Quality Systems and CRM: A British Airways Case Study Report

This report provides an in-depth analysis of British Airways' quality systems and customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. It covers essential marketing theories, including the marketing mix, Ansoff matrix, communication mix, and Porter's Five Forces, to understand the airline's market position and competitive landscape. The study explores CRM theories and their application within British Airways, highlighting how the company develops, retains, and acquires customers. It addresses the impact of the pandemic on the airline's services, particularly the introduction of health and safety measures. The report also examines internal and external factors influencing the company's quality systems, the benefits and challenges of maintaining strong customer relationships, and the role of technology in enhancing customer experience and satisfaction. Ultimately, the report assesses how British Airways adapts its strategies to maintain a competitive edge and improve customer loyalty in a dynamic market environment. Desklib provides access to similar solved assignments and study resources for students.

Organisations quality systems
and customer relationship
management

Executive summary
The report is based on the organization quality system and customer relationship management.
The report has covered the concepts of marketing and various theories such as marketing mix,
Ansoff matrix, communication mix and Porter’s five forces model. The study has also discussed
about the various concepts of Customer Relationship Management that has helped the British
Airways for developing, retaining and acquiring the customers for the effectively accomplishing
the objectives of the organisation. It is important for the firm to understand the preferences of the
customers or frequent travellers and provide services accordingly. Due to the pandemic, the
Company has planned to provide health and safety related services by providing the health
related information to the passengers travelling in the flight. It has also analysed the market after
the outbreak of the pandemic and has made various strategies for providing the customers with
high quality of services.

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................4
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................4
Overview of the organisation.......................................................................................................4
Marketing theories.......................................................................................................................5
Customer Relationship management theories...........................................................................10
Systems that support your organizations quality processes.......................................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................1

INTRODUCTION
Customer relationship management (CRM) refers to the strategies, tools, techniques and
technologies that is used by the companies for developing, retaining and acquiring the customers
for the effectively accomplishing the objectives of the organisation. This software helps the
business to track and manage their communication with the customers and it also stores
customer’s data that can be helpful in optimising the sales and marketing process of the
company. This helps in ensuring that the communication between the customer and management
goes effectively in order to increase the overall products of the company(Soltani, and et.al.,
2018). With the help of CRM, it enables the management to know about the customers and their
buying behaviour. It also helps in anticipating the needs and preferences of the customers and
find ways to fulfil their needs.
With the help of CRM, business can optimize their customer interactions by simplifying
the procedures and also increase customer satisfaction. The report is based on the British
Airways that is airline company of United Kingdom and is headquarter is located in London,
England. The company is the first passenger airline who has generated more than US$1 billion
on a single air route in a year. The report reflects on the overview of the company, marketing
theories such as marketing mix, Ansoff matrix etc(Hossain, and et.al., 2021). IT also covers the
various CRM models and theories and its application on the chosen company. It also highlights
the various internal and external factors that affect the company's quality systems. The study also
includes the benefits and challenges of developing and maintaining good customer relationship.
MAIN BODY
Overview of the organisation
British Airways is considered as the world’s second largest international airline of the
United Kingdom, headquartered in London, England. The airline carries more than 28 million
passenger form one country to other country. Furthermore, it is world’s longest airline and is one
of the market leaders in the country. British Airways offers wide variety of services and most
extensive range of in- flights cabins and is one of the two international airlines that offer four
cabins in the business and economy class cabins. In order to expand its business and focused on
improving their customer relation. The organisation is working on improving their services and

improving the interaction with the customers for better customer experience. The customer
relation team of the company aims to respond the queries of the customers and resolve the issues
which help in gaining customer loyalty and also increase its image in the market. It has been
observed from the study that customer satisfaction for the timeliness or responses to the
complaints has also significantly increased from 30% to 55%. The management of the company
has also involved itself in providing health services considering the health and safety of the
passengers. They provide health related information and guidance through on-board
announcements and magazines. British Airways is a founding member of the one world alliance
that was founded in 1999 by the American Airlines, British Airways, Cathy pacific and Qantas.
This alliance bought 13 world’s biggest airlines together with the motive of providing highest
quality services. British Airways is currently operating four joint business agreements which
enable the airline company to give wide range of choices to its customers. Currently British
Airways and southern China is working together in a partnership to help the passengers
travelling between UK and China and providing travel opportunities.
Marketing theories
Marketing refers to the activities that are undertaken by the company in order to promote
the buying and selling of the products and services to its customers. It includes advertising,
selling and delivering the products and offer services to the customers and other business. It
refers to the discipline which involves the activities that is performed by the organisation to
maintain healthy relationship with the customers by responding their queries and deliver the
products and services according to their needs and preferences (Czinkota and et.al., 2021). The
marketing involves the marketing mix that is called four P’s of marketing. The elements are
considered essential that is needed by the company to promote its products and services in the
market.
There are various marketing theories i.e. Ansoff matrix, marketing mix, communication mix,
Stakeholder map and Porter’s five forces.
Marketing mix of British airways:
Marketing mix is a framework of British airways which include the 4Ps product, price, place
and promotion. There are several strategies of marketing mix like people, physical evidence and
process. British airways marketing mix help the brand to succeed and achieve its business goals
and objectives.

