British Airways Organisation Management Style

This report discusses the management and leadership style of Sean Doyle, CEO of British Airways, along with the structure and culture of the organization. It also covers entrepreneurial strategy and corporate governance, power, influence and conflict resolution, and motivation strategies used at British Airways.

British Airways
Organisation
Management Style

Contents
INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Management and leadership style of Sean Doyle..............................................................3
Structure and culture at British Airways...........................................................................4
Entrepreneurial strategy and corporate governance........................................................5
Power, influence and conflict resolution at British Airways............................................7
Motivation strategies used at British Airways...................................................................8
Corporate Literature............................................................................................................9
RECOMMENDATION...............................................................................................................10
CONCLUSION............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES.............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Although the current trading system that has been established between countries has
made conducting business a lot more easier as the boundaries have blurred considerably due to
the advent of globalization, firms still need the leadership and diligent efforts from its CEO and
top management to function effectively (Miao, et.al., 2019). CEO's are the highest ranking
officer in a company's hierarchy and have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders as they are
the main people responsible for sustaining profitability, planning for expansion and improving
share rates. The style of leadership and administration that are found in companies are also
directly designed with the vision and behaviour of the CEO in mind.
British Airways is the flagship airline carrier operating in UK and was established in
1974 and is currently headquartered in London England in close vicinity of Heathrow airport.
The company has been leading the aviation industry in the country for decades and this report
will focus on the practices displayed and roles played by its CEO, Sean Doyle. There will be
discussion on the CEO's style of leadership, his role in driving forward the culture and structural
decisions of British Airways along with other important areas where Sean Doyle's contribution
has had an impact on the company's affairs.
MAIN BODY
Management and leadership style of Sean Doyle
Sean Doyle was born and grew up in Cork, England and after nearly servicing the airline
industry for more than two decades, he was instated as the Chief Operating Officer (CEO) of
British Airways in October 2020 (Sean Liam Doyle, 2022). He initially joined British Airways as
a financial analyst in 1998 and has climbed the corporate ladder at an expert pace as he upgraded
to being a director of network, fleet and alliances in 2016 as the company's executive committee
member. Being with the company for more than twenty years and working his way up the ladder
like a regular employee, Sean Doyle knows the operations and culture of the firm inside out and
this has made his leadership styles and administrative approaches quite robust.
Sean Doyle over the past two years has displayed different leadership and management
styles as the airline industry in UK is an unpredictable landscape after being hit by Brexit and the
COVID-19 pandemic and hybrid leadership is needed to satisfy stakeholders and keep the

company afloat. When Sean Doyle took over the position of CEO of British Airways, the
company was suffering from a crisis as its public image was maligned and it was suffering for
PR disasters amid the devastating chaos brought by the pandemic. Sean displayed strategic
leadership as he immediately started to resolve the company's tough financial situation and
tackled all problems in a diligent manner (Hambrick and Wowak, 2021). In Strategic leadership,
organizational leaders aim to strike a balance between company's operations and its growth
opportunities and all types of employees are supported through decisions which are grand in
scope. Sean Doyle not only steered the company through the pandemic and during lock-downs,
he also helped the company deal with security network breaches and pilot strikes which made its
goodwill fall in the public domain.
There are also elements of transformational leadership in the way Sean Doyle goes
about managing and planning operations of British Airways as under his careful reign, the
workforce of the company are no longer demotivated to the extent to which they were under the
previous CEO, Alex Cruz who left the company in turbulent waters amidst a storm of media and
political criticism (O’Neill, 2018). He has made changes to the workforce and motivated
employees to perform beyond expectations through better and more ethics oriented training
schedules and has worked with the employees to re-establish the airline carrier's vision to once
again become a premier flying option among the people of UK (BA boss pledges to rebuild its
reputation for premium service, 2022).
Structure and culture at British Airways
Organizational structure of a company refers to its general lines and flow of authority an
communication along its chosen hierarchy and it is a key aspect of company working as it is
responsible for the roles and duties which are executed by the workers along with the tasks
which are delegated from the top. The structure of an organization plays a key role in
determining its operational efficiency and competitive edge because it helps companies fill
vacant positions, prepare for future growth and establish power dynamics in enterprise
framework. When Sean Doyle took over the company in 2020, he continued the simplified
structure where general managers were the people in charge of the everyday operations along
with various branch managers who oversee the foreign offices of the company while being
answerable to the CEO and board of directors. He has prioritized smart work practices and is

