Category: Airport

The key functions of operations management at the airport

An operations manager in the airport is concerned with the day-to-day running of activities, including short-term and long-term planning. Key functions of an operations manager involve ensuring the steady movement of people in the airport through the setting of effective processes. It is also his duty to maintain runways in a bid to reduce snarl-ups. In addition, operations manager agrees and oversees slot allocations for airlines.

Moreover, he must ensure safety measures are undertaken to enhance the security of customers through the implementation of safety management systems. An airport is seen as a place that involves a lot of movement and various tasks, thus making any potential disaster to have a significant impact. Therefore, it is the duty of operations manager to ensure that emergency teams, including fire department within the airport, have well-trained personnel and effective equipments.

Operations managers work with different departments to ensure efficiency. In many ways, the operations manager oversees different operations in all sections of the airport including ensuring that customer service is upheld and maintained at the highest quality level possible; for instance, any problems arising have to be solved within the shortest time possible. An operations manager is involved in long-term and short-term planning in an organization.

In relation to Birmingham International Airport’s case, the operations manager, Richards, shares long-term expansion plans to accommodate the highest number of people in the airport (Robinson 73), thus enhancing growth.

In any organization, growth is one of the most important goals. This initiative calls for improved and quality customer service delivery, efficient operations and processes, and dedicated human resources. Ensuring the correct infrastructure that is necessary for certain processes is important for the airport. An operation manager is an overall leader on the ground who must possess adequate skills and qualities to provide motivation and leadership to all employees for the benefit of all stakeholders in the airport.

In the airport, the operations manager’s functions include overseeing airlines, as well as handling agents, retailers and cargo handlers. Improving and safeguarding the environment is important, as it helps a company to improve its reputation and brand image in the face of the community in which the company operates. Indeed, it is part of compliance with the call for corporate social responsibility (Robinson 85).

Key responsibilities of the operations director including main issues/problems he faces in managing the airport

It is the operations director’s responsibility to implement processes within an organization for efficient work processes. An operations director has the mandate to coordinate and lead different teams and departments for good customer service. In addition, it is worth noting that operations directors must align themselves with the objectives and goals of an organization in order to enhance effective planning and policy implementation processes (Badenhorst-Weiss, Brevis and Cant 43).

Infrastructural development is also part of the responsibilities of an operations director, which he handles through establishing ways of building capacity in terms of customers. In terms of infrastructure, it is his responsibility to ensure that all structures within and outside the airport are in good shape. Expansion of infrastructure is always included in long-term planning of an organization, as it is one area that requires a lot of input in terms of resources and time. In this regard, operations directors use forecasting methods as a tool for expansion of the company’s facilities. Indeed, the success of such forecasts leads to improved profitability, customer loyalty, and market share within a stipulated timeframe (Mahadevan 402).

An operations director faces several challenges, which he must find solutions within the shortest time possible in order to enhance continuity in operations. One of the challenges includes diversions or delays in checking-in or checking-out at the airport’s terminals. This means that there would be more people within terminals than normal; thus, it is their duty to communicate what is happening and keeping everybody updated on the situation.

In such functions, terminal managers assist in ensuring the smooth flow of information. Incidences such as bomb threats provide operations directors with the additional responsibility of ensuring safety to all customers at the airport. Moreover, during strikes or any other incident that may paralyze operations at the airport, they are mandated to provide accommodation and transport to all passengers, including ensuring their safety.

Relationship between day-to-day tasks and long-term issues: How Richard manages to oversee both at the same time.

The primary day-to-day tasks include ticketing, baggage handling, ground crew operations and information desk activities. In addition, such tasks may also include ensuring cleanliness in common areas of use by passengers, such as toilets and other specified areas. Long-term issues involve expansion of structures to ensure more capacity for passengers within the airport or for future income streams. This calls for well-strategized operational planning to ensure the effectiveness of the airport while ensuring customers are served well. Richard, the operation manager, is in charge of all these functions, which are all expected to run smoothly.

Richard is efficient in undertaking his work of ensuring there are set processes for every function within the organization. He agrees that the job is not easy and sometimes requires common sense in order to solve certain challenges. He attributes successful operations to teamwork, as the work involves different departments. Good communication, coordination and corporation among people from different departments ensure that functions are undertaken effectively and exhaustively. In this case, Richard works closely with operations managers in different departments in order to provide a platform for sharing ideas about development and processes (DuBrin 118).

During challenges, especially regarding the security of passengers, everyone is normally asked to be vigilant and keen in order to enhance safety. However, having well-trained firemen is a strategy that will keep them prepared during times of emergencies. Richard should also ensure swiftness in terms of passenger control; this includes passenger processing and security clearance procedures. All these functions will help operations managers devise well-thought strategies that would ensure that the airline is running smoothly, as well as identify places where improvement is required (Hirst 184).

It is worth noting that day-to-day tasks fall well into strategic plans to be used in the future within the airline. They form a guideline on improvements to be undertaken; here, management is mandated to deliver on set guidelines. Both the day-to-day and long-term issues are related, as they form the company’s objectives in terms of growth in the market and objectivity in terms of conditioning improvements.

It is important for companies to have a well-thought strategic, operational plan in order to enhance and strengthen practices within the airport. With such guidelines, they are able to make better choices in terms of machinery and digitalization of different departments for efficiency and effectiveness of work. Since airports deal with people, good and quality customer service is essential, as it guarantees customer loyalty to the airport (Hirst 274).

Works Cited

Badenhorst-Weiss, Hannie, Tersia Brevis and Mike Cant. Business Management: A Contemporary Approach. New Delhi: Juta and Company Ltd, 2010. Print.

DuBrin, Andrew. Essentials of Management. OH: Cengage Learning, 2011. Print.

Hirst, Mike. The Air Transport System. Cambridge: Elsevier, 2008. Print.

Mahadevan, Bangalore. Operations Management: Theory and Practice. New Delhi: Pearson Education India, 2011. Print.

Robinson, Peter. Operations Management in the Travel Industry. Oxfordshire: CABI, 2009. Print.

Abstract

King Khalid International Airport is one of the leading airports in the Middle East. The airport is currently experiencing the problem of delays in departures and the time taken to process arrival of goods and passengers. The management needs to find a way of solving this problem in order to improve its on-time flights. The study reveals that on-time flights can be improved if the airport embraces the new self-service technology.

This technology reduces the reliance on human labor and in its place it introduces machines which are more efficient and effective in undertaking various activities at the airport. It makes it easy to inspect the cargo and travel documents within a short time. It also helps in carrying the traveler’s luggage and enhances security checks within a short period. The automation of this airport by embracing this technology will increase the number of cargo and passengers that it handles per year. It will help improve the profitability and desirability of the airport.

Introduction 1

In the modern society, punctuality is one of the critical factors that determine the decisions that travelers make when choosing the mode of transport and the routes that they take (Fisk, Grove, & John, 2014). In the minds of the travelers they often ask what ways they can use to arrive on time for their planned activities in their destinations. Air transport is still the most preferred means for those who are keen on taking the shortest time possible to reach their destination (Grams, 2007). However, the issue of on-time flights, also known as online-performance, is still affecting most of the airports across the world (Koeniger, 2006).

The recent ranking of the on-time performance of international airports by International Air Transport Association showed that Middle East airports are performing dismally compared to other major airports in America and Europe (Cantoni & Xiang, 2013). The time that it takes to process departures and arrivals at airports determines their popularity among the international airports (Hall, 2015). Travelers are often keen to avoid airports where they have to spend a lot of time for the necessary approvals to be made when they are departing or arriving from other destinations. It means that this region is losing revenues that it would have enjoyed because of the tedious processes that have to be followed and the amount of time wasted before passengers or cargo can be processed (Hall, 2015).

King Khalid International Airport is one of the leading international airports in the region. It is important to find ways of improving on-time flights at this airport to make it attractive to the international travelers (Ball, Elderfield, & Raimes, 2011). The airport management board needs to find the cost-effective ways of reducing the amount of time that passengers and cargo have to take before they are approved. The following question will guide the study.

• What is the best cost-effective method to improve on-time flights at King Khalid International Airport?

Introduction 2

Self-service technology in airports has emerged as one of the best ways of improving on-time flights in most of the airports across the world. This technology has come at the right time when King Khalid International Airport is struggling with the problem of long queues at the airport due to the use of manual system. This new technology is simple and easy to use, and it significantly reduced departure and arrival processing by over 65%.

It also reduced the overreliance on human labor that is often affected by various environmental factors. However, not all the stakeholders in the aviation sector agree that this technology is appropriate for an airport that is trying to improve its on-time delivery. Hansard (2013) says that “business passengers and frequent flyers seem to be a lot more open to the use of kiosks but once-a-year vacation flyers and those flying with a lot of luggage and large families will be more wary” (p. 41).

The scholar argues that it takes very long for these new comers to understand how to use the self-service technology if someone does not direct them. It may also lead to customer dissatisfaction as they will be confused for the better part of the process. Inasmuch as it is true that the clients may be confused for the first time, in most of the cases they often get assistance from the fellow passengers.

A study done at Melbourne International Airport by Janić (2007) indicated that in most of the cases travelers would learn how to use the technology from their peers. Bidgoli (2010) argues that “luggage drops are a potential bottleneck when using this technology hence its application should be rethought” (p. 56). However, this claim lacks credibility because a study by Murray (2010) revealed that using the technology reduced physical handling of the language by over 60% hence reducing the rate of damage.

In this paper, the researcher seeks to determine if self-service technology can help improve on-time flights at King Khalid International airport in a cost-effective manner.

Discussion

Self service technology in the airports improves time efficiency in processing departing and arriving passengers and goods. This technology eliminates the use of human attendants by making it possible for the passengers to get the necessary services at automated kiosks within the airport using their mobile phones (Paustovsky, 2006). They pick their receipts from such kiosks and get all the inquiries they may have about their flights without having to interact with the attendants (Hall, 2015).

This means that time wastage common when using attendants such as taking personal breaks because of fatigue is not witnessed in this case. A study by Hansard (2013) showed that by using this technology, the processing time of airport arrivals and departures is reduced by over 65%. For example, the time that attendants would waste while attending to personal businesses is eliminated using this technology (Fisk at al., 2014).

The automated self-service carriages that come with this system ensure that luggage move from one point to another with speed irrespective of their weight. Murray (2010) says that “self-service system at the airport is the future of the airport’s operations” (p. 114). The argument is in agreement with what other scholars feel is the trend in airports (Janić, 2007). This technology will help improve on-time flights at King Khalid International Airport, as further illustrated in the paragraph below.

Self-service technology in the airports improves security checks on the departing passengers and cargo. According to Cantoni and Xiang (2013), one of the major causes of delays in airports is the process it takes to conduct thorough checks on the cargo and passengers. This is especially the case in the Middle East where the threat of terror attack is very high. The technology improves effectiveness of conducting this processe and it reduces the time (Connelly, 2012).

A study Bidgoli (2010) showed that this technology is able to detect explosives made from various chemicals, any form of riffles or weapons that may pose a threat to passengers or crew. A good example of weapons that can be detected by this system is simple explosives made of normal chemicals that can easily be assumed to be a harmless material (Belobaba, Odoni, & Barnhart, 2016). Any form of metal is also detectable with this system.

Bidgoli (2010) says that “self-service technology is the best way of addressing the rising problem of terror that targets airports and airlines” (p. 78). When used effectively, it makes it almost impossible for one to get to the airport and into the airplanes with any form of weapon. The improved security check will help King Khalid Airport Improve its on-time flights (Koeniger, 2006). The next paragraph also demonstrates how efficiency can be enhanced by this technology.

Self service technology makes it possible for the travelers to know any changes in the flight schedule very early before traveling to the airport. In most cases the crowds that are often seen at the airports are of individuals whose flights have been rescheduled or even cancelled (Hall, 2015).

They go to the airport not knowing about this fact hence causing unnecessary congestion (Koeniger, 2006). This technology makes it possible for them to be adequately updated so that they do not have to come to the airports when there are changes in their flights. As Grams (2007) clearly reports, most of the current users of this technology are now able to make their inquiries and confirm their flights while in their homes or hotels (Belobaba et al., 2016).