Product strategy:
British airways have the flagship airline carrier based in UK. They provide high quality services
to its customers and also offered services which are integrated with high technology. In other
words, it offers the transportation services to people form one place to another by flight which
are part of service strategy. The services also diversified into long and short haul which are
depended on the duration of the flights (Abdelhady and Fayed, 2019).
Pricing strategy:
The main aim of British airways pricing strategy should be affordable for the customers or ticket
pricing must be affordable. The policy of pricing that gives a reasonable value to its customers.
British airways provide offer discounts for the customers those who having a frequent flier miles
in the periods of festivals.
Place and distribution strategy:
British airways provide services at more than 400 destinations with a fleet of 273 crafts. The
head office of British airways located at waterside near London Heathrow airport. British
airways distribute their services through the websites and the phone apps.
Promotion strategy:
Company should ensure that they follow right promotion strategy because airline industry have a
hyper competition in the market. British airways advertise their brand with the help of
billboards, TV advertising and newspapers as well as also promoted their brands through the
films like planes (Barón Martorell).
People strategy:
British airways consists management with the help of strategy, sales and marketing, customers
and finance and engineering's. British airways has a more than 40000 employees, which includes
more than 15000 cabins as well as 5500 engineers and 3600 pilots. It also consists others
department which are legal, investments and safety.
Process strategy:
British airways launched holidays offers which include nine types of holidays packages. It has
also launched new ticketing services called e-ticketing that are only available in British and
Germany. The process in simple way start from booking ticket and goes through
airport,receiving boarding pass, checking in the luggage, entering the flight, utilize and
experiencing the services and getting back at destination.

Physical evidence:
British airways is all about the experience that airlines offer to their customers and the way they
perceived their brands. It is intangible aspects of business which offer services in the case of
lounges designed, cabin design, flight interior, symbol of the British airways as well as colours
which are used in all the form of the physical evidence.
British airways five porters forces analysis:
The five of porters analysis of British airways which are operating in airlines industry. British
airlines are one of the largest airline in United Kingdom which are operated in global worldwide.
Five forces analysis of British airways which helps to determine its position in the market and
effecting its operation on airline's industry.
Threats of new entrants:
In airline industry, Capital requirements are important barriers for the new market entrants and
airlines industry include the huge investments required as well as efforts required for gain market
shares. It is difficult airlines to gain competitive edges, maintain cost required and the
unavailability of distribution channels (Mhlanga, 2018). Threats of new entrants in British
airline are low.
Threats of substitutes:
Airlines travel remain the fastest form of travel because the airline substitutes for air travel which
are represented by other models of transportation in such as sea transports and vehicles. From
these aspects, There are no substitutions to the airlines to travel thousands of miles in a matter of
few hours.
Bargaining power of British airways:
Bargaining power of British airways is high level because nowadays customers are very aware
about their rights, and they know their choices. Customers are very loyal to British airways and
very satisfied with their services.
Bargaining power of suppliers:
Bargaining power of supplier is also high in case of British airways. There are very few suppliers
in the airlines which include fuel as well as labourers, so it is difficult task to do that and also
include very huge amount of investments. In further aspects British airways cannot function
without supplies, so they need to maintain and develop their relationship with the suppliers.

