Flight Centre Travel Group, is one of the largest travelling agency groups in the whole world. Its companies are located in over twenty-two countries worldwide (Hoyle, 2017). In addition to this, it has also a corporate management network in over 91 countries. It is a network that has led to the employment of very many people in the world. The success of this agency or travel group is accredited to different strategies, theories and concepts that the group is employing in its operations. These strategies, theories and concepts are the ones that have led to the rapid growth of the business within that short period of time that it has been in operation.
The strategies and the concepts have been discussed in depth one by one and they include things like standard systems, profit, growth and change management, focusing on drivers of success: culture, customer, people and leadership (Schein, 2010). Also, there is a system and rule of the game, believing in advertisement promises, personal responsibility and finally common sense before conventional wisdom.
This paper explains how Flight Centre Travel Group started, that is back in the year 1973, in London and the different strategies, concepts and theories have been practically implemented in this group, and how the implementation has led to its growth till where it is today (Assaf, 2012). It also explains the various problems that have been encountered especially during the start of the business where the business was still an idea.
The paper explores the importance of self-awareness, motivation, and self-intelligence. These have been the key things made it possible for the Travel Group to flourish in the market (Varga, Hansson & Puyou, 20120. It also analyses or deconstructs the nature of the group’s behaviour and also the generational and cultural differences within the group. Despite these cultural differences and generational differences, the group has managed to keep the differences aside and work together as a team and this has propelled the group to even higher heights. It also how these strategies have been well integrated to effectively interact with others in a professional context. Interaction has always been a key for any business to thrive and even for that business to be competitive in the market.
How self-awareness led to the start of the project of Flight Centre Group
According to Yuki (2013), the whole idea started with self-awareness of Skroo and Spy back in 1973 during one of their holidays in Europe. This great idea completely changed the lives of these two freshly graduates straight out of the University. The noted a packing bay full of buses on their way back from the holiday. The buses were the double-decker type. Also, the fact that some people had modified some of the buses to use as mobile homes during holidays, made this two think of coming up with double-decker buses to run trios in Europe. This was advantageous to them because they were able to have fun, enjoy trips and at the same time to earn money.
How emotional intelligence led to the overcoming of the initial challenges
There were so many challenges during this initial stage of the business the main one being the difficulties in licensing, logistics and mechanical repairs (Griffin et al, 2010). It required a lot of emotional intelligence for these partners to overcome these challenges. Skroo bought the first bus and advertised the tours with at a reasonable price. Within a very short period of time left with a few people and toured in countries like Spain, Morocco, Portugal and France. After some time he bought Topdeck travel and this increased the number of trips (Yuki, 2013). The trips become more popular and until the two bought more and more buses. In 1980 when Skroo was leaving Europe they had bought 70 buses and the buses were touring through Africa, South East Asia, Europe, Nepal, Middle East and Scandinavia.
How motivation contributed to the growth of Fight Centre Travel
Skroo and his partner did not stop at this point. They advised and motivated each other and they made more achievements and developments. From Topdeck travel they now moved to Flight Centre. Initially, it was illegal to sell discount airfares in Australia. This hindered the idea of Skroo but in after 1980 there was deregulation which allowed the selling of discount airfares, this opened up a great opportunity for these two partners who had now been joined by Geoff Harris. There were different shops operating under different names (Joseph, 2012). It is this year that the partners decided to consolidate the partnership and give it a new name-Flight Centre. This made the group more successful and it started to operate in different countries like New Zealand and Australia. Today there are more than eight hundred shops in seven different countries. The Flight Centre Group is now the fourth largest retailer in the whole of Australia..
Deconstruction of the nature of group behavior, cultural and generational differences
Systems and rules of the game
These are the behaviours for those who take part in the business involved in the business and represent the philosophy and values of the organization. This is what unites the people in the organization together. The systems are in any organization and this is one of the key things an organization should have it well organized. Providing a fixed system and rule of the game makes it easy for the workers in the company to have their own freedom to develop their own way under the guidance of very clear principle
Personal responsibility
The company encourages everyone who works there to take full personal responsibility for everything that is happening in the company. This has now been like a culture where every employee has an extra sense of responsibility and treats everything in the company like their own (Anderson et al, 2018). Personal responsibility has contributed to the growth of the company because it is not only a handful of employees who are responsible in this company but all of them and this has really propelled the company to greater heights (Hoyle, 2017). All the employees are involved in the decision-making process. This makes them even more even responsible.
Cultural and generational differences
The workers in the company are from different cultures especially now that the business has its operation in many countries (Hoyle, 2017). The managers have utilized this opportunity to incorporate the good cultures that are helpful to the business. Employees are being treated equally despite cultural and generational differences.