They only leave after confirming that their flights are as per the original schedule. For example, the passengers can go online to the website of their booked carries and make any clarifications necessary (Murray, 2010). They can also rely on their phones because a notification is often sent to them in an hourly interval within the last three hours of their scheduled flights to either confirm or clarify a delay. Hansard (2013) says that “the system eliminates time wastage for travelers too” (p. 118). The reduced congestion at the airport helps this airport improve its on-time delivery.

Case Study: Melbourne Airport Uses SITA Self-Service Technology to Improve On-Time Flights

Melbourne International Airport is one of the leading airports to embrace self-service technology to ease congestion and improve on-time flights. The airport was experiencing delays due to the increasing number of local and international travelers using the airport (Ball et al., 2011). After a thorough review of the situation, the top management realized that increasing the number of attendants was not the solution (Connelly, 2012).

They opted to use this technology as a more efficient way of dealing with the problem (Paustovsky, 2006). One of the reasons that convinced the management that this is the right technology was the speed with which processing of the travelers’ documents was conducted. From the case study, it is clearly demonstrated that processing of these documents takes shorter time than using human labor (Fisk at al., 2014).

It means that such a technology can be replicated in other airports struggling with the same problem. It is an option that can be used by King Khalid International Airport to solve the problem of slow pace of processing passengers’ documents (Janić, 2007). The figure below shows travelers using the self service technology at Melbourne Airport

The management of Melbourne International Airport realized that this technology would help in reducing the cost of operations at the airport significantly (Cantoni & Xiang, 2013). Inasmuch as the initial cost of installing the system was high, the management realized that it would spend less in the long run in terms of reduced cost of labor (Belobaba et al., 2016). The system meant that this firm had to significantly reduce the number of its employees, some of whom were not conducting their job as diligently as expected of them, thereby causing delays (Ball et al., 2011).

The self-service system was the best way of addressing this problem (Connelly, 2012). The management hired a few individuals to direct the passengers who did not know how to use the system. It has helped this airport to lower the cost of operations (Koeniger, 2006). Employing such a technology should be given a priority at King Khalid International Airport that faces almost similar problems (Paustovsky, 2006). If used effectively, this airport will eliminate cases of industrial action among the employees that often lead to delays and dissatisfaction among the travelers.

The self-service technology has greatly improved security at Melbourne Airport. The management realized that one of the reasons why it was experiencing delays in processing arrivals and departures was that it took long to conduct security checks (Janić, 2007). The new technology makes it simpler than it was before. It is an incorruptible system that leaves nothing to chance. It takes a few seconds, unlike human labor that takes time (Hansard, 2013).

These are some of the factors that have improved the rankings of this airport in on-time flights (Connelly, 2012). A study by Murray (2010) ranked it sixth among the large international airports on the issue of punctuality with a score of 85.02%. This clearly demonstrates that it is the best practice that King Khalid International Airport needs to embrace (Grams, 2007). If it is giving good results in other major airports around the world, then chances are high that it will benefit this airport (Ball et al., 2011). It will improve on-time flights that have been a cause of concern at the airport for a long time.

Conclusion

It is clear that self-service technology in the airport is the best cost effective approach of improving on-time flights at King Khalid International Airport. This technology will help to address major issues that cause delays at this airport. The security checks, processing of the documents of the travelers, carrying of the luggage, and keeping of the travelers informed about their scheduled flights are some of the causes of the delays at King Khalid International Airport.

The new technology addresses all of these problems. It reduces congestions at the airports, improves security and enables the travelers to be fully aware of the events taking place in regard to their flights. It is a fact that this technology may have a high initial cost depending on the scale with which this firm may want to implement it. However, the long-term benefits that it brings will outweigh the costs. Improved efficiency of the airport will make this a popular hub that many travelers would prefer when traveling to this region. The management of this airport should realize that the technology will help in fighting the threat of terror that targets airports. Passenger confidence using the airport will improve with the improved security.

References

Ball, H., Elderfield, J., & Raimes, A. (2011). Flight out of time: A Dada diary. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.

Belobaba, P., Odoni, A., & Barnhart, C. (2016). The global airline industry. Chichester, England: McMillan.

Bidgoli, H. (2010). The handbook of technology management. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons.

Cantoni, L., & Xiang, Z. (2013). Information and communication technologies in tourism 2013. Berlin, Germany: Springer.

Connelly, S. (2012). The flight of time. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley & Sons Publishers.

Fisk, R., Grove, J., & John, J. (2014). Services marketing: An interactive approach. Mason, Ohio: South-Western.

Grams, J. (2007). New trends and potentialities of TOF-SIMS in surface studies. New York, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

Hall, R. (2015). The transparent traveler: The performance and culture of airport security. New York, NY: Cengage.

Hansard, M. (2013). Time-of-flight cameras: Principles, methods and applications. London, England: Springer.

Janić, M. (2007).The sustainability of air transportation: A quantitative analysis and assessment. Berlin, Germany: Ashgate.

Koeniger, S. (2006). Multidimensional ion mobility spectrometry coupled to time-of-flight mass spectrometry. Bloomington, Ind.: Indiana University.

Murray, C. S. (2010). Turn backward O time in your flight: A reminiscence of growing up on Edisto Island. Edisto Island, SC: Edisto Island Historic Preservation Society.

Paustovsky, K. (2006). The flight of time: New stories. Moscow, Russia: Foreign Languages Publishers House.

Introduction

The case explores the impacts of changes in regulations on decision making in the aircraft industry. The changes in regulations particularly affect Maxwell’s team of aircraft inspectors and auditors in the Heartland International Airport. Maxwell manages a fifteen-member team charged with the responsibility of carrying out maintenance checks and auditing to ensure that the hired commercial maintenance crews follow the FAA inspection regulations.

Under express order from the Vice President’s Council of competitiveness through the Department of Transportation, the FAA revises regulations to reduce the frequency of inspection of newer aircraft and aircraft systems. This move provides relief that the aircraft industry has been longing for because it reduces the resources that the airport authorities have been allocating for maintenance purposes.

To Maxwell and his crew, adopting these changes presented many challenges. First, he needed more staff to intensify inspection on older aircraft and could not shift some from the newer planes to the older planes. Secondly, the FAA required a freeze in Maxwell’s staff since a consolidated and streamlined maintenance required a freeze in the crew size. Besides, Maxwell’s team required to be keener in pointing out irregularities like altered log books or wrong procedures, hence giving him mixed pressures.

Issues of the case

The first issue of the case is the impact of change in FAA regulations concerning maintenance checks and audits. Since the FAA has consolidated regulation and streamlined maintenance and audits, it requires that the inspector of maintenance and audit team reduce its size (Scott 1990, p.30). This comes at a time when Maxwell feels that he needs to increase his maintenance and audit team to carry out more maintenance checks on older planes and guard against alterations of logs by the hired commercial maintenance groups. True to his suspicions, Maxwell’s team uncovers slipshod maintenance on smaller aircraft, making him wonder how many have gone unnoticed.

Another issue arises when the FAA grants Maxwell the discretion to direct limited resources to places that need them most. This presents a challenge to him because the limited resources cannot allow him to accomplish everything he wants to. As a result, he may not prevent all mishaps. Finally, the new regulations require that the team does maintenance and audits on engine mounts, labor-intensive processes (Scott 1990, p.31).

The audit itself required two basic disassemblies, one normal and the other for audit. The costs became high for both hired commercial organizations and Maxwell’s company. Because of the labor intensity of these processes coupled with the need to carry out other audits and the small crew size, it became inevitable for Maxwell to reduce the number of audits on engine mounts.

How it relates to the public policy

Public policy is a government decision that always affects the relationship between citizens and the government. Discretion on the other hand refers to “the powers that an individual or organization gets to make decisions that will affect the relationship between citizens and the government” (Gruber 1987, p.132). In this case, the act of the Transport department relaxing regulations on maintenance and audits, causing many issues in the aircraft industry amounts to public policy.

On the issue about maintenance checks on engine mounts being labor-intensive, FAA gives Maxwell a discretion that allows him to freely decide how to allocate the already limited resources and knows when, where, or how to carry out maintenance checks and audits. Since his decision can affect the relationship between the citizens, his organization, and the government, Maxwell’s discretion comes under public policy.

Competing pressures in the case

The first pressure is the issue of hired commercial maintenance crews applying regulations for maintenance on new vehicles to old vehicles. As a result, Maxwell is torn between drawing workers from the new aircraft and utilizing those already at the old aircraft. The second pressure comes out after the implementation of new regulations. During maintenance checks and audits, Maxwell’s team begins to uncover slipshod maintenance on a few of the smaller planes, making him fear that others may have gone unnoticed (Scott 1990, p.31).

The third pressure is the crisis involving the replacement of engine mounts twice for normal and audit checks. Only a small team of maintenance and audit workers is available to do this job which is labor-intensive and time-consuming. The pressure that needs the highest priority is the costly and labor-intensive maintenance crisis. The advantage of accompanying my choice is that it will cut down maintenance costs that the organization incurs during these activities and increase the company’s profits (Bryner 1987, p.113). Besides, the maintenance and auditing workers in the crew will not be overburdened at work. The disadvantage accompanying this choice is that it will add on to the costs of the organization.

Maxwell’s course of action regarding the issue

The course of action that Maxwell should pursue regarding the situation in front of him is to extend the working hours for the team for members to accomplish more tasks. From an ethical perspective, this decision is not right because it would imply that Maxwell is overworking the employees. From an economic perspective, the decision is right because it would help compensate for the gap left by the workers who have left the team (Lipsky 1980, p.123).

From the perspective of the mandates handed down from one’s superiors, this action would be right because Maxwell would only be exercising his powers while trying to solve a problem. Furthermore, the act of an individual failing to use the mandate handed down by his/her superior would imply that he is not interested in solving the problem. Consequently, this action would affect his relationship with his superiors.

Challenges of working with less staff

The reality of working with less staff due to FAA cuts would pose a great challenge to me because the FAA would require that I follow its regulations while the organization requires I perform according to the normal standards even with fewer workers. From the situation that the case presents, it is obvious that working under the FAA’s new regulations would affect performance by workers responsible for engine mount inspection and auditing.

Also, poor performance would imply to the organization that I am failing as the team manager (Burke 1986, p.79). An amicable solution would be handy here. The decision I would adopt is to fight the cuts. To succeed, I would explain my situation to the FAA and show them how the cutting of resources has hindered the performance of my team. My explanation would be aimed at showing how the maintenance and audit on the engine mount are labor-intensive and how cutting down the resources would negatively affect the process.

Plan for reallocating staff and inspectors

For reallocating staff and inspectors, the plan that I have is to consolidate inspections. Since it is evident from this case that the FAA has consolidated maintenance and relaxed its rules, my move would be to consolidate the inspections. As a result, I would make it possible for workers in my team to simultaneously do more multiple inspections at the same time. Consequently, I would be able to cut the costs that the organization initially spent on paying the employees who were initially in charge of these tasks. The overall impact is that the productivity of the team would significantly improve.

Approaching high costs and staff and safety concerns

My approach to the dilemma of new regulations that require replacing the engine mount; a time-consuming and costly process, would be as follows: First, I would attempt to convince FAA that the regulations are injurious to the activities of my team and seek for an exemption. If this approach proves futile, I would appropriately consolidate some of the maintenance services and allocate only the minimum number of workers needed to make the job get done.

I would then take the rest of the workers to the engine mount replacement section to act as reinforcement to those who are already working there; a move that would cater to the extra staff needed. For the high costs, I would look for cheaper alternative ways of carrying out the replacement. For safety concerns, I would ensure that the organization has provided all the necessary safety devices and ensure that all employees are using them. Also, I would subject the employees to training aimed at equipping them with safety skills.

Conclusion

Though sometimes challenging and confusing, wise decision making in an organization is a handy tool that would help achieve success at times of organizational crisis. All it requires is the individual in charge to assess the situation and explore all the possibilities before s/he settles on the most appropriate.

Reference List

Bryner, G.C., 1987. Bureaucratic Discretion: Law and Policy in Federal Regulatory Agencies. New York: Pergamon Press.

Burke, J. P., 1986. Bureaucratic Responsibility. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.

Gruber, J. E., 1987. Controlling Bureaucracies: Dilemmas of Democratic Governance. Los Angeles: University of California Press.

Lipsky, M., 1980. Street-level Bureaucracy: Dilemmas of the Individual in Public Services. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Scott, P., 2001. Public Administration: Cases in Managerial Role-Playing. London: Longman Publishing Group. Print.

