Evaluation of managerial style, structure and culture of British Airways

This report evaluates the effectiveness of the managerial style of the CEO of British Airways using the Hersey-Blanchard model, assesses the current structure and culture of the organization, examines entrepreneurial strategies and corporate governance policies to enhance organizational effectiveness, and more.

Individual Project

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
Issues within British Airways......................................................................................................3
TASK A...........................................................................................................................................3
Evaluation of effectiveness of managerial style of CEO of British Airways using relevant
model............................................................................................................................................3
TASK B...........................................................................................................................................5
Assess current structure and culture of organisation as well as CEO role impact in creating.....5
TASK C...........................................................................................................................................6
Explanation of entrepreneurial strategies and corporate governance policies to enhance
organisational effectiveness.........................................................................................................6
TASK D...........................................................................................................................................7
Examination of effects of power, influence and conflict resolutions to manage change............7
TASK E............................................................................................................................................8
Differential types of motivational strategies and their influence on performance of employees 8
TASK F ...........................................................................................................................................9
Appropriate corporate example and literature for justifying research.........................................9
TASK G...........................................................................................................................................9
Suggestions and recommendations for improving organisational performance .........................9
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Organisational theory is the study of structure, culture and operations of enterprises
which analyse the productivity as well as performances of its workforce. It comprises set of
concepts and theories that are interlinked with one another. Extensive understanding of
organisational theories help managers and leaders to decide which approach to undertake that
will result in maximum output and profitability (Balan, Maritz and McKinlay, 2017). In addition
to that, it is the involvement of individuals goals with company's objectives and their relationship
with each other. For this report, the chosen company is British Airways which is an airline
organisation in UK founded in 1919. Its headquarter is in London and it is second biggest carrier
in UK.
This report covers effectiveness of leadership style through various models. It assess
structure and culture of organisation as well as examine entrepreneurial strategies followed by
CEO. It highlights effects of power, influence and conflict resolution at company by CEO in
managing change.
Issues within British Airways
With the beginning of global pandemic, British Airways have started to face various
challenges. Those issues have adversely impacted the profitability of company as they have to
follow guidelines for Covid made by government. The management is also going through some
conflicts with both UK government and its employees. British Airways are facing many
technical issues which leads to cancellation of many of its flights. Parent company of British
Airways implemented restructuring program which results in 12000 redundancies. Staff of firm
faced the threat of big pay cuts as the result of Covid impact on business.
TASK A
Evaluation of effectiveness of managerial style of CEO of British Airways using relevant model
Leadership style can be understood as a characteristics and behaviour of leaders while
managing, motivating and directing their team members or followers. Differential leaders adopt
various styles in accordance with maturity level, understanding, knowledge and position of their
employees (Belz and Binder, 2017). Numerous leaders use transformation leadership style
whereby a combination of different styles such as coaching, democratic and visionary are applied
by managers for leading their team in an effective manner. For better understanding of chosen

leadership style of CEO Sean Doyle of British Airways, Hersey-Blanchard model is taken into
consideration.
Hersey-Blanchard model is a branch of contingency leadership theory which states that
leaders should adopt those managerial style which best suits maturity level of their employees.
For instance, if maturity level of a employee is high, then leaser can provide them little guidance
as compared to those who have low level of understanding. This help a leader in convincing the
employees to put their efforts for attainment of organisational goals and objectives. Leadership
styles that are discussed through Hersey-Blanchard model in relevance with British Airways are
discussed below: Delegating leadership style- Here, leaders do not tend to make relations with their team
members and delegate them authority as well as responsibility for the decision they have
made. This leadership style suited to those followers who are belong to the category of
high maturity (Bourne Melnyk and Bititci, 2018). Sean Doyle adopt this leadership
style for those employees who are highly matured and understand their responsibilities
well. Basically, this is applied to high level of managers of British Airways. Participating leadership style- Under this style, leaders maintain a strong relationship
with their team members and ask them to share their ideas as well as suggestions. This
leadership style suited for those employees who have moderate level of maturity. These
employees are experienced one but they lack the confidence while performing a assigned
task. Doyle apply this leadership style to experienced employees who have lack
confidence in taking decision in an effective manner. Selling leadership style- Here, a leader has to execute its excellent leadership style as he
has to persuade his followers or team members to perform a task in an effective and
rational manner (Crecente, Sarabia and del Val, 2021). This leadership style is best
suited for those employees who have the capability of performing a task but are unwilling
to do it. Sean Doyle has adopted this leadership style for those capable employees who
perform unwillingly. This is done by Doyle by motivating them with monetary or non-
monetary rewards.
 Telling leadership style – Under this leadership style, a leader is tend to give extensive
directions to their team members as well as has to supervise their work by keeping a close
check. This is best suited for employees of low maturity level. Doyle apply this