Industry rivalry:
British airways face a high level of industry rivalry. It has a large competition on different levels
which include local competitors as well as international competitors. Competition on
international levels in terms of pricing, convenience and services that they provide thus, British
airways needs to maintain their quality in order to remain in the industry as well as maintain their
market shares.
Ansoff Matrix
In 1987, Ansoff founded the Product/Market expansion2 by 2 grid and is known as
Ansoff Matrix. The Ansoff matrix grid is framework that enables to identify the opportunities by
taking the advantage of the internal and external opportunities. The British Airways has launched
the global advertising campaigns(Stephen, 2018). The Ansoff Matrix stages include the Market
Penetration, Market development, Product development and Product diversification. This model
is the strategies tool that helps the company to evaluate the products along with the marketing
strategy.
Market Penetration
This growth strategy focusses on releasing the existing product into the existing markets
by maintaining and increasing the currents market share. Markets Penetration can be achieved
through increasing sales and directly reach to its customers. The company can also increase its
customer base through loyalty schemes.
Market development
In this stage the company promotes its products and services into the new and fresh markets. The
marketing of the products and services is conducted into new geographical area. The company
sues various distribution channels for promotion of its products and also apply the different
pricing policies for attracting the customers in the market.
Product development
In this, the company can use the strategies that brings new product in the existing market. The
products and services of the company should be appealing and competent which can survive in
the existing market and preferred by the customers.
Diversification

Diversification allows the organisation to bring the new products in the market. This strategy
enables the company to dominate its position in the market. Furthermore, it requires a lot of risk
and there are various changes in the business environment and customer buying behaviour.
In the context of the market penetration, British airways have gained the market share by making
renovation and modernisation in its business model by considering the market factors. In terms
of product development, the company has focused on the technological advancement by
introducing internet access on the flights with improvement in the integration of the mobile
peripherals that includes tablets, smartphones and laptops with the motive for better experience
of the passengers. It is important for the company to diversify its services in order to serve better
to their customers.
Communication mix
There are six variables in the communication mix:
Advertising: In the advertising strategy and is used by various brands for promoting the
products and services in order to attract the customers. The companies use this method to give
tuff competition to its competitors. Advertising requires that the company should have unique
advertising message for all the customers. British Airways uses print media advertising strategy
as a part of their marketing strategy(Jackson, and Tozer, 2020). The company also sells its
advertising space on the online and offline platform as well. In this, the company uses different
mediums and in their advertisements they make sure that the logon of the company is visible to
the customers.
Personal selling: Personal selling is considered as and important method of communication for
interacting with the customer regarding the products and services. Various companies now prefer
adopting this method for the promotion of their products and services.
Sales promotion: Sales promotion involves providing the customers with various offers and
discounts on the purchase of the products and services. For example, British Airways offers
discounts on the booking of the flight tickets and additional offers on the services which help to
increase its sales and attract the customers.
Public relation: Public relation is the art of spreading the information about the products and
services offered by the company(Efthymiou, and et.al., 2018). Therefore, there are multiple ways

that can be carried out the brand for promoting its services in order to reach its customers and
understand about the preferences and requirements.
Direct marketing: In the last few decades, it has observed that the scope of direct marketing or
internet marketing has increased rapidly and with the emergence of Covid-19 has enable the
companies to switch to online marketing techniques for running their business. Currently due to
the pandemic the British Airways huge losses due to various restrictions that was imposed by the
government.
Packaging: With the increase in the competition and rivalry business, packaging is also
considered as the important element for communicating with the customers. This method is
considered as last point of sales for the company. The customers while purchasing the products
of the brand makes the buying decision by looking at the overall packaging of the product and
also identifying the information written on the packaging.
Stakeholder map
Shareholder mapping refers to the visual process of laying out all the stakeholders of the
product, idea on a map. The purpose of this theory is to get the visual representation of all the
people who have interest in the company. While introducing a new product it is important to
know about the stakeholders for different group. The roles and responsibilities of the
stakeholders depend upon the type of the product(Ahmed, and et.al., 2020). in this process
different types of stakeholders include the customers, industries, markets, suppliers, investors
etc. On the other hand, if the company is entering into the new market the stakeholders include
the new customers, existing customers and new retailers.
While working or starting a new project, it is required to have the members from within
the company i.e. Project manager, developer, designer etc(Rademaker, 2020). Various steps are
involved such as brainstorming, categorization, prioritisation, stakeholders’ communication.
Customer Relationship management theories
Customer Relationship management (CRM) refers to the strategy that is used by the company in
order to manage the current and existing customers. Basically it refers to the tool that is used for
contact and sales management. The main purpose CRM is to enhance the customer’s relationship
and increase the communication which helps the business to grow(Moynihan, and et.al., 2022).
Earlier the companies were focused on generating profits and not on the customer’s satisfaction