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to investigate the fundamental philosophies of the operation of the Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA) and draw recommendations for improving total quality management (TQM) practices. It focuses on identifying the potential gaps, which should be filled. In particular, it is concluded that the organization should pay specific attention to strengthening leadership skills and further development of the business ethics environment based on the national responsibility approach. As for the rest of the TQM determinant, the findings of the research suggest that DAFZA is successful in implementing total quality policies, as it is certified with ISO 9001 and integrity is one of its core values.

Introduction: organization profile

Dubai Airport Free Zone (DAFZA) was created in 1996. The primary objective of this organization is the administration of trade, industry, and service licenses and visas and their distribution among international companies interested in conducting business operations in Dubai, UAE. DAFZA is a provider of services. It serves as a comprehensive business environment for companies operating in different industries, from cosmetics and pharmaceuticals to aerospace and aviation.

At the same time, the organization offers services related to tax exemption, business ownership, and repatriation of earnings. In the simplest terms, the role of DAFZA is to help international companies incorporate their business operations in Dubai and obtain necessary business licenses. It should be noted that both the creation of new businesses and the opening of branches are administered by this organization (DAFZA: About us, n.d.).

As the organization promises exceptional services, the role of quality management programs and policies should not be underestimated. That is why this paper will focus on investigating currently deployed techniques and philosophies such as integrity and ethics-related practices, leadership, and identification and reporting of issues and drawing recommendations for improving them.

Mechanisms and Philosophies and Their Impact on DAFZA’s Success

As of now, DAFZA offers services to more than 1,600 international companies carrying out business activities in a variety of industries (Dubai Airport Free Zone, n.d.). In 2015, it achieved a 7% growth of total revenue and a 3% increase in total assets (DAFZA, 2016a). For this reason, its business model is an operational success. Several factors contribute to the exceptional performance of the organization. First of all, DAFZA focuses on the specific needs of customers.

This customer-centered approach is beneficial not only to the organization itself but also to the UAE economy as a whole. One key reason for DAFZA’s success is the allowance of 100% ownership, which means that there is no necessity to have a UAE business partner when setting up a company. Moreover, all services are provided based on individual approach so that work is not automated and customers’ needs are adequately addressed.

Also, DAFZA does not charge companies operating within its business environment any income or corporate taxes, which adds to the increase in the number of clients. What makes this organization more attractive compared to its competitors such as Jabal Ali Free Zone (JAFZA) is the fact that tax exemption is provided on a 100% basis, i.e. for the overall period of a company’s operation, while JAFZA offers a time frame of fifty years (DAFZA benefits and incentives, n.d.; Why Dubai, why JAFZA, 2016). Finally, the organization recognizes the significance of international certification. That is why it obtained an ISO 9001:2008 certificate (DAFZA: Accomplishments, n.d.).

It is essential to note that this standard is related to total quality management, and it is the only one in the ISO 9000 family that a company can be certified with, while others are recommendations for action. So, no further steps in certification are recommended except for maintaining the requirements of this and other standards.

Leadership Factors and Their Relation to Quality Programmes

Leadership is the primary determinant of TQM, and ignoring its significance is the most common error related to the implementation of total quality practices (Goetsch & Davis, 2012). At present, DAFZA senior management believes that support of leadership is a critical success factor and focuses on developing leadership traits and enhancing the participation of leaders in everyday operations of the organization and diversification of activities. Still, there are some significant issues related to leadership factors, as the above-mentioned facts about leader development are mentioned in DAFZA’s strategic plan (DAFZA, 2014).

Specific Ethics-Related Policies and Their Relation to Quality Management

When referring to TQM, it is essential to recognize the role of business ethics (Mullins & Walker, 2012). Following the principles of business, ethics is one of the organization’s core values (DAFZA, 2014). As for now, the primary ethics-related policy is the national responsibility approach. According to it, the focus should be on strengthening the national identity of the organization but still operating based on international standards of quality, i.e. working to benefit both customers and the national economy (DAFZA, 2016b).

Integrity-Related Practices

Integrity is one of DAFZA’s core values (DAFZA, 2014). According to this approach, the organization pays specific attention to the confidentiality of customer information. This strategy is chosen to satisfy client requirements as well as follow existing values and determinants of the corporate culture. Moreover, DAFZA works on diversification of business solutions as one more integrity practice. The implementation of this policy is motivated by the desire to maintain leading positions in the area of business operations and attract more new customers as well as increase the level of satisfaction with services provided to existing clients.

Practices Related to Identification and Reporting of Issues

The foundation of the reporting system is the review of all policies used by the organization once every two years. This strategy is implemented in the form of conducting a SWOT analysis and reviewing policies to establish if they are inefficient. A common practice is issuing a strategic plan for development and pointing out all challenges, and the ways to address them, as success indicators. The latest plan was issued for 2014-2016 with the focus on improving poor leadership, increasing competitiveness, land limitation, and transformation of policies toward a smart model of government (DAFZA, 2014).

Conclusion

To sum up, there are several determinants of total quality management such as strong leadership, detailed planning for strategic development, teamwork, customer-centered approach to conducting business operations, long-term commitment, and focus on providing services of exceptional quality (Goetsch & Davis, 2012). As it was mentioned, the organization pays specific attention to satisfying the needs of customers. Furthermore, it issues strategic plans every two years and believes that striving for constant improvement is a major factor in success. As for long-term commitment, it is determined by DAFZA’s tax and integrity policies. So, the only area of recommended improvement of TQM practices is the enhancement of leadership and participation of employees in everyday work.

References

DAFZA. (2014). Strategic plan 2014-2016. Web.

DAFZA. (2016a). DAFZA achieves exceptional financial performance during 2015. Web.

DAFZA. (2016b). DAFZA adopts ‘national responsibility’ approach to corporate governance. Web.

DAFZA: About us. (n.d.). Web.

DAFZA: Accomplishments. (n.d.). Web.

DAFZA benefits and incentives. (n.d.). Web.

Dubai Airport Free Zone. (n.d.). Web.

Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. (2012). Quality management for organisational excellence: Introduction to total quality (7th ed.). London, UK: Pearson.

Mullins, J., & Walker, O. (2012). Marketing management: A strategic decision-making approach (8th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Why Dubai, why JAFZA. (2016). Web.

Introduction

Performance in organizations is subject to numerous factors, which interact and collectively influence how processes, operations, and activities take place. In a bid to streamline and optimize processes, operations, and activities, managers have come up with diverse methods of quality management. The nature of quality management differs from one organization to another depending on the type of products or services that they offer and complexity of operations, processes, and activities they undertake. Essentially, quality management is a measurable control intervention aimed at ensuring that there is a constant and consistent flow or production of services and products in an organization (Jones 2014). Quality management does not only increase production and profitability in organizations but also promotes effectiveness and efficiency in the production of goods and delivery of services. Thus, managers employ quality management in adjusting operations, processes, and activities to work optimally and efficiently to avoid wastage of resources.

In the service industry, time is an important factor that determines the quality of services that customers receive. In the hotel industry, banking industry, transport industry, and the aviation industry, customers waste a great deal of their time as they seek services. The waiting time, in some instances, is very long, and thus, reduces the quality of services that customers receive. In their study, Kumar, Batista, and Maull (2011) established that the operational performance of an organization have marked influence on customers for it determines customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customers prefer services that are timely and convenient for they do not waste their time in seeking and consuming them. In essence, organizations that provide timely and convenient services have a competitive advantage in the service industry. In this view, quality management ensures that there is minimal waiting time during the provision of services to sustain the quality of services and improve customer satisfaction.

The case study of the aviation industry illustrates the essence of quality management in improving the performance of operations, processes, and activities in an organization. The complexity of the operations in the aviation industry highlights the need for quality management to ensure that all operations, processes, and activities promote the quality of services according to the requirements and expectations of customers. The analysis of the performance of transport security administration (TSA) shows that they are responsible for major delays at airports due to their poor performance. Matthews (2016) notes that summer season, shortage of staff, slow approval of funds, uninformed travellers, insufficient information, lateness, lack of alternative pre-check points, few sniffer dogs, and carrying of prohibited items are some of the factors in the airport, which have contributed to delays and lengthened waiting times. Thus, it is apparent that TSA has performance issue requiring the quality management to streamline operations, processes, and activities at the airport.

The project aims to enhance understanding of the factors contributing to delays at airports and apply statistical process control (SPC) in describing the cause of these delays and provide an appropriate solution to the management to improve security performance in the airport. SPC provides a statistical method for assessing the influence of numerous factors on a factor of interest (Jones 2014). In describing the causes of delays, the project categorized these causes into people, method, machine, environment, and materials. Fundamentally, the project aims to categorize and rank the causes of delays using a fishbone diagram. In undertaking further analysis of the case of delays in the airport, the project employed the run chart and capability charts (Cp and Cpk charts). Effective analysis and interpretation of data offer robust findings, which are integral in the decision-making to improve the performance of security operations at the airport.

Methodology

The project identified numerous factors that contributed to delays at the airport by undertaking research. In his article, Matthews (2016) provided important information regarding the causes of delays for he noted that summer season, shortage of staff, slow approval of funds, uninformed travellers, insufficient information, lateness, lack of alternative pre-check points, few sniffer dogs, and carrying of prohibited items are some of the causes. To determine the trend and patterns of delays in a day, the project collected data from the airport and recorded the occurrence of delays in each hour for 24 hours.

In the analysis of factors that caused delays at the airport, the project used a fishbone diagram. The diagram effectively presented potential causes of delays at the airport for it categorized causes into people, machine, material, environment, and method. Moreover, the project employed statistical process control in analyzing the data and deriving pattern and trends that are relevant to the study. Primarily, the project used the run chart in depicting the trend and pattern of variation of delays in the airport in 24 hours. In determining the extent of variation of the data, the project employed control chart for it exhibits a variety of data with lower and upper specification limits. The project also used Cp and Cpk chart in assessing the consistency of process capability (Cp) and consistency of the process capability to certain specifications such as mean and standard deviations. Overall, the project analyzed the data and interpreted the findings effectively to provide robust information.

Graphs and Analysis

Cause-and-Effect Diagram

The cause-and-effect diagram is appropriate in depicting causes of delays at the airport because it outlines potential causes and categorizes them into their respective realms. Okes (2009) asserts that the fishbone diagram allows a visual representation of factors that influence a given phenomenon, and thus, illuminates their influential contribution. In Figure 1, it is evident that factors that affect waiting time fall into five categories, namely, man, method, material, environment, and machine. In the aspect of human factors, the diagram illustrates that shortage of staff, slow approval funds for hiring staff, and bringing prohibited items delays security check while early arrival and checking own bag hastens the process screening. The nature of method had marked influence on waiting time since pre-check programs, training of staff, use of sniffer dogs, adoption of Disney’s fast-pass strategy, and education of customers have a positive impact on waiting time.

From the environmental perspective, the summer season and peak hours increase waiting time for customers flock to the airport while winter and off-peak hour reduce waiting time for the number of customers diminishes significantly. Effective recording of check sheets and travelling receipts, as well as the provision of information resources, reduces the time of waiting for minimal errors occur and customers access beneficial information easily. The use of screening machines such as serviced ordinary scanner, pre-check screening equipment, and global entry scanners are the types of equipment that reduce waiting time in the airport.

CP and CPK Chart

Cp and Cpk chart is important in interpreting waiting time in the airport because it indicates the degree of variation from the central point. Cp is a process capability that measures value in an unrestricted region while Cpk is a process capability that measures value in a restricted region (Pries 2009). The chart is important because it provides two forms of measurements, which indicate the degree of process capability of waiting time at the airport. From the chart, it is evident that the limits are not the same as the upper specification limit is 62.4 while the lower specification limit is 16.2. The waiting time has Cp of 1.21 and Cpk of 1.20, which means that there is no data out of the specification limits.

Run Chart

The run chart is relevant in the analysis and presentation of data related to waiting time because it depicts trends and patterns of variation over time. Essentially, the run chart measures variation or stability of operations, processes, and activities (Pries 2009). Although trends and patterns of data may appear variable, construction of a trend line reveals the stability of data over time. In this case, the trend line increases with time, which means that waiting time at the airport increases with time each day. The run chart confirms that early arrival at the airport enables one to avert long waiting time than a late arrival.

