OPS802 Operations Management Report 3 Sample
Assessment Details
It requires you to write an individual research report that is focused on analysing the operation of an organisation that can be selected from any airline with international operations.
Length
Maximum 2200 words (please note that the title page, table of contents, reference list)
Overview
Assessment 3 is an individual research report that is focused on ensuring that students can do quality research (peer reviewed articles (most important), textbook, reports, etc.) into the airline industry.
Students are expected to answer the following questions:
1. Identify both established and emerging consumer value propositions within the airline industry.
2. Provide a process map (or flowchart) of the selected airline departure process faced by passengers.
3. Discuss the application of service excellence in airline operations.
4. Review the relationship between service quality and profitability for the airline industry.
5. Describe the current and potential operational challenges faced by managers in the chosen airline.
6. Provide recommendations for improving the service operations of the chosen airline.
The recommended report structure is:
Executive Summary
Table of Contents
1. Established and Emerging Value Propositions in the airline industry
2. Process Map of Passenger Departure Process
3. Application of service excellence
4. Relationship between service quality and profitability
5. Operational Challenges
6. Recommendations
7. Conclusion
8. List of References (Check formatting correctness by visiting the website
Solution
Introduction
The airline industry has experienced a lot of growth and development over time and it is important to identify the existing consumer value proposition with the use of service excellence in airline operations. The report is to review the relationship between profitability and service quality for the airline industry operational challenge in Virgin Airlines. It is to further offer valuable recommendations in the area of service operation. The report is to analyze the industry in general and operation in particular with the major service excellence quality and profitability.
1.0 Established and Emerging Value Propositions in The Airline Industry
The airline industry is found to be highly competitive and there is a significant consistency in attracting the customer and retaining them with a unique value proposition. Several value propositions can be considered as emerging and established propositions.
Figure 1: value proposition
(Source: Mintah and Gulko, 2023)
1.1 Price leadership
Several airlines consider low-cost travel operations for budget consultancy and continue to focus more on achieving this by reducing the cost of operation. The use of cost-effective leadership is a potential value proposition that helps to reduce service costs and efficiency (Mintah and Gulko, 2023). The major organizations in the airline industry maintain potential and effective resources and ensure customer satisfaction for university assignment help.
1.2 Network and Connectivity
The important value proposition of the organization is a good network of well-connected centres and hubs. The custom required greater convenience for reaching the destination to ensure a seamless connection. It will also help in on-time performance and reliability. It is important to maintain significant reliability and punctuality for attracting the customer with hassle-free travelling experiences (Baxter, 2019). It is important to have comfort and premium services and this is considered to be the best value in-flight entertainment, spacious seating and gourmet meals.
Emerging consumer value proposition incorporates the integration of artificial intelligence and data analytics offering personalized services to the customer and focusing on past behaviour and preferences. Eco-friendly and sustainable practices are an important part of consumer consciousness with sustainable practices and fuel-efficient aircraft. The customer is also concerned with the seamless digital experience and also identifies frictionless digital journeys (Sylva and Amah, 2021). The organization also offers support to the passenger with health and wellness and implements the sanitation protocol, health screening services and social distancing measures.
2. Process Map of Passenger Departure Process
Virgin airline is a reputed organization and also includes a series of activities and steps in the departure process of the airport.
Figure 2: Customer departure process map
Source: Self-generated
• The start is considered to be an important process that includes the entry of the passenger at the airport to board the flight.
• Checking is a simple process that allows the passenger to verify themselves for obtaining the proper boarding passes and check proper luggage (Wild et al., 2022).
• Security check is an important part of the activity where the security scans the individual and the baggage for managing the safety of the entire flight.
• Virgin Airlines also have a departure lounge that enables each passenger.
• The passenger is allowed to board on the fly when the aircraft is ready to move and it is important to give priority to each traveller.
• The passenger is allowed to enter the aircraft and look for the respective seats.
• The flight takes off once the passenger has boarded on the light.
• Passenger is capable of enjoying the flight when it is finally reaching the proper destination.
3. Application of service excellence
The application of service excellence is considered to be highly important in Virgin Airlines' success in the competitive environment of the industry. Service excellence is associated with the delivery of outstanding customer service that considers the expectation of passengers and improves the travel experience with customer loyalty.
Figure 4: Seats for passengers with excellent outlooks
Source: (de Araujo Junior et al., 2019)
3.1 Customer-Centric Approach
Virgin Airlines incorporate a customer-centric approach placing the passenger at the highest priority. Virgin Airlines turned out to be a customer-centric retailer from product-oriented flight providers. The company is highly responsive and customer-centric. The company has introduced product personalization practices (de Araujo Junior et al., 2019). The company follows the hierarchy of need and ensures better management of customer satisfaction. The management of affordability as customization Amazon of air travel. It has introduced algorithm test business processes that enable cost-efficient and real-time data analysis. This customer-centric approach of the organization has given it significant productivity and performance.
