business strategies followed by ba

8/13/2019 Business Strategies Followed by BA

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Business strategies followed by BA

In the 1980s

1. Positive involvement and support inculcating a cultural change in the organization2. Reconnect with customers, focus on employee involvement3. Customer contact staff strategy

A distinct effort made by BA to involve staff to improve customer service. The strategy made

BA a justifiably customer oriented airlines, but the strategy followed also implied that themodal was easily replicable. This strategy never led to a differentiation of the BA airlinesfrom its competitors. Indeed the 1980s and 1990s became synonymous with customerservice once BA had emphasized on this strategy1995- Present

1. A change in customer base, which primarily focussed on high end business class fliers andon point to point travel

2.With the change in CEOs (check the names)an effort was made to get involved in low costairlines sector, which included the Go and BA connect which was eventually sold to Flybe.

This strategy also included a cut back on the loss making routes that BA operated onCurrent operations in subsidairyt airlines for BA include the BA cityflyer and the BAopenskies.The change in customer base occurred as BA tried to get rid of its tag of being Bloody Awfuland incorporating a better service to customer approach for which it intended to charge apremium.This is a clear clash of business strategies where the emphasis was on improving customerservice but also reducing cost.In fact BA follows a strategy of cost reduction and cost cutting is a highly implementedstrategy by the administrationThe foray into the low cost airline segment was meant to give BA a lower cost arm to the

airlines which had primarily dealt with high end customers before. It was also meant totackle the recessionary atmosphere that loomed on the European market as BA looked tocut loss making routes and focus more on the high growth lower cost airlines.(These are the main strategies, write a few more lines about them, should be enough)

Identification of new air routes other than Heathrow, which was the highest expensecausing airport for airlines


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2. During the mid 1980s, BAs strategy included involving the positive involvement for

support system. Under this the strategy a reconnect with customers philosophy wasincorporated which required a different orientation from their staff. A renewed focus onEmployee involvement followed and led to a number of initiatives directed at fostering amore dynamic, customer-focused and service- driven culture. The emphasis was placed oncustomer -contact staff through a range of initiatives beginning with Putting People Firstthrough to A Day in the Life in the mid 1980s, which underlined the benefits of collaborativeworking.This policy was a definite reversal from BA earlier brand image which was considered not upto the standards of the industry. By involving the customer and improving their services,British Airways managed to upgrade their brand as service provider and this strategy woulddefinitely have helped them attain the niche positioning status that they used for serving theaffluent customer.

4.Changes due to service improvements

During the 1980s, BAs had emphasized on customer service with a tagline of Reconnect

with customers. This strategy would have had definite implications for the staff, who weresupposed to have involved the customer into a better service delivery. During this phase BAhad become synonymous with excellent service and therefore implied that the staff be in aposition to deliver the best service

EMPLOYMENT RELATIONShighly unionized like any government sector organization, high bargaining abilities

By the 1980s the new strategic focus of the company meant the bargainingapproach had to change but BA was careful to maintain relations with the unionsalongside an approach to culture change that was more individualistic

New technology usage which failed, salaries of staff not paid

9/11 situation led to strict managerial practices. Strain on employee relations

Cost cutting and staff trimming was another aspect the company believed in, Any responseto a perceived problem led to cost cutting and removal of employees which was a furthercause of strain

5.Typical Problems1. Privatization meant loss of monopoly and fierce competitive pressure.2. Huge labour problems. Being service oriented industry, important for employees to be

thoroughly dedicated. BAs practices created rift between its own employees 3. Competitive pressure due to different fragments of industry, i.e. low cost airline industry

4. Higher cost of operations from heavily crowded centres i.e. major airports


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business strategies followed by ba

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