Case Study Analysis to Investigate Whether an Airline Can Cut "Turn Times" Without Adding Staff

Rising Sun Airlines has discovered significant setbacks in preparing their airplanes efficiently to maintain brief turn times. During the turn times the crew is required to clean, inspect, restock and refuel the planes. An increase demand for air travel and complex schedules has lead to an average of 12 minutes in the past year to rise to 20 minutes. President of RSA Grounds, Kentaro Hayashi decides to take matters into his own hands and investigate the issue first hand. He poses undercover as a service crew member at the grounds of Narita, Haneda, Osaka and Sendai airports to gain a personal understanding of the issues. A limited capacity in one point of the system can reduce the capability of the whole chain. These bottlenecks could potentially decrease the level of customer satisfaction and affect the company’s future profits. After several unsuccessful meetings with the executive committee, Ken came to the conclusion that rather than additional staff, he needed more effective crew.

The problems stem from RSA Ground’s desire to achieve more work with the same amount of employees. There are six people within a team of cleaners regardless of the aircraft size, which makes it difficult to have a consistent average of 12 minutes. Attrition rates had also risen in the past year with Mari the HR chief hiring 20 to 30 workers a month to keep up with a high rate of voluntary turnove. The general model of turnover causes indicates that the stressful and demanding work, difficult to meet goals, and a lack of employee motivation gave previous employees a micro level desire of leaving. There were more experienced workers who performed well but were unenthusiastic and apathetic to share their knowledge. Many of the personnel were on temporary contracts who viewed this job as a stepping stone on their way to more prestigious careers. Inadequate training and poor instructions were also found to be issues that lead to insufficient turn times. Hospitality organisations have a generally have a substandard reputation with training as managers are reluctant to invest time into it in the event staff leave, or because they are preoccupied with other processes. Lady stopwatch was the supervisor who had to constantly shift between teams and couldn’t provide consistent direct supervision. Performing tasks without the appropriate skill threatens quality standards, job dissatisfaction, organisational commitment and profits of the company. RSA Ground’s incompetent training has evidently exacerbated staff turnover and affected their turn times, thereby applying effective solutions are critical for the company’s long term success. After reporting his findings to the executive team they proposed some possible solutions. The first suggestion involved investing in more recruits, giving the existing crew more training and higher wages. This came at the expense of a 20% budget increase that the company can not afford to risk. Another proposal stressed the importance of managerial positions in coordinating teams so the focus should be put on developing those levels. The CTO’s recommendation involved placing a budget on improved technology systems to track performance on all employees but this also had significant costs. Applying any one of these suggestions could assistance in solving the problem, but most have substantial risks that could result in mixed outcomes. To improve the turn times Ken will need to find solutions through a holistic approach and those that do not involve significant financial investment.

If RSA Grounds could achieve their goal in reducing turn times, it could cost them the quality of the service. They need to consider the aspect of efficiency without impacting the expected quality and this can be done through retraining staff. Training is required for new recruits to learn specific skills and knowledge for the job but it can also be a means to improve the performance of current employees. A performance appraisal can be conducted to determine the most suitable role for their level of skill and the amount of training needed to ensure the teams are evenly balanced. It is unlikely that training crew with the present procedures would make a difference, they must learn from workers such as Nobuo as they have the expertise that needs to be shared. By utilising this knowledge, the company will be able to review workplace instructions and update them with a more effective practices that lead to better organisational structures. To measure the amount of success, Ken can use the already set benchmark of 12 minutes per turn time, in addition of a high quality service, to help calculate the team’s improvements after a period of time. The total personnel count also needs to be assessed as it does not make sense for the same number of employees to work on different size aircrafts. Placing the appropriate ratio of service crew per passenger count will enable the turn times average of 12 minutes to be more achievable. Applying this strategy should help avoid the need to higher more recruits and the excessive budget increase that comes along with it. Managers like Lady Stopwatch are already spread to thin and have become an unnecessary manner of oversight. Therefore, managers can shift their focus on being better supporters and developing the processes to be more efficient, but should do so without diminishing the motivating role of a supervisor. The Change Theory E and O combined suggests that creating guidance from the top will help engage those below. RSA Ground’s top workers have talent that deserve to be showcased thereby promoting them to leadership positons will allow them to have the respect and responsibilities they need to continuously share their tricks. This will also encourage the current flat hierarchical organisational structure to be more tightly supervised with more rules and regulations. Providing an authority figure at a crew level can encourage one to be a transformational leader that inspires individuals and to grow through already established connections. The team leaders can be part of a rotating system that will give many members the opportunity and responsibility to lead to alleviate attrition problems. Creating an award system for those who have done well will give them intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to increase their organisational commitment.

Another way to keep personnel motivated is setting a goal for them to achieve through small competitions, and rewarding them with bonuses and new roles for the top performers. Implementing monetary incentives may not work on members of the team such as Toshi, that respond better to non-material factors. The instrumental theory outlines that people gain satisfaction when work gives them the opportunity to achieve valued outcomes. This includes creating challenging jobs, better work conditions, advancement opportunities and company reputation. To choose employees who better fit the job the company should improve their selection process as hiring temporary workers have proved to lead to low job satisfaction from having roles that do not fit them. RSA Grounds need full-time employees that would take pride in any work, or workers who are part-time but are willing to start at entry level positions with the prospect of developing. Promoting and providing clear opportunities for advancement should also help the job be perceived as a more appealing prospect. It is important that they work towards building a strong culture perspective that will facilitate performance, motivation and commitment through shared organisational values. Having a strong cognitive and emotional culture can also help enhance a positive image of the company to potential staff.

As a result of high attrition rates, RSA Grounds are in need of a change that utilises its current assets to maintain a competitive advantage. Implementing a combination of the Change Theory E and O, Ken is able to focus simultaneously on the structures and systems as well as the corporate culture. Regardless of how much they manage to incorporate these new processes, it is likely there will be limitations, a major one being emotional resistance to the change. Organisations often find resistance to change to be caused by inertia, threat to job security and threats to existing resources. Thus tactics can be used to build this readiness. Kotter’s 8 steps to overcome resistance provides this guidance, from establishing a sense of urgency, to empowering others to act on a vision, to finally institutionalising new approaches. Employing this in several stage allocates the time people need to be prepared for the new changes. Retraining staff, rewarding the experienced with new roles and motivating them through competitions and bonuses are all ways in which Ken can create more productive teams. Most of these strategies would not require significant financial investments, just the time and energy to complete them. As the improvements suggested would have a relatively low cost, RSA Grounds would be likely to accomplish it within the existing income. It is crucial that Ken continues to monitor, analyse and appraise his employee’s performance to ensure consistent success in maintaining efficient turn times.