Background of British Airways

The report will be based on the analysis of innovation based activities that have been conducted by an organization in the industry. The innovation history of the organization will be analysed in the report based on data that is available based on research. The present performance of the organization based on innovation and the its future requirements will be examined in the report. The innovation analysis or audit will be based on the macro or external environment and the supply chain activities of the company as well. The organization that has been taken into consideration for this analysis is British Airways(Amabile and Pratt 2016).

British Airways has acquired the position of a flag bearer and the biggest airlines organization in United Kingdom with respect to the fleet size. The airlines organization is based in the Waterside near the main hub in London. The organization had merged its operations with Iberia which has further helped to create the International Airlines Group or IAG. IAG has been able to acquire the third-largest position in terms of total revenue and is the second largest in Europe as well (Britishairways.com. 2018). British Airways was established in the year 1974 after the establishment of British Airways Board which was responsible for managing the two major nationalised organizations which are British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways (Ali Taha, Sirkova and Ferencova2016). The fleet size of British Airways has proved to be a major competitive advantage for the company for its successful operations in the industry. The alliances which have been made by the organization in the industry have also played an important part in its growth in the airlines industry (Amabile and Pratt 2016).

British Airways has been operating in the aviation industry in an innovative manner since its inception. The organization has become the first airlines company in the world which has been able to introduce the remote controlled devices which were used to push back the aircraft across a short-haul operation. The organization has been able to modernise its operations in order to maintain and also improve the levels of punctuality of the customers in the process. The organization has thereby made effective partnerships with Heathrow airport in order to develop operations that are eco-friendly in nature. The high technology and innovative types of devices are thereby deployed by British Airways across all the aircraft stands (Anderson, Poto?nikand Zhou 2014).

The company has always aimed at increasing its investment on the wider levels of technology in order to enhance the experience that is being provided to them. The device named Mototok has been designed and implemented by the British Airways in order to stay at the top of the airlines industry. The company has been able to create an important position in the industry with the help of its successful investments which were made on innovation based activities. The innovation based investments of the organization have been an important part of the entire operations and the position that has been held in the market (Birken et al. 2015).

Innovative Operations of British Airways

The airlines organization has also been able to make effective partnerships with the others in order to operate in a profitable manner. The management of British Airways has always aimed at making high investments in the ways by which innovation can be implemented within different processes. The implementation of innovative technologies has been able to increase the profitability and revenues of the organization in an effective manner. The speed of operations has been increased with the help of innovative technologies that have been used by British Airways in its processes. The innovation based on aircraft technologies will thereby play an important role in different aspects that are related to air travel (De Vries, Bekkers and Tummers2016). Improvements in the designs that are implemented by the airlines organizations are able to create an effective environment for the customers.

In the year 2017 the Regional Commercial Manager of British Airways, Kola Olayinka had announced the launch of Boeing 787 which was the first Dreamliner that was made from carbon-fibre plastic and not aluminium. The pressurisation based issues that are faced by the customers while they travel has been reduced with the help of these cabins. Another major issue that can be solved by the usage of modern airlines is the noise. The airliners which were made with the help of different materials have proved to be less noisy as compared to the others. The changes that are caused in the taste of food also has been an important issue in air travel which has also been reduced with the help of these new cabins (George and Lin 2017).

British Airways had also launched its innovation lab which was ungrounded in nature. The Ungrounded innovation lab was thereby established with the aim of developing successful relationships with the technology community which existed on West Coast of United States. The presence which has been created by the British Airways all over the world is quite high and the history of innovation of the company has played an important part in its success. The growth of technology sector has thereby been able to provide huge opportunities to British Airways. The Ungrounded Lab has also proved to be a breakthrough innovation which also requires a combination which includes, ambition, partnership and collaboration (Helfat and Martin 2015).

Innovation has also been used by British Airways in order to foster collaboration and teamwork in among the employees. The use of Microsoft Office 365 has been pioneered by British Airways in order to create a team within the organization. The company has used Office 365 for the purpose of increasing collaboration levels among the employees. The facility named Yammer was introduced by British Airways in order to facilitate the spontaneous levels of communication among the employees and the management. The innovative ideas that can help the organization in an effective manner have also been fostered with the help of implementation of Yammer. The levels of communication and collaboration can be achieved by the organization faster as compared to the situation which was there before the implementation. The company was then able to collect the feedback of employees in an efficient way (JarleGressgård et al. 2014).