3.2 Training and Empowerment to the Employee
The organization has also invested heavily in the improvement of the quality of customer services to ensure customer satisfaction over the period. The development of a comprehensive training program improves problem-solving ability, excellent communication skills and relevant knowledge to handle various situations (Hrytsiuk, 2021). The motivated and empowered employees offer exceptional services to the customers. The suggestion and recommendations from the employees are incorporated into the new decision for offering valuable services.
3.3 On-time performance with personalization of experience
The employee has been made aware of the punctuality and value of time while offering services to the customer. Airlines consider high on-time performance for minimizing inconvenience and disruption for passengers. The airline is using potential and effective Technology and considers the data to manage the services and experience. Personalization may incorporate frequent flier individual preferences and travel recommendations to the customer.
4. Relationship Between Service Quality and Profitability
Company virgin airline is a prominent player in the aviation industry and it manages to establish a strong relationship between profitability and service quality that has a significant impact on the success of the airline with the generation of customer loyalty over the period. Total quality management is to be applied within the organizational environment. Virgin Airlines could recognize the value of the relationship between profitability and quality (Muthee, 2019).
4.1 Customer satisfaction and customer loyalty
Service quality has a direct impact on customer satisfaction as the comfort of the customer with friendly behaviour and comfortable seating experience regulates the industry output and helps to manage the business potential. Virgin Airlines could come across the future travel requirement of the passenger and ensure repeated entry of the customers. High-quality service generates customer loyalty and customers prefer booking their tour planning with Virgin Airlines (McCoy, 2022). Long-term customer connection improves the profitability of the organization and helps to develop a stable revenue stream. Customer satisfaction improves the expectation toward purchases of products from a similar company and high quality of services from the airlines continues to persuade them to make purchasing decisions.
4.2 Differentiation
Virgin Airlines continue to focus more on achieving a competitive advantage with the differentiation of service quality. Virgin airlines offer more efficient services to the customer than the existing player in the market and it always stands out of the market for attracting the passenger (Boniecki and Marciszewska, 2021). It has managed to differentiate in the area of affordable charges for travelling and increasing volume of customer help to enhance the profitability of the organization. High service quality demands higher premium and the airline have maintained potential repetition for punctuality and reliability in managing the customer complaint and there is hardly any operational disruption. It reduces the cost of operation in managing the schedule compensation and printing the consumer. In the process, the satisfied customer of the organization is ready to make purchases of the additional services or upgrades. Supplementary services improve Virgin airline's profitability.
5. Operational Challenges
Virgin Airlines have faced a lot of operational challenge at its significant impact on customer satisfaction service efficiency and overall organizational performance.
5.1 delay and cancellation
Flight delays and cancellations are the major issues caused by weather conditions, technical issues and Air traffic congestion. It had a negative impact on the passenger and also increased the cost of the service. The passenger is deeply affected when there is a long day or a cancellation of the flight (Bowen and Headley, 2019). It has a potential impact on the reputation of the organization and also includes additional costs. There is constant pressure to maintain the flight and its associated schedule. Unexpected repairs and regular maintenance cause unavailability of the flight in menu circumstances.
5.2 High cost
Virgin Airlines are always affected by lower profitability when it is offering affordable travelling experience to the consumer. The high operational cost with the rise in fuel prices, airport fees and airline maintenance make it difficult to manage the resources. The company is more concerned with the development of a cost-efficient strategy while managing quality services. It is also a major challenge to identify an alternative source of operation to become environmentally sustainable (Asker and Aydin, 2021). The increasing cost of every product makes it difficult for the company to offer an affordable travelling experience to the consumer. The high cost of implementation of eco-friendly initiatives further affects the balance in operational efficiency.
The organization has experienced a lot of trouble as a result of flight delays and cancellations. It is difficult for the organization to manage these aspects in the organizational environment. It is difficult for the business to manage the resource and improve its capability for some time. It is very frustrating for the customer to quickly adjust to the long delay as a result of additional charges and a lack of proper availability of resources (Adekunle, 2019). It is also evident that the high cost of operation makes it difficult to manage the operation over some time. It is important to provide valuable suggestions to the company to cope with industry-related challenges and overcome the operational issues within the organizational environment over the period.
6. Recommendations
• The company is building a customer relationship policy and also supports the customer when there is a description in the flight schedule. The authority of Virgin airline company considers offering a comfortable experience of waiting time to the customer and ensures establishing common regulations on the assistance of passengers (Mitchell, 2019). The organization needs to offer the opportunity for rebooking at the earliest.
