British Airways Cabin Crew Training and Development Report

This report presents a research proposal focused on identifying the role of training and development within the Cabin Crew department for domestic flights at British Airways (BA). The research aims to determine major training needs, analyze the impact of T&D on cabin crew and BA's performance, and suggest methods for effective training. The study encompasses a literature review of T&D concepts, training needs, types of training, and the importance of these elements in the aviation industry. It addresses the problem of low individual and organizational performance within BA, attributing this to potential deficiencies in training programs. The methodology includes a Gantt chart outlining the research plan, which covers literature review, data collection, analysis, and report writing. The report explores various training methods, including on-the-job and off-the-job training, and their effectiveness in improving employee skills, knowledge, and performance. The literature review also considers BA's current training practices and their impact on employee satisfaction and resource utilization. The study aims to provide insights for research scholars and contribute to improving T&D within the airline industry.

Research methods for
strategic managers
(To identify the role of training and development in Cabin
Crew department for domestic flights of British Airways)

TABLE OF CONTENTS
TASK 1: REASON, SIGNIFICANCE, SCOPE AND RELEVANCE OF THE RESEARCH
PROPOSAL.....................................................................................................................................1
Introduction..................................................................................................................................1
Aim and Objectives.....................................................................................................................1
Background of the problem.........................................................................................................2
Rational........................................................................................................................................2
Significance of the research.........................................................................................................2
Research questions.......................................................................................................................3
Research plan...............................................................................................................................3
Literature review..........................................................................................................................3
Training and development:..........................................................................................................4
Training needs..............................................................................................................................4
Types of training methods...........................................................................................................5
Role and Importance of training and development......................................................................6
TASK 2: Evaluation of research techniques and methodology.......................................................7
Research methodology.................................................................................................................7
TASK 3: Written presentation of a comprehensive research proposal..........................................12
Analysis of the data....................................................................................................................12
Thematic analysis......................................................................................................................13
Statistical analysis......................................................................................................................15
Conclusion and Recommendations............................................................................................16
References......................................................................................................................................18

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Gantt chart for current investigation..................................................................................3

TASK 1: REASON, SIGNIFICANCE, SCOPE AND RELEVANCE OF THE
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
Introduction
Training and Development (T&D) is one of the important functions of human resource
department of an organization which plays very important role in improving individual as well as
organizational development. Sometime, organizations face problem regarding individual and
organizational performance due to the lack of skills and knowledge (Tsiotsou and Ratten, 2010).
The current research project is based on role of training and development in Cabin Crew
department for domestic flights of airline industry. Regarding this researcher has chosen British
Airways (BA) which is one of the leading organizations of airline industry. Members of Cabin
crew department of BA require lots of training for domestic flights. So, training and development
if very important function for this investigation. Cabin crew members are also known as flight
attendants such as stewards, air hostesses and cabin attendants, etc. These employees of airline
industry are accountable for safety and comfort of passengers for different flights. Every
organization provides appropriate training before assigning roles and responsibilities to crew
members. BA also follows appropriate process of training for cabin crew members of the
organization. But, still company is facing problem related to the low individuals as well as
organizational performance. So, for determining role of T&D in cabin crew members, author has
decided to conduct present investigation. The whole study will follow a specific process which
will comprise different stages such as literature review, research methodology and data analysis
process. All these aspects help in completing the whole investigation in effective manner.
Aim and Objectives
Aim:
“To identify the role of training and development in Cabin Crew department for domestic
flights of British Airways”.
Objectives:
 To identify the major training needs of cabin crew members of British Airways for
domestic flights.
 To critically analyze the impact of training and development on cabin crew members as
well as British Airways.
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 To suggest appropriate ways for providing effective training to Cabin Crew department
for domestic flights of British Airways.
Background of the problem
British Airways is facing problem of low individual and organizational performance.
Along with this, Organization is not providing appropriate training to cabin crew members for
domestic flights. It is the major problem because of inappropriate skills and knowledge in
members of cabin crew department. Along with this, company is hiring inefficient employees for
different activities. Therefore, all these circumstances affect employee and organizational
performance. Training and development methods play important role in increasing skills and
knowledge of individuals. As per this statement, appropriate expertise among employees will
help in improving their own performance as well as organizations performance of BA.
