Management Development Programmes: A Case Study of British Airways

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Organisation- Leadership
and Management
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INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY.............................................................................................................................4
1. Defining and discussing the concept of leadership and management................................4
2. Analysing and discussing the leadership theory and approaches.......................................7
3. Analysing management development programmes for British Airways.........................10
CONCLUSION........................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................15
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INTRODUCTION
Organisational leadership is an important approach which works towards the benefit of
individuals, team and organisational as a whole. It can be said as an attitude and work ethics
which empowers individuals in organisation in any role to lead from different levels of an
organisation. The present report has aims to highlight the benefit of leadership in success and
growth of any organisation in the highly competitive business scenario. The report is based
on the British airways and the need of different leadership programmes for the top
executives. British Airways is the 2nd largest airline in United Kingdom with routes more than
550 destination towards all over the world. It is headquarter Waterside, Harmondsworth.
They have not just engaged it passenger’s services but also operation of international and
domestic carriages of freight and mail, and ancillary services.
The report will highlight management and leadership play an integral role in success and
growth of an organisation. They are essential to manage and control various business
activities and performance of employees in increasing the efficiency of organisation and
achieving its business objective in profitable manner. The report will demonstrate the
differences between management and leadership on an organisation. Further, report will
include that there are many approaches of leadership which are effective to be applied in an
organisation to carry out its operation in more efficient manner. Report will describe
transformational leadership theory which is assist to focus on the way leaders can create
valuable and positive changes in their subordinates. The theory will also include different
leadership development programmes in British airways in order to explore and identify
different skills and knowledge of leaders in senior executives to achieve the aims of the
organisation in efficient manner.
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MAIN BODY
1. Defining and discussing the concept of leadership and management
In this highly competitive business environment, management and leadership play an integral
role in success and growth of an organisation. They are essential to manage and control
various business activities and performance of employees in increasing the efficiency of
organisation and achieving its business objective in profitable manner. Management and
leadership are often replaced with each other however they are efferent in terms of their
application and functions in an organisation.
Definition and concept of management
The organisation along with its activities coordination need concept of management so that
they can achieve their goals and objectives effectively and on time. The concept of
management will also cover factor of production under which the manager of the
organisation manage the performance of every resources effectively so that task or project
must be achieved by them. Management is essential in all kind of and size of organisation in
order to accomplish the goals of organisation in more efficient manner. Management includes
the different process of planning, organising, coordinating, directing and controlling different
activities and performance of organisation in an effective manner (Ambrosin, Jenkins and
Mowbray, 2015).
There are different definitions of management as per the view of the scholars, as per the
Henry L. Sisk “Management is the coordination of all resources through the procedures of
planning, organising, commanding and controlling to attain specific objectives. With the
help of these management functions it becomes easy for the manager to start their project and
complete it on time with full effectiveness. The manager of the organisation need to first start
with the plan function and then they need to organise the resources that are required for the
project and provide proper command or direction to the team. Addition to this, they need to
monitor and control the further activities of the plan so that improvement must be
implemented. Another definition of management by American Society states that
“Management is the art and science of organising and commanding the employee’s efforts in
order to control the employees and utilise the materials for the benefit of man.” It can be
analyse from the definitions that management is the process of getting the work and task done
through others. It is the activity or process of managing different activities and employee’s
performance to attain the aim of the organisation.
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In this regards, Managers of the organisation play an important role in efficiently managing
all the functions and resources in organisation. There are three main roles of the mangers in
an organisation. It includes interpersonal role a managers has to communicate to the higher
management in order to make the strategies and policies and convert them back to the
employees in different department. Intrapersonal role also includes that managers has to be
representatives and deals with customers, client and outside parties of business enterprise.
Another role informational role, in this role a mangers of the organisation or different
department has to report to higher executives related to the performance of different
department (Wolfgramm, Flynn-Coleman and Conroy, 2015). It will assist the top
management to take decisions on future activities and gaols. Managers in this role also have
to communicate to the employees related to the decisions and strategies of to management.
The third role is decisional role, in which a manager has to take short term and long term
decisions related to the organisational activities and future mission.
