Culture And Organisations For Low-Cost Carrier Airline

Theoretical model

Discuss about the Culture and Organisations for Low-Cost Carrier Airline.

Tigerair is the company chosen for the report. It is a low-cost carrier airline operating over Asia Pacific region. Tigerair is an airline based in Singapore holding company Singapore Airlines Limited. Tigerair is one of the leading low-cost airlines in Singapore. It was established in 2004. The company offers a fantastic experience to the customers by providing affordable options for travelling to the customers. The holding company of Tigerair is formed for smooth management of the subsidiary airlines along with a future expansion of the companies. Solving operational issues is another motive of the holding company. The aim of Tigerair is to serve people with a memorable experience by exploring new destinations within an affordable price. The company is committed to maintaining reliability and high standard safety to the customers. Tigerair operates over 40 destinations. The goals include Bangladesh, India, China, Macau, Singapore, Maldives, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, etc. The company has won many awards for its service and low-cost carrier in many countries. It is seen that the firm tries to follow the structure of Europe’s low-cost airline Ryanair. Tigerair follows the operating structure of Ryanair.

The central topic statement of the chosen company revolves around the corporate culture and safety issues of the passengers and the workers. As it is mentioned earlier that Tigerair is a low-cost carrier airline, cost cutting is a vital aspect that is maintained in every step of operations of the company. Due to this cost-cutting issue, the culture of the organisation is getting affected. The enterprise is not having good employee relations in the organisation. The employees including pilots, airhostesses are not provided with extra facilities that the other airlines provide. Tigerair does not have any career planning for their workers. Employees are not provided with proper training of customer service skills and other grooming skills.

There are many theoretical frameworks for organisational culture. Models of organisational culture illustrate many aspects of the culture followed by companies. It also suggests the actual type of organisational culture developed by every organisation for smooth flow of operations. In this report, the theoretical models chosen for discussing the cultural issue of Tigerair are the cultural model of Harrison and Schein model. Both these two theories describe different aspects of the behavior of people in a company.

Organisational culture model of Schein illustrates three dimensions of organisation cultures such as behaviours and Artifacts, espoused values and shared underlying assumptions. The aspect of Artifacts in the model includes overt, verbal and tangible elements of a company. Organisational Artifacts include dress code, furniture, architecture, official jokes, etc. They are the visible, identifiable elements that are recognised by employees (Hogan & Coote, 2014). Rules of behaviour and stated values of organisations are espoused values of the theory. The employees of the enterprise in this way highlight the organisation towards other people and to themselves. The dimension is expressed regarding public statements and official philosophies. Problems can arise if the espoused values of the organisation are not aligned with the assumptions of deeper tacit of the culture (Schein, 2013). The values of the employees play a vital role in determining the organisation culture. Attitude and thought process of the workers create a profound impact on the culture. The culture of a company is influenced by the mindset of the people associated with it. Shared values are intangible factors that create a difference in the organisational culture. Particular facts and beliefs are present in the minds of people that affects the culture of the company (Schneider et al., 2013).

Discussion of the topic

Corporate culture’s third level is associated with the inner parts of human nature. The underlying assumptions of employees of the company are experienced as unconscious and self-conscious behaviour. It is embedded in the culture of the enterprise. Recognising the assumptions of human behaviour from within is hard. The Cultural model of Schein also enhances organisations for a cultural change. A basis of cultural change could be identified using this model in different corporate entities. As stated by Schein in his model, discussions with the employees of a company can be done to discover their underlying attitude and various aspects of organisation culture. Cultural change in an enterprise is known as transformation process. Employees must be aware of this fact. Behaviour and attitude cannot be taught. It is a slow process. People adopt new behaviour who wants to accept cultural change in an organisation.

Figure 1: Schein Organization Culture Model

(Source: Created by Author)

According to Harrison’s cultural model, organisation culture is divided into four groups: task, person, role and person cultures. Task culture refers to project based or matrix structural designs. Task culture is characterised by the power of a team while improving efficiency and helping people to align themselves with the goals of the organisation. Teamwork, group work is practised in task culture. In this culture, the skills and expertise of the person are considered as most important aspect while exerting influence in the organisation. In a person culture, an individual affects a group. An organisation where formal hierarchy is not present, character culture is followed. Companies supporting autocratic leadership have power culture in them. The advantage of this culture is the high speed of decision making by senior management (Schaubroeck et al., 2012). Role culture follows the bureaucratic form of structure. In this culture, positions of a person, job descriptions are more significant than characteristics and personal traits of individuals associated with the organisation. High degree of standardisation and formalisation is found along with a lower level in adapting changes. The following diagram shows different dimensions of organisation culture.