X-Bar-Range Chart

X-bar-and-range charts are important in illustrating the distribution of waiting time within the mean and the range margin. Mcintyre (2009) holds that x-bar-range chart depicts the pattern of the mean in one graph and the pattern of the range in another group with a view of highlighting variations. The x-bar chart shows that the distribution of values is out of range for some values are beyond the control limits. For example, the third value is below the lower control limit while the 11^th value is above the upper control limit. However, the remaining 10 values are within the lower and upper control limits, which mean that most values are within the distribution of the mean. In comparison, the range chart indicates that the distributions of values are not out of range limits. These findings suggest that waiting time in the airport is somehow unstable over time as depicted by the variation in data points.

Conclusion

Quality management plays a central role in the management of operations, processes, and activities in an organization. Specifically, statistical process control allows monitoring and quantification of operations, processes, and activities to ensure that they occur optimally in an organization. As a case study, the analysis of the waiting time in the airport revealed several insights regarding the patterns and trends of waiting time as well as numerous factors that cause delays. Fishbone diagram effectively illustrated that summer season, staff shortage, staff training, customer education, pre-check screening, and lack of information are some of the factors that have both negative and positive influence on waiting time. Cp and Cpk show that the distribution of data did not exceed the specification limits. The run chart shows that waiting time increases with time while x-bar-range exhibits data that is out of range, which reflects the variation in waiting time in a day. These findings show that the waiting time is highly variable in the airport depending on the time of the day that one chooses to travel.

References

Jones, E 2014, Quality Management for Organizations Using Lean Six Sigma Techniques, CRC Press, New York.

Kumar, V, Batista, L & Maull, R 2011, ‘The Impact of Operations Performance on Customer Loyalty’, Service Science, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 158-171.

Matthews, D 2016, Slow TSA security lines are causing huge airport delays: Here is how to beat them. Web.

Mcintyre, W 2009, Lean and Mean Process Improvement, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.

Okes, D 2009, Root cause analysis: the core of problem solving and corrective action, Milwaukee, ASQ Quality Press.

Pries, H 2009, Six sigma for the new millennium: A CSSBB guidebook, ASQ Quality Press, Milwaukee.

Executive Summary

Because airport cities are an emerging phenomenon, research surrounding them is scarce. The majority of authors who examined airport cities in their studies focus on their development, significance for urban development, and position as future employment hubs. When approached from the quality management point of view, airport cities are not evaluated as a whole; rather, they are discussed as separate but communicating units. The purpose of this study is to understand whether the EFQM model can be used as a suitable framework to create pillars for measuring the quality of airport cities. Content analysis was used to evaluate how airport cities are perceived in research, what measurement of their quality is used, and whether any additional frameworks are proposed to assess them as whole units. The findings indicate that no common framework exists for the measurement of the quality of airport cities; at best, their districts (cargo, logistics, hospitality, retail, etc.) are evaluated with no consideration of other parts. The EFQM model is suggested as a suitable framework due to the transparency, effectiveness, and reliability it offers.

Introduction

The emergence of airport cities, their history, and their development are presented in this section. The author discusses the uniqueness of the airport cities as a phenomenon and utilizes current research to present the concept in detail.

Literature Review

The author uses current research literature about airport cities, their development, and the use of the EFQM in various projects (governmental, urban, etc.). The section aims to present the EFQM model, discuss the research dedicated to it, compare the discussions of different authors about EFQM and airport cities, and demonstrate the suitability of the EFQM model to the evaluation of airport cities.

Research Gaps

In this section, the aim of the study is presented through the identified research gaps. The identified gaps are to serve as the basis for the problem definition and research questions.

Problem Definition and Description of the Approach

The purpose of the study and research questions and objectives are presented in this section. Based on the presented research questions and objectives, the author formulates the research hypothesis. The deductive approach is utilized as the main approach to the research questions and hypothesis, and its discussion is based on the example (content analysis).

Research Design

The research design is presented in this section. The author uses a qualitative approach that relies on secondary data analysis to answer research questions and demonstrates the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen method and design.

Data Collection and Analysis

The author discusses the tools and devices used for data collection. Google Scholar, Science Direct, ProQuest, and the University of Wollongong library are utilized to gather secondary data. Journal articles, books, newspaper articles, website entries, and editorials are presented as main sources for data collection. The process of the research analysis, divided into two parts (the analysis of two different samples of articles dedicated either to airport cities or EFQM) is also presented in the section.

Results and Major Findings

The results of the conducted content analysis indicate that the use of the EFQM model is not considered in the research and management of airport cities; instead, other frameworks that are only partly aligned with the EFQM model are used by airport cities’ managers to assess them. The results are presented in two tables based on the content analysis of selected articles. Specific attention is paid to the overarching theme and the sub-theme identified in the articles.

Discussion

The author discusses the lack of consistency in the evaluation of airport cities’ quality, pointing out that the EFQM model is not simply omitted in the research but is not even proposed as a suitable framework for creating pillars of measurement of airport cities’ quality. The detailed list of reasons why the EFQM model might be highly suitable as a tool for evaluation is also presented in this section.

Conclusions and Managerial Recommendations

The main advantages of the EFQM are discussed in this section. The author emphasizes the suitability of the EFQM model but also indicates that it can be difficult to implement due to its complexity. The list of managerial recommendations addresses such factors as the company’s preparedness, leadership, personnel’s qualifications, etc.

Limitations and Future Research

The limitations of this study are demonstrated by the author: the qualitative method used in the research, research bias, small scope of recourses (e.g., the number of articles), and the applicability of findings to large airport cities only.

Novelty

The study’s contributions to research are described in this section. It identified and addressed the gaps is research pertaining the lack of a unified approach toward the measurement of airport cities’ quality, provided a suitable framework for such measurement, examined how the quality of airport cities is addressed in research, indicated why the EFQM model is the most suitable framework for creating pillars of measuring airport cities’ quality and presented managerial recommendations on how the EFQM model should be implemented.

Introduction

Airport cities are relatively new phenomena that are currently emerging in various urban centers near airline hubs. Due to their novelty, no framework exists to assess their quality and impact on the business excellence of an organization. Current research addresses airport cities as a unique phenomenon with no regard to the assessment of their effectiveness, and the research about the application of existing frameworks to airport cities is scarce. Additionally, airport cities in the UK and UAE are rarely addressed in current research.

Several reasons may explain why airport cities emerge in different countries and metropolitan areas. First, their emergence is related to the declining costs of air travel; some areas, such as Las Vegas or Miami, would not exist without mass air travel (Appold & Kasarda 2013). Air transport has not only helped expand market areas of many businesses but has also transformed the movement of goods and products in both national and global supply and various distribution channels. As Appold and Kasarda (2013) report, air transport is used for the transportation of goods with the following characteristics: “they have a high value-to-weight ratio; they are highly perishable; and they are time-critical components of complex supply or distribution chains” (Appold & Kasarda 2013, p. 1241). As many airports are either airline hubs, facilities related to popular traveling destinations, or important international cargo gateways, they tend to influence available positions and employment rates in surrounding (metropolitan) areas. It should be noted that between30 000 and55 000 or more people may be employed in the largest airports, and a third of those employees are not related to aeronautical functions (e.g., they work in retail, hospitality, etc.).

Literature Review

The search for suitable sources for the literature review was conducted using Google Scholar; the keywords “airport cities”, “airport cities quality”, “EFQM”, and “airport city” were used. Studies older than five years were excluded from the search, as were studies that focused on topics not directly related to the assessment of airport cities’ quality (e.g., airport branding, transportation services, and social media, etc.).

Appold and Kasarda (2013) provide extensive research on the development of airport cities as the new downtowns and emphasize their impact on the metropolitan area. Airports are rearranging space and becoming the city. The hypothesis discussed by the authors indicates that “businesses dependent upon air transport may increasingly prefer locations near air interchanges” (Appold & Kasarda 2015, p. 1255). A second hypothesis proposed by the authors suggests that airport cities are becoming work and entertainment zones, which directly impacts the effectiveness of business related to tourism and air services. Saldıraner (2014) discusses requirements necessary for the establishment of an efficient airport city: common planning approach, sufficient area for the airport and airport city, the availability of business and finance, convention, logistics, shopping centers, hotels, and recreation and accommodation areas, and multimodal transportation modes.

Rizzo (2014) also points out the importance of available transportation that will connect town centers with the airport city by orbital transit corridors. Nikolaeva (2012) argues that the unique nature of an airport city (in this case, Schipol airport) is in its ability to provide a 24/7 available public space that does not aim to be a substitute for a city center but redefines the definition of “fitness” per se. However, the quality assessment of airport cities is lacking. The majority of research focuses on it as a new phenomenon with no regard to its impact on business effectiveness and excellence. Sections of the airport city are evaluated separately and not as a whole. The EFQM model’s “key implementation factors cover people, processes, structures, and resources that the organization can use to manage quality” (Suárez, Roldán & Calvo-Mora 2014, p. 866). It is suggested that the EFQM could be effective in measuring the processes that exist in airport cities such as leadership, human resources, strategies, products, and services, etc. to assess their current level of excellence and set further goals.

The EFQM model is a framework currently used in various businesses and organizations; it is a holistic structure for self-assessment, as Al Dhaheri and Bilal (2013) define it. The authors point out that the model assesses the organization through the following criteria: people, policy, leadership, strategy, partnerships and resources, people results, processes, customer results, society results, and key performance results (Al Dhaheri & Bilal 2013). The model puts a particular emphasis on the cause and effect relationship of the processes conducted in an organization; those criteria focused on causes are named “enablers”, while criteria that target effects are called “results”. One of the advantages of the EFQM is its applicability and generalizability; it can be used in different countries and organizations to evaluate their quality without being adjusted to regional or local specifics.

Sampaio, Saraiva, and Monteiro (2012) stress other factors that must be considered when using the EFQM as an assessment tool. First, it helps stakeholders detect improvement opportunities and view the strengths of the organization. Second, it also provides stakeholders with the time necessary for the identification of gaps between desired (best practice) and actual performance. This way, the organization can create a consistent basis that will help it assess the progress of achieving clear targets and objectives set by the company management (Sampaio, Saraiva & Monteiro 2012). EFQM facilitates forecasting and planning.

The EFQM is a suitable framework for evaluating the quality of airport cities as it is generalizable and can be applied to any organization depending on its specific aims and objectives in the industry. However, it is not the only existing framework that is used to evaluate company performance and quality. For example, the ISO 9000 Family of the Standards is a framework that was designed to support companies in managing, controlling, and improving the quality. It also focuses on customers, leadership responsibility, employee and stakeholder involvement, system approach to management, etc. Nevertheless, Daneshjo, Stratyinski, and Jergová (2014) explain why the EFQM is more efficient than the ISO 9000. First, each criterion of the EFQM has a level of importance (e.g., 10%, 15%, etc.). Second, customer results are especially relevant, having approximately 20% level of impact. Third, continuous improvement is a key aspect that is not given sufficient consideration in ISO 9000. Although the ISO 9000 can be used as a framework for measuring the quality of airport cities, it provides less detail and attention to core criteria such as people, strategy, customer results, key performance results, etc. Such limitations can have an adverse influence on the overall assessment of airport cities, thus resulting in decreased performance, customer and stakeholder satisfaction, and a decline in organizational business excellence.

A more practical approach toward the implementation of the EFQM is used by Al-Khouri (2012) who uses the example of the United Arab Emirates to show how the integration of the EFQM and Information Technologies can change the practice of an organization or a government. The UAE created the eGovernment Strategic Framework 2012-2014 based on the EFQM model to improve the delivery of services, citizens’ quality of life, and the effectiveness of governmental processes (Al-Khouri 2012). As many airports are government-owned, the case study of the UAE is a good example of how the EFQM is integrated into organizational processes in governmental facilities. In this case, the framework helped departments improve their public-sector performance, increase participation of citizens in government decisions/actions, improve the accountability of civil servants, and assure a competitive environment for private businesses (Al-Khouri 2012). Additionally, the implementation of IT and the EFQM model helped ensure cost-cutting as some administrative burdens were removed and responsiveness to customers increased significantly.

