daily
operations in MAS. Not only that, but the customer service levels were disappointing too since
the employees don't have any roles in decision making. On the other hand, high capacity
utilization also costs low profits in MAS. Some aircraft were on standstills for a too long period
and it was soon be replaced by new models of plane. To be honest, MAS did not plan well in
using the capitals, causing the profits to become lower and lower day by day. To make MAS
better, Mas started highlighting effective communication between the employees and the
employer. This is due to the reason that poor management had affected their daily decision
making indirectly. Their effectiveness is seriously affected. Owing to the previous plans were
failed to run, the workers started losing faith in MAS. That’s why MAS must change.