Rational
Lack of skills and knowledge among employees and its negative impact on organizational
performance of BA is one of the major problem of this study. It is an issue because training and
development departments of the organization is not capable enough to increase skills and
knowledge of employees to provide services to customers of domestic flights of BA. So,
researcher wants to determine the role of T&D on organizational performance (Sanders, Cogin
and Bainbridge, 2013). Regarding this, author will focus on different types of training and
development methods, training needs and various ways for improving training and development
departments of BA.
Significance of the research
Study on role of T&D on organizational performance of BA will be significant for all
those research scholars who want to undertake similar kind of research.
Research questions
‘What are the major areas of shortfall in training and development among cabin crew in the
domestic flights of British Airways?
‘What are the various quantifiable results of training and development of cabin crew in domestic
flights of British Airways?
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Research plan
Table 1: Gantt chart for current investigation
Activity/Week 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Developing research proposal
Formulating aim and objectives
Review of literature
Selection of appropriate methods of research
Collection of primary and secondary data
Analysis of the collected information
Discussion of findings
Conclusion and recommendations
Submission of draft
Modifications
Final submission of report
Literature review
Literature review refers to the understanding, analysing and summarizing the information
suitable for the research. The information obtained for the literature review is secondary which is
collected from the journals, past researches, articles and many more. This literature review is
based on the role of training and development in BA. The reason behind this review is to find out
whether employees and satisfied with the training programmes conducted by BA for their
development or not. It also consists of the training and development process, training needs,
different types of training and importance of training and development. In the end, literature gap
is explained which contains the reason behind this literature review along with the key findings.
Training and development
Colina-Coca and et.al, 2014, have said that “Training and development is a systematic
approach which improves the skills, abilities and knowledge of the employees” (Colina-Coca
and et.al, 2014). Similarly Creswell, 2013, has stated that “Proper training and development help
workers to perform appropriately and effectively in his job ” (Creswell, 2013). In favor of this
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Garner and Scott, 2013, have asserted that “Training provide individuals an opportunity to
update their skills and knowledge as per the requirement of present market” (Garner and Scott,
2013). With respect to this, it is clear that training and development plays essential role in
employee's life for increasing their career growth opportunities.
On the other hand Kriz, Gummesson and Quazi, 2013, have demonstrated that “Effective
training results to improve the performance of the employee and organization as well” (Kriz,
Gummesson and Quazi, 2013). Similarly Flick, 2011, has found that “Improvement in
performance also depends upon the process of training and development” (Flick, 2011). In
addition to this, he further explained that proper planning is required for effective
implementation of training program. In contrast to this Goddard and Melville, 2004, have
identified in his research that “Training and development programs in aviation industries results
to decrease the employee stress, improves employee relations, enhance cultural knowledge and
brings change in the attitude and behavior of workers ” (Goddard and Melville, 2004).
Kumar, 2014, has concluded that “Before implementing training programs, it is important
to determine the training needs of the workers” (Kumar, 2014). In addition to this Gay, Mills and
Airasian, 2011 has stated that “Training programs according to the needs of employees give
more effective results rather than normal training sessions” (Gay, Mills and Airasian, 2011).
With respect to this statement, Martin and Guerin, 2006, has determined in his survey of over
200 organizations that “65% of workers require training in the field of leadership skills, 59%
requires in improving interpersonal skills, 52% needs for managing change and 41% requires for
improving customer service”(Martin and Guerin, 2006).On the other hand Sobh and Perry, 2006,
have demonstrated that “The main training need of employees is regarding the new and latest
technologies” (Sobh and Perry, 2006).
training in civil aviation industry
Vaivio, 2008, has stated that “Airline industry needs to provide training to staff members
for improving the communication with passengers” (Vaivio, 2008). In favour to this statement
Creswell, 2013, has asserted that “Airline companies are focusing on providing high quality
training to air hostages for attracting and influencing people” (Creswell, 2013). In contrast it
Garner and Scott, 2013, have concluded that “Training helps airline industries to increase their
number of passengers and sales” (Garner and Scott, 2013). In addition to this Gay, Mills and
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Airasian, 2011, has stated that “Training for sustainability makes individuals to use eco-friendly
and natural products and services and this bring awareness for clean and hygienic environment
among them” (Gay, Mills and Airasian, 2011)..
Flick, 2011, has found that “There are two types of training i.e. on the job training and off
the job training which helps in enhancing the skills of the employees” (Flick, 2011). On the other
hand Goddard and Melville, 2004 have concluded that “On the job training is more beneficial
than off the job as it helps workers to get the knowledge and information of their job in more
appropriate manner” (Goddard and Melville, 2004). In respect to this, Kumar, 2014, has found
that “Most of the airline industries uses on the job training method for providing training
regarding the customer relationship” (Kumar, 2014) In contrast to this Martin and Guerin, 2006,
have identified that “It is important for universities and institutions to add the concept of
customer relationship management in the training schedule of pilots” (Martin and Guerin, 2006).
Similarly Sobh and Perry, 2006, has stated that “This addition helps pilot in improving their
communication and decision making skills as per the requirement of passengers” (Sobh and
Perry, 2006).
Vaivio, 2008, has asserted that “Japan Airlines, Delta Airlines and United Airlines are
updating their off the job training programs such as classroom lectures, simulations, role plays,
etc for motivating their crew members and other employees” (Vaivio, 2008). In favor to this
Creswell, 2013, has concluded that “Off the job training programs results to increase the
creativeness and inattentiveness of the employees and also provide them an opportunity to ask
their queries face to face” (Creswell, 2013).
training in British airways
In a research Li, Zhao and Chen, 2012, have said that “British Airways is providing training to
its staff members for keeping the environment clean and safe”(Li, Zhao and Chen, 2012).
Bosma, 2007, has said that “These training and development programs helps aviation industry in
proper allocation and utilization of the resources” (Bosma, 2007). In favor of this Bush, 2011,
has identified that “Proper utilization of resources prevents the time and cost of money” (Bush,
2011). On the other hand Champoux, 2010, has given more emphasis to performance and stated
that “The positive impact of training and development is on the performance of the workers”
(Champoux, 2010). Similarly Brody, 2010, has concluded that “The reason behind the effective
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performance of British Airways and its employees is various training and development programs
which are monthly conducted by the company” (Brody, 2010). On the other hand DeFeo, 2013,
has asserted that “Training and development not only improves the performance but it also bring
quality in the living standard of individuals” (DeFeo, 2013). As per this statement, BA provides
high quality training to its pilots and air hostages which is represents by their behavior and
attitude.
Ke, 2006, has identified that “Effective training and development programs increase the
satisfaction level of the employees” (Ke, 2006). Similarly Lucio, 2013, has found that “Increased
level of satisfaction results to decrease the supervision, stress and work pressure” (Lucio, 2013).
As per this statement, British Airways can reduce the stress and work pressure of the employees
by providing them training related to the time management (5 Ways to Keep Your Employees
Motivated without Breaking the Bank, 2012).
TASK 2: EVALUATION OF RESEARCH TECHNIQUES AND
METHODOLOGY
Research methodology
The focus of research methodology is on the various methods and techniques which are
used for analysing the role of training and development in cabin crew members of in British
Airways. All these methods and techniques help in accomplishing the objectives of research in
proper and an appropriate way and provides correct and suitable answers of the research
questions (Colina-Coca and et.al, 2014). Research methodology of the whole inquiry is taking
place in various steps they are, research philosophy, approach, strategy, data collection, research
ethics, data analysis, hypothesis for the research and limitations. All these steps are explained
below.
Research Philosophy
Research Philosophy is a process in which data related to the research is collected,
analysed and used for achieving the suitable result. There are two types of research philosophy
such as, positivism and interpretivism. Positivism is based on the natural knowledge, their
properties and relations whereas interpretivism is based on social science which opposes
positivism (Kumar, 2014).
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The present research study is based on the role of training and development in British
Airways which is applicable for the internal environment of the company. Positivism philosophy
will is in this investigation by giving more emphasis to the empirical data and scientific methods.
The use of this philosophy is necessary because it is important to accomplish the certainty,
objectives and sub objectives related to the case study of British Airways.
Along with this, the complete inquiry will be based on the real and true information
rather than any manipulated or false data of training and development in British Airways. It is
clear that positivism philosophy will help researcher in achieving all the objectives related to
training and development in British Airways in effective and an appropriate manner (Vaivio,
2008).
Research Design
Research design is a process of selection of complete strategy for integrating various
elements in the research in coherent and logical manner. This is of two types, exploratory and
descriptive research design. Exploratory is used for those problems which are not defined
appropriately whereas descriptive is for identifying the number of participants in proper way.
For the present study, descriptive research design will be used because it consists of role and
impact of training and development on British Airways (BA) and its employees. For designing
the research in a descriptive manner three sources will be used which are questionnaire forms
and face to face interviews (Bosma, 2007).
Research Approach
Research approach is called as the combination of various theories and present research
study. There are two types of research approaches i.e. inductive and deductive. Inductive
approach is based on the observation of theories in specific to general manner whereas deductive
approach is based on testing the theories in general to specific manner. The focus of this study is
on the hypothesis rather than question based so that deductive approach will be used in present
investigation. In the first step of this approach, general information related to the training and
development will be used than it will move towards the specific information i.e. regarding the
British Airways. The hypothesis for role of training and development will take place on the basis
of its past data and information and then this information will be tested for finding its reliability
for the present investigation. Thus, this research approach will lead to determine the right and
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appropriate results regarding the role of training and development in BA (Ke, 2006).
Types of Research
There are two types of research i.e. qualitative research and Quantitative research.
Qualitative research is based on the opinions, behaviour and perception of the people with
respect to the research topic whereas quantitative research is based on statistical and numerical
analysis of the study. For the current inquiry, both quantitative and qualitative research will be
used for determining the various areas related to the training and development and their impact
on the workers and BA. This research type leads to provide relevant information in the field of
both statically and theoretical analysis regarding the role of training and development in BA.
Thus, it will help in evaluating and determining the proper and appropriate role of training and
development in British Airways (Brody, 2010).
Data Collection
Data collection is refer as use of various tools and techniques which helps in gathering
facts, figures and other relevant information for achieving the objectives of the study. The
collected data are of two types primary and secondary. Primary data are those facts and figures
which are real, fresh and obtained during the investigation. These obtained data are so original
that they are not being used by any other researcher before in his research. Researcher will
collect the primary information related to the training and development of BA in two manner i.e.
questionnaire forms and face to face interviews. This will help in finding that whether the
employees are satisfied with the training and development programs provided by BA or not
(Gay, Mills and Airasian, 2011).
On the other hand, secondary data is obtained from the past researches, various journals,
books, websites, etc. For this study, investigator can get information about training and
development from past researches and books related to it and BA. Thus, both primary and
secondary data will lead to determine the role of training and development in BA (Sobh and
Perry, 2006).
Sampling
Sample is called as a unit of people, objects or items which are considered from a large
part of population for calculation. And the process of collecting all these samples for the
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research is called as sampling. For the current study, samples will be taken from the cabin crew
members of the BA because only they can provide appropriate information related to the
company's training and development programs for domestic flights. They will also help in
finding that whether BA needs to improve its training and development strategies or not. For this,
20 cabin crew members will be considered because it is appropriate number for providing proper
data and information regarding the role of training and development in domestic flights of BA.
This obtained data from the sample of employees will help the researcher in determining the
needs, impacts, required changes, strategies, types regarding the BA's training and development
sessions (Bush, 2011).
Data Analysis
Data analysis is process of examining, filtering, transforming and editing the data as per
the requirement of research. This data analysis discovers the useful, relevant and important
information related to the investigation. As the present study will use both qualitative and
quantitative research so it will follow the techniques and tools for data analysis in both the fields.
Researcher will collect the secondary data of training and development from the past researches
and various journals. This obtained data will be tested for its reliability and then it will be used in
this study. For primary data questionnaire forms will be filled by the employees and will help in
getting proper information. Thus in this way, qualitative analysis related to the role of training
and development for cabin crew members of domestic flights of BA will be take place (Ke,
2006).
On the other hand, quantitative analysis will be take place by using various statistical and
numerical information. For this analysis, researcher will use bar diagrams, pie charts, regression
and other techniques. So these quantitative and qualitative analysis will help them in getting
information from various fields of training and development programmes in BA (DeFeo, 2013).
Ethical Consideration
Researcher has faced various issues during his investigation for completing the present
study in most effective manner. For resolving these issues, investigator has taken some ethical
considerations. For avoiding manipulation and plagiarism, author should use the secondary
information in appropriate and a proper manner. Along with it, he should use proper references
and citations in research regarding the source of collected information. Along with this, he
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