Figure 2: Harrison’s Cultural Model

(Source: Created by Author)

Schein model is chosen for addressing the problems faced by Tigerair because the theory correctly describes the cultural organisational problems faced by it. It is seen that the three levels of cultures perfectly match the standard of culture followed in Tigerair. On the other hand, Harrison’s model of organisational culture portrays different segments of cultures that cannot be aligned with the central topic of the report (Rafaeli & Pratt, 2013). The dimensions of Schein model describe various aspects of organisational culture that Harrison’s model does not describe. The company faces many cultural issues in the sphere of employee relations, business models, safety and customer satisfaction that can be explained in the light of Schein model rather than Harrison’s model of organisational culture. One more aspect that is found in the Schein’s model of culture. The issue of cultural change is not highlighted in Harrison’s design. On implication of the chosen model, Tigerair can adopt for a cultural shift that is very necessary for gaining a brand reputation as well as increased profitability from the market.

According to Schein, an organisation cannot adopt a particular culture in a day. Culture develops within a group by the attitude and behaviour of the employees in the due course of time. The view of employees and culture of a company are directly proportional to each other. Both the aspects depend on the degree of level of different external and internal factors. In an organisational culture, employees experience many events and changes and adapt many circumstances of inner and outer environment (Appannah & Biggs, 2015). Culture helps in transforming employees from a base level towards perfectionists in the particular field of work. Thus, workers gain lessons from their past events. Many factors shape the organisational culture such as industry, external environment, nature of the workforce, technologies used by the company, ownership and historical background of the business and size of the workforce (Reiman & Rollenhagen, 2014). International integration is a vital factor because it is related to the social structures of the company. The high culture of an enterprise will enhance the company in generating more sustainable competitive advantages in the market.

Senior management of the company follows autocratic leadership. They do not listen to their subordinates. Hence, communication gap is prevalent among different levels of management. Apart from that, the business model of the company is not competent enough to portray them as a low-cost carrier airline. The persons associated with the enterprise are not responsible enough to represent the brand name of the airline (Lohmann & Vianna, 2016). Moreover, Tigerair has no such plans in proper training and development of the employees. It results in a bad customer service. Cost cutting in every section is creating a real problem for the company.

The cultural issues of the enterprise that are mentioned in the central topic are analysed using Schein’s theory of organisational culture. The problems will be analysed on the dimensions of the suggested theoretical framework.

Artifacts: Artifacts are the visible elements of the company that are carried by the employees of the organisations. These tangible elements are visible to the external people outside the enterprise and staff within the organisation (Shahzad et al., 2012). Many authors said that the identifiable features are the factors of the reputation of a company. Schein pointed out that Artifacts are the characteristics of the company’s organisational culture. However, there are advantages and disadvantages of this organisational theory. The report will focus on the problems in the behaviour of the employees (Petitta et al., 2015).

Based on the model of organisation culture by Schein, employees carry the image of the brand. The passengers of the aircraft know Tigerair in many countries for its bad customer service. It is due to lack of training and development provided to the people who are providing service to the passengers. Apart from that, the service of Tigerair is not up to the mark when compared to other low-cost carriers (Martinez, Beaulieu, et al. 2015). Most of the passengers are not satisfied with the flight service such as the welcoming attitude of the cabin crew, air hostesses, complimentary meals and other additional services. These are the identifiable aspects of the people associated with the company. It diminishes the image of the brand resulting in lowering profitability. Employees in many cases use remarks that are deregulatory at workplaces while pulling one another into different controversies (Pearson et al., 2015). On the contrary, it is noticed that many countries voted the airline as one of the best service provided to the passengers. Customers are also satisfied with the level of service provided by the company to its passengers. It can occur in many cases because the demands and level of expectations are not same for people of different countries (Chikweche, 2015).

Espoused Values: In this dimension of the cultural model, internal elements of the organisation are considered. Internal components include strategies, mission, vision, business models, the performance of executives, leadership, team performances, and organisational values. According to Schein, values of the people in an enterprise constitute the culture of that particular company (Srisaeng et al., 2014). In this dimension, the cultural issues of Tigerair are aligned with the espoused values of the business. The company is facing problems in the sphere of leadership, strategies, business models, and other aspects.

There is no channel of proper communication among the senior level executives and the junior level executives of the company. Due to lack of communication, many problems arise in different departments. High level employees do not consult with the junior executives for taking any decision regarding the service provided on the flights and other operational issues (Diaconu Maxim, 2012). It is the reason of the changed mindset of the people in the company. Senior management of Tigerair has to understand the importance of the junior employees, as they are the individuals who are dealing with the customers on a daily basis. The changed mindset of individual employees in the company will create a negative impact on the organisational culture (Christina, 2015). However, the company has its presence in many countries of the world, but it failed to meet its goals and objectives. It is known as a violation of the espoused values g Tigerair in many locations. The company follows autocratic leadership that does not yield positive results in many circumstances (Gudmundsson, 2015). Same thing happened in the case of Tigerair. Managers of the companies take decisions by their judgements and views. They hardly consider any suggestions and ideas from their subordinates and followers. Moreover, the treatment of the senior employees towards their junior executives is not right sometimes. Team members often face humiliation and misconduct from the supervisors (O’Connell & Vanoverbeke, 2015).

