Alaska Airlines: Organization Development

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Table of Contents

Key Issues of the Case
Rationale for Change
Final Recommendations for Implementing an Effective Solution
Reference

Key Issues of the Case

The provided case of Alaska Airlines discusses the issues faced by the said business mainly during the first decade of the 21^st century. On the whole, the company suffered from several problems related to how it operated. There were numerous issues in the organization that needed to be addressed. For instance, there were considerable problems with the quality of service. Flights provided by Alaska Airlines for its customers were frequently late; only 60% of flights were on time in autumn of 2007, whereas the usual figure was nearly 70-75% of flights being on time. Customers’ possessions were often mishandled, i.e., lost, delayed, damaged, or stolen, which caused severe dissatisfaction with passengers and considerably damaged the airlines’ reputation. The wait times in the airports were too high, and the company sometimes had to use the services of the police to restore order. Also, there were issues with the company’s workforce. Employees of the company were unionized; several labor unions bringing together workers of different professions existed and very often engaged in negotiations with the management, which lowered the productivity of the airports. Also, the organizational culture was somewhat flawed; it was believed that “it’s OK to be late, so long as we’re nice,” as is stated in the case description.

Rationale for Change

On the whole, the company suffered a major setback in autumn 2007, when most of the problems, in particular with the quality of service (such as the said flight lateness and mishandled bags), were at their peak. It was quite clear that it was necessary to implement changes in the organization to avoid the loss of customers due to a severe drop in their loyalty, as well as the reputational losses resulting from inadequate service. The company also had to compete with other airlines to remain profitable. Therefore, further, development was necessary to remain operational. Generally speaking, the development of an organization can be viewed as a process of change (Burke & Noumair, 2015). Thus, changes were necessary if the company was to survive. It is possible to incorporate the theoretical models to implement changes in this organization. For instance, Lewin’s three-step procedure for incorporating change can be used (Burke & Noumair, 2015). According to it, it is needed to create the perception that change is needed (unfreezing), then take action and make changes (changing), and then solidify the new procedures and processes as the new norm (refreezing; Burke & Noumair, 2015). It is possible that this model can also be used in Alaska Airlines.

Final Recommendations for Implementing an Effective Solution

From what was said above, it is clear that changes were necessary for Alaska Airlines. It can be proposed to take steps aimed at transforming the organizational culture of the company to make it such that would encourage delivering high-quality, effective, and efficient service to clients, instead of being satisfied with mediocre quality of service while being nice to customers. This should be the first step in improving customer service. The changes in organizational culture could be introduced using Lewin’s three-step model, as discussed above. The utilization of this model, which includes the “refreezing” stage, should also help sustain the change in the long term. Also, steps need to be taken to develop and ensure the implementation of procedural changes that would allow for a better quality of service. With the improved quality of service, it should be possible for Alaska Airlines to retain their clients and find new customers in the market. This should also help compensate for the significant spending on the labor force, for lowering that spending was shown to be quite problematic in the company in question due to the activity of labor unions.

Reference

Burke, W. W., & Noumair, D. A. (2015). Organization development: A process of learning and changing (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education.

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Alaska Airlines: Organization Development

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