Strategic Management: Analysis and Assessment of British Airways' Re-organization Process

This report analyzes the process used by organizations, like British Airways, to determine their strategy. It discusses the analysis of internal and external environment, setbacks faced during re-organization, evaluation of critical models and tools, and the importance of change management based on complexity, costs, risks, and sustainability.

STRATEGIC
MANAGEMENT

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
Analysis of internal and external environment used by organisations to determine their
strategy.........................................................................................................................................3
Setbacks faced by British Airways during the time of re-organization process..........................5
A critical assessment of the process used by organizations to determine their strategy.............6
evaluation of the critical models and tools used by organisations to determine their strategy....7
Analysis of the importance of change management based on the complexity of the
transformation process, its costs, risks and sustainability...........................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................9
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................10

INTRODUCTION
Strategic management can be defined as that process which includes setting of objectives,
evaluation and analysis of competitive environment, analysis of strategies, interpreting the
internal structure of organization and making sure that strategies adopted by firm is effectively
implemented. Present report will lay emphasis on British Airways. British Airways is the flag
carrier airline of the United Kingdom, headquartered at Waterside, Harmondsworth, near its
main hub at London Heathrow Airport. Report will lay emphasis on critical assessment of the
process used by organizations to determine their strategy. It will also lay focus on an evaluation
of the critical models and tools used by organizations to determine their strategy
MAIN BODY
Analysis of internal and external environment used by organisations to determine their strategy
In order to analyse the external and internal factors which can affect the working of British
Airways framework like SWOT and PESTLE can be used. It is really necessary for the company
to make use of them so that they can develop their strategies according to it.
PESTLE analysis: This model can assist British Airways in determining the external
factors affecting the company during the time of re-structuring.
Political factor: It has been analysed that airline companies needs to be engaged in
following all regulations that has been implemented by government. Brexit has highly impacted
the business of British Airways as there was stoppage of flights to certain destinations. Also the
confidence of consumers was being led to down because really strict safety laws rules were
being implemented (Hitt and Duane Ireland, 2017). Also the government is trying to keep a pace
on controlling the price aspect related to supply of raw material which has laid severe impact on
profitability of British Airways. So during the time of re-structuring company needs to lay
emphasis on it.
Economic factor: Brexit has impacted negatively on British Airways because of it they
have to face various economic turmoil (Morden, 2016). This has also depreciated the value of
pound which is the main reason that revenue which has been generated by airline company has
come down. So during the time of reorganization process, company needs to think twice while
investing on something as this can increase operational cost of British Airways. Also there has
been a rise in prices of labour which was the major reason that expenses of organization have

increases. So firm needs to be engaged in doing strategic planning in order to have proper control
over these factors during the time of re-structuring.
Social factor: In this while implementing the reorganization process, it is really necessary
for British Airways to analyse the belief, values, attitude and perception of employees so that
change can be implemented successfully. Company should make sure that no such norms are
being implemented which hampers the belief of them. This can arise difficult during the time of
implementation. It can also affect growth of British Airways. Also they can have engaged in
formulating new strategies for their target group of consumers. Company in order to enhance the
consumer service must be involved in analysing the lifestyle, taste and preferences of consumers
which can assist them in growing and achieving their goals and objectives.
Technological factor: It has bene analysed that digital revolution is also been changing
the cost structure of British Airways. When implementing the restructuring process company can
make use of advanced technology and automation. Like for example they can install various
software so that employees can be managed effectively. This can assist them in achieving goals
and objectives. They can also have engaged in promoting the services through social media
channels like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Thus, it can support them in reaching out large
range of consumers (Newburry, Deephouse and Gardberg, 2019). They can also provide details
about existing offers on their websites. All these changes will assist them in enhancing the
quality of consumer services during the time of re-organization process.
Legal factor: There many laws and rules which has been implemented by government and
needs to be followed by British Airways. During the time of re-structuring they must make sure
that employees are been provided with safe and secure environment according to health and
safety act. Thus, it will assist them in creating worker’s loyalty and they will be able to sustain
employees during the time of change.
Environmental factor: In this British Airways must be engaged in working towards
lowering down the carbon emissions that has been produced by them. This will assist them in
reducing the air pollution which has been created by them. They can also implement quality
operations so that it become easier for them to overcome environmental problems.
SWOT analysis: It is the framework which can be used by company so that they can
identify their internal capabilities during the time of re-organization.