also looking towards opening up communication lines in the company to facilitate unorthodox
flow of information which helps speed up processes.
The culture of an organization is also a very important criteria which helps determine the
motivation and drive in its workforce along with the efficiency of routine performance. Culture
in broad terms, refers to the combination of values, ethics and workplace practices which act as
guiding principles for all personnel involved in the business and all internal stakeholders are
impacted with the current culture that is prevalent in organizations (Malecki, 2018). The initial
days of Sean Doyle at British Airways were marred with controversy as he had a public
reputation of being a soft spoken employee who was perceived as a follower than a leader but he
has spearheaded quite a few generous changes for the company's culture as he has made the
firms workforce become much more customer oriented and he has made sure that the culture is
positive, encouraging and matches with the ambitious vision of the company which is to become
the best premier airlines in the UK which it once was some time back before it fell from grace.
The CEO of British Airways has played an instrumental role in instilling a positive work
culture and streamlining the departmental operations and structure of the company. He has
delegated work expertly among his peers and has also managed to steer the company's workforce
in the right direction which is a commendable step as many workers were not happy with the
previous CEO which also resulted in a pilot strike (British Airways pilots strike grounds 1,700
flights in latest blow to airline, 2022).
Entrepreneurial strategy and corporate governance
The amount of success that a business organization can attain in its target market is
directly dependent on the quality of decisions that are made in respect to its key operational
functions and the way in which it interacts with its stakeholders. Entrepreneurial strategy refers
to the strategic planning and policy formulation of a company towards its stakeholders for the
main purpose of gaining better performance. Sean Doyle has been responsible for many
entrepreneurial decision making and strategy formulation as he inherited British Airways in its
most vulnerable state and has been slowly attempting to make the company attain its once lost
status of UK's premium airline. Some examples of his entrepreneurial strategy making are listed
herein.

 Shifting the company's service optimization direction to focus exclusively on the call
enter communication problems that customers have been complaining about.
 He has been focusing on making British Airways the leader of luxury and premium
airline segment which is an opposite approach as the company under the former CEO,
Alex Cruz was cost cutting and starting to shift towards more economic flight offerings
 Sean Doyle has been overseeing entrepreneurial strategies towards advanced technology
integration in the system of British Airways to undergo service innovation in the post
pandemic world. Under his guidance, the company is trying digital queuing solutions and
is also experimenting with virtual reality.
Corporate governance refers to the complex systems by which organizations are
controlled and directed and this attribute of the business are placed under the operational
surveillance of the CEO and the board of directors (Wang, and et.al., 2020). The practices of
corporate governance are mainly concerned with putting the best processes within the company's
operational framework for the maximum benefit for all entities involved or impacted by the
business. Best and most impactful examples of corporate governance include environmental
sustainability, employee well-being and organizational vision and direction and the company
CEO has a vital role in spearheading these directions. Sean Doyle's has helped British Airways
formulate effective corporate governance practices which are highlighted herein.
 He has been pushing towards better and more inclusive hiring and recruitment policies
which is paying emphasis on putting together a diverse workforce both in officers and on
the air planes. Under Sean Doyle, British Airways has been making great progress towards becoming
friendlier towards the environment as the company has reduced its carbon footprints by a
considerable margin and has also become the first major UK airline to purchase and
experiment with running flights using sustainable fuels (BA launches new sustainability
programme to reduce emissions and waste, 2022).
Power, influence and conflict resolution at British Airways
Individuals which hold important strategic positions in the hierarchy of an organization
are often tasked with managing other employees and making sure the entire workforce is

working diligently while being on the same page. Some examples of such high positions include
top executives, company leaders and the CEO and all these people use concepts of power and
influence in order to get things done from others. Power in an organizational context refers to the
use of positional authority and imposition of personal will on others to get the jobs done and it
flows from top to bottom with the CEO usually being the one with the most concentrated access
to organizational power. Sean Doyle has always enjoyed the public spotlight as a soft-spoken
leader who prioritizes customer convenience first and foremost and this reflects in his use of
power as he does not prefer to use an iron hand while dealing with the workforce. Under the
supervision of its CEO, British Airways management and leaders mostly display reward and
legitimate power as employees are mostly influenced with monetary and fringe benefits and
authority and respect comes from genuine difference in hierarchical positions.
Influence is also an ability which is used by leader, managers and CEO's of companies to
get the work done from their workforce efficiently but unlike Power which stems from authority
and hierarchy, influencing is dependent on relationships and quality of terms which superiors
share with their subordinates (Cormier, 2018). Influence in context of business can be both
negative and positive and in order to extract the best possible performance from the employees,
CEO's must share a positive work relation with them. Sean Doyle has failed in this aspect as the
CEO of British Airways as despite the company being on the road to recovery from huge
pandemic affected losses, the growth plans have been halted due to the employees being
demotivated as the previous CEO subjected them to terrible hardships via early pandemic cost
cutting.
One of the major functions which CEO's have to perform for optimum business handling
is conflict management as it refers to the appeals and approaches used by individuals to resolve
confrontations ad quarrels in a tactful and non-violent manner. Sean Doyle was unfortunate to
overtake British Airways at a point where there were organizational conflicts in every domain as
media was criticizing the company for bad pandemic practices, politicians were angry due to
jobs being cut and public was dissatisfied the service being provided. Doyle has made numerous
attempts and promises to these entities with respectful outcomes which might not have fully
repaired the damaged public image of British Airways but has steered the company's workforce
and operations in the right direction.