Definition and Concept of leadership
Leadership can be termed as the process through which a person influences others to attain
the aim of objectives and instruct the organisation to make it more organised. Leadership is
the process where the individual has the capacity to influence a group or team to perform and
achieve common goals. Leadership is also known as essential elements of the direction
functions of management. Thus, leadership can be defined as “The ability to persuade others
to seek defined aim and objectives. It depends on the human factor that coordinates a ream
together and motivates towards accomplishing the goals.” Leadership is important to improve
the motivation and morals of the subordinates.
In an organisation leadership is present at all organisations to emphasise the performance of
the employees as per the requirement of the firm (Döös, Johansson and Wilhelmson, 2015).
The communication is main key to the effective leadership, as leaders has to communicate to
the top managers and helps in formulating the decisions and strategies. They have to
communicate the strategies to the employees and facilitate so that the employees can perform
accordingly. Leadership is the role which is played by the leaders of the organisation under
which they need to lead their team by providing proper guidance and direction to their team
members.
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Difference between leadership and management
Table 1 Difference between management and leadership
Basis of difference Management Leadership
Overview Management is the process of
planning, organising, directing and
controlling different activities of
organisation and employees
performance.
Leadership is the act of leading
and directing employees
through motivating and
encouraging the employees
(Difference Between
Leadership and Management ,
2019).
Depends on Management depends on
controlling the work of others and
business operations as per the plan.
Leadership is depends on the
trust of the followers and
subordinates on their leaders.
Focuses on Management focuses on bringing
stability in the different business
operations and performance
(Ghasabeh, Soosay and Reaiche,
2015).
Leadership focuses on the
encouraging employees to
perform in order to bring
change in organisation.
Authority The authority of management is to
rule over different department and
workers to perform as per the
strategies.
The authority of leadership is to
influence and encourage the
employees and direct them to
perform productively.
Formulation on Management is formulated in
various policies and procedures.
Leadership is formulates on the
principle and guidelines.
In this regards, it can be said that management and leadership are important in organisation in
order to attain the aims and goals in more efficient manner. It can be said that one of the main
difference between management and leaderships is that management is for the formal and
organised group of the people, whereas leadership is meant for both formal and informal
group.
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2. Analysing and discussing the leadership theory and approaches
Leadership can be analysed as the quality and ability of a leader to influence an individual or
a group in order to achieve a specific objectives. A leader can apply their leadership skills
and knowledge to encourage an employee or a team to perform ion increasing the
productivity and profitability of organisation. Thus, a leadership is the combined function of
management and process of influencing employees which helps in increasing their
performance level and their efficiency. Leadership theories and approaches are related to
handling the performance of the team members by supporting them with the quality of
leadership direction and guidance. This will help the leaders to communicate with their
employees about their expectations so that motivation can be provided to them to improve
their performance at the workplace.
A leader plays an integral role in managing and controlling the performance of others and
business activities in increasing the efficiency of firm. Leaders in an organisation are
essential at each level of organisation. In top level, leaders are effective in coordinating with
executives in formatting policies and procedures. A leader is essential at middle and lower
level to communicate the strategies and policies so that the business operation will perform as
per the set criteria. It can be said that to create a high performance employees is becoming
more important (Bradley, 2016). The leaders in organisation require being able to inspire the
employee to work beyond the requirement of the task and activities. In this regards, there are
many approaches of leadership which are effective to be applied in an organisation to carry
out its operation in more efficient manner. Some of these theories include Trait Theory,
transformational theory, behavioural theory, Contingency theory, and charismatic leadership.
Following are some leadership theories and approaches that can be considered by the leaders
of the British Airways:
Transformational leadership theory
Transformational leadership approach is defined as an approach which leads to bring change
in an individual and social system. This theory leads to focus the way leaders can create
valuable and positive changes in their subordinates. In transformational leadership, a leader
inspires and encourages their subordinates and followers in order to achieve the unexpected
or remarkable outcomes. It helps the employee to self-govern their work over particular job,
along with this provides the control to take decisions after their training. Transformational
leadership is effective in creative valuable and positive changes on the employees that lead
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them, to become a leader (Renz, 2016). Transformational leadership is an effective approach
which enhances the motivation, morale and performance of the employees through different
ways. A leader has to become a role model for the subordinates and employees that assist in
inspire them, changing the employees to be responsible for their work.