leadership style by keeping a close check on the performance of employees who are
belong to low maturity level.
Sean Doyle has adopted various leadership style in order to manage, motivate and
encourage their differential employees in an effective manner.
TASK B
Assess current structure and culture of organisation as well as CEO role impact in creating
The outlined set of practices and principles that provides employees structure on how
company works is referred as organisational structure. Roles, duties and responsibilities of every
employee and management are also part of structure which helps in mitigating overlapping of
work. An organisation has various department concerned with many areas like human resources,
marketing, sales etc. thus structure provides easy and smooth flow of communication between
those departments. Several kind of organisational structure with reference to British Airways are
described underneath: Functional structure- This structure facilitates organisations to determine certain roles
and duties for specified groups which acts as one team. Organisation is divided into
various parts and all parts look after only their activities for instance marketing
department undertakes all promotional activities of business, human resources
management is responsible to hire and develop employees etc (Garrett and Welcher,
2018). It is beneficial for firms as every member of organisation understands their duties
which maximises productivity. Divisional structure- Within this structure, different teams of organisation works with
each other to attain certain goal of company. Each department is headed by a manager
whose duty is to look after their team member and to motivate them. It is beneficial for
organisations as it results in more centralised kind of leadership in management. Flatarchy- This type of structure follows no management or hierarchy as it employs only
one manager over whole staff (Hsieh and Wu, 2019). This is beneficial for organisation
as it saves time and cost of management as well as boosts smooth communication.
 Matrix- In this structure, whole organisation is divided into two parts who report to their
assigned managers. It is beneficial for organisations as it aims at simplifying
communication and decision making process.

British Airways followed divisional structure where it distributes firm in two teams
namely customer operation executive and management board. Customer operations executives
are responsible to offer quality services to its customers and follow up on their reviews as well as
feedback (Jamil and Berwanger, 2019). Likewise, management board's duty is to make strategic
decisions on weekly basis about company's operations.
Set of values, expectations and beliefs of organisations that act as guide for employees is
known as organisational culture. Handy's culture model describes organisational culture through
various measures. Factors of this model in context of British Airways are explained below: Power- It means that full control and power remains in hands of decisions makers of
organisation and they make plan without considering opinions of employees. British
Airways does not follow this structure as they take many suggestions from their
employees. Task- This culture facilitates organisation to make teams on basis of their skills, interests
and expertise so that they can achieve maximum efficiency. This culture can be followed
by big firms as they need to provide every employees with certain duty that can
collectively attain organisational goals. Person- In this culture, preference is given to persons instead of organisation goals.
British Airways does not follow this culture as there major priority is to achieve
determined company's objectives with help of its employees.
 Role- Within this culture, company assigns various tasks to its staff according to their
skills and expertise (CJohnston, 2020). British Airways adopts this culture as it assists
them to enhance performances of employees which increases productivity of firm.
TASK C
Explanation of entrepreneurial strategies and corporate governance policies to enhance
organisational effectiveness
Entrepreneurial strategy are the mediums through which a company establishes and re
establishes their communication with macro environment. This also provides measures to create,
modify or commence business activities for purpose of increasing profitability. It helps
organisations as it gives them an outline to analyse purposes and motives behind their objectives.

British Airways CEO provides strategic standards for development of enterprise which will
further help in maintaining efficiency in operations.
Practices by which companies are guided and controlled to remain rightful in law eyes
are known as corporate governance. It is a group of rules, policies and regulations that prescribe
system of how managers will undertake operations of company. It consist principles of opacity,
answerability and safety (Kickul and Lyons, 2020). According to corporate governance, board
of directors are accountable to govern management, shareholders and workforce. It represents
major factors that enhance economic efficiency, growth and revenue which further boost trust of
investors in company. Higher level management of British Airways adopts various corporate
governance policies in order to keep its stakeholders satisfied. Several corporate governance
policies in relation with British Airways are as follows: Hygiene- Management of British Airways have appointed proper sanitation workers
whose responsibility is to clean flights and airport area to maintain hygiene level. The
department of hygiene used HEPA technique to get rid of any microscopic bacteria and
viruses. British Airways puts great importance on their customers and treat them as their
stakeholders. They provide excellent services to customers and take effective care of
them so they do not face any problem in their journey.
 Follow all regulations- After Covid, British Airways have to undertake many changes in
its operations to comply with regulations made by government. They make required
alternations in management to effectively serve to its customers (Kreiser and Et. Al.,
2021). In airport premises, management maintain social distancing and provide sanitisers
at every step. The process of baggage collection and delivering has also modified due to
pandemic.
TASK D
Examination of effects of power, influence and conflict resolutions to manage change
Change management is the process of implementing modifications in organisations to
increase efficiency. These changes can be bring in both internal or external environment of
business as it focuses on guiding the navigation process effectively so that changes are accepted
fully by workforce. Lewin model of change management is been applied to understand change
management in British Airways. Analyse of model in relevance to British Airways is as follows:

