Understanding of technology management (TM) fundamentals - problem analysis w/ project development plan

Understanding of technology management (TM) fundamentals - problem analysis w/ project development plan

Introduction

AMR Corporation announced the merger between American airline and US Airways on 14th Feb, 2013, which was quite shocking for the Airline industry. Board of directors of US Airways Group Inc. and American Airlines Inc. approved the merger agreement. Nowadays, airlines are trying to maximize their revenues and market share by introducing such strategies and techniques that would help in enhancing the organizational operations with the help of merger (Gong & Firth, 2006, p.1). Serious issues can be faced by the organizations due to merger and acquisition agreements, which need to be considered on top priority level.

Mergers are increasing in airline industry, which are raising tension among the members of the industry. It is extremely important for organizations that are going for merger to decide the terms and conditions before the accepting it, otherwise it can increase anxiety and distress among the managements. The organizations should consider the end results of merger before going for it, as it can have harmful effects on the operational processes of the newly formed organization. Project development plan and the process of utilizing the technology management fundamentals should be developed with mutual consent before getting into a merger agreement.

Discussion

Issues Related to Re-branding

The impact of merger would never be same on all the companies that accept it. The major issues that can be faced by the companies are based on productivity. The challenges that the airlines are currently facing due to mergers include management of employees, conflict and stress management, communication and planning, teamwork and leadership. Proper measures should be taken before the merger and Acquisitions. Some of the other issues that can be raised are outlined below (Moss & Mitchell, 2012, p.2).

Management of employees

Merger of airlines can have negative impact on the employees or labor performance. One of the most common activities that are observed due to merger is layoff of employees. Job security is lost due to the application of layoff strategy by the managements of the two organizations. This increases the level of anxiety and distress among the employees that can result in lower productivity and performance level. Labor integration is a complex issue in merger. Labor group may ask for increase in salary package and other concessions at the time of the merger but all of these demands and rights would not be fulfilled by the new management. The support of employees is highly required for accepting merger agreement, as they are the ones who would help the newly formed organization in attaining its overall goals and objectives. Labor opposes the merger due to the fear of reducing salary package or unemployment (M'Chirgui & Penard, 2011, p.306).

According to some experts, merger of airlines is still not found successful, which is due to lack of planning and management capabilities in top level management. Fleet integration of different airline cultures is also ...