Emirates Airlines: Diversity & Success

This assignment analyzes Emirates Airlines' successful business model, emphasizing the role of diversity in their operations. It explores how Emirates' commitment to cultural inclusivity and employee motivation contributes to their global standing as a leading airline.

Surname Motivation in Emirates Airlines
Motivation in Emirates Airlines
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Surname Motivation in Emirates Airlines
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Leadership and management..................................................................................................3
Cultural Diversity...................................................................................................................4
Motivation theories....................................................................................................................5
Effects of motivation on Emirates Airlines............................................................................6
Types of motivation................................................................................................................7
Challenges and problems...........................................................................................................8
Recommendations......................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................11
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Introduction
Emirates Airlines is a leading airline that is based in Dubai. The government-owned
airline is an emirates group’s subsidiary and it remains the largest airline in the region.
According to various studies, Emirates operates about 3,600 flights to over 81 countries
around the world on the weekly basis (The Emirates Group 2017). Dubai International
Airport is its main hub and it takes flights to 140 cities. Interestingly, the company uses
Emirates SkyCargo for its cargo activities. This airline operates a different fleet of Boeing
wide-body aircraft and Airbus. Emirates has over 64,768 employees worldwide and headed
by the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum and the
president, Tim Clark (The Emirates Group 2013). The company has diversified its operations
into various sectors and industries including engineering, airport services, tour operator, and
catering operations (Presler 2013). Today, the parent company operates over fifty subsidiaries
while Emirates has over seven subsidiaries (The Emirates Group 2017). Interestingly,
Emirates airline values its employees as it offers them various benefits including paid sick
and maternity leave and comprehensive health plan. As part of its performance management,
the company uses merit pay and profit sharing programs. Given these benefits, it becomes
necessary to analyze the motivational policy of the company.
Leadership and management
Leadership and management have become necessary factors to determine the success
of any business. Leadership focuses on the influencing people and creating a good
environment where people can follow directions willingly (The Emirates Group 2013). The
leader is expected to guide the followers and give a clear vision for the organization.
Similarly, management ensures things are done through others. The managers must work
through or with others to realize the objectives of the organization. To this effect,
management controls direct, organizes, and plans resources based on the moral standing of
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the organization. Indisputably, both management and leadership can make organizations
successful.
Management and leadership help an organization to achieve its goals. At Emirates,
management and leadership processes have defined the continued success of the Airlines.
Currently, the Sheik Ahmed Saeed, who serves as the CEO and chairperson of the company,
heads the organization (Goodson 2017). Sheik Ahmed bin Saeed leads the senior
management team that has made the airline to make remarkable economic development.
Sheik Ahmed, who doubles as the chair and CEO, has successfully spearheaded the
expansion of Emirates by formulating fiscal, investment, and economic policies and
strategies. The senior leadership has transformed Emirates into an international airline thus
serves over 160 destinations. Therefore, the firm’s talented leaders have used their highly
skilled diverse employees, quality customer services, and management techniques to make it
the largest airline in the world. These leaders have demonstrated their ability to lead Emirates
economically and effectively (Gale 2009). The management of the company has remained
responsible for treating people equally and prioritizing the company’s goals. Leaders of
Emirates believe in hard work, honesty, and planning thus connect workforce in managing
change. These leaders have made the company attractive to customers to make it a success.
Cultural Diversity
Emirates Airline is an international company, which operates across the world. As a
multinational organization, it serves different customers. Within the company, there are over
160 nationalities. This implies that the company has attracted people with different religions,
origin, tradition, and race. These people must interact and live together. Nonetheless, the
company’s working language is English (Goodson 2017). The company’s continued to
manage the culturally diverse employees and workplace has made it effective and successful.
The company has adopted the best diversity evaluation process in managing its operations.
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The company believes that the 160 nationalities have unique strengths thus giving it an
international status. The diverse workforce brings new ideas, thinking, and innovative styles
to bolster its business (Bamber et al. 2009). The company continuously promoted and
recruited workers without discrimination. It has further emphasized the significance of
treating people with dignity and respect thus allows workers to maximize their potential. The
company has thus embraced cultural diversity through communication, recruitment, and
equal opportunity.
Emirates Airlines has promoted the management of culturally diverse customers
(Mayasandra 2011). This is because customers define the success of this business. Since the
company flies to over 60 countries and 100 destinations worldwide, it stands to serve
customers of a different background. The company seems to be concerned with the needs of
customers. To this effect, it tries to communicate with them effectively. It has continuously
listened to the needs of its stakeholders including suppliers, investors, and bankers (Gale
2009). It has established an understandable communication through international language to
serve the clients. To this effect, English has ensured it serves its customers prudently. The
company also embraces Arabic style food services (Goodson 2017). The tastes of the Middle
Eastern culture regarding food attract people of different backgrounds. It has ensured that its
employees use the Islamic procedures of handling food. This implies that customers rarely
served with alcohol. Sometimes the company offers customers iftar as part of their pride.
