Alaska Airlines Case Study Summary

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Alaska Airlines had numerous problems before their transformation. These issues ranged from internal issues, to end user problems that left some customers unsatisfied with the Airline’s services. In time, these hitches eventually became problematic when in terms of doing businesses, and therefore needed to be ironed out if they were to stay competitive with other airlines.
Two key issues were found in Alaska Airline’s performance were highlighted in their survey. First, is the operational problems. These included Mishandled bags, long queues, delayed flights, and financial issues. These issues can be traced to the actual level of efficiency their system has, and how efficiently the current system was implemented. Second are the communications
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As with Alaska Airline’s example, we can see how their financial troubles led to lowered workforce morale, and eventually high turnover rates, which then led to training problems, contributing to the financial strain the company are already suffering. This is partly the reason why earlier attempts at Alaska Airline’s reform had failed: While they went to address one aspect of the company’s shortcomings, they had failed to address its internal issues altogether. This, in my opinion, lowered worker’s morale even further, as seen in many past examples of attempted reforms in other …show more content…
Finding sufficient support from employees to establish reforms in a system becomes problematic especially if they find the steps for change to be highly invasive. In forming the guiding coalition, 50% of managers and 50% of leaders would compose it. This is because there is a need to maintain balance in order to ensure that all the dilemmas that exist in the company were solved. This could be done through continuous reports of the managers to their leaders. In turn, both groups would together find the most efficient solution to the problem. The balanced group of managers has an advantage, in which the managers help in resolving the conflicts, since they are the ones who are always exposed to the day-to-day operations of the Alaska Airlines. On the other hand, the leaders would ensure unbiased reasoning and a just approach in dealing with the problems. Most managers are keen on maintaining the status quo in their respective domains. In Alaska Airlines, for example, low standards in terms of service delivery were not seen as a problem in almost all aspects of the business. It was fairly entrenched in the company’s culture that “being late was not a problem in itself”. Meaning, the management had become complacent in not providing excellent services to their

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