Strength: British Airways is engaged in serving their business in and around 170
locations. British airways have its own engineering branch for maintaining the aircraft fleets.
Firm is being the largest and also have stable financial condition. It has also been analysed that
company is being engaged in making providing high quality of airline services to consumers
which has assisted them in creating consumer loyalty.
Weakness: It has been analysed that company is only earning from serving in United
Kingdom, they have not emerged in other economic conditions. They are lacking in penetrating
market like China and India. Also the employees working in British Airways are highly
unsatisfied which is reducing the productivity and operational efficiency of firm. This is laying
impact on their growth aspects (Okumus and et.al., 2019).
Opportunities: British Airways has the opportunity to expand their business in emerging
markets like India, Nepal. This can help them in increasing their profitability and sales revenue.
Also there has been an increasing demand of investment in infrastructure of travel. This can be
quiet useful in developing the airlines routes.
Threats: They have a threat from huge number of competitors as there are so many of
other companies who are providing the air tickets on low fares, so consumers can get attracted
towards them. So it is suggested to British Airways to work upon it.
Setbacks faced by British Airways during the time of re-organization process
Organizational structure of a business helps in determining the manner in which primary
goals and objectives related to maximisation of profit can be achieved. There were various
setbacks which was being faced British Airways during the time of re-organization process. It
has been analysed that structure of organization was subjected to change. It was analysed that
company was failing miserably (Lasserre, 2017). They were facing a huge number of problem
from the top management. Merger has caused them a problem related to over staffing and
cultural differences. Also they were criticised for providing the lowest level of customer service
in the industry. So these were the problems which led British Airways to pursue re-organization
process. The first couple of years, the plan was about survival - voluntary reductions in
workforce, temporarily freezing pay increases, cutting routes, etc.
Then they got to work making bigger, lasting changes. During this process British Airways
faced many political and economic turmoil that has made them face even worsening conditions.
The company started putting focus on advertisement and their consumer services. This has

assisted them in improvising their public image which is really necessary for their growth. It has
helped company in increasing their profitability and sales revenue during the time of re-
organization process. After making use of hierarchical organization structure British Airways has
laid emphasis on engaging their employee so that culture difference and problem of over staffing
can be changed. They are making sure that company makes use of face to face communication
process.
A critical assessment of the process used by organizations to determine their strategy
In order to determine the strategy British Airways has been made use of Kotter’s change
management process. This process has assisted company in determining their strategy. It
includes the following:
Urgency creation: In this company has determine the need of change when there was an
extreme level of chaos that has been created by tope level management of company. As it has
been analysed that British Airways has been going through re-organization process (Moutinho
and Vargas-Sanchez, 2018). The strategy which has been used by them includes focusing on
their staff members, changing the top level management, consumer service and advertisement so
that they can enhance their image in public.
Building a team: In order to launch the re-organization, process it is really necessary for
British Airways to build a team. For successfully implementing the change company has been
engaged in doing strategic planning like they have increases their advertising budget and also
started to invest in advertising campaigns. British Airways has also appointed a steering
committee who has advised the company about the necessity of change so that culture within the
organization can be modified.
Creating a vision: Company needs to set up a clear vision which needs to be achieved by
them. British Airways while going through re-organization process has laid emphasis on putting
people first. They were involved in providing employees better working conditions and
organizational culture so that consumer service can be improved. This can also help them in
solving the staff problems which is being faced by them.
Communication of vision: Every employee in British Airways during the time of re-
organization process was made aware of changes by properly communicating it. Enhancing the
quality of service will also assist them in creating consumer loyalty.

