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Contents
Contents Page 2
Abstract Page 3

1 Introduction Page 3
2 Literature Review & Methodology Page 3

3 Results Page 5
3.1 Case 1 Page 5
3.2 Case 2 Page 5
3.3 Case 3 Page 5

4 Reflection Page 5

5 Discussion / Implementation Plan Page 5

6 Conclusion Page 5
6.1 Recommendations / Solutions
Page 5

References Page 5
Appendix A – Group Plan Page 5
Appendix B – Behavioral Contract Page 5

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Abstract
Abstracts should usually be no more than 100-150 words. They provide a brief
summary of the report including the methods used, the key findings and conclusions.
An example of a two-line abstract of this report follows: Provides an outline of an
example report and a summary of the main elements a report should include. Includes
a Report Writing checklist for use by students.

1 Introduction
This report will address and carefully examine the critical issues that were relevant in
the lead up to (and during) the 2003 British Airways Swipe Card Debacle. Resulting
in a staff 24-hour strike, the incident cost the organization an estimated £40 million
(AUD $65 million approx.) and was brutally detrimental to brand confidence
reputation.

Fundamentally, there was a progressive breakdown of effective communication

within the organization, the structure of power has also been identified as inefficient
for the specific circumstances of British Airways. The organization had lost touch
with many staff, so when management instituted change with a limited understanding
of their workforce’s mood, a consequential strike followed.

By means of analysis tools, principally focusing on particular elements in

Weisboard’s Six Box Model, Kotter’s Integrative Model, as well as significant
industry & academic journal sources - recommendations will be made to avoid similar
future scenarios and make best utilisation of the organizations human capital.

2 Literature Review & Methodology

In this report I have used the Harvard Citation style (Latrobe University Library,
2006b).

Kurt Lewin (1898-1947) is widely recognised as the founding father of Organisational

Development (Hall, 1980), although he died before the concept gained traction in the
mid-1950s. Lewin uncovered the ideas of group dynamics and action research,
underpinning the Organisational Development process as well as providing its
collaborative consultant/client philosophy. It was not until the 1970-1980’s that
industry practitioners began adopting the process; prior to, the field predominantly
consisted of external consultants (Dekler, 2007).

Numerous academics and industry specialists have submitted their own definition of
organisational Development over the past 60 odd years, but few digress far from the
following: Organisational Development is a planned process of change in an
organisation’s culture through the utilization of behavioral science technology,

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research, and theory (Burke, 1982). Ultimately, this is the basis of the proposed
changes required for British Airways.

However, Organisational Development definitions are by their own nature very broad
/ non-specific statements, what is relevant for one organization may very not be for
another. In a highly dynamic industry such as aviation this point must be strongly
emphasized. Which is why the academic referenced cases used in this report are not
merely rearranged to fit British Airways, but rather selective elements from such
cases are examined for how they are (and just as importantly, why some are not)
relevant to the report.

3 Results
British Airways had initiated a broad organisational restructuring ‘recovery’ program
entitled Future Size and Shape some two years prior. As part of this program, which
had led to approximately 13,000 jobs being cut already, a clocking-in system for staff
(swipe cards) was being introduced – which was not met with union worker approval.
Because of this imposition from senior management, it took a costly labor strike for
them to fully comprehend the side effects from the restructuring program and its
negative consequences on human capital.

Recognising the need for change is something that involves a complex process of
perception, interpretation and finally decision-making (Hitt, 1998). British Airways
recognized this need far too late, as many large-scale organizations tend to do as
information can often become filtered or lost through the hierarchy & divisional
structures (Shrivasta, 1995).

Once the need for change has been recognized, a decision must to be made of who
will be managing such changes. Then begin diagnostic testing by reviewing the
present state and furthermore, indentifying a desired future state of the organisation.
(Ruona, 2004) Recommendations have been made to use Weisboard’s Six Box Model
to assist in the internal alignment diagnosis, as well as Kotter’s Integrative Model for
a holistic internal & external alignment.

3.1 Analysis - Weisboard’s Six Box Model

 Purpose - British Airways are operating in the airline industry.
 Structure – Communication between departments / divisions needs
improvement (horizontal communication)
 Rewards – A 3% pay rise to Administration staff was issued to appease the
situation. In order to retain staff, British Airways needs to have alternative
rewards aside from just financial. The staff note they choose to work in the
industry for the culture, this needs to be capitalized by management.
 Leadership – British Airways had maintained a very authoritarian management
style, showing little to no value on workforce opinions because they did not
recognize any problems. After the strike, a switch was made to a consultative
management style to better understand its workforce.
 Helpful Aids – The swipe card, also the ‘tipping point’ of the strike, was

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 initiated improve efficiency of staff & resources – when it in fact did the
opposite as staff saw this as a means for management to manipulate working
hours.
 Relationship - High centralisation prevented effective communication between
divisions. To rectify this, the staff was involved with future decision-making
for future changes.

4.2 Case Study Two

By using sub-headings in this way the reader can go straight to the section they are
interested in without having to read the whole report.

4 Reflection
Team Arsenal presented in academic week 9. We simulated three scenes, which
illustrated key pivotal moments in The British Airways Swipe Card Debacle. The
final scene included a class participatory component, demonstrating an open dialog
with airline staff (class members) & participatory management style.

The PowerPoint presentation was discarded in exchange for a more focused

classroom paper handout, allowing stronger focus to the role-play scenes, a change
from the initial outline in Group Plan A (see Appendix A).

While our group presentation went well on the day, the preparation leading up to date
became somewhat infrequent. Experiencing repeated absenteeism with certain group
members, particularly in the later weeks, this reduced our physical weekly-meetings
down significantly, contrary to the Group Behavioral Contract (see Appendix B). As
a result, some members did not have a clear understanding of the subject content and
this directly affected the presentation preparations. The initial task allocations as
outlined in Group Plan A (see Appendix A) became blurred with some group
members obligated to perform with a heavier workload then should have been
reasonably asked of them. Had we as a group collectively organized better and
sooner, such issues could have been avoided and dealt with accordingly (see
Appendix B).

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References
 Davenport, T H, 2006, ‘Competing On Analytics’ Harvard Business Review,
60(1), 1-12

 Dekler, M, 2007, ‘Healing emotional trauma in organizations: An O.D.

Framework and case study’ Organizational Development Journal, 25(2), 49-
56

 Gupta. A, 1995, ‘Creating and integrating strategy research at the

international, corporate and business levels: Issues and directions’, Journal of
Management, 21: 357-93

 Hall. W K, 1980, ‘Survival strategies in a hostile environment’, Harvard

Business Review, 58(5): 75-87

 Hanson. D, 2008, ‘Strategic Management: Competitiveness & Globalisation’,

South Melboure, Cengage Learning

 Hitt. M A, 1998, ‘Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building

competitive advantage and strategic flexibility in the 21st century’, Academy
of Management Executive, 12(4): 22-42

 Johnson. M D, 2005, ‘Diversifying your customer portfolio’, MIT Sloan

Management Review, 46(3): 11

 P, Cartwright, 2003, ‘The digital transformation of traditional businesses’,

Journal of Technology and Engineering Management, 17: 231-46

 Ruona, W.E.A and GIBSON, S.K., 2004 ‘The making of twenty-first century
HR: an analysis of the convergence of HRM, HRD and OD’, Human Resource
Management. 43:1, 49-66

 Shrivasta. P, 1995, ‘Ecocentric management for a risk society’, Academy of

Management Review, 20: 199