Strategies that have contributed to the rapid growth of the company
There are different strategies that the company has intergrated in its operation in order to effectively interact with others in a professional context which in the long run has led to the success of the company (Schein, 2010). They include:
Profit, change and growth management
The company has been able to constantly manage these three crucial things in all its operations throughout those years. One of the ways that Flight Center is able to manage the profits is by ensuring all the workers in the company are responsible for the creation of the profits (Schein, 2010). After ensuring that every single employee has contributed to the main goal of making profits, then there are rewards for those who have done well. Rewarding those who have really done well creates a certain change by encouraging personal development. Those who have not been rewarded take this as a challenge and work more hard. The growth is facilitated by the team structure in the company. Teamwork is highly esteemed in this group and this has also been very crucial for the growth.
Focusing on the drivers of success
According to Schein (2010), The main drivers of success include culture, customers, people, and leadership. These have been the key drivers that have contributed to the success of this company. The company has always focused on the quality of leadership. Any leader managing any part of the business must be very competent (Schein, 2010). Customers are also highly esteemed since they are the one providing a market for the organization’s products and the success of the company has always depended on the customers.
Believing in advertisement promises
The company has made it possible for people to rally around it and even to stay with it for a long period of time simply because of its advertising techniques ( Radford et al, 2017). The clear branding that is done by the company has made the customers to make a decision if they really like the company and what it stands for. Having ownership in the minds of the people or the customers is one of the main goals of any business and this is what Flight Centre is practically doing. The continued success in the marketing field of this company has led to the creative connection between the product and the brand. One of the best brandings is the centre to book a flight. It provides the lowest airfare guarantee. Centre makes sure that its people follow these instructions to the latter by providing incentives to price beat (Radford et al 2017).
Common sense before conventional wisdom
This has been one of the secrets of the rapid growth of the company. It does not follow blindly conventional wisdom without the application of common sense. The company believes in the application of common sense to the outdated methods of doing business (Bell & Harrison, 2018). Most of the traditional methods of doing business are not applicable anymore in any successful business, for instance, the company has applied the common sense of rewarding workers for them to be more productive in their work.
Equality
The company believes in equality where everyone is treated equally. How one is treated in this company is not based on the salary one gets (Peixinho, 2016). The salary is only seen as a privilege but treatment is equal. Even the CEO Skroo is not treated specially and neither does he want to be treated so. For instance, if he is travelling on an aeroplane and a seat is reserved for him on the business class, he would give that seat to an ordinary member and he would sit on another seat. This is very important because treating everyone equally motivates everyone to equally work hard because they know at the end of the day no one is going to be treated especially after all (Assaf, 2012).
Standard systems
According to Assaf (2012), There are different standards systems that the company has used that have been very instrumental for its growth. One of them is morning meetings where the activities of the day are discussed. The other standard systems include Directorship, conferences and Buzz nights. The buzz nights provide an opportunity to celebrate the success of the company and is done on a monthly basis (Schreijer et al, 2012).
Conclusion
In conclusion Flight Centre Group is one of the companies that are doing well in the world. It all started with a humble beginning with only one bus and other many challenges like licensing but the partners did not allow the challenges to hold them back from achieving their dreams and by the end of 1980 they had over 70 buses touring in different countries in Europe. The company has now its operations in different countries globally (Skotnicki, 2012). This is a clear indication that management of the organization is good and that the strategies outlined have been implemented to the fullest.
Examples of these strategies that the company fully implemented and which led to the success of the company include equality, standard systems, profit, growth and change management, focusing on drivers of success: culture, customer, people and leadership (Oliver & Schorf, 2017). Also, there is a system and rule of the game, believing in advertisement promises, personal responsibility and finally common sense before conventional wisdom.
Standard systems, for instance, have been very crucial in motivating the workers (Reid & Pearce, 2008). When the Flight Center Group CEO takes the workers out to good restaurants to celebrate their or success leaves the employees motivated and more re-energized to do even more. This also is a motivation if maybe in that particular month the profits were not good. It shows them that they have another chance to do even better and that failure is not a limit (Vujcic, 2017). Also, morning meetings have been very helpful in that the day’s activities are well planned for. Also, the leader takes this opportunity to clarify everything that is not okay and this reduces mistakes to be made hence contributing to success. Personal responsibility also has played a very crucial role in maximizing profits. Every employee is seen to be very responsible for whatever he or she is doing. They have all developed an extra sense of responsibility (Clarke, 2017). They treat everything as their own and this is the mentality any employee should have.
All these strategies, concepts and theories are dependent on one another and if one is missing then it becomes difficult to attain the level of success that the company has attained.
References
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