Leadership Report: Analyzing Michael O'Leary's Ryanair Management

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Michael O'Leary's leadership at Ryanair, examining his impact on the airline's performance and challenges. The report begins with an introduction to leadership and the selection of Michael O'Leary as the subject of the case study. It then outlines the methodology used to gather information from primary and secondary sources, including questionnaires, surveys, journals, and the internet. The analysis delves into the leadership issues, such as improper adherence to customer expectations and insufficient staff, and applies leadership theories like scientific management to understand the shortcomings. The report also offers alternative action steps and recommendations for improving leadership within Ryanair, including a focus on customer satisfaction and employee training. The report concludes with a summary of the findings and a call to action for Ryanair to address the identified leadership deficiencies.

LEADERSHIP

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
METHODOLOGY..........................................................................................................................1
Acquisition of Information..........................................................................................................1
Considerations for Observation...................................................................................................3
ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS....................................4
Findings and Analysis.................................................................................................................4
Alternative Action Steps.............................................................................................................7
Recommendations.......................................................................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................11
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................12

INTRODUCTION
Leadership refers to an appropriate combination of all the techniques, processes and
methods that individuals within an organisation choose and implement in order to lead the
overall organisation towards success. Moreover, they are responsible towards motivating
individuals working in the company towards enhancing their potential so that the firm's goals
and objectives are effectively and essentially achieved. In addition, a leader is also responsible
towards engaging in activities which leads towards production of better outcomes that contribute
within improvising working environment of the company (Macdonald, Burke & Stewart, 2018).
Hence, in this context, the report below is based on Michael O’Leary, who is the leader
of the most recognised budget airline company Ryanair. This individual has been selected for
this report as currently, the organisation is suffering from massive downfall due to the bad
leadership of its leader, which makes it very necessary to analyse him. The staff, along with the
customers are not happy with the direction which the leader has been giving the company since
his arrival. Therefore, the report would undertake development of an in-depth understanding of
the leader of Ryanair through adoption of effective case study approach. Along with this, the
report also involves an appropriate analysis of these leadership issues and related
recommendations.
METHODOLOGY
Acquisition of Information
There are several ways in which necessary information is very much adopted in order to
ensure effective insight within a chosen topic, or collecting information about a specific
individual or organisation. However, it is very necessary to use information from effective
resources and ways as it would be structuring the way that information would be used by the
researcher (Oc, 2018). Hence, in this context, there are several appropriate sources of
information through which data could be acquired. These methods are discussed below:
Primary Sources of Information
This is one of the most crucial methods through which information about a person,
concept or organisation is collected. As per this method, a first hand approach is adopted by the
researcher, as the data collected has never been acquired before and is gathered for the first time.
There are several methods of these sources that are discovered below:
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 Questionnaires: This method is widely used in order to obtain the information from a
large sample of individuals which would be helping the firm in acquiring precise and
objective information about the concerned topic. It is very much beneficial in order to
acquire and gather information in a quick manner. However, due to its objective nature,
no detailed information could be obtained which is its disadvantage (Klenke, 2017).
 Surveys: Another method through which information for an organisation or company
could be gathered is through surveys. This method is used like a questionnaire, however,
the responses gathered within the same is quite subjective. Hence, this is one of the most
effective advantages of this method in order to acquire relevant first hand information.
However, one of its major demerits is associated with the difficulty in analysing or
quantifying the subjective information that is being provided by the clients.
Secondary Sources of Information
These sources of information are the ones which are used to obtain information that has
already been acquired before for some prior study or research objective. Moreover, these sources
are widely used in today's current scenario with access to digitalisation and awareness amongst
individuals. Therefore, some of the most commonly used aspects are discovered below: Journals: These are the written transcripts that are formed by several managers and
professionals in a certain field. In addition to this, these are published sources which
could be used in order to get professional insight onto different concept, individuals and
ideologies (Fletcher, 2017).
 Internet: Due to access to digitalisation in almost every part of the world, information
about each and every topic could be found on the internet. There are certain websites
which offer quality data that could be used by researchers or organisations free of cost. In
addition, another advantage of this source is that it is very easy to identify that the
information present within this source is authenticated or not. However, it disadvantage is
that it might expose individuals from many hard hitting opinions or diplomatic facts that
could influence mindset of these individuals quite effectively.
Hence, out of all these sources of information, secondary sources of information are
being used in order to derive crucial information about Michael O’Leary leadership within
Ryanair. The reason for it is that a case study approach would be better to analyse how best the
leader is implementing his skill and competence and what are the shortfalls within the same that
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has been leading the company to face hardships within the marketplace. Moreover, this study
would also contribute towards determining the scope of improvement for the company along
with necessary action steps in order to ensure the approach of the firm and its leader in
overcoming the situation (Bolman & Deal, 2018).
