Singapore Airlines Organizational Structure/Behavior - Research Paper Example

Singapore Airlines Organizational Structure/Behavior Table of Contents Introduction 3 Singapore Airlines 3 Mission ment 4 Organizational Structure 5 Singapore Airlines – The desirable place to work 5 Conclusion 8 References 9 Introduction Two of the most important aspects that play crucial role in the process of achieving desired success in the present global business scenario are organizational structure and organizational culture. Today, most of the business houses have realized that the employee satisfaction along with customer satisfaction is the key to their long term success. Organizations give special attention in achieving the status of the ‘most desirable work place’ for the employees so that the productivity of each and every employee increases and ultimately the customers get high quality service. Singapore Airlines is one of such organizations that provide sufficient benefits to its employees with the purpose of improving their productivity. The organizational structure of the company supports any initiatives that are taken for the benefits of the employees. Even the mission statement of the company is focused on the aspects of employee benefits. This paper is all about Singapore Airlines, its mission statement, organizational structure and all the factors that have made it one of the most desirable work places in the world. However, before getting into the details of all these aspects it is very important to have a clear understanding about the company itself and this is why the paper includes a brief overview of the company as well. Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines which is one of the most reputed airline brands in the world started its journey in 1947. At the very beginning, it was known as Malayan Airways Limited. The company used to run three flights per week. Gradually the company has grown by acquiring more number of planes. In the year 1963, with the born of Federation of Malaysia, the company became Malaysian Airways and in 1966 its name changed to Malaysia-Singapore Airlines. Six years later the company was divided into two separate entities – Malaysian Airline System and Singapore Airlines. This separation gave the born of an advanced airline service provider i.e. Singapore Airlines. Today the company is the house of a unique fleet that includes B747s, DC-10s and B727s (Singapore Airlines, n.d.). The present route network of the airline is comprised of 38 countries and 93 destinations. It is the first airline that started the fashion of offering complimentary headsets and free drinks to the passengers. Today the airline is renowned for providing incomparable in-flight luxury and in-flight telecommunication services. Furthermore, it is the first airline to operate the largest aircraft (A380) in the world (Singapore Airlines, n.d.). At present the company has 13,934 employees. The figure is actually reduced by 2.9% as compared to the last year’s number (Singapore Airlines-a, 2010). The company is considered to be one of the most desirable places of work. In the past financial year the company managed to earn a net profit of S$216 million which is attributable to the equity holders. Like all other international airlines, Singapore Airlines and its business are affected by the recent global economic slowdown and the outbreak of H1N1 influenza (Singapore Airlines-a, 2010).These two factors really affected the volume of air travel in the last financial year throughout the world. As a consequence, the company’s total expenditure exceeded its total revenue and it faced an operating loss of 38.6 million dollar (Singapore Airlines-a, 2010). However, as the global economic situation is gradually stabilizing, the company is also experiencing greater demand. Mission Statement The mission statement of Singapore Airlines says that it is a global organization that is dedicated in providing air transportation services which are of highest quality. It is also mentioned in the mission statement that the company is determined in maximizing the returns as well as benefits for its employees and shareholders (Singapore Airlines-b, n.d.). Organizational Structure Organizational structure is one of those aspects that play important role in the process of improving overall company performance. According to Stephen Robbins “an organizational structure defines how job task are formally divided grouped and coordinated” (Robbins, 2009). As far as Singapore Airlines is concerned, the company has a flat organizational structure. Number of levels in the management of the company is lower than many other companies that are of similar size. Such a flatter structure has helped the company in pushing the autonomy downwards. Furthermore, this structure has created such system where people are empowered enough to make decisions that are required to take for responding to the needs of the customers as well as to the various changes that take place in the business environment (Anonymous, n.d.). As a result of this jobs in the company are more enriched. In other words, almost all the jobs are worthwhile. It is found from various researches that the organization structure of Singapore Airlines enables various departments within it to work together. All the departments work as a team with the principle objective of serving the customers. Furthermore the use of common performance metrics and decision making tools has made the system more efficient and effective (Fung, n.d.). The following section of the paper gives a clear understanding about the way in which the organization structure and organizational culture have made Singapore Airlines one of the most desirable work places throughout the world. Singapore Airlines – The desirable place to work Singapore Airlines is one of the most attractive places of work in the world. According to the company’s annual report, JobsFactory has chosen it as the ‘top private employer’ for the second year in a row (Singapore Airlines-a, 2010). The main reason behind such outcome is the effective use of various concepts of ‘organizational behavior’. According to Stephen Robbins, job rotation is an important factor behind the employee satisfaction. As per his opinion it is the practice of “periodic shifting of a particular employee from one job to another” (Robbins, 2009). This concept is extensively practiced in Singapore Airlines for keeping the employees motivated and satisfied. For instance, today who is working as a ticket agent, may work as a baggage handler tomorrow (Robbins, 2009). Another important concept that