Unfreezing- In this step, employees are advised to forget about their past experiences or
unfreeze them to ensure that they adopt new changes effectively. Generally, employees
resistance to any changes proposed by organisation as they were familiar with their work.
Employees of British Airways refuse to accept abrupt changes implemented by management due
to Covid (McAdam, Miller and McSorley, 2019). This resistance results in hampering efficiency
and performances of company as they struggle to deal with changes.
Changing- In this level, workforce of enterprises take decisions together to implement
new changes in their day to day working. They come out of their comfort zone and unfreeze their
past experience. At this phase, employees understands the cause behind changes proposed by
organisation. Their attitude, demeanour and perception started to change as they adopt new
changes. Within British Airways, employees slowly but eventually became flexible with
alternations made by management to comply with Covid protocols.
Refreezing- In this stage, the changed behaviours of employees become solidifying and
they work with their full potential to give expected outcomes. Change accepted by employees
effectively is supported with appreciation or reward by company (Mckeown, 2019). British
Airways management encourages its employees to stick with the changes to ensure long term
profitability.
TASK E
Differential types of motivational strategies and their influence on performance of employees
Motivation can be described as a guiding force which helps in turning individual's
thoughts into actions on a immediate basis. Motivational strategies can be described as influence
which are exerted consciously for attaining systematic as well as enduring effect in a positive
manner. Motivated workforce assists in increasing commitment of employees, job satisfaction
and efficacy in performed tasks at the workplace (Sahut, Iandoli, Teulon, 2021). For have a
better understanding of motivational strategies adopted by British Airways for motivating their
employees, Herzberg two factor theory is taken into consideration.
Herzberg two factor theory is considered as a powerful motivator tool for motivating
employees at workplace which helps them to feel directed for achieving the pre-determined goals
and objectives. Herzberg and his team interviewed numerous employees in order to investigate

the areas regarding job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Elements of Herzberg two factor theory
in relevance with British Airways are mentioned below: Hygiene factors- These forces are believed to be crucial for employees at the workplace
as it tends to satisfy their basic needs such as pay, security, transparent operations,
compensation benefits, comfortable working environment and many more. Top
management of British Airways offer competitive salary to their employees as well as
opportunities for their development. Employees are also provided on-site catering
services as well as free leisure activities. They are also provided with life insurance and
other related benefits for personal and family use (Salt, 2018). These all benefits motivate
and engage them to British Airways for a longer period of time.
 Motivators- These are considered as a key elements which help employees to grow and
grab development opportunities for feeling highly satisfied. These encompasses
recognition, personal development, status, interpersonal relationships and many more.
Strategists at British Airways frame motivational strategies for their employees which
provides them enough space for building and maintaining interpersonal relations in a
strategic manner. Employees are provides with flexible working hours in order to balance
their work and life in an effective manner (Wagner, 2017). They also provided with
efficient retirement and pension plans that help them to develop in a job in a signifiant
manner. They are also provided with opportunities to grow and timely promotions. These
motivational strategies assist employees to remain satisfied with their employer and
improve their performance level. This also managers to keep their employees satisfied
and valued.
TASK F
Appropriate corporate example and literature for justifying research
British Airways is going through several issues and challenges in their operations as a
result of Covid-19 pandemic. Their information technology failure resulting in cancellation of
many flights causes heavy inconvenience to its customers. This adversely affect brand position
and value in market. Pandemic forces them to fire many of its staff members which leads to great
shortage of qualified workforce. Many countries closes their boundaries which adversely impacts

British Airways revenues. Cyberattacks and flight cancellations were not one huge issues faced
by the organisation.
TASK G
Suggestions and recommendations for improving organisational performance
It is suggested that the manager of the British Airways can use multiple team
management and motivation theory to encourage the employees to work with their full efforts to
increasing the productivity and profitability of the company. They can use also various incentive
techniques to fulfil the demand of employees to they create feeling to be valued in the company
and increase their efforts for their personal and organisation growth. By using effective
communication methods and mode the manager can share important information directly to the
potential employees for urgent and effective work. They can also use effective team management
policies to make different group for many task with the same skills and knowledge for better
understanding as well as seem less working.
The management of British Airways can make easy and clear rule or polices of the
working of the employees so they can get clear understanding about the role of their and task for
conducting efficient working. By motivating them to provide better work place and environment
which create confidence among employees to take initiate to lead the task with their own ideas in
order to achieve organisation gaols effectively. The manager can also conduct get together
programme for employees so they know better about the values, mindset, background, skills and
weakness of other department employees to develop better relationship and coordination to work
as a team for the achievement of goals. They can also use effective communication mode such
as by sending message through e mail direct to the employees regarding modified policies and
technologies for the effective performance. Also, the employees can share their problems and
issues related to task, working and environment which decline the productivity of their
performance to the management for quick solutions. The manager can consult the leaders about
the needs of training for improve the performance of employees.
The manager can conduct training and development program as per the needs of
employees to improve specific skills to perform the specific task in order to complete the target
on time. By conducting seminars, conference, work shops they can provide training to the many

employees according to their current skills, knowledge and understanding so they easily adopt
the changes in their current working in increase the quality of product and services.
CONCLUSION
As per the above presented information, it is concluded that the theory of organisation is
interlinked with the procedure, rules, policies and practices to analyses the performance of
multiple departmental activities. The managers of organisation use the delegating leadership
style to delegate the responsibility and power to employees as per their job role to achieve the
target of task in effective manner. By using effective team management theory the manager can
motivate employees to work as a team as well as improve overall productivity of the company.
By providing effective training programme to the employees to improve their current skills and
knowledge for the growth of the business and meet the demand of the customers.

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