Another aspect of problems of Tigerair is inefficient training and development. Few employees and attendants of flight are not provided with proper training module. It leads to inefficient skills of customer service by the front-end employees. The onboard service of the company is indigent. The cabin crew and other flight attendants usually sell low quality junk foods to the passengers (Taneja, 2016). The level of duty is indigent. The passengers of the flights of Tigerair in many countries raise many complaints that forecast the dissatisfaction of the customers. Australia is the country where Tigerair has a bad reputation. Tigerair is the smallest low-cost airline in Australia. Customers are not satisfied with the service of the carrier. It is the result of changed mindset of the employees along with a lack of training module. The new staff are not well acquainted with the mission and vision of Tigerair. Hence, their behaviour towards the customers is different when compared to the organisational goals.

Assumptions: The dimension of shared underlying assumptions includes the granted unconscious conduct of the employees of the organisation. It constitutes the essence of the proper culture of the corporation. The model not only includes the internal problems of the company but also it considers the results caused by the internal cultural problems (Carlos Pinho et al., 2014). Tigerair is also noted for the safety issues. Security is paramount in both the sphere of the company as well as the flights. It is mentioned earlier that the firm fails in cost cutting in required sectors. Cutting costs in irrelevant departments results in bad feedback from the passengers. Behavioural aspect is a vital area that is related to the profitability of the company. If the flight attendants of Tigerair are compared to attendants of other airlines, then the differences can be highlighted (Bezrukova et al., 2012). The difference in the behaviour of the employees with the mission of the company is the reason of the changed mindset.

The front-end employees of the company are not aligned with the particular type of organisational culture followed by Tigerair. Communication gap is the most significant problem that is the cause of the unexpected behaviour and attitude of the executives. When new employees are recruited in a company, it is the responsibility of the human resource team to convey the vision and mission of the corporation to them. However, Tigerair has a problem in training modules that leads to misinterpretation of culture by the new employees (Cadden et al., 2013). The underlying subconscious behaviours are the result of lack of communication and training from the company. The gap in communication and guidance from the supervisors, the chance of making mistakes by employees is increased. The company has its operations in many countries of the world. Hence, a bridge of communication is maintained among different branches of the company in the various countries (Chatman et al., 2014). Cross-cultural communication is the best method of maintaining an effective bridge between the different employees at several locations.

A vital issue for the company is the safety issue. Due to the pressure of the senior level managers, the junior executives are bound to cut costs from every possible aspect. Under qualified engineers are appointed by Tigerair for the maintenance of the aircraft. It is a big issue regarding the security of the passengers. The employees of Tigerair responsible for cost cutting faces problem from both the senior executives and other external authorities of airlines. In this situation, the behaviours of the employees are not typical (Kuntz et al., 2013). They are often taken as granted by the senior managers. If they raise a particular query, then senior supervisors do not solve the questions. The given attitudes often cause grudges and adverse impact on the cultural aspects of the company resulting in a dangerous level of customer service.

The issues in organisation culture of Tigerair are mentioned in a detailed manner and are related to Schein’s organisation culture model. However, this cultural model supports the change in organisational culture. Tigerair in its core level of strategic management can follow the change in cultural aspect (Alvesson & Sveningsson, 2015). Organisational change for this company is a good solution to improve the present financial conditions along with gaining a substantial reputation of the brand from the market.

Conclusion and recommendations

The report discusses the organizational culture of the low cost carrier airline, Tigerair. The airline is facing many problems not only in cultural aspects but also in other areas of operations, financials, management, etc. Apart from that, Schein model is explained in a detailed manner that relates the problems faced by Tigerair in cultural perspective. The reputation of Tigerair in the market is falling, as the customers are not satisfied with the service provided by it. The company follows the business model of Ryanair, a famous airline of Europe. However, it fails in implementing the business model actually in the company that results in a huge loss. Apart from that, the most important issue is poor relations among the employees. Recommendations are also provided in the following paragraph that will help the company in mitigating the cultural problems resulting to earning more profitability.

There are many facilities provided by the low cost-carrier airline. It does not mean that the airline will cut costs from all fields of operations. Providing best service to the customers should be the main motive of the company along with maintaining a good relation with its employees. Tigerair must implement steps in retention of skilled employees to save costs incurred in the recruitment of new talent pools. It should provide adequate training to the people so that they can provide excellent customer service on the flight. Pilots, airhostesses, and other employees should be provided extra benefits so that they remain motivated towards the work. The most important issue is the safety of the workers and the passengers. Systems of safety are to be included in the flights. Skilled engineers are to be recruited for maintenance of the aircraft. Senior management of the organisation must follow participative leadership in the organisation so that executives and junior level managers can take part in the decision-making process of the company.