Transformational leadership is an effective approach which can be found at every level of an
organisation such as in different departments, team and firm as whole. Transformational
leadership model has four key concepts or style which is also known as four I’s.
Figure 1 Transformational leadership
Idealised Influence: It is the most basic form which means becoming the role model for their
followers and employees. The transformational leaders illustrate these actions through living
this each and every day so that employee cans learn more effectively. Idealised influence can
be termed as the transformational leader’s willingness to take risk and follows a core set of
values and ethical principles in all the activities or action they take. Through this concept a
leader build trust on his employees and followers which in turn build as confidence on the
leaders. Idealised influence believes in the theory that leaders can influence and encourage
the employees through practicing the activities that a leader teaches.
Inspirational motivation: It can be said that transformational leadership is based on the
promotion of consistent vision, mission and set of values to the members. Inspirational
motivation is termed as the ability and capability of a leader to inspire and encourage
confidence, motivation and an objective for the employees (Four Elements of
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Transformational Leadership , 2019). The transformational leader has to demonstrate the
clear vision of future and properly communicate the desire of different teams and illustrate
the commitment towards the goals which has to be achieved. This component of
transformational leadership requires effective communication skills so that a leader can
convey to the followers and employees with full authority in efficient manner. It can be said
that, leaders who uses inspirational motivation have high expectation from their employees.
They are optimistic about the employee’s ability to accomplish the goals and always
motivates the employees through making them realising of their importance of the duties and
responsibilities. A transformational leader will encourage their subordinates to put extra
efforts in their task and activities in order to enhance their own abilities for future. The
leaders of the British Airways always encourage their team members by involving them in
the decision making process and also try to maintain transparency at the workplace so that
internal issues related to the lack of involvement must be avoided.
Intellectual Stimulation: Transformational leadership is all about encouraging and value the
creativity and self-independence among the leaders’ subordinates. A transformational leader
supports the employees through engaging them in decision making process and stimulating
their efforts to be as creative and innovative as possible in order to determine the solution. A
leader in transformational leadership collaborates with their employees in trying new
approaches in developing and innovative and creative ways to deal with different
organisational issues. A manager facilitates intellectual stimulation through continuous
demand higher performance and better results. Encouraging creativity and innovation in
employees is essential for the long term success of the organisation.
Individualised Consideration: In this approach a leaders act as a mentor to their followers
and employees and rewards them for their creativity and innovation. Leaders will treat the
employees differently as pert their skills and knowledge. Transformational leaders are
challenges to identify and fulfil the employee’s requirement to better the overall organisation
(Pendleton and Furnham, 2016). The goals of individualised consideration are to explore and
leverage the skills of the employee’s possessed in order to achieve the organisational vision.
The leaders require having understanding of employee’s needs and motivation.
Transformational leaders through coaching and mentoring can provide opportunities for
different training session which assist the employees to improve and enhances their skills and
knowledge.
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In the present business scenario and increasing competition in market, transformational
leadership is essential to be applying in every level of the organisation (Al Saifi, 2015).
Employees and subordinates of the transformational leader are efficient in high level of job
satisfaction and organisational commitment. In his regards, transformational leadership is
effective to be applied in an organisation to enhance the motivation of employees, allowing
greater performance and creative and innovative way to perform in order to attain the vision
of the organisation and success. Transformational leadership approach help the team of the
organisation to enhance the motivation level of their employees and that will also increase the
commitment level of their employees towards goals and objectives of the organisation.
3. Analysing management development programmes for British Airways
Brutish Airways: It is the 2nd largest airline in United Kingdom with routes more than 550
destination towards all over the world. It is headquarter Waterside, Harmondsworth. They
have not just engaged it passenger’s services but also operation of international and domestic
carriages of freight and mail, and ancillary services. The airlines were established in 1910.
Management development Programmes of British airways
In this highly completive business environment, leadership is termed as the lifeblood to
effectively influence the performance of the employees and business operation in order to
attain the productivity and profitability to attain aim and objective of the organisation. In this
regards, leadership development programmes is the professional development programme for
the top management or the board of directs to enhance their leadership skills and knowledge
to formulate the strategies and decisions as the perspective of a leader as well. It can be said
that, British airways is facing the issues of declining profitability, loss of market share and
goodwill in market. It can be due to the employees are dissatisfied from the job (Bhasin,
2015). The top executives of British airways are making different strategies and policies in
order to reduce the operating cost of the company. However, as a leader the top management
must focus on their employees and their performance which can adds value to the customers
and increase the profit of the company.