The advantage of self-assessment is that it helps organizations understand what employees and other stakeholders think about the need of change, find out whether the company’s business is as effective as anticipated, evaluate various opinions and their practicality, and create a better understanding of change and quality management. With the lack of a framework for the assessment of the airport city quality, self-assessment based on the EFQM appears to be both attractive and efficient as the perception of airport cities as divided units should be transformed into a more holistic understanding. The current prevalent view of airport cities as clusters (Terekhov & Gollnick 2015) of different divisions and parts is unacceptable for the following reasons: all districts (logistics, hospitality, cargo, etc.) are parts of a bigger environment (airport), assessing them individually will not indicate interdivisional problems that impact the quality of the city (e.g., the time of service processing at logistics facility and its impact on the distribution and delivery centers), and the impact of the quality of these cities on operating businesses will also be difficult to measure, as individual assessments of facilities will omit problems at the airport-wide levels.

As can be seen, current literature research on airport cities and EFQM has not been connected; the majority of the works dedicated to the EFQM either evaluate it using a case study of a specific company or discuss its theoretical implications on business in general. The studies of airport cities examine those through an economic, urbanistic, public sector management, environmental, or another prism, paying little to no attention to quality management. Furthermore, no framework for the assessment of their quality is proposed in current studies. Thus, the author identified a significant gap in current research on quality management and airport cities, as no suggestions are made about the assessment of the airport cities, and the EFQM model is not suggested as one of the possible tools.

Research Gaps

The study aims to address the following research gaps:

1. The lack of a unified approach to the measurement of the quality of airport cities.
2. The perception of airport cities as divided facilities and districts rather than whole units.
3. The lack of research examining airport cities through the prism of quality management.

The study aims to utilize secondary data analysis to fill the gaps in research and answer research questions.

Problem Definition

The expansion of commercial aviation locally and globally has led not only to the need for the development of the airport’s infrastructure but also highly increased competitiveness in the aviation industry. The workforce needed for the maintenance of such facilities can include thousands of people, which eventually results in the emergence of airport cities that include a variety of districts (aviation, logistics, education, residential, etc.). However, no standard framework exists to evaluate the quality of airport cities and their influence on business excellence and effectiveness. Therefore, it is impossible to assess the effectiveness of such airport cities without a standardized quality model. The EFQM Excellence Model is a framework that allows analyzing a company’s performance in various areas and whether this performance is improving. It can be viewed as a suitable framework for the assessment of the airport cities’ quality.

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of the study is to analyze the EFQM Excellence Model as a potentially suitable framework for the assessment of the quality of airport cities. As no assessment standards of such cities currently exist, the study aims to examine the phenomenon of airport cities and suggest the EFQM as a potentially effective framework for the measurement of airport cities’ quality as a unit and not as a set of divided districts.

Research Questions and Research Objectives

The research questions are as follows:

1. How can the EFQM Excellence Model be integrated into the assessment of airport cities’ quality?
2. Is the EFQM Excellence Model a framework suitable for assessing airport cities as a unit and not a set of districts?
3. Can pillars of measuring the quality of airport cities be created based on the EFQM?

Research objectives are as follows:

1. Examine the phenomenon of airport cities and critically assess current research on the subject.
2. Evaluate whether the EFQM is a suitable model for the assessment of airport cities’ quality.
3. Analyze how the EFQM can be applied to assess airport cities.

The hypothesis of the study is:

H1. The EFQM can become the basis for developing standardized pillars for airport cities’ quality measurement.

Description of the Approach

The research approach in this study is deductive. The deductive approach is based on a series of steps: first, the researcher examines the existing theory, then formulates a hypothesis based on the literature review, thereupon conducting an observation, a test, or an analysis to support/refute the hypothesis, and finally describing the results (confirmation or rejection of the hypothesis). The key feature of the deductive approach is that “the researcher imposes their structure on the data and then uses this to analyze [data or materials]” (Kemparaj & Chavan 2013, p. 96). One of the examples of a deductive approach is content analysis. Using content analysis, the researcher searches for patterns and repeated themes in the obtained data, thus indicating how the problem is perceived in research and among quality managers. The helpfulness of content analysis is in its focus on existing data from various sources; this approach helps the researcher ensure the avoidance of repetitions and restatements of findings already present in the research.

Research Design

The research design is a qualitative study that will rely on secondary data analysis to answer research questions. It should be noted that the distinction between “primary” and “secondary” data analysis is crucial in this case. Whereas primary data analysis refers to analyses of data collected by researchers to answer research questions, all other types of analyses can be labeled as secondary data analysis. Such analyses usually include data collected for other specific research studies or different types of data (e.g., previously published interviews, statistics, surveys, online articles, blog entries, etc.) (Cheng & Phillips 2014). The researcher’s goal is to utilize existing research data from journal articles, books, available surveys, and published interviews to evaluate how the EFQM is used for businesses quality assessment, how airport cities’ quality is assessed by quality managers, and whether any standards can be developed based on the EFQM. The advantage of secondary data analysis is that it “avoids repetition of research & wastage of resources by a detailed exploration of existing research data” (Tripathy 2013, p. 1478).

One of the main advantages of secondary data analysis is its low cost. Additionally, data available online is usually proofread and checked by the authors of the research or their reviewer, which decreases the chance of obtaining false, untested, or unreliable data. It should be also noted that the real-life testing of the study’s hypothesis would require significant financial investments, not to mention the consent of an airport city to participate in the research that requires the involvement of all districts and divisions, which can be problematic both for the research timing and the processes at an airport city. Thus, an analysis of available secondary data is suitable. The research design has several limitations. First, it cannot provide any unique materials or data obtained directly from the source of investigation (for example, via questionnaires and interviews). Second, it is less generalizable as it relies on data collected in specific regions (e.g., countries and cities where airport cities are functioning currently). Its results might be inapplicable to airport cities that will emerge in several years due to the continually changing business environment and the updating process of the EFQM. Third, the researcher that analyzed the data was not present during data collection and might not be aware of research specifics or glitches that could influence its results (Cheng & Phillips 2014). When analyzing large-scale surveys, the researcher might also omit some less prominent but important details due to a large amount of documentation.

The researcher aims to use content analysis to determine how airport cities’ impact on business effectiveness is discussed in the research and what gaps are not addressed. With the help of content analysis, the researcher will be able to identify similar patterns in articles used as sources for research and examine whether these patterns align with the research questions and hypotheses (e.g., how the lack of standardized assessment influences cities’ effectiveness). Content analysis will help evaluate how the EFQM is perceived in research, whether there have been attempts to use it or other similar frameworks for the assessment of airport cities, and what other tools for the measurement of quality researchers have suggested.

Data Collection and Analysis

The data collection process included database research. The author used Google Scholar, Science Direct, ProQuest, and the University of Wollongong library to gather secondary data. Journal articles, books, newspaper articles, website entries, and editorials were included in the research. The search was limited to articles and other materials published from 2005 to 2017, with a preference for articles and studies published after 2012. The search included only articles published in English. Auto-alerts from Science Direct and the University of Wollongong library were also included. Furthermore, the author also used reference lists from selected articles to find additional data. Using keywords “airport city”, “airport cities”, “airports”, “EQFM”, “EQFM Excellence model”, “airport cities quality management”, “quality management”, “airport cities quality”, and “airport service quality” the author identified more than 22606 articles. Qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies were included in the search. Studies’ sample sizes varied from small to large; airport cities and airports were also used as units of analysis.

The exclusion criteria for secondary data were as follows:

1. Materials are written in any other language than English.
2. Materials are published in online wiki-websites or any other unreliable sources.
3. Materials rely on outdated (published before 2000) data.
4. Materials are not related to airport cities (e.g., EFQM model applied in banking, finance, etc.).
5. Materials are not directly related to the airline industry (e.g., tourism, geography, engineering, etc.).
6. The study does not examine quality management (e.g., a study includes a description of it but uses system management as the main framework).
7. The study is conducted at a small airport (not an airport city/hub).
8. The study uses quality management frameworks but primarily targets customer loyalty or any other aspect of quality management without considering others.

The sample of selected articles was divided into two major groups: articles that examine the function and quality of airport cities and services provided there and articles that discuss the effectiveness of the EFQM model. The first group consisted of eighteen articles. The sample of selected articles included qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-method studies that examine the phenomenon of airport cities about the services provided there, their management, development, and frameworks used to evaluate the quality of these cities or airport services. The second group consisted of ten articles, including both qualitative and quantitative research, although qualitative research was prevalent. The selected studies examined the utilization of the EFQM model in different industries and organizations. The author paid particular attention to the integration of the EFQM model’s factors into the business and their alignment with each other to understand whether they will be efficient in evaluating the airport cities quality.

The content analysis of the articles was as follows: the author screened studies’ analyses, findings, results, and discussion sections to identify the prevailing themes that illustrated how airport cities’ quality is measured and whether airport services are included in this measurement. The author paid specific attention to the keywords and phrases that were repeated in different articles to identify the overarching themes presented, such as the use of airport service quality (ASQ) as the main framework for measuring the effectiveness and quality of airport and airport cities. The identified overarching themes were divided into sub-themes, which indicated specific details of the topic (e.g., the exact use of ASQ for quality measurement, other factors that influence the quality, etc.). All identified overarching themes and sub-themes were added to a table and provided with a specific example (coded text) from the articles. The most frequently found themes were used as identifications of how quality measurement is perceived in airport cities’ research and whether it aligns with the EFQM model.

Results and Major Findings

The results of the conducted content analysis indicate that the use of the EFQM model is not considered in the research and management of airport cities; instead, other frameworks that are only partly aligned with the EFQM model are used by airport cities’ managers to assess them. Some of the frameworks used were designed and developed specifically for one airport city and were not tested in others (see Table 1).

Table 1. Content analysis of selected articles.

As can be seen from the content analysis, there is no existing framework sufficient for the evaluation of the airport cities. Some researchers use ASQ as the primary tool, while others prefer to measure the quality of the airport separately from other areas of the airport city. Due to the lack of any tool suitable for the measurement of the airport cities’ quality, EFQM is proposed as a solution to this problem.

EFQM Content Analysis

To evaluate whether EFQM is a suitable framework for measuring airport cities’ quality, the author aims to use content analysis selecting up to ten articles about the implementation of the EFQM in different facilities (governmental, private) to see whether this framework was efficient in measuring and improving the quality of a facility/service (see Table 2).

Table 2. Content analysis of selected articles related to EFQM.

As can be seen, research on the EFQM emphasizes various aspects, such as the importance of perceiving and implementing the model as a whole, the significance of people and people results and their relation to the overall organizational performance, and the general effectiveness of the EFQM in management and its ability to improve its effectiveness.

Discussion

The content analysis of the selected articles provide deep insights into the issue of airport cities, their management and quality, and the use of the EFQM as an effective tool for measuring the quality of organizations and their organizational performance. First, the content analysis of airport cities has shown that no common framework exists to evaluate the quality of airport cities. Depending on the organization, ASQ, ISO, or TQM are used as methods for assessing quality. Another problem is the perception of airport cities as separate districts rather than a larger unit. Due to such division, quality management uses specific frameworks to assess separate divisions or districts of airport cities (e.g., the airport itself, cargo district, logistics, hospitality, etc.) but does not evaluate the effectiveness of airport cities as a whole.