but now in order to survive in the market it is important to focus on the understanding the
requirements of the customers by communicating and implement strategies accordingly. There
are three types of CRM:
 Operational CRM: It restructures the process of the business and also involves the sales
and market automation and its main aim is to generate leads and then convert it into
contact while collecting all the required information and also provide services to the
customers accordingly. It also provides support to the front office members and involves
in direct communication with the customers with the help of effective communication
method.
 Analytical CRM: It evaluates the data regarding the customer that is generated through
the operational CRM applications which helps in understanding the behaviour of the
customers that helps the business to grow its market by fulfilling the demands of the
customers. With the help of data collected, it becomes easy to approach the customers
which address their needs and helps the company to fulfil their requirements.
 Collaborative CRM: It is known as strategic CRM that helps the company to share the
information regarding the customers to various other departments of the company such as
marketing, sales, technical and support team. This also helps to unite all the departments
and work towards achieving the goals and objectives of the company.
Models of CRM
IDIC Model
The IDCI model was developed by the Peppers and Rogers Group as a generic blueprint for the
implementing the customer relationship management in various different situations. IDIC stands
for Identity, Differentiate, interact and customize.
 Identity: The first step is to identify the customers by collecting the information about
the customers. In order to build and increase the customers’ base it is very important for
the British Airways to segment its customers and it can be accomplished by collecting the
information about the customers such as name, address and other details. The goals are to
collect the data of the customers in order to analyse their preferences that will helps the
company to make modifications in its strategies and provide the relevant strategies
accordingly. The airline company can devise a customer recognition program in order to
identify its frequent travellers.

 Differentiate: This stage differentiates the customers in order to identify which one have
the value now and in the future. With the help of this it allows the business to implement
the customer specific model in order to meet the requirements of the customers. With the
help of this, the company can easily identify the needs and requirements of the customer
and execute the strategies accordingly.
 Interacting: In this the company can interact and communicate with their travellers and
know about their experiences and also with the feedback received, the organisation will
come to know about the preferences of the customers. With the help of this, the
management can monitor the ways to increase the customer interaction which helps in
building the relationship and also helps in fulfilling the needs and their preferences.
 Customizing: After getting the response and detailed information about the customer
preferences, the company can focus on providing customised services to its travellers for
better experience. For example, British Airways have started providing health related
services which help the passenger to get information regarding the health to ensure safety
of the travellers.
The emergence of covid-19 had a huge impact on the business and also affected the
economy. It has been observed that aviation sector contributes the maximum in the economy
of the country and is immensely affected by the outbreak of Covid-19. The airline industry
contributes to 3.6% of the world’s GDP and also provides employment to the people. The
scope of the airline industry is increasing rapidly and thus plays a very important role in
carrying the passengers from one place to their destination(Wachtler, 2020). British airways
are influenced by the external factors such as recession, natural disasters etc. The company
has suffered huge losses during the Covid-19 due to lockdown and after that it also has to
follow the various restrictions imposed by the government. On the other hand, the other
sectors such as retail sectors do not suffered much loss as they switch to online selling their
products and services.
The other factor faced by the company is the changing needs and preferences of the
customers. It is very crucial to understand the demands of the customers as it is the most
important factor that can affect the business. By continuously monitoring the frequent
travellers, British Airways can identify the needs and implement the strategies accordingly.
On the other hand, the company can also focus on communicating with the customers by