Considerations for Observation
Observation refers to an act of analysing and evaluating a situation effectively by being
an appropriate spectator of the same. For this project, there are certain observations that has been
made towards the case of ineffective leadership by Michael O’Leary. Hence, some of these
observations that have been undertaken are discussed below: Ethical Consideration: One of the prime considerations that have been provided within
the project has been that the research has been by adhering to its principles and ethical
values surrounding the same. Furthermore, the information has been gathered by public
sources, using internet and journals, that could have been accessed without violation of
privacy or confidentiality of the parties that published the data upon these sources.
Another ethical consideration that has rightfully been given to the project is that the
information that has been segregated is by all means legal and has not been acquired
using unethical means such as bribing or coercion. Authentication of Information: This consideration is perhaps one of the most focused
upon pointers within the overall case. The information that has been gathered for this
project is very much authenticated and relevant to the leader and current situation of the
firm under its leadership. In addition to this, the information presented in this report does
not deviate from the objective and is concise and emphasized upon the leadership of
Michael O’Leary (Clinton, 2018).
 Credibility: All the sources that have been utilised within the research are gathered
through credible resources and trusted websites that have been cross referenced before
usage. This consideration has provided an authenticate and effective approach to the
project and has caused effectiveness within the research by inclusion of appropriate and
credible sources of information.
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ANALYSIS OF LEADERSHIP ISSUES AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Findings and Analysis
Michael O’Leary has been the CEO of Ryanair since 1994 and has been on that role since
that year up to the present. Moreover, he has led the organisation towards becoming one of the
most preferred budget airlines for the people within the Untied Kingdom, as well as globally. In
addition to this, for years he has been on top of his game with all the shareholders and employees
supporting him to be a great leader. This could be backed up by several instances, for example,
within 2012, the firm's profit enhanced its profit up to around €4.3 billion (Michael O’Leary:
Ryanair CEO's four lessons for business leaders, 2020). This was because back in the day, he
analysed the market in order to determine the gap within the same and providing the customers
with effective services as per their needs. Another aspect that could prove him worthy of an
effective leader is that the low cost strategy which the leader suggested for the company
enhanced the firm's sales and profitability for one year straight. However, after 2013, the profits
started to decrease substantially (Bush, Bell & Middlewood, 2019).
Since then the firm has been poorly functioning within the United Kingdom and the sole
reason for the same has been ineffectiveness of its leader. There are several grounds on which
leadership of this organisation failed to comply with. Some of these fronts are explored below
effectively: Improper adherence to customer expectations: One of the primal fronts where the firm
is currently lagging behind is mapping the preferences and expectations of customers.
This is because there is a set pattern in which customers are expected to fly with Ryanair
and if there are passengers who are not frequent flyers, then they would remain unaware
of these ways that would be causing them to have an inappropriate awareness.
 Assistance: Another front that relates with the firm's ineffectiveness is related to the
insufficient staff on the ground. This leads to incompetent management when it comes to
assisting customers at time of cancellation of flights or delays. Moreover, the distribution
of staff over the flights and ground is very much inappropriate, which has led to
enhancement in customer complaints in recent times.
However, more than half of the problems within the organisation has been due to
inappropriate leadership within the organisation. Michael O'Leary has been facing several
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challenges towards shaping the company towards higher productivity, profitability and consistent
success (Bennis, 2017).
To analyse these issues, there are several theories that have been utilised below, which
would be providing an insight as to what is an ideal way of adopting and implementing
leadership and what all is missing in the leadership by Michael O'Leary, in terms of enhancing
the competence level within the organisation. Hence, some of the most prominent theories are
discussed below:
Scientific Management Theory:
This theory emphasises upon development of a scientific approach to management where
the leader must work towards creating an environment of sequences, methodologies and
effective approach towards management. Its main agenda is directed towards improvisation of
efficiency of organisation, along with productivity of labour.