Although the research agrees that business intelligence is crucial in defining airport city quality, no specific framework for such measurement was presented in any research or by any author. Furthermore, additional difficulties in establishing the general framework for assessing the quality of airport cities are created by the lack of consent among researchers about the definition of the “airport city”. As it was indicated in the content analysis, some of the researchers (Peneda, Reis &Macario 2011) point out that “airport city” as a definition is too vague to be applied, whereas others (Appold & Kasarda 2006; Correia &de Abreu e Silva 2015; O’Connor & Fuellhart 2012) use this concept as an established definition (together with various synonyms such as the metropolis, for example). The author identified the lack of consistency in the evaluation of airport cities’ quality; the EFQM model is not simply omitted in the research but is not even proposed as a suitable framework for creating pillars of measurement of airport cities’ quality. At the same time, it appears that the EFQM model might be highly suitable as a tool for evaluation for the following reasons:

1. The EFQM model is transparent and applicable to any organization. No specific changes or transformations are necessary thanks to the universal criteria it uses.
2. The model ensures improvements in management, raising the baseline, and making the process of managing more detailed. It emphasizes the company’s goals, mission, and vision, and allows documenting and capturing main activities and projects necessary for goal achievement.
3. The model can be used specifically for the evaluation of free trade zones that are almost always present in international airports. Each of the EFQM’s criteria applies to the evaluation of free trade zones and indicates what changes can be done about each criterion.
4. The EFQM’s particular focus on people and people results, together with Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), has the potential to create the organizational culture in airport city that will support equality, commitment, and fairness, thus influencing and improving people results (clientele’s expectations and needs).
5. As airport cities are large units, the tracking of their organizational quality system needs to rely not only on appropriate and reliable IT technologies but also on a framework that will support the effective use of IT. As Zárraga-Rodríguez and Álvarez (2014) point out, each of the criteria in the EFQM can be used for the support of the information orientation framework that focuses on the efficient and reasonable use of IT technologies in an organization.
6. Airport cities have become large labor markets. The EFQM can be used to assess the quality of working conditions, staff satisfaction, staff burnout, and the influence of such labor market on the overall effectiveness and quality of the airport city.
7. The use of the EFQM model together with the information orientation will pave the way for using full-scale business intelligence technologies. Both business intelligence and EFQM will bring organizational performance to a new level.
8. The development of general policies, plans, objectives, and aims for the whole unit (airport city) rather than its districts/parts based on the EFQM will results in better congruence in organizational vision and mission.
9. Partnerships and resources are crucial for airport cities. The adoption of the EFQM model will help manage external partnerships and the distribution of resources by organizational goals.
10. Airport cities become new suburbs, Appold & Kasarda (2006) point out. Ethical behavior, environmental programs, sustainable business models, and positive brand image are essential for the organization to ensure that the suburban life of the airport city’s inhabitants is not adversely affected by organizational processes. The EFQM model can help achieve it through its social results.
11. Instead of evaluating each district/part as a separate unit, the airport city can use segment results to evaluate separate areas and their performance. Such an approach is less costly and more efficient than a full-scale evaluation of one area.
12. The EFQM model can help the company compare its results with other players (e.g., other airport cities) to see whether they need additional reviews of the target setting.

Despite the multiple advantages of the EFQM model, it is important to consider any weaknesses it has to understand what impact it might have on the organization. The implementation of the EFQM model requires experienced and reliable leaders who will act as role models and inspire others to achieve organizational goals and aims, as well as translate the company’s vision. Without a talented leader, the EFQM will be much more ineffective. Another problem is the paperwork required for the implementation of the EFQM. Gašparík, Gašparíková, and Ellingerová (2014) point out that keeping records of enablers and results requires significant bureaucratic work, which might adversely influence the organization if any mistakes are made or misunderstandings take place. For example, some managers might misunderstand the sub-criteria described in the model (Gašparík, Gašparíková & Ellingerová 2014).

Organizations that do meet the quality requirements often fail to record their progress and results due to the complexity of the model. Incorrect definitions of criteria used might result in low scores in an otherwise highly professional organization, which leads to disappointment and rejection of the EFQM model. Therefore, if it is implemented, the process of the implementation should be supervised by a team of trained professionals who understand how the EFQM model works and how its reports are used to evaluate the quality of the organization. Gašparík, Gašparíková, and Ellingerová (2014) notice that if one top manager decides to implement the EFQM model and delegates its implementation to employees at lower positions, this decision will inevitably meet confrontation and non-acceptance. Thus, an agreement between all key employees regarding the use of the EFQM is necessary.

Despite the mentioned weaknesses, the EFQM model is useful in increasing organizational competitive advantage and social responsibility as its criteria specifically target either of these concepts. The EFQM emphasizes the importance of leadership, partnerships, employees, and strategies, while it also seeks to sustain the economic, environmental, and social responsibility of the company. The RADAR logic is also effective in assessing both enablers and results and understanding how they influence the overall organizational performance. With the RADAR logic, airport cities will be able to evaluate the excellence of the results and make improvements in various projects if necessary.

Conclusions and Managerial Recommendations

As can be seen from the analyzed data and research findings, the EFQM Excellence Model is a suitable framework for evaluating airport cities’ quality and understanding their strengths and weaknesses. Its main advantages include the focus on organizational goals and objectives as a whole, the input of human resources in the excellence of the organization, and the ability to provide better congruence between airport city’s units in understanding and translating organizational vision and mission. The EFQM model requires detailed and extensive reporting, which usually results in difficult bureaucratic processes. The organization needs to be prepared for these processes; otherwise, the use of the EFQM model will not be as practical as expected and might result in errors.

The managerial recommendations are as follows:

1. Before implementing the EFQM model, ensure that an organizational vision and mission, as well as goals, are carefully and formulated. Their translation will be possible with a strong leader present, but if they are poorly formulated, no leader will be able to inspire their followers to work on a project that has unclear objectives and seems not to lead anywhere.
2. The EFQM model requires strong and effective leadership. Transformational leadership that focuses on motivating followers, increasing their commitment to a project, and guiding them to make the needed change can be effective when implementing the EFQM model.
3. When evaluating airport cities, specific attention should be paid to segment results in the EFQM model. Segment results define the performance, needs, and expectations of a specific area. Depending on the unit, segment results may vary. While the airport facility will pay attention to passengers’ safety and satisfaction, the cargo unit will be more concerned with the effective use of logistics and punctual delivery, thus focusing on another group of stakeholders. The EFQM model, in this case, will address both the unique needs of all units but also evaluate the airport city as a whole, encouraging better cooperation and communication between various areas.
4. Any airport city that aims to implement the EFQM model needs to consider the investments and expected returns from the project. The use of the EFQM model will be justified only if experienced and trained personnel are involved. As was mentioned above, misunderstandings might frequently happen if managers and the employees they supervise are not aware of the complexities and details of the EFQM.
5. The implementation of the EFQM must be timely. If the organization is unable to ensure the gradual implementation of the framework and does not have enough human and financial resources to do so, it should consider using other frameworks.
6. The implementation of the EFQM is likely to be beneficial to companies that use the ASQ model or ISO because the EFQM covers all areas presented in the mentioned quality assessment frameworks; at the same time, the EFQM is also more detailed due to the presence of sub-categories that allow a better understanding of the assessment of enablers and results. Therefore, the EFQM is recommended as a more detailed and thorough model of quality assessment compared to ASQ and ISO.

The obtained data can help improve organizational performance and bring the company closer to achieving business excellence.

Limitations and Future Research

The limitations of this study are due to the qualitative method used in the research. Research bias is inevitable in collecting the necessary data (articles and literature) for content analysis as their value is estimated subjectively. Furthermore, qualitative research cannot be statistically representative, because it uses perspective-based methods of research. Due to its in-depth nature, qualitative research usually incorporates a small scope of recourses (e.g., the number of articles), which are not always generalizable. The findings of this research only apply to large airport cities that already exist, as the changing business environment will transform the needs and aims of soon-to-emerge airport cities. This research also does not rely on any unique data collected by the author as it uses articles and literature dedicated to the problem.

Future research should focus on the effectiveness of the EFQM model in measuring airport cities’ quality in real life; it might examine the implementation of the model, its use (or misuse), and the possible difference in expected and final results of the implementation. Additionally, the research can be dedicated to the implementation of the model in several airport cities to understand what other aspects (cultural, geographical, social, etc.) might influence it and whether its use and effectiveness vary depending on the airport city.

Novelty

The study has contributed to the existing research on airport cities and quality measurement in the following ways: first, it identified and addressed the gaps is research pertaining the lack of a unified approach toward the measurement of airport cities’ quality; second, it provided a suitable framework for such measurement, addressing its advantages and disadvantages; third, it examined how the quality of airport cities is addressed in research and what frameworks are used for its measurement; fourth, it indicated why the EFQM model is the most suitable framework for creating pillars of measuring airport cities’ quality; fifth, it provided managerial recommendations on how the EFQM model should be implemented and whether any factors should be considered before its implementation.

“Airport City” is a relatively new concept that is often perceived as synonymous with the vast number of facilities, districts, and units that operate in the airport city. The study examined airport cities as whole systems, which quality depends on the congruence between the facilities operating within this system. The perception of airport cities as fully-fledged units supports the need for an assessment framework that will evaluate them from a holistic point of view. This study demonstrated that the EFQM model is suitable for creating pillars that will be capable of measuring the quality of these unique units.

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Introduction

The Dubai Airport Free Zone Authority (DAFZA) is a free economic zone that was established in 1996; today, it is ranked as the number one free zone in the world (Department of Economic Development 2014). Multiple businesses operate in the zone due to the high profitability and convenience of DAFZA; furthermore, it offers a strategic location and infrastructure (more than 1300 companies present, operating in Dubai International Airport), taxation leverage, support from the United Arab Emirates government (visa processing/registration for businesses and employees) and has been awarded various certifications and awards (e.g. Best Economic Free Zone in the Middle East – 2013, Dubai Quality Award [DQA]– 2014, etc.) (DAFZ 2017). The company’s leadership comprises several executive representatives, including the chairman of DAFZA, director-general, assistant director-general, assistant director-general of finance and commercial division, people growth and strategy, relationships management, etc. These individuals control various aspects of the quality structure of DAFZA, which can be illustrated as shown in Figure 1:

The Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) element is a framework developed by the company that uses specific policies to guide managerial practices about ethics (business needs to be socially responsible), environment (to ensure its protection), people (to ensure wellbeing and satisfaction of people, including employees) and society (to support the development of society). All employees are encouraged to take part in CSR activities, and each department provides suggestions related to any CSR activity before the preparation of annual business plans (DAFZ 2017). Recently, DAFZA developed a framework, corporate national responsibility (CNR), which follows international standards in establishing and controlling organizational social responsibility.

Key Drivers for Excellence Program Adoption

The key drivers for the adoption of the excellence program for DAFZA have been the three steps formulated in the strategic planning that they have used to achieve their objectives and goals. DAFZA develops strategic plans every two years. Important drivers of a successful strategic plan that leads to organizational sustainability and business excellence include approach, deployment, and assessment and refinement (the RADAR framework). In the first step, the strategic model is divided into two major parts: Strategic Planning Path and Strategic Learning (Department of Economic Development 2014).

DAFZA continually monitors the business environment so that evaluation of its objectives, missions, and goals is possible in real-time; with this approach, the organizations able to improve its services as rapidly as possible and align this information with the corporate SWOT. To control systematic deployment, DAFZA ensures that all its departments and units take part in reviewing its mission and vision via surveys and focus interviews. SWOT analyses of different departments are also conducted, as well as PESTEL analysis, to formulate and set future strategic goals, using Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to measure achievement (Department of Economic Development 2014). A unique aspect of DAFZA is the use of the ADKAR model, which focuses on human resources and their involvement in the change process. The implementation of this framework aligns with DAFZA’s CSR and CNR frameworks, which also consider social responsibility, human involvement, and the wellbeing of stakeholders to be corporate responsibilities.

The third key driver involves assessment and refinement, which focus on reviewing and comparing DAFZA’s strategy section, best company practices (about the global arena), risk analysis, and KPIs. The latter is crucial for organizational performance but might require additional alteration due to a changing external business environment or the need for a better competitive advantage (Department of Economic Development 2014). Thus, the outputs of KPIs are analyzed to assess whether DAFZA’s strategy is relevant and dynamic.

It should be noted that a unique business environment has supported DAFZA’s excellence. First, the UAE allows 100% foreign ownership and levies a reduced corporate income tax on foreign corporations, which makes DAFZA more attractive for foreign investment (Shayah & Qifeng 2015). Second, ready-made factories and excellent infrastructure increase the provision of services to stakeholders, leading to higher customer (and employee) satisfaction. Third, quick approval procedures and government support for visa processing and other aspects critical for business functioning serve to increase DAFZA’s competitive advantage in the market and emphasize the importance of quality management and its impact on strategic goals, thus adding company value from the customers’ point of view.

RADAR Methodology

The European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model uses the RADAR methodology (or logic) to provide a framework or tool to evaluate organizational performance. The RADAR methodology relies on the following steps:

1. Determine the results by assessing and considering trends, comparisons, targets, etc.
2. Develop specific approaches to attain results.
3. Deploy these approaches systematically.
4. Assess and review these approaches by evaluating and monitoring the results achieved (Uygur & Sümerli 2013).

Thus, an organization using RADAR can enhance organizational performance by emphasizing core aspects of performance. Results indicate what the organization has achieved; if the organization aims to achieve excellence, it must strive for results that indicate a positive tendency or good performance. To do this, the company needs to set achievable and reasonable goals, ensure that its performance is high, and be able to compete with other businesses and align its strategy with the chosen approach.