References

Alvesson, M., & Sveningsson, S. (2015). Changing organizational culture: Cultural change work in progress. Routledge.

Appannah, A., & Biggs, S. (2015). Age-friendly organisations: the role of organisational culture and the participation of older workers. Journal of Social Work Practice, 29(1), 37-51.

Bezrukova, K., Thatcher, S., Jehn, K. A., & Spell, C. S. (2012). The effects of alignments: examining group faultlines, organizational cultures, and performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 97(1), 77.

Cadden, T., Marshall, D., & Cao, G. (2013). Opposites attract: organisational culture and supply chain performance. Supply Chain Management: an international journal, 18(1), 86-103.

Carlos Pinho, J., Paula Rodrigues, A., & Dibb, S. (2014). The role of corporate culture, market orientation and organisational commitment in organisational performance: the case of non-profit organisations. Journal of Management Development, 33(4), 374-398.

Chatman, J. A., Caldwell, D. F., O’Reilly, C. A., & Doerr, B. (2014). Parsing organizational culture: How the norm for adaptability influences the relationship between culture consensus and financial performance in highâ€Âtechnology firms. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(6), 785-808.

Chikweche, T. (2015). Tiger Airways suspension crisis: back in the skies… but will the passengers come back?. Marketing, 331.

Christina, L. (2015). The Importance of Cultural Intimacy in Airlines Cabin Operations and its Impact on Passenger Satisfaction. A case study on Singapore Airlines.

Diaconu Maxim, L. (2012). The Development of the Low-Cost Carriers’ Business Models. Southwest Airlines Case Study. Annals of the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University-Economics, 59(1), 231-238.

Gudmundsson, S. V. (2015). Limits to the low-cost niche? Finding sustainable strategies for low-cost long-haul airlines. Finding Sustainable Strategies for Low-Cost Long-Haul Airlines (June 22, 2015).

Hogan, S. J., & Coote, L. V. (2014). Organizational culture, innovation, and performance: A test of Schein’s model. Journal of Business Research, 67(8), 1609-1621.

Kuntz, J. R. C., Kuntz, J. R., Elenkov, D., & Nabirukhina, A. (2013). Characterizing ethical cases: A cross-cultural investigation of individual differences, organisational climate, and leadership on ethical decision-making. Journal of Business Ethics, 113(2), 317-331.

Lohmann, G., & Vianna, C. (2016). Air route suspension: The role of stakeholder engagement and aviation and non-aviation factors. Journal of Air Transport Management, 53, 199-210.

Martinez, E. A., Beaulieu, N., Gibbons, R., Pronovost, P., & Wang, T. (2015). Organizational Culture and Performance. The American Economic Review, 105(5), 331-335.

O’Connell, J. F., & Vanoverbeke, K. (2015). Research report: Philippine Airlines–flying in a changing landscape. Tourism Economics, 21(6), 1295-1307.

Pearson, J., Pitfield, D., & Ryley, T. (2015). Intangible resources of competitive advantage: Analysis of 49 Asian airlines across three business models. Journal of Air Transport Management, 47, 179-189.

Petitta, L., Probst, T. M., & Barbaranelli, C. (2015). Safety Culture, Moral Disengagement, and Accident Underreporting. Journal of Business Ethics, 1-16.

Rafaeli, A., & Pratt, M. G. (2013). Artifacts and organizations: Beyond mere symbolism. Psychology Press.

Reiman, T., & Rollenhagen, C. (2014). Does the concept of safety culture help or hinder systems thinking in safety?. Accident Analysis & Prevention,68, 5-15.

Schaubroeck, J. M., Hannah, S. T., Avolio, B. J., Kozlowski, S. W., Lord, R. G., Treviño, L. K., … & Peng, A. C. (2012). Embedding ethical leadership within and across organization levels. Academy of Management Journal,55(5), 1053-1078.

Schein, E. H. (2013). Notes: towards a model of organizational therapy.Humanness in Organisations: a Psychodynamic Contribution, 91-102.

Schneider, B., Ehrhart, M. G., & Macey, W. H. (2013). Organizational climate and culture. Annual review of psychology, 64, 361-388.

Shahzad, F., Luqman, R. A., Khan, A. R., & Shabbir, L. (2012). Impact of organizational culture on organizational performance: an overview. Interdisciplinary journal of contemporary research in business, 3(9), 975.

Srisaeng, P., Baxter, G. S., & Wild, G. (2014). The evolution of low cost carriers in Australia. Aviation, 18(4), 203-216.

Taneja, N. K. (2016). Designing future-oriented airline businesses. Routledge.