There are several principles which the theory gives that serves as guidance for managers
to follow the same effectively within the organisation. Hence, these principles are elaborated
below effectively: Science, Not rule of thumb: The most prominent principle of Scientific management
theory is that managers must ensure scientific studying of the concepts and then applying
the same within the organisation. The motive of doing so is to ensure that the tasks are
completed efficiently. However, as reflected above, the organisation does not have a clear
segregation of the flight and ground staff, reflecting the fact that the duties allotted to
them are not appropriately assigned and the leader does not focus on new and scientific
ways to manage the staff efficiently. This is one of the biggest problems which is faced in
the leadership of Michael O'Leary. The reason for this is because there are no specific
approaches which are associated with the staffing of individuals within the company,
which causes several problem to the staff, as well as to the customers (Terrell & et. al.,
2018). Scientific training for employees: Another principle that is associated with scientific
management is related to training of employees, which must be provided using several
appropriate and scientific techniques. The focus of this principle is upon provision of
such a training which helps in appropriately and effectively accomplish each task in the
desired manner. This again arises a major issue within the organisation, as the leader is
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known to hire ineffective staff which are hired on zero hour basis for the work. Hence
there is no effective training that is given to these individuals which is a prime demand in
the aviation industry. As a result to this, the inappropriate leadership is causing high
turnover within the organisation and people are said to leave to pursue better
opportunities within the industry. Ensuring of efficient working ways: As per the theory, leaders within the organisation
must monitor the productivity of each employee, as well as cooperate with them in order
to enhance their engagement within the organisation. Furthermore, this technique is also
effectively applied in order to ensure efficiency within the tasks that are performed by
employees in the company. As for Michael O'Leary, his leadership is very inappropriate
in context of retaining employees. The same could be stated through the fact that he does
not emphasises on providing individuals with employee benefits in an appropriate
manner. The pay of existing staff is lower, and there are no additional services that are
provided to them, which again causes demotivation within the existing workforce.
 Division of work: Leaders within an organisation, according to this theory must develop
a process of executing each task in an appropriate manner, which requires the tasks to be
allotted to the person who specialises in the field. This could be done through ensuring
participation of individuals within the company. However, the leader adopts a more strict
approach where there are no participations of individuals promoted within the firm
(AGGRESSIVE LEADERSHIP STYLE OF RYANAIR, 2020).
Situational Leadership Theory:
According to this theory, there is no definite manner in which the leadership within an
organisation is provided and must be adopted as per the situation that is prevailing within the
company. Moreover, a leader is required to be flexible enough in order to modify their leadership
style which suits the situation within the company (Sosik & Jung, 2018). This requires the
individuals of a company to apply four prominent approaches:
 Directing, which requires leaders to provide clear instructions for individuals to work
upon,
 Selling, that is associated with involvement of the leader in day to day activities,
 Participating, which is associated with providing autonomy of decisions to individuals.
 Delegation, which is related to delegation of responsibilities and roles.
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In context with Michael O'Leary, a rather aggressive leadership style and mostly
directing approach is adopted by the individual in order to manage the resources within the
company (Rhode, 2017). Such autocratic approach decreases the motivation, loyalty and
engagement of individuals in the company. Moreover, due to no participation within the
company, there are just standard approaches that has been adopted in Ryanair to deal with
customers and there is no focus on innovation and creativity. Thus, this presents the company
with ample of leadership issues due to Autocracy in decision making.
Alternative Action Steps
As per the analysis above, there are several leadership issues that the company is
currently facing. Hence, in this regard, there must be several alternative action steps which must
be adopted by Michael O'Leary in order to improvise his leadership approaches must be
provided. Hence, some of these action steps, along with their advantages and disadvantages are
discussed below:
Leadership Style:
One of the most appropriate aspect that must be adopted by the individual as per his
leadership style is to change its leadership style to Democratic. The reason for this is because it
would allow him to keep the employees satisfied by giving him autonomy in decision making.
However, there are certain advantages and disadvantages that are stated below: Advantage: Its merit is that this leadership style allows in enhancing the employee
engagement within the organisation, that brings in new insight in context of managing
and working within the firm (Covin & Slevin, 2017).
 Disadvantage: However, its major disadvantage is that within this leadership style, the
decision making of the company takes in a lot of time. Moreover, since the involvement
of employees is quite much, it could also lead to conflicts within the company.
Innovation:
Another alternative course of action that Michael O'Leary could take within the company
in context of his leadership is that he could introduce innovation within its products, services, as
well as training methods to staff which would be keeping them motivated. The advantages and
disadvantages of the same are stated below: Advantage: One of its most beneficial factors is related to this course of action is that this
would lead to attraction of more individual and development of a nice working
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environment within the company, which would keep the individuals intact and motivated
(Kouzes & Posner, 2018).
 Disadvantage: Its demerit is that it would require the company to appropriately invest
into new technologies and resources, that might lead to unnecessary costing.
Training:
This aspect is related to the fact that Michael O'Leary must undergo appropriate training
in order to enhance his competence as a leader. This would require him to adopt methods such as
simulations, which would be creation of mock situations to exercise different situations. Its
advantages and disadvantages in context of the leadership is reflected below: Advantage: One of the main advantages in this regard is that it would develop necessary
competence within the individual in context of applying his leadership within the
company in an appropriate manner.