Motivation theories
Motivation remains an important process of influencing and encouraging people to do
the right thing and maximize their potential. Motivation, as a factor, is based on the
relationship of variables thus explains the persistence, amplitude, and direction of a person’s
behavior (Robescu & Lancu 2017). Although their many theories explaining and
demonstrating motivation, the most important ones include Herzberg’s motivator-hygiene
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theory, Alderfer’s existence-relatedness-growth theory, and Maslow’s hierarchy of needs
(Osabiya 2014). These theories have emerged to be necessary for motivating people thus help
management to understand the significance of motivating the workforce. The Maslow
motivation theory has defined the human motivation. According to this theory, the
management needs to satisfy the employee’s psychological and basic needs (Robescu &
Lancu 2017). The low- and high-level needs including self-actualization are essential in
meeting the needs of workers.
Maslow theory focuses on the people’s basic requirements, which pleases them
effectively. This theory is based on different levels of needs including physiological, social,
safety, self-actualization, and esteem needs. In most cases, the employees have met their
safety and psychological, but expect the firm to serve their high-level needs. At Emirates,
employees are motivated strongly (Osabiya 2014). This has made it an attractive employer of
diverse people. The company offers its diverse workforce recognition, rewards, performance
programs, and incentives to encourage them. In most cases, many employees have opted to
build their careers with the company (Benjamin-Lowry et al. 2013). Emirates Airline believes
that well-trained, experienced, and skilled workers would define its business success. To this
effect, the organization offers vocational training and development programs to the
employees thus help them to be effective and efficient in their duties. For instance, most of
the performing and outstanding cabin crews have been promoted to flight purser within a
short time. Most of them have also gained specialized skills to become trainers in the cabin
services.
Effects of motivation on Emirates Airlines
Motivation has increased the ability of workers to become effective. The company has
gained a competitive position in the market because of the motivated workers. Motivation has
had a direct impact on the employee productivity and organizational performance (Bamber et
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al. 2009). The leaders seem to motivate all stakeholders in achieving their goals because it
engages them in making decisions. Drucker and Maciariello (2008) affirm that the leaders
continue to motivate workers to inspire them thus enabling them to do their work willingly.
This has ensured Emirates get marvelous success. Importantly, people respond situations
differently. Currently, the company operates many flights to different destinations (Robescu
& Lancu 2017). It has established the best corporate plan that values stakeholder diversity.
Based on the diversity, the management uses an approach that befits their needs because it
involves clients and community leading to a better performance. With the motivation in
Emirates, employees have remained committed thus offer quality services to clients.
Types of motivation
Extrinsic and intrinsic motivations are the two types of motivation that companies
should try to practice. Importantly, people have distinct needs and require different
motivation. Intrinsic motivation involves using motivational stimuli to ensure people perform
their tasks and fulfill the desires (Benjamin-Lowry et al. 2013). In most cases, people have
different desires that they need to meet and fulfill. The intrinsic motivation is founded on
these desires including acceptance, social contact, power, independence, honor, order, and
social status. At Emirates, employees are motivated through workplace conditions,
promotions, training, appreciation incentives, payment incentives and monetary incentives.
Nasibov (2015) affirms that the company has continuously invested in training and
developing the workforce. It also creates the comfortable working environment. Its reward
system, policies, and salaries are competitive thus make it an attractive employer in the
market (Bamber et al. 2009). As part of the intrinsic motivation, the employees are
recognized through promotions like allowing the cabin crew to be trainers. Given the current
competitive environment, the company continues to train workers on new skills. The
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company also offer workers paid sick and maternity leave and comprehensive health plans to
motivate them.
The company considers employee development and training to be an important
process. With training, the company has emphasized the significance of new skills that
employees must attain to help improve the services (Jeffs 2008). The company understands
that the results of training are incomparable because of the big payoffs including improved
competence and productivity (Presler 2013). It has also broken down its training services to
meet the expectations of the workers. This is evident where the company allows workers to
share their opinion regarding career progression and development. Emirates also value
extrinsic motivation, as it believes that employees are motivated by external stimuli.
Importantly, the company offers attractive remuneration and rewards to workers (Bamber et
al. 2009). The bonuses and organized activities have become necessary in improving
workforce performance at Emirates. It further allows workers and management to enjoy merit
pay and profit sharing to motivate them.