Motivation strategies used at British Airways
Motivation is one of the most crucial elements involved in the organizational efficiency
and workforce productivity of the company (Kwok, Watabe and Ahmed, 2021). Without the
existence of a driven and motivated workforce, businesses are destined to fail because of all
major operations being powered through human minds and supervision. Having a focused
workforce which is aligned with the vision of the company is especially important in industries
such as Airline carriers due to the competitive nature of the segment along with the huge
dependency of customer service and experience to gain popularity and market share. British
Airways has had a complicated history with taking care of its employees as the former CEO,
Alex Cruz subjected the workers of British Airways to a lot of discomfort as extreme levels of
cost cutting made them lose their amenities, comforts, compensation package elements along
with massive lay-offs which made a large chunk of the workforce feel dejected. However Sean
Doyle has made a much better connection with the employees of the airline and has recognized
the need for complete overhaul and rebuilding of employee relations in the company as he has
made promises to the workers that he will undertake every possible measure to take care of them
in the vulnerable post pandemic situation of UK's economy.
British Airways despite its recent strings of problems is still prominent in the industry
and employs a diverse workforce with close to 30,000 people and there are many systems which
are integrated in the company's organizational capability to boost the morale of the workforce
and some of them are highlighted below.
 The airline company celebrates and pays respects to every major cultural festivals and
events so that employees of all nationalities and backgrounds feel seen, recognized and
develop a sense of loyalty towards the workplace. Examples include celebration of
festivals such as Diwali and the airline also recently celebrated black history month.
 Money is the biggest motivator in the world and British Airways makes sure that it
provides optimum compensation package which satisfied their employees and make them
commit to serve customers to the best possible extent every day. The salary offered is
competitive and market best and there are also bonuses along with options such as critical
illness care, childhood vouchers along with various free insurances such as life and dental
schemes.

 The company also motivates and extracts great performance form their employees by
providing them with rich outlets and courses for personal training and development. Sean
Doyle ever since his ascension as the CEO has helped employees gain better skills and
perform more complex job roles which increases employee motivation and also helps the
company in providing better customer service and benefit from skilled workforce.
Corporate Literature
According to the opinion of MATEUSZ MASZCZYNSKI (2022), the chief operating
officer of British Airways, Jason Mahoney has been given a new job role of being the Chief
technical officer instead as the current CEO, Sean Doyle has admitted in a public memo that the
service and technical utility that the company is providing the customers is nothing short of
pathetic and major operational and technological overhauls will have to be undertaken to make
the company earn its lost goodwill back. Sean Doyle has been working hard to steer the airline
company in the right direction but his plans are getting thwarted due to frequent IT outages and
glitches along with shortage of staff as many succumbed to the pandemic while many left after
getting treated badly by the organization (British Airways CEO Shuffles Senior Management
Deck in Bid to Mend Broken Operations After Weeks of Disruption, 2022).
According to Joseph Flaig (2022), airline industry has been notoriously involved in a lot
of environmental pollution and usage of new sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) is being promoted
as the next big step towards increased sustainability during flight operations. British Airways
will be the first premier airline to use this technology for both domestic and international flights
and it has signed a multiyear contract to ensure that this feature is thoroughly integrated in the
company’s current Business capabilities. The CEO Sean Doyle has gone on record and vouched
for this development as he has helped the company take multiple steps to achieve its goal of
going carbon neutral by 2050. Sean has helped the company gain some supporters through the
regular commitments being made for the company caring for its stakeholders and the
environment (Sustainable Aviation Fuel grabs attention – but will it have lasting impact?, 2022.