• It is also important to offer a quick refund to the consumer without any delay. A quick refund will be a good option to manage the customer's level of frustration.
• Good communication and justified explanation will be useful in managing the understanding of the customer regarding the major issue.
• Investment in fleet management and regular maintenance will help reduce downtime and improve reliability (Wojuade and Onatade, 2020). The development of a robust system for maintenance tracking and optimization of the repairing system will be useful and effective in managing the satisfaction of the customer.
• Regular investment in the training and development of the employee will be useful in operational efficiency and the implementation of advanced crew scheduling software will ensure the management of fatigue, availability and regulatory requirements (Graulich et al., 2021). It is important to provide adequate training and significant support for improving their job satisfaction and performance.
Optimization of the cost of operation
The organization needs to optimize the cost of operation, improve the quality and maintain sustainability with a regular focus on continuous improvement. Virgin airlines need to focus on managing fuel-efficient aircraft, negotiating with partners and exploring opportunities with different partner airlines (Truxal, 2020). It is important to improve the customer experience by improving the employee to complete and manage customer feedback with quick feedback.
The operational efficiency of the organization will further improve with the air traffic management and proper control over the authority’s management and reducing the delay in the flight.
The increasing commitment to environmental sustainability will offer the organization company emission promotion and acceleration of alternative sources (Zhang et al., 2021). The company will also identify alternative technologies that will help manage the resources and reduce the operational cost with the improvement in operational efficiency.
7. Conclusion
It can be said that Virgin Airlines is a potential organization that is customer-centric and also regarded as the Amazon of the airline industry. The study has identified an emerging consumer value proposition in the airline industry and the customer departure map has also stated a smooth flow of customers. It has also identified a potential application of service excellence in the Virgin airline operation. Service excellence is considered to be highly important with customer service efficiency and excellent communication skill among the consumer. The study has identified major challenges associated with the time and cost in the operation of the company Virgin Airlines. The study has rightly identified the need for exploding the operational challenges and the need for overcoming delays in the service and improving organizational efficiency.
8. Reference List
Adekunle, E.A., 2019. A study of passenger satisfaction and service quality of selected airlines in Nigeria. License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License., 55(282), pp.235-244.
Asker, V. and AYDIN, N., 2021. Financial efficiency measurement in airlines and determining factors of efficiency. Alanya Akademik Bak??, 5(2), pp.793-814.
Baxter, G., 2019. Capturing and Delivering Value in the Trans-Atlantic Air Travel Market: The Case of the Air France-KLM, Delta Air Lines, and Virgin Atlantic Airways Strategic Joint Venture. MAD-Magazine of Aviation Development, 7(1), pp.17-37.
Boniecki, D. and Marciszewska, E., 2021. Non-cooperative game theory in measuring strategic interactions between airline joint-venture alliances.
Bowen, B.D. and Headley, D.E., 2019. Airline Quality Rating 2019: The 29th year reporting airline performance.
de Araujo Junior, A.H., de Souza Sampaio, N.A., de Barros, J.G.M., da Fonseca, B.B. and da Gloria Almeida, M., 2019. Relative Efficiency of International Airlines.
Graulich, T., Piraino, S. and Masaro, M., 2021. International airlines and the benefits of Chapter 11. Insolvency & Restructuring Int'l, 15, p.22.
Hrytsiuk, B., 2021. Comparative Characteristics of the Development of the Airline Fleet.
McCoy, R., 2022. California’s (Improper) Regulation of Pilot and Flight Attendant Rest. The Air and Space Lawyer, 34(3), pp.1-19.
Mintah, E.O. and Gulko, N., 2023. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on social and environmental reporting and financial performance of airlines operating in the UK. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting.
Mitchell, D., 2019, October. An empirical analysis of route-based differences in Australian airfares. In Australasian Transport Research Forum (ATRF), 41st, 2019, Canberra, ACT, Australia.
Muthee, D., 2019. Keiretsu business structure in Virgin group: A literature review of advantages and disadvantages of Keiretsu.
Sylva, W. and Amah, C.F., 2021. Challenges of airlines operations in Sub-Saharan Africa: An empirical investigation of the Nigerian civil aviation sector. International Journal of Business and Management Invention, 10(1), pp.13-30.
Truxal, S., 2020. State aid and air transport in the shadow of COVID-19. Air and Space Law, 45(Special issue).
Wild, G., Baxter, G., Srisaeng, P. and Richardson, S., 2022. Machine learning for air transport planning and management. In AIAA AVIATION 2022 Forum (p. 3706).
Wojuade, C.A. and Onatade, F.C., 2020. The Journal of Social Sciences Research.
Zhang, G., Law, C.C., Zhang, Y. and Yang, H., 2021. Price discrimination and yield management in the airline industry.