Challenges and problems
The company has experienced challenges in its employee training and development
programs (Presler 2013). Recently, many stakeholders have criticized the company’s training
and development because it is never based on the market needs. This is because the
organization has failed to look into the activities of its rivals.
The company has also failed to use its strong image in the industry to maximize
employee excellence and innovation through training and development. It has failed to
understand that it is its responsibility to offer clients and customers dependable, sage, and
friendly transportation. The training programs of the firm are not customer-oriented.
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Recommendations
Emirates Airlines should make its training programs to serve the specific setting needs
thus guarantee the organization the best results. The company should look into the activities
and operations of its rivals and other events externally and internally (Benjamin-Lowry et al.
2013). Such activities will help it know the best strategies for sustaining its comparative
advantage regarding its workforce training and development programs. The approach will
also allow the airline to maximize its strengths and empower workers.
The company must fight to protect its reputation because it has shaken the global
aviation industry. However, with irrelevant training programs, the company might interfere
with its long-standing brand in the market (Chernev 2012). Therefore, it needs to improve
training programs to make workers excellent and innovative. Through training, the
employees will understand that it is their responsibility to offer clients dependable, friendly
transportation tags, and sage and related industrial services (The Emirates Group 2017). The
training should make it possible for workers to offer memorable customer services because
the training is customer-oriented.
Emirates Airlines should focus on offering superior services by recruiting the best
talents in the market. However, the management must embrace cultural diversity so that it can
access relevant ideas that will help the airline to upgrade its services. Emirates airline has the
responsibility to empower employees to achieve maintain its competitive and profitable
position (Goel 2009). This should involve sending some staff to gain continuous professional
training thus become exposed to new ideas and become motivated.
Conclusion
Based on the data collected from the organization, the motivation of workforce is a
priority at Emirates Airlines. Most employees have expressed their satisfaction, as they
believe the company has made them productive and motivated. Currently, the company is
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among the most successful airlines worldwide. This success is attributed to the efforts of
workers. In fact, most of its employees have been credited for offering the best customer
services thus promote loyalty. Motivation seems to have inspired the employees to enjoy
incomparable job satisfaction. The leaders of the company must understand that empowering
workforce would maximize their productivity because it offers them an opportunity to make
decisions. Therefore, effective style guarantees employees performance.
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Bibliography
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airlines can improve performance by engaging their employees. Cornell University Press,
Ithaca.
Benjamin-Lowry, P, Gaskin, J, Twyman, NW, Hammer, B, & Roberts, TL 2013, “Taking
'fun and games' seriously: Proposing the hedonic-motivation system adoption model
(HMSAM).” Journal of the Association for Information Systems, vol. 14, no. 11, pp. 617–
671.
Chernev, A 2012, Strategic marketing management. Cerebellum Press, Chicago.
Drucker, P & Maciariello, J 2008, Management. Collins, New York.
Gale, I 2009, May 27, “Diversity is key to the success of Emirates.” The National. [Online]
available at https://www.thenational.ae/business/travel-and-tourism/diversity-is-key-to-the-
success-of-emirates-1.548414 (Accessed 1 October 2017).
Goel, S 2009, Airline service marketing. Pentagon Press, New Delhi.
Goodson, S 2017, June 2, “Emirates hello tomorrow- Why it helped build the world’s
favorite airline.” Huffington. [Online] available at http://www.huffingtonpost.com/scott-
goodson/emirates-hello-tomorrow-w_b_10220336.html (Accessed 1 October 2017).
Jeffs, C 2008, Strategic management. Sage, Los Angeles.
Mayasandra, V 2011, September 16, “As it turns Dubai into a global hub, Emirates embraces
a diverse passenger base.” Airline Trends. [Online] available at
http://www.airlinetrends.com/2011/09/16/emirates-diversity/ (Accessed 1 October 2017).
Nasibov, A. (2015, November 3). Impact of employee motivation on performance
(productivity). LinkedIn. [Online] available at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/impact-
employee-motivation-performance-productivity-anar-nesibov (Accessed 30 September
2017).
Osabiya, BJ 2014, “The effect of employees’ motivation on organizational performance.”
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Presler, T 2013, March 21, “27 nationalities and 17 languages, but one team = 21st- century
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Robescu, O & Lancu, A-G 2017, “The effects of motivation on employee’s performance.”
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The Emirates Group 2013, Emirates Group Career. [Online] available at
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October 2017).
The Emirates Group 2017, “Leadership” The Emirates Group. [Online] available at
http://www.theemiratesgroup.com/english/our-company/leadership/leadership.aspx
(Accessed 1 October 2017).
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