Removing obstacles: There are various setbacks that has been faced by British Airways, so
company needs to be involved in removing it. They have been engaged in making their structure
flexible so that during the time of crisis in future it can be changed and modified easily. This will
help company in growing.
Go for Quick wins: In this while implementing change company needs to be engaged in
motivating employees so that they can be satisfied. British Airways has also laid focus on
employees to wear lapel pins which clearly describes aim of company to put the people first.
This can assist them in motivating employees during the time of stressful situation.
Let the change mature: In this British Airways while analysing strategy for change needs
to patient enough, they must be engaged in doing monitoring part so that gaps can be analysed
and services can be improved (Rothaermel, 2016). They are making sure that this re-organization
process can bring out positive changes. This will assist firm in achieving their goals and
objectives and is really essential for their growth aspects.
Integrate the change: For integrating with the change various toolkits can be used by
British Airways in order to monitor and evaluate success. They can make use of KPI and
Benchmarking for analysing success.
evaluation of the critical models and tools used by organisations to determine their strategy.
In order to determine the perfect change management strategy, company can make use of Kurt
Lewin model of change. It includes
Freezing: In this step, the problem which requires a solution and needs to be changed
will be analysed by British Airways. Like currently they are go through restructuring because of
chaos in top level management.
Move: In this step, strategies related to re organization process will be analysed and
evaluated so that firm can grow.
Re-freezing: In this change will be implemented and monitored in order to analyse the
gaps. This will help them in improvising quality of services.
Analysis of the importance of change management based on the complexity of the
transformation process, its costs, risks and sustainability.
Change management is really important in organization as it assists in making employees
learn the new skills and abilities which can assist them in growing. It provides huge number of
benefits to firm by making the employees adjusting in the changing environment. In this scenario

British Airways has been engaged in implementing the re-organization process. They have faced
various political and economic turmoil while adopting the change (Okumus and et.al., 2019). So
company has also come up with various strategies which can assist them in overcoming the
drawbacks problems. While implementing the change management process British Airways has
also faced various risk related to cost, sustainability and technological aspects. Like for example
in order to lay emphasis on their advertisement part company has made an investment of £10
million and has also launched the new advertising campaign.
British Airways is also being engaged in investing on making use of more advanced
technology. For successful implementation of change, company is engaged in highly investing in
technology. They are making sure that every employee of company is provided with adequate
resources so that change can be implemented successfully. In order to motivate the employees,
the top level managers have adopted a flat structure and they are also taking help of effective
communication so that needs and demands of employees can be analysed. This will support them
in implementing the re-organization process. This was all about the cost which has been
implemented by British Airways. There is also other risk which can be faced by company like
technological risk and risk of failing. There are chances that organization structure which has
been adopted by British Airways can be failed.
So company needs to make use of better leadership and change management approaches so
that fear of failure can be reduced. They can also face risk related to changes in technology in
future so in order to avoid it strategic planning related to it must be done by firm (Ansoff and
et.al., 2018). Also while implementing change it is really necessary for British Airways to work
on sustainability part. Like for example they must be engaged in making effective utilization of
resources so that waste can be reduced and quality can be improved. They must make sure that
they have proper risk management process and structure which van assist company in identifying
and assessing risk. So this will assist British Airways in saving their company during the time of
crisis. The group has worked in achieving sustainable operations like their new air craft model
has improved fuel efficiency system. By this way they are working towards sustainable criteria.
This can assist them in laying positive impression on public and increased their brand reputation
which has been lost because of the unmanaged top level managers.

CONCLUSION
From the above study it has been analyzed that there are has been various external and
internal factors which has affected the working of firm. It has also been evaluated from report
that company has gone through re-organization process because they were facing problem from
top level management. It has also been analyzed that organization has been engaged in
implementing the change successfully, they have also faced various drawbacks while
implementation of the change management process. Prior to this firm has also identified the risk
which can be faced by them while implementing change. It has also been analyzed that company
has worked towards improvising the quality of services that has been provided by them. It has
helped them in growing.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals
Ansoff, H.I. and et.al., 2018. Implanting strategic management. Springer.
Rothaermel, F.T., 2016. Strategic management: concepts (Vol. 2). McGraw-Hill Education.
Lasserre, P., 2017. Global strategic management. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Moutinho, L. and Vargas-Sanchez, A. eds., 2018. Strategic Management in Tourism, CABI
Tourism Texts. Cabi.
Newburry, W., Deephouse, D.L. and Gardberg, N.A., 2019. Global Aspects of Reputation and
Strategic Management', Global Aspects of Reputation and Strategic Management
(Research in Global Strategic Management, Volume 18).
Hitt, M. and Duane Ireland, R., 2017. The intersection of entrepreneurship and strategic
management research. The Blackwell handbook of entrepreneurship. pp.45-63.
Meyer, G.D., Neck, H.M. and Meeks, M.D., 2017. The entrepreneurship‐strategic management
interface. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, pp.17-44.
Okumus, F. and et.al., 2019. Strategic management for hospitality and tourism. Routledge.
Morden, T., 2016. Principles of strategic management. Routledge.
Ethiraj, S.K., Gambardella, A. and Helfat, C.E., 2018. Theory in strategic management. Strategic
Management Journal. 39(6). pp.1529-1529.

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