Ryanair Developing Manager Assignment

Introduction

Manager is one of the key roles in any organisation because a manager is expected to carry out different roles. A manager should be a good motivator as well as a good orator. A manager should channelise effective communication between employees and should also be a leader who leads by example. It is important for a person to understand all these roles in deep so as to improve his or her skills to fit himself or herself for the role of manager in a company. The  Ryanair Developing Manager Assignment focuses on Ryanair, an airline company in the UK and the organisational behaviour that prevails in the company. Based on the shortcomings of the current management system of the company, and based on the skills possessed by me, the Ryanair Developing Manager Assignment is how to use managerial, personal and professional skills into practice in order to overcome the issues. The report also focuses on the career path and development plan