The management development programme for British Airways is to address two most
common dominant corporate agendas which are leadership and change which assist the top
executive to change the organisational structure and working pattern. The leadership
programmes for top management programmes involves six leadership ski8lls that is essential
to manage the change such as planning, structuring, rewarding, motivation, institutionalising
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and manage politics in change initiatives. Thus, leadership development programmes for
executives are essential so that they can explore their skills and knowledge as a leader and try
to take risk in order to increase the efficiency of the organisation.
Different executives have applied different strategies in order to respond to these issues. The
leadership styles of Sir Colin have focused on two main stakeholders in to increase the
profitability that is employees and customers. According to Collin, the aim to achieve the
customer satisfaction from the airlines services is from the satisfaction of the employees. As
in the service industry the main resource which leads to increase the efficiency of the firm is
its human force. Thus, to achieve the efficiency in performance and services of the British
Airways is to increase the performance level and services of the employees through applying
different skills and traits of the leadership (Sigala and Chalkiti, 2015). Colin has much
emphasised on the employee’s need which becomes a successful leadership style of Collin.
The leadership style of BA changes after Robert has being appointed as a CEO. Robert goal
was to increase the profitability. In order to achieve this, he cut off the variable cost of
employee’s salary which results in dissatisfaction of the employees and led to them on strike.
It affected the reputation of organisation in market which affected the sales as well. It can be
said that Robert was not an efficient leader, as all he needs to do is to increase the
profitability of the organisation without any concern of the employees and their satisfaction.
Thus, is very essential for the top executives to become an efficient leader and work as per
the current business scenario in order to achieve long-term vision. As leading global premium
airlines, it is essential to have efficient and effective leadership in order to develop potential
leaders. In this regards, British Airways has introduced High performance Leadership system.
It is an integrated system which linked with the business strategies, setting of the objectives,
performance assessment and development and rewards system to the highly efficient
employees. This system focuses on the senior larders in the organisation, this system has
assist as a tool in order to identify the potential leaders and provide them with mechanism to
continue development (Marques, 2015). In High performance leadership system, the
management has defined, communicated and measure individual performance against three
set capabilities that are required to be in a leader of British Airways which includes
communicating a common vision, agreeing accountabilities and motivating and inspiring
other employees. In British airways, specific attributes have been developed which assist the
leaders to understand the expectations from them through different development programmes
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which includes coaching, mentoring, networks, forum and external courses. In addition to
this, organisation also undertakes different measures in order to measure the performance. It
helps the management of British airways to monitor the progress of individual and track the
overall system in order to manage the talent of organisation and achieve the aims of the firm.
In addition to others leadership programmes, British airways launched different programmes
which includes:
Behaviour for success: A leadership development programmes for the high performance
leadership community which focused on understanding and implementing personal
leadership performance. This program improves the personal attitude of the employees
towards other employees and that maintain positive culture at the workplace.
Leadership Matters: A schemes in order to identify and develop who have integral role and
responsibility towards the customers and operational areas of BA profitability. Leadership is
the most effective skill which enhances the performance of the individual and group of
individual as leaders who have leadership skill always encourage their team members by
guiding them in their assigned task and projects.
Leadership Development Portfolio: This approach is very useful in supporting current and
potential leaders at every level of the organisation and also to the emerging leaders. The
development portfolio for the leadership skill enhancement supports the leaders of British
Airways to improve their current performance by working on their lacking areas. This
development approach helps the leaders to achieve professional benefits at the workplace.
Thus, it can be states that strong top leadership is highly beneficial for the organisation
growth and it can also be mechanism to test the leader to remove the organisation issues
without any major losses. The leaders have to make different strategies in order to engage the
employees and increasing their morals in order to improve theory performance and services
(Dennison and Shenton, 2018). Through applying different motivational theory, top
management leaders and leaders at middle and lower level management can increase the
motivation which will assist in increasing the employee’s job satisfaction and their
commitment towards the organisation. It is a great measure to increase their performance
through applying different leadership styles and traits in increases their motivation, morals
and efficiency.
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