 Disadvantage: This might lead to enhancement of exertion within this individual which
might lead to lower productivity and much worse leadership.
Recommendations
Michael O'Leary who is a Irish businessmen and also a Chief executive officer of
Ryanair. At this moment, the Ryanair is facing many problems and issues that are mainly the
implications of aggressive leadership style used by Michael O'Leary. It has been seen that use of
autocratic leadership style together with centralised decision making policy has hampered the
performance of Ryanair organisation as employees are treated as a commodity to simply act out
the decisions without any participation. In order to solve theses issues faced by Ryanair
organisation following recommendation can be made for its CEO and leader Michael O'Leary to
have improvement in his leadership style together with overall success of organisation (Sanders,
2017).
 First of all, use of democratic leadership style is recommended for Michael O'Leary as it
facilitates a more participative form of leadership style. The use of democratic leadership
style facilitates encouragement in employees and subordinates through proper delegation
of responsibilities in decision making process. The main emphasis of democratic
leadership style is on effective participation and involvement of all subordinates and
employees in decision making that offer a free and open working environment to all
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individuals. Further, it also facilitates diversity in decision making process through more
creative and innovative ideas from employees coming from diversified background thus,
use of democratic leadership style will lead to the improvement in working atmosphere of
Ryanair organisation and also makes it more successful through effective discussion
about various innovative and creative ideas before making any final decisions (Priest &
Gass, 2017).
Further use of democratic leadership style by Michael O'Leary provides solution
to its issues of aggressive leadership style and lack of participation of employees through
facilitating better involvement and encouragement in employees. Use of democratic leadership
style improve the level of job satisfaction and create a feeling of honesty, loyalty and
commitment in the employees towards the employer and leader as due importance is provided to
their views and opinion. This feature of democratic leadership will solve the issue of high
turnover in Ryanair organisation through providing a better and more participative work culture. Beside the use of Democratic leadership styles, adoption of scientific management
approach is also recommended for Michael O'Leary as it provides a more practical and
scientific leadership approach for betterment and success of an organisation. Use of
scientific management approach facilitates an effective way to define various scientific
measures to improve the efficiency and overall performance of workers in order to
achieve simplification, standardization and specialisation in the Ryanair organisation.
The scientific management approach basically provides four important principles that
can be applied by Michael O'Leary to have improvement in his leadership style and
also facilitates better growth and performance for Ryanair organisation. An description
about these four principles of scientific management and their implication in Ryanair
organisation and leadership of Michael O'Leary is provided below:
Science decision after discussion- It is recommanded for Michael O'Leary that he
should make decisions on the basis of scientific facts and after proper discussion with its
subordinates and employees so that new and better techniques can be developed to make
business operations of Ryanair more simple and easier that facilitates better growth and success
(Western, 2019).
Harmony - This principles is recommended for Michael O'Leary to solve the
issue of high turnover and aggressive leadership style as no organisation can achieve its gaols in
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discord. Thus, efforts should made by Michael O'Leary to develop an atmosphere where
employees and management works with harmony and cooperation and an indispensable
relationship exists between the two in order to achieve the mutual organisational gaol in more
effective and better manner. Michael O'Leary should try to develop metal resolution and a
change in his thinking from being an aggressive leader to become a democratic leader that will
result in end of maximum number of conflicts and issues prevailing at the Ryanair and facilitates
mutual benefits for both employees and organisation.
Effective Cooperation and team spirit- This principle is recommended for
Michael O'Leary as it emphasis on the feeling of team spirit and mutual cooperation at
organization as adoption of this principle by Michael O'Leary enhance commitment and loyalty
level of employees and lead to a more positive and healthy workplace environment to solve the
issue of high turnover and create many miraculous results.
Development of each individual- Adoption of this principle focus on development
of each and every person to their greatest efficiency and prosperity that is necessary for overall
success of an organisation. In case of Michael O'Leary, it is essential for him to improve his
leadership style and become quite humble and polite with its employee and subordinates and
should also needs to boost their employees for better performance. This can be achieved through
some effective educational and leadership training that facilitates better experience for both
employees and customers thus, improve the overall performance of Ryanair (Bolman & Deal,
2017).
Implementation plan
The biggest issue faced by Ryanair is related with aggressive leadership approach of
Michael O'Leary that has created high turnover of new and inexperienced employees. Therefore,
the most suitable implementation plan to address this issue is providing better orientation and
induction programmes to these employees. Michael O'Leary should conduct some induction
programmes in order to make its employees aware about his company policies and work
environment in order make them more comfortable with culture of Ryanair. Beside this, some
orientate process can also be facilitated by Michael O'Leary to help its employees to properly
align with their new position and responsibilities in order to build better cooperation in Ryanair
organisation.
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