To add value to a company, the approach must be developed thoroughly. A well-defined approach focused on shareholder’s requirements and integrated must be expected if the company wants to achieve business excellence (Uygur & Sümerli 2013). At the same time, it is essential to assess whether the approach aligns with organizational policies and strategies; if not, it is less likely to be effective.

Deployment helps organizations actualize their approach; for example, it can include cooperation between various departments and individuals to determine and review the company’s vision, mission, and values (as at DAFZA) (Department of Economic Development 2014; Fonseca 2015). Deployment is necessary because it answers the following questions: How, where, and when were these approaches implemented? (EFQM 2012). To achieve excellence, the approach needs to be implemented systematically and in relevant areas.

The concluding step is to assess and review the implemented approaches. To do this, the company monitors and analyses the achieved results; assessment and review can help companies determine what can be done to improve organizational performance and what has been learned (EFQM 2012). Organizations that have achieved excellence will assess their approaches systematically and regularly perform learning activities.

To add value to the company, it is also suggested to divide the assessment into two areas: one assessment of enablers and another of results. The first area evaluates adopted approaches and analyses their effectiveness over time. The second area targets results, their relevance to the organizational strategy, and the presence of positive trends in organizational performance.

Participation in Contents and Firm Performance

National and international quality awards are used to promote quality awareness at the national or global levels. Standardized evaluation criteria are provided so that candidates can engage in self-assessment and identify the weaknesses and issues they need to address. As Lin and Su (2013) point out, the question of whether quality awards indeed improve organizational performance is critical when assessing awards’ effectiveness. In their study, the authors found that “75% of the award winners experienced positive average abnormal returns, indicating that the implementation of an effective quality improvement program could provide a long-term return to the market value of firms” (Lin & Su 2013, p. 66).

In the case of DAFZA, it was able to exceed its KPI targets, generate a 42% rise in revenues, achieve a higher satisfaction rate (84.65%), and recognize 30% of the organization’s employees with awards and rewards (Department of Economic Development 2014). Thus, the company was able to increase its competitive advantage in the market, which can provide a basis for further improvement and support a focus on performance excellence (Evans 2013; Rausand 2013). At the same time, as not one but several companies usually take part in quality awards and win in different categories, the emergence of new (or old) rivals in the market, their recognizability, and promotion can make the business environment more competitive and impact customer loyalty. If the company is unable to provide quality services at the same levels, winners in other categories may decrease its market value, which can negatively impact business excellence and employee motivation.

Business Excellence and Company Performance

Business excellence directly relates to the eight fundamental concepts of EFQM: adding value, creating a sustainable future, developing organizational capability, harnessing creativity, leading with vision, managing with agility, succeeding through talent, and sustaining outstanding results (EFQM 2013). To ensure that all these concepts are integrated into business excellence, the company needs to use the RADAR framework to determine the results, plan and deploy approaches and then go on to assess and refine the approaches. To use the RADAR methodology, the company needs enablers (i.e. flexible leadership, stakeholder-focused strategy, people with developed capabilities, external partnerships, and resources and processes that are managed in such a way they can generate value for customers and other stakeholders).

When enablers are present, and the fundamental concepts are clear, RADAR is implemented. Based on the effectiveness of the chosen approaches and the company’s ability to use RADAR and enablers as required, customer results, people results, society results, and business results will indicate whether the company has reached business excellence (Matthies-Baraibar et al. 2014). Excellent companies are not only able to evaluate whether their strategy is successful via specific key indicators but also can set clear targets for key results, demonstrate good business results over the term of three years and understand how these key results can be compared to data about other companies (EFQM 2013). As can be seen, organizational performance is a set of various components, indicators, and approaches that, if developed and implemented correctly, can significantly improve the results obtained by the company and show whether the company is close to becoming excellent. Only a thorough, attentive, and detailed evaluation of organizational performance can lead to business excellence.

Reference List

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Rausand, M, 2013, Risk assessment: theory, methods, and applications, John Wiley & Sons, New York, NY.

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Dynamic Strategic Plan (DSP): Key Concepts and SWOT

A Dynamic Strategic Plan (DSP) is typically defined as the means of creating rational policies for the use of the company’s resources (Brown, 2012). DSP usually includes concepts such as leadership, guidance, resource allocation, and data management (Niven, 2014).

DSP for the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport

Purpose

The DSP for the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport is aimed at improving the current luggage checking process since the procedure is currently quite lengthy.

Context

The DSP framework will be applied to address the issue of waiting time at the Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport. Specifically, the stages involving the baggage check and the further delivery or the luggage to the passengers will have to be improved. However, apart from addressing the identified problem, the tool will be used as the means of promoting a general improvement of the airport services and enhancing passenger security.

Assessment

The assessment will be carried out by collecting surveys from passengers and comparing the current satisfaction rates with the ones that had been retrieved before the new approach was implemented.

Risk Treatment

It should be kept in mind that reducing the time for checking the luggage is not to affect the quality of the procedure. Particularly, the threat of omitting a potentially dangerous item that may pose a threat to the lives and wellbeing of the passengers must be mitigated at all costs. At the same time, it is crucial to reduce the waiting time so that the level of satisfaction among passengers could be increased significantly. Therefore, it will be necessary to equip the airport baggage checking system with destination-coded vehicles (DCV), which help handle the passengers’ luggage faster.

Implementation and Monitoring

The use of new scanning tools and the DCV will be monitored by a team from the Quality Assurance Department. The data about mitigated threats to the passengers’ security (e.g., the uncovered attempts to transport weapons, stolen items, etc.) will be recorded and analyzed thoroughly. Furthermore, feedback will be collected from customers so that their satisfaction levels could be determined. Finally, the records provided by the Lost and Found service located in the airport will be analyzed carefully.

Advantages and Disadvantages: What Needs to Be Borne in Mind

Advantages

DSP obviously is a perfect tool for creating long-term plans. The strategies that will be designed with its help will become the foundation of the passengers’ security. Additionally, the company will be able to avoid similar problems in the future.

Disadvantages

The plan does not include a detailed description of the communication tools that will be used to gather feedback and get essential messages across to the members of the company. Therefore, it will be necessary to focus on building a comprehensive communication framework. The use of IT tools as the means of data transfer, analysis, and storage must be viewed as a necessity since there is a need to improve the speed and efficacy of data transfer.

References

Brown, A. (2012). Dynamic strategic action planning in today’s fast-paced environment. Guilford, CT: AudioInk.

De Naufville, R. L., Odoni, A. R., Belobaba, P. & Reynolds, T. (2013). Airport systems: Planning, design and management (2nd ed.). New York, McGraw-Hill.

Niven, P. R. (2014). Balanced scorecard evolution: A dynamic approach to strategy execution. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons.

Successful project: The LogicaCMG Company instant energy project

The LogicaCMG is a UK based international company that is involved in designing, researching, and producing of gas meters for prepayment (Dalcher & Brodie, 2007). The company undertook an instant energy project that used new technologies. This project was meant to respond to the energy market need. The project was devised to meet the European energy standards. The project was also aimed at designing and producing ‘Smart Meters’ to replace the domestic consumer ‘Token Meters’. The ‘Smart Meter’ was expected to allow consumer monetary top-ups, using mobile phones. At the same time, it was targeted to the under-developed countries that lack pre-paid infrastructure for energy payment.

The causes of success of the project

Since the project was to be carried out in a complex IT environment, the LogicaCMG had to devise and analyze the project risk factors (risk management). The LogicaCMG also acknowledged that the energy industry is complex, and hence saw the need for the project to address the needs of clients and industries (Dalcher & Brodie, 2007). The LogicaCMG also researched on risks surrounding the economic, legal, and, technological environments.

Communication management is required in projects to ensure that they are accomplished successfully (Kerzner & Learning, 2013). It provides critical information, and ideas to different people, in order to enhance the success of projects. The LogicaCMG enhanced internal communication using different methods. This ensured that all team members were passionate about the project. In addition, it built trust among team members, encouraging them that the project would be completed to the highest standards.

The LogicaCMG project team ensured that the organization and the project environment supported the project. The project team enhanced a long period to nurture the project. This guaranteed that once the meters were presented in the market, they would yield good returns. In addition, the organization’s technical experience and knowledge were also integrated in the project. For instance, the project manager had extensive working experience and knowledge of the energy industry. Legal factors such as patents and licenses were also evaluated during the project process. The LogicaCMG applied the patent in designing and producing pre-paid meters. This ensured that there was no legal confrontation during the implementation of the project. It also reduced the threat of new entrants.

Furthermore, the project team considered the economic factors surrounding the project’s development process. This was meant to help them do away with the uncertainties of the project. The LogicaCMG ensured that the meters captured the effects of demand. This was achieved through customer satisfaction. The project had to produce a meter that would be used by a contract or a pre-paid customer.

Technology integration was also critical in the development of the instant Energy project process. The team members analyzed the problems associated with project development. The LogicaCMG spent a lot in building up-to-date technology in the early stages of the project to ensure its long term success. This was also meant to avoid cost overruns, associated with the unpredictable changes in technology. In addition, upon project team members’ recommendations, technological changes were made to the project’s initial technical specifications.

In addition, the project team members justified the costs and benefits of the project to the senior management. The project costs and returns were evaluated using different project screening and selection techniques. At the same time, the cost overruns were allowed when the project was being implemented, as long as it never jeopardized the overall planned and unplanned outcomes. Above all, the financial requirements of the project were also evaluated.

Change management plays a significant role in making new projects successful (Kerzner & Learning, 2013). This is because the new project modifies an organization in different ways. It is also critical for organizational learning, in ensuring project success (Roberts, 2011). The LogicaCMG motivated its employees and altered different technical, leadership, and management aspects to enhance project success.

Unsuccessful project: Denver International Airport baggage handling system

According to the Royal Academy of Engineering and the British Computer Society (RAEBCS) (2004), very few IT projects are successful due to their complexity (Winch, 2010). The Denver International Airport baggage handling system of 1990s is a good example of an unsuccessful project. This project illustrates how dysfunctional decision making kills the IT projects.

Following the completion of the construction of Denver Airport in 1989, many airlines started using Denver as a flight hub. Later in the early 1990s the Airport team recognized the need to have a standard automated baggage handling system. The Airport project management team entered into a contract with the BAE Company to facilitate the implementation of this project (Roberts, 2011). The change by United Airlines with regard to baggage handling specifications delayed the roll-out of the system.

The roll-out was postponed severally because the system continued facing many problems. The scope of the project was trimmed. Upon its actual opening in 1995, the project had experienced further delays. In 2005, the system was scrapped to save costs. The project team decided to build a fully manual system (Winch, 2010).

The various causes of failure of the project

There are various reasons that led to the failure of these projects. The baggage handling was unsuccessful because of the decision makers’ total disregard of project complexity. The project managers underestimated the complexity of the project by formulating strategies that were unsuccessful. This led to the failure of the project. They failed to plan for the project. This resulted in making changes in the strategy, subsequently.

The project managers also failed to make firm commitments to curb the challenges that were caused by massive risks and uncertainties. Communication breakdowns also contributed significantly to the failure of the project. The other reasons that led to this failure include lack of oversight of the management, people working in silos, ignoring to work on risk management, poor project design, and failure to foresee the impacts that making changes in the strategy subsequently.

What distinguishes the two projects, both in terms of the process used to develop them and their outcomes

There are several factors that distinguish the two projects in terms of their process of development and outcomes. These include the complexity of the project, project communication management, change management, project risk analysis, and project planning among others. To begin with, project planning in the two projects differed in a number of ways. Most notably, the project managers of the Denver International Airport baggage handling system planned the project poorly.

They designed the project wrongly, resulting in its failure. The project leaders were forced to make changes to the project subsequently because of their poor planning. They failed to foresee the impacts that the changes had to the project in the long run. The project was also associated with communication breakdowns, resulting to poor coordination between the leaders and followers of the project. The project managers also underestimated the complexity of the project. They never planned and formulated strategies to make it succeed. This led to the failure of the project. Underestimating the project’s complexities also led to the managers ignoring to work on risk management.

The project was overburdened with lots of risks, which made the organization spend huge amounts, wasted efforts, and incur huge losses. This is because the project team members were unable to accomplish the project on schedule and budget. They were also not able to meet their objectives and goals.