RECOMMENDATION
British Airways has been an integral a part of UK’s airline sector since its inception
almost 50 years ago and the company’s dominant success followed by unreal downfall in terms
of public perception and goodwill has been a major development for the country. Although
things are looking better for the company under the watchful eye of its new CEO, Sean Doyle as
he has pledged multiple schemes and policies to better the company and its customer service, the
road ahead is uncertain and rocky for British Airways. Based on the extensive research
conducted, some recommendations for the company are listed herein to increase its performance.
 IT system overhaul - British Airways should focus its massive financial resource pool
towards strengthening its digital infrastructure and IT capabilities. Recently, the company
has been experiencing frequent IT glitches and failures which result in extreme customer
inconvenience as they suffer from flight delays, cancelled bookings and for worse, they
are stranded. Refunds and apologies can only take the firm so far before customers
completely start shifting towards other rivals in the industry and the CEO, Sean Doyle
should make sure that the firm’s technology is state of the art and subject to continuous
improvement to prevent such outages in future.
 Brand revitalization – There was a time when British Airways the most preferred airline
in the entirety of UK as the service provided was exceptional and every customer flying
with the company was given VIP treatment both on the airplane and on the ground. In
order to win some of its lost goodwill and customer base, it should treat its customers
better, install better entertainment and leisure facilities on its airports and take care of
people while they wait for their flights to arrive.
 Better treatment of employees – Although Sean Doyle has promised a lot of changes to
make employee life better at British Airways, there is a considerable breach of trust
between the staff and the management due to the heavy damage done by the company’s
policies during initial days of COVID-19 where employees were treated and fired
unfairly and were not taken after well. The company must take better care of its
workforce.

CONCLUSION
The above report went into detail regarding the complexity involved in the administration
of airline companies currently operating in the UK as the sector in unpredictable, competitive,
depends upon customer experience and has been hit hard by both Brexit and the COVID-19
pandemic. The report included research conducted on important topic such as the role of the
company’s CEO in its structure and culture formation along with the personal leadership styles
that they follow to get tasks done in their company. Contribution of CEO’s on the entrepreneurial
strategy making and corporate governance and dynamics of power and influence in the company.
The report was concluded with recommendations and corporate examples to shed light on the
operational difficulties and new avenues of growth for the company to focus on while improving
its products and services.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Miao, and et.al., 2019. CEO entrepreneurial leadership and performance outcomes of top
management teams in entrepreneurial ventures: The mediating effects of psychological
safety. Journal of Small Business Management, 57(3), pp.1119-1135.
O’Neill, B., 2018. Developing future leaders at British Airways. In The Photofit Manager (pp.
72-89). Routledge.
Hambrick, D.C. and Wowak, A.J., 2021. Strategic leadership. Strategic Management: State of
the Field and Its Future, p.337.
Malecki, C., 2018. Corporate social responsibility: perspectives for sustainable corporate
governance. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Wang, and et.al., 2020. Impact of open innovation on organizational performance in different
conflict management styles: based on resource dependence theory. International Journal
of Conflict Management.
Kwok, A.O., Watabe, M. and Ahmed, P.K., 2021. Excessive Extrinsic Rewards in Workplace
Relationships. In Augmenting Employee Trust and Cooperation (pp. 11-21). Springer,
Singapore.
Cormier, B., 2018. Analyzing if and how international organizations contribute to the sustainable
development goals: Combining power and behavior. Journal of Organizational
Behavior, 39(5), pp.545-558.
Online Referencing
Sean Liam Doyle, 2022 [online] available through
https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/person/20433160
BA boss pledges to rebuild its reputation for premium service, 2022 [online] available through
https://www.ft.com/content/473f9eee-6e8e-49fb-a020-1da305ff4430
British Airways pilots strike grounds 1,700 flights in latest blow to airline, 2022 [online]
available through https://www.reuters.com/article/us-iag-british-airways-strike-
idUSKCN1VT0V7
BA launches new sustainability programme to reduce emissions and waste, 2022 [online]
available through https://www.futuretravelexperience.com/2021/09/ba-launches-new-
sustainability-programme-to-reduce-emissions-and-waste/

British Airways CEO Shuffles Senior Management Deck in Bid to Mend Broken Operations
After Weeks of Disruption, 2022 [online] available through
https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2022/04/07/british-airways-ceo-shuffles-senior-
management-deck-in-bid-to-mend-broken-operations-after-weeks-of-disruption/
Sustainable Aviation Fuel grabs attention – but will it have lasting impact?, 2022 [online]
available through https://www.imeche.org/news/news-article/sustainable-aviation-fuel-grabs-
attention-but-will-it-have-lasting-impact