understanding and response to their enquiries that will helps in building interaction and
improving brand image of the company. On the other hand, the strength of the company is its
technological strengths as the company has invested in the digitalisation in all its operational
areas. British Airways has managed to grow the operational efficiency as it has focused on
the technological advancement. During the pandemic the company suffered huge losses but
after the relaxation from various restrictions the company has focused on gaining back its
previous position in the market. The company has invested in the machine learning and data
analytics which helped the company to gain information about the customers and also
introduce various new and additional services keeping in mind the health and safety of the
customers.
Systems that support your organizations quality processes
British Airways uses various systems such as Total Quality management, lean management and
just in time management for improving the quality process of the company that will help in
effectively meeting the requirements of the customers.
Just-in-time: It is the inventory management method in which the products are received from
the suppliers only when they are needed. The main purpose of this method is to reduce the
holding cost and to increase the inventory sales. British airways offer wide range and high
quality services to ensure comfort and safe transportation for the people and their luggage. The
company has successfully planned the supply chain and used the superior software in order to
carry out the whole process effectively. The system will enable the company to reduce the cost
on inventory and focus on customer satisfaction to providing the services to its customers(Gao,
2018). The company can reduce its cost and eliminate the overproduction which will also
improve its quality process.
Total Quality management: Total quality management is the process of detecting and reducing
the errors and issues that occurs during manufacturing the supply chain management which helps
in improving the customer experience and also ensures that the employees and staff members are
provided with necessary training for performing the required work. The purpose focus on
improve the quality of the company’s output that includes the services and also focus on
providing better customer relationship. It is observed that today’s aviation industry is
competitive and dynamic. Thus it is very important to shift the attention of the management form

the functionality to providing better experience to its customers(Sadsiwi, and Fauziyah, 2021).
British Airways uses this approach to ensure that the quality services are provided to the
customers. For example, it is very common that the flights get delayed due to the uncertain
whether condition so to mitigate this dissatisfaction the company has introduced the notifications
which update the customers. It is important for the company to consider all the factors which can
helps in the improving its operations. The company has also planned to add various new and
additional facilities for enhancing the customer experience throughout their journey.
The company has to consider various factors while operating its business as it has to
undergo various challenges which can have negative impact on the company. With the outbreak
of Covid-19, the company has suffered various challenges and losses during the lockdown which
also impacted their profitability. The systems introduced by the company will not help in
reducing their holding cost and other expenses but will also help to ensure the safety of the
passengers. It is the responsibility of the company to ensure the health and safety of the
customers by providing customized services for improving their experiences(Amsari,and Sari,
2022). Due to the crisis, the government has imposed various restrictions that are necessary for
the company to comply and considering this factor the company has made modifications in their
services to ensure the safety of the customers. The advantage the company can have that is the
company has adopted the changes in the business environment and adopted various new
technological devices to modify their existing services and also use the technology to gather the
information about the customers and their preferences which has help the company to focus on
implementing such changes in its management to ensure that quality services are received to the
customers. Business environment of any company consist of various multiple factors that affects
its functioning. It is observed that some factors are present within the company and is under the
control but there are various factors that are present outside the company and are beyond the
control of the business. The decision making of the company is faced on these factors as they
play important role in running a business. It is very important for the company to plan its
strategies accordingly which helps the company to achieve its objectives. It is observed that
business environment is dynamic in nature and there are various factors that influence the
functioning of the company. In order to compete in the market, it is very necessary to make
modifications and plan strategies accordingly which helps the company to survive in the market.
British Airways has many competitors which provide services(Lubis, and et.al., 2020). It is the

responsibility of the company to analyse the market trends and provide customers with better
quality services. The company should focus on making various improvements in the various
systems which helps the company to achieve its goals and also retain the customer. Furthermore,
it is suggested that the company should formulate more effective strategies and plans which
helps the company to gain competitive advantage by introducing additional services to its
customers and also gain customer loyalty.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it can be concluded that the company has to build a strong customer
relationship in order to increase its sales and customer base in the market. In this CRM plays a
very major role and with the use of various techniques and tools acquire the information
regarding the customer which helps in understanding the need and preferences of the customers.
The report summarizes the various marketing theories which refer to the activities that is
undertaken by the company to promote the products and services offered by the company. It
includes the marketing mix, Ansoff matrix, communication mix, and porter’s five forces of the
British Airways. The report also includes the various Customer Relationship management
theories which helps to identify the customers so that the company can provide services
according to the needs and preferences of the customers(Beliasand et.al., 2018). With the use of
various and advanced technologies as it will help the company to invest less time and get more
reliable information which can be helpful in the achieving the objectives of the company.
There are various factors that are present in the business environment which affects the
company and in order to manage these factors it is very important for the company to analyse
those elements and make changes in their management accordingly. The Covid -19 has affected
the airline industry and the company has suffered huge losses due to lockdown and various
restrictions imposed by the government. In addition to this, the study also summarizes the
various systems that are used by the company in their quality process such as total quality
management and just in time which helps the company to control their cost involved in the

supply chain management which also helps in understanding the preferences of the customers
and also ensure that requirements are fulfilled by the company.

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