On the contrary, the managers of the LogicaCMG Company instant energy project, had a good plan. The team members employed different communication strategies to ensure a reliable coordination. They also analyzed the problems that they were likely to face in the project, and employed the most appropriate measures to deal with them (risk analysis). These helped them reduce operational costs. The team leaders together with their followers formulated strategies to manage change, when a need arose.

They were very aware of the complexities in the project, and hence formulated solutions in advance to curb them. The team members also integrated technological systems in their project to help them make work easy, reliable, accurate, fast, and cheap. All these combined led to the success of the project. This is because they were able to accomplish everything on budget and schedule. They were also able to meet the project’s objectives and goals.

References

Dalcher, D., & Brodie, L. (2007). Successful IT projects. London: Thomson Learning.

Kerzner, H. R., & Learning, I. I. (2013). Project management – best practices: Achieving global excellence. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley.

Roberts, P. (2011). Effective project management. London, UK: Kogan Page.

Winch, G. (2010). Managing construction projects: An information processing approach. Chichester: Blackwell Pub.

Introduction

The development of the UK airport industry can be termed as consistent. Despite numerous ups and downs including it has thrust itself as a leading industry in European economy and in particular UK. In the UK there exist about 40 airports scattered all over the kingdom which vary in passenger numbers. With the exception of London Heathrow, the remaining airports classification is based on their annual passenger capacity with four large airports accounting for over 20 million passengers. The UK airports do much more than passenger service. They offer shipping and airfreight services, air transit or air taxi and general aviation services. Besides they offer craft maintenance, testing and flight training services including custody services (CRI, 2006).

Main Body

When analyzed from a non-aviation perspective, the UK airports are a source of other non-aviation services that include light industry units and storage services. In comparison, small and large airports are equally significant in the UK since they compete against each other for the limited passengers with equal might. With additional competition from newly established civil bases created from past military infrastructure, size comes last in this competitive industry that focuses on reliability. In the year 2004, the turnover from UK airports totaled GBP 2.56 bn marking an increase of 5% over 2003 turnover. In this market, income is generated from two broad sources namely aviation and commercial services. Income from non-core services has tended to outweigh revenues from aviation services. This stresses the airports’ thirst to maximize revenue from their commercial ventures as compared to their core business. The competitions within markets are a concern for the industry as the limited opportunities come under scrutiny (Graham, 2001).

In the UK there is a great overlap of wide-ranging catchments for passengers making the airport industry highly competitive. The market has seen differentiation of individual airports that include long-haul destinations. Freighter operations have also been concentrated to a few airports with London Heathrow setting pace as a national leader. With the dominance of large airports in the UK, smaller airports have to devise ways of surviving this competition and that includes being price takers when sourcing for new contracts and attracting new customers (Starkie, 2002). However, it is the larger airports that benefit from economies of scale. Competition is envisaged to lead to a fall in mean prices below average costs showing a planned approach to the development of the industry as opposed to a market-led approach. In the UK, the airports are stipulated by UK accounting standards and law to report their financial statements for their 12 months results. From East London to London Heathrow, there is a blaring disparity in turnover propped by a discontinuity in the size range. Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester are larger than the rest of the airports. When London Heathrow nets a total of £1bn in annual sales, Southend can only manage £ 5m at another extreme (Graham, 2008). Analysis of smaller airports indicates a consistent profitability despite the low turnovers. Higher up, profit margins do not correlate to turnover hence showing the extent of the nature of competition. The airports have developed a mature competitive strategy despite the industry being inherently a natural monopoly. These calls for price controls and the regulation of financial returns through effective competition that would what individual airlines would be charged by the airports. Specific problems hinder the full growth of the airport industry and these include the failure to break up state enterprises especially the British Airports Authority despite privatization in 1980s. In other two UK regions London and Scotland, it continues in regular possession. In the greater Europe, privatization is top of the agenda for air industry regulators. The aim is to restructure ownership and provide a slightly less intense but competitive industry where competition would be the main driver of the industry. In the UK price controls are seen to depress investments by creating hold-up problems. It is feared that regulators would renege on their commitment to a regulatory settlement leading to a fall in incentives for investment due to the disparity in periods of amortization and regulatory settlements. The solution therefore would be to establish long-term contracts with airline customers to deliver vertical supply contracts. The term ensures security provided by the contract to sink costs in extra infrastructure and in the event avoid hold-up problems (Littlechild, 2007).

Air travel is by far a large and growing industry. It spurs economic growth, world trade, international investment and tourism hence it is central to the growth of other industries. Over the past decade, air travel has grown by a considerable percentage annually in the United Kingdom. Travel for business and leisure has seen a dramatic rise in figures worldwide (Starkie, 2002).

Researchers have analyzed the UK air industry using Michael Porter’s five forces by developing concepts in industrial organization economics to determine the competitive strength and attractiveness of a market. These forces are classified into a micro and macro environment depending on how they affect an organization. Michael Porter provided a model that maps an industry as interacts with the five forces. This can be used by a business manager to create an edge over the competitors in the industry that the firm operates.

Porter states rivalry as a major force in the traditional economic model. Rivalry is competition among firms in an industry. Sometimes competition is not ultimate and with some firms being quasi price takers the general consensus is that firms adopt a competitive advantage over their rivals. The extents of rivalry among firms vary from industry to industry creating differences worth noting before taking a plunge into one.

Economists have adopted industry concentration to measure the extent of rivalry in a given industry. This employs the concentration ratio (CR). In the US, the Bureau of Census from time to time reports the CR for key standard Industrial classifications. The concentration ratio can be used to show the market share held by specific firms in the industry. A large concentration ratio indicates a large chunk of the market share is held by the largest firms showing the industry is concentrated. If the scenario is of a few firms sharing the market it draws closer to a monopoly making it less competitive. A low concentration ratio depicts an industry with many rivals with none having a considerable market share. This goes further to outline a competitive environment where each firm has an equal stab at the market share (Porter, 1998).

In the UK initially, the BAA controlled the airline industry in a monopoly style formation however it ceded control over ownership by floatation of shares. This led to an alteration in the nature and intensity of competition experienced in most UK airports. The market share is controlled to a large percentage by the big four; London Heathrow, Gatwick, Stansted and Manchester. Competition to be a focus for linking air services is at its peak with many airlines including express freight carriers opting to negotiate contracts for establishing operating bases and route networks. This has raised the bargaining power of not so large airports due to their availability and lack of congestion (Condie, 2004).

In the event that the industry experiences a rather low level of rivalry among firms, the industry is deemed disciplined. This can be attributed to previous history of competition in the industry or compliance with ethics and conventional trade practices and in some instances the role played by a market leader. In this industry, market conspiracy is a taboo and is outlawed. Sometimes rebel firms outmaneuver the market in search of a competitive advantage shifting the erstwhile disciplined market. This sets a chain of events thus increasing rivalry in the industry. This competition can be wrapped in words like cutthroat, strong or weak depending on the approach used by the firms to try and regain control of their previous positions. A firm may be forced to explore certain options in order to survive the onslaught of others. These options may include changing prices to try and regain control. It may also differentiate its products and processes setting apart from competitors. Consequently it can exploit distribution channels to boost its presence in the market. Besides, it can use the suppliers to push the products closer to the buyers (Porter, 1998).

Before liberalization of the UK airlines industry, present day legacy airlines used to concentrate on specific geographic locations from where they run their base operations. Fag carriers tended to concentrate on the capital city focus. Low cost carriers however are disinterested in particular geographic markets and instead choose locations that maximize their returns on capital. This elevates competition that exists between airports from that of spatially adjacent airports to that involving a wide geographical coverage thrusting low cost carriers to set up bases throughout Europe (Gillen & Niemeier, 2008). The viciousness of competition is increased by the following industry phenomena. Rivalry in the industry is sometimes increased by a large number of firms in their quest to compete for the same resources and customers. The competition gets worse if the firms have identical share of the market forcing them to fight for market leadership. Slow pace of market growth makes firms to struggle for a portion of the market share. Firms operating in a growing market are able to boost their revenue by virtue of the expanding market. When fixed costs rise it increases rivalry. Firms that experience total costs equivalent to their fixed costs are forced to produce at full capacity to operate at lower unit costs. Faced with this task, the firm is forced to sell a large quantity of product leading to a scramble of the market share and eventually increased rivalry (Porter, 1998).

Other factors that intensify rivalry can comprise high storage costs causing stockists and producers to sell faster. If all the other stockists attempt to sell at the same time the flood the market, they raise the competition for customers. Low switching costs raises competition among firms as the choice presented to customers gives them the option to switch freely from one product to another hence firms outdo each other in attracting customers. Lack of product differentiation also intensifies rivalry and where stakes are high firms open an all out war against other firms. Industries with barriers to exit make it expensive to abandon products hence a failing firm is left with no choice but to continue fighting in order to remain relevant. The aircraft industry in UK is one such industry where after injection of billions of pounds into the business one cannot just walk away leaving all that to waste. Instead airlines and airports have managed to divest into other non core businesses to boost their presence in the industry. If the rivals are of a diverse mix then the industry becomes unstable with each firm misjudging the other’s moves. The airline industry for example is populated by airlines that historically are flag carriers, small crafts and executive jetliners, luxury cruises and dreamliners. Their missions and profit strategies are as diverse as they come hence planning a reaction on strategies taken by other categories of airlines need cautious approach (Porter, 1998).

The second force in Porter’s model is the threat of substitutes. Substitutes are products available in other industries. It becomes a threat when the demand of one product is altered by changes in the price of a substitute product. This affects the product’s price elasticity as more and more substitutes enter the market and customers get exposed to alternatives thus it becomes difficult for firms to raise prices in the industry. This massive competition brought about by threat of substitutes originates from products in other industries. The costs of air travel are constrained by global fuel prices and their substitutes exist as other forms of transport like rail, sea and road. The airports that are already established experience competition from emerging ports and private landing ports (Porter, 1998).

Conclusion

Porter’s third force is buyer power. This is the influence that consumers have in an industry. A strong buyer power translates to a phenomenon called monopsony where one buyer is served by many suppliers. In this market the buyer reigns by setting the price in the industry. Practically very few pure monopsonies are in existence if any. Related to buyer power is supplier power as porters’ fourth force in the model. It stems from the need for factors of production. This leads to a symbiotic relationship between the buyer and supplier. If suppliers wield considerable force in the industry they can influence the price at which these factors; land, labor, capital and raw materials are pegged in a bid to benefit from the margin. In the event that incumbent rivals do not put controls for future entry into the industry, new firms can enter and increase the level of competition experienced. With guaranteed entry and exit of the industry by firms and in cases where there is free entry and exit, profits will be insignificant. In some cases industry characteristics make it difficult for firms to enter or exit the industry leading to barriers to entry or exit. The high costs of setting up and operating an airport in the United Kingdom makes the venture a very expensive one. This acts as a barrier to entry. Barriers to exit take the form of long term contract commitments that have to be seen till their expiry.

References

1. Condie, S., (2004) Powerful Customers: Working with the Airlines in Vass, P. (Ed), The Development of Airports Regulation-A Collection of Reviews, CRI, School of Management, University of Bath.
2. CRI, (2006) Statistical Series: The UK Airports Industry, Airport Statistics 2005/6, CRI, School of Management, University of Bath.
3. Gillen, D. and Niemeier, H-M. (2008) ‘The European Union: Evolution of Privatization, Regulation, and Slot Reform’ in C. Winston and G. De Rus, Aviation Infrastructure
4. Performance: A Study in Comparative Political Economy, Brookings Institute, Washington DC.
5. Graham, A., (2001) Managing Airports: an International Perspective, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford.
6. Graham, A., (2008) ‘Airport Planning and Regulation in the United Kingdom’, Brookings, Washington DC.
7. Littlechild, S. C., (2007) Beyond Regulation in C. Robinson (ed), Utility Regulation and Competitive Markets, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.
8. Porter, M. (1998) Competitive Strategy; Techniques for analyzing industries and competitors, US, Free Press.
9. Starkie, D. (2002) ‘Airport Regulation and Competition’, Journal of Air Transport Management, 8, 63-72.
10. Starkie, D. (2008) Aviation Markets: Studies in Competition and Regulatory Reform, Ashgate, Aldershot/IEA, London.