Partnerships and Investments for Innovation

Speed has been an important factor which is able to affect the operations of organizations in the airlines industry. The implementation of Office 365 has thereby able been able to increase the speed. Another major innovation activity that has been implemented by British Airways is based on the ways by which the air travel had been connected with iPads. The connection of air travel with the iPads was mainly done so that the company is able to minimise the rates of delay. The services that are required to be provided to the customers also need to be fast enough so that the company is able to create its position in the industry (Kuratko2015).

The communication levels that have been created within the staffs have also been an important part of the implementation of iPads. The tasks which were required to be done by the employees on a manual basis are now completed with the help of the iPad connectivity. The speed of operations within the organization and the services that are provided to the customers has also increased in an effective manner. The cabin crew is also able to maintain the passengers easily with the help of the app that is present on the iPad. The seat maps are also provided in this case so that the empty seats can be filled by the staff without increasing their efforts. The details that are related to customers are provided by the apps that have been installed in iPads that are provided to the staff (Llopis et al. 2014).

The employees are also able to act in a proactive manner so that rates of delay can be increased in an effective manner. The issues that can be faced by customers with respect to cancellation of the flights have been solved by the innovative apps that are installed in the iPad. The fast-paced turnaround that has taken place in the organizational processes have been able to provide an opportunity of growth to British Airways. The speed with which flights are cleaned by the staff has been increased with the help of the automation of different activities that are performed in the organization. The time based on which the cabin crew is able to get the surroundings ready is decreased with the help of the apps in the iPad(Mendes et al. 2016).

The apps which are used by the staff in this case are custom-built in nature and are used for the specific purposes. The reputation based on innovation that has been used by British Airways has been an important factor behind the creation of a profitable position. A special innovation based unit has been developed by the company which is responsible for the implementation of different modern technologies in its operations. A major technology that was used by British Airways for the first time in the airlines industry is the self-service biometric boarding. The commitment that has been made by the company in making innovation based investments has further led to the implementation of new and innovative technologies (Palacios-Marqués, Merigó and Soto-Acosta 2015).

Innovation and Collaboration among Employees

The growth that has been shown by the airlines industry in the past few years has played an important part in deciding the future operations. The total number of passengers who have travelled has increased in the recent years. The security and safety that is provided to the customers on air is also an important part of the successful operations. The airports, airlines and governments have also started investing high amounts in different innovative ways in order to increase the speed of operations. The advancements which have been seen in the technologies have been able to affect the aviation industry (Randhawa et al. 2017).

Airlines organizations are thereby concentrating on the ways by which data of the customers can be gathered and maintained so that they can be provided with the best of services with respect to their needs. The organizations need to improve the services that are provided by them in order to stay competitive in the industry. The implementation of chatbots will play an important part in success of the airline organizations. The costs that are incurred by organizations in this industry with respect to the call centres that need to be maintained in order to solve the issues of customers. Technology based factors have been able to penetrate in every part of the airlines industry (Sung and Choi 2014).

Customers have been able to form the most important part of operations of the airlines organizations. The tech-savvy customers need to be managed and maintained by the staff in the airlines industry. The airlines organizations also face huge challenges based on the lack of financial resources and bankruptcy. This can also create an unfavourable situation for the airlines organizations and their operations. The industry has however been able to show high levels of growth and has attracted customers from all over the world (Vogel and Fischler-Strasak2014). The future of the industry which can be analysed in this case is quite bright. The industry will also become much more advanced in technologies and the organizations will be able to rebrand themselves in an effective manner. The organizations thereby use artificial intelligence and big data in order to increase the customer base and also to provide appropriate services to them in an effective manner(Sung and Choi 2014).

Conclusion

The report can be concluded by stating that the organizations which operate in the airlines industry need to innovate their operations in order to remain profitable. British Airways has been able to implement these activities in order to remain profitable in the industry. The company has also been able to attract more customers in this manner. The levels of services have thereby been developed with the help of innovative technologies which are implemented in all departments.

References

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