Organizational Behavior, Delta Airlines

Résumé du document

Organizational structure is an important question that all companies have to face and find a solution to. In this paper we will get an insight into the company Delta Airlines, which decided to set up a network design system. First of all we will briefly view some facts about Delta Airlines, and then we will focus on the company's actions, its results and the changes which occurred.
To begin, Delta Air Lines was founded in 1924, and is now the world's Number one American airline company. Its headquarters are based in Atlanta, and the company is providing transport services throughout the United States (211 cities in 46 states) and also to worldwide destinations. Delta provides plane transportation to 375 destinations in 66 countries and serves more than 170 million passengers each year. Thus Delta operates more than 1,534 flights per day. The company is also a member of the Skyteam Alliance which includes companies such as Air France-KLM, Alitalia, CSA Czech Airlines, China Southern Airlines, Aeromexico and Korean Air.
With more than 75,000 employees worldwide, Delta is remodeling the aviation industry, as the only U.S. airline to offer a full global network. On October 29, 2008, Delta completed its merger with Northwest Airlines to form the world's largest commercial carrier.

Extraits

[...] However, the relationships between employees become more complex, and difficult. Delta's reservation employees stay at home so they don't see each other and there is almost no real communication or relationship. Their only way to communicate are e-mails or phones calls. Communication with managers is also affected; they don't see each other face-to-face anymore. Employees form a virtual network. Beneficial changes? What new requirements are placed on employees? I don't think work has been made more interesting by this change. [...]

[...] But according to the vice-president of reservations "This is entirely voluntary". "It's not about closing offices or shrinking our work force. A lot of people approached us. It helps us to retain valuable employees and gives them more opportunity to focus on the job." Delta Airline also added a link on its Web site for e-mail inquiries. “Agents try to respond to each one within 24 hours, but no later than 48 hours," said Ellen Torbert, vice president of the renamed customer support and services department. [...]

[...] At first the employees was skeptical about this new idea of working from home. In the year 2000, some of the employees used their computer at home just to “waste playing solitaire or other such activities. The question was, would bringing the PC to people yield more productive and more loyal workers over the long term. For example, some employers have had to fortify security systems to protect work-related email accounts and intranet from non-employees who have access to the company-subsidized PC. [...]

[...] This is one of the beneficial changes. Requirements placed on employees are mainly to be more autonomous and independent. Nobody is present to tell them what to do, or force them to work; they are not under pressure, although they still have to do their job, and to achieve their tasks on time. Workers have to be serious about their job; this independence can procure a feeling of freedom. To conclude, Delta Airlines is not the only company to set up this change in their organizational structure. [...]

[...] One of the consequences of this new working organization system is that Delta closed several reservations centers. Agents working at their homes are more reactive, and more beneficial to the airlines. For example, when big storms force companies to cancel massive numbers of flights, home agents directly reroute stranded travelers. At- home agents work more efficiently and are less likely to change jobs. Delta's reservations workers now return about 4,300 e-mail inquiries, and they can chat online with customers on the airline's Web site. [...]