CHANGE MANAGEMENT IN AIRLINE INDUSTRY

Change Management in Airline Industry

Change Management in Airline Industry

Introduction

This paper is based on the topic of change management in the airline industry. In the contemporary times, the airline industry has been hampered by deregulation mechanisms, change management approaches, declining global economy due to the current recession spell, and above all the fierce competition on low fares and technological advancements that have given the well-established airlines an unprecedented upper hand as compared to other small airlines. But again the the ongoing competition for a sustaining competitive advantage has been keeping the management of airline firms on their toes.

Change Management Theories

Kurt Lewin, a German sociologist, played a major role in shaping thinking about leadership and change management. Lewin was one of the first to describe organisation (airline firm in this case) organisational change processes in terms of a threestage model of unfreesing, changing, and refreezing (Lewin, 2006).

Driving forces are those forces that support change, and restraining forces are barriers that inhibit the acceptance of change. Although his simple typology (classification) has been criticised since the 1990s as being inadequate to accommodate the rapid pace of change in the current environment, it has shaped the landscape of change management theories and practices. It has provided the backdrop against which future change management theories are reflected and measured. As the pace of technological and organisation (airline firm in this case) organisational change quickened in the last three decades of the twentieth century, a variety of conceptual models appeared. Among these might be termed the “organic models,” “the organisation (airline firm in this case) organisational stage models,” and the “interactionist models (Kanter, 2007).” These models have likely reflected the disciplinary background of their proponents.

Organic Models

An emerging approach uses natural phenomena as metaphors for understanding how organisation (airline firm in this case) organisational change takes place. This approach has come in various forms, but it is based on how decay, growth, and adaptation take place in the physical and biological worlds. This approach can be seen in the work of Erich Jantsch, who examined the connection between biological concepts and their link to socio-cultural levels. A related approach was used by (Kotter, 2006), which applied variations of evolutionary concepts to organisation (airline firm in this case) organisational life (1985). What have these models contributed? First, they have emphasised the complexity of change processes and the impact of interrelated systems. Second, they have served as metaphors or images to help leaders approach change management processes. For example, to entertain the notion that an organisation (airline firm in this case) or an industry might have a self-organising capacity or to understand how cellular matter transforms itself by activities at the outer boundaries of the cell structure might influence how a leader approaches the change management process within an organisation (airline firm in this case). This approach has also led to the introduction of complexity theory, as illustrated by (Stacey, 2005). Complexity theory emphasises an open systems approach to thinking and focuses on the ...