greatly influences the individual productivity and job satisfaction is the ‘team concept’. Singapore Airlines has huge network that is spread throughout the world. Due to such vast operation, its employees are scattered across the different parts of the world. In order to enhance the motivation among these ‘scattered’ employees the company practices the concept of ‘team’ and it is mainly practiced in case of cabin crews as these are employees who move around throughout the world (The University of Warwick, n.d.). Mr Choo Poh Leong who is a senior manager and looks after the cabin crew performance, has explained the application of ‘team concept’ in case of the company’s cabin crew members. According to him, 6600 crew of the company are divided into teams and small units. Each of these teams is led by a team leader who is capable of managing 13 people (The University of Warwick, n.d.). The company makes the schedule in such a way that the members of a team get the opportunity of flying together frequently. As a result, they don’t feel like a separate unite, rather they realize that they are part of a team and work together (The University of Warwick, n.d.). Singapore Airlines provide a clear direction to its employees regarding the way in which they can make contribution towards achieving the mission of the company. Employees feel that they are in the best place to work because they are given appropriate facilities, ample training, motivation and advanced technologies. In addition to these factors they are enriched by timely recognition of work, monetary rewards and adequate opportunities for learning. Singapore Airlines give huge importance on the aspects like training and development. An employee, who is newly recruited by the company, has to go through a training course that lasts for 4 months (Fung, n.d.). After that he/she goes through a special ‘on-the-line’ training program in which he/she gets the opportunity of working in the airline routes and serving real customers. Training is also provided regarding safety, various functions, food and wine appreciation and the art of conversation (Fung, n.d.). Feedback is another aspect that is given huge importance in Singapore Airlines. The company always takes feedback from its employees in order to remain aware about the offerings of other airlines. The company always tries to come up a unique ‘concept’ in order to create the ‘WOW’ effect among its customers and in most of the cases these unique concepts are the results of major surveys that are conducted among the employees (The University of Warwick, n.d.). Employees also feel happy when they see that their views are respected in the company. Singapore Airlines is one of those organizations that always try to take care of the needs and requirements of its employees. Even at the present global economic situation, when some of the big organizations have reduced their workforce without giving much importance on the future of the dismissed employees, Singapore Airlines, before reducing its workforce has taken several measures. It has introduced several schemes like Voluntary No-Pay Leave Scheme which is applicable to all the staffs of the company. Moreover there are schemes like Early Departure Schemes and Special Retirement Scheme (Singapore Airlines-a, 2010).The first one is for the cabin crew and technical staffs who are contractual in nature and the second one is for all those employees who are Singapore based. According to its annual report the company has remained dedicated to the aspect of training and development even at the time of recession. The company is working with different agencies for leveraging a special scheme namely ‘Skills Programme for Upgrading and Resilience (SPUR)’. Furthermore, almost 500 cabin crew has already undergone tourism and customer service related training courses (Singapore Airlines-a, 2010). Employees of Singapore Airlines enjoy several incentives schemes. Schemes are general short-term and long-term in nature. Short-term incentives are measured based on the operating profit margin, return on shareholders’ equity and passenger load factor. On the other side, the long term incentives are there in the form of share-based remuneration plans. Such plans include ‘Restricted Share Plan’ (RSP), ‘Employee Share Option Plan’ (ESOP) and ‘Performance Share Plan’ (PSP). RSP and PSP were launched in 2006 whereas ESOP was launched in the year 2000. All these above mentioned plans, programs and benefits have resulted in more motivated employees whose performances have made others believe that Singapore Airlines is the most desirable place of work at least in Singapore (Singapore Airlines-a, 2010). Conclusion There are number of large companies throughout the world but very few of them are considered as a desirable place of work. Singapore Airlines is among these few companies. The organizational structure in the company is flatter in nature. Such structure supports the system of work that is required to make the company a great place to work. The company has been successfully using all the important concepts like job rotation and team work. It provides extensive training and development programs in order to empower its employees. Furthermore there are sufficient monetary as well as non-monetary benefits that have made the employees extremely motivated and productive. References Anonymous, No Date, Peace Corps Ukraine, Retrieved from http://www.pcukraine.org/materials/downloads/1190885851_SingAir_Case_-_James_Surovec.rtf (December 1, 2010). Fung, M. L. No Date, Customer Experience Management, G-CEM, Retrieved from http://www.g-cem.org/eng/content_details.jsp?contentid=2119&subjectid=101 (December 1, 2010). Singapore Airlines, No Date, The Creation of Singapore Airlines, The SIA Story, Retrieved from http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/content/company_info/siastory/history.jsp??v=1594076631& (December 1, 2010). Singapore Airlines-a, 2010, Annual Report, Retrieved from http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/docs/company_info/investor/annual/SIA_AR_0910.pdf? (December 1, 2010). Singapore Airlines-b, No Date, Singapore Airlines Mission Statement, The SIA Story, Retrieved from http://www.singaporeair.com/saa/en_UK/docs/company_info/investor/annual/SIA_AR_0910.pdf? (December 1, 2010). Robbins, S. 2009, Organisational behaviour: global and Southern African perspectives, Pearson Education The University of Warwick, No Date, Singapore Airlines (SIA), Retrieved from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/wbs/subjects/om/teaching/service/sia06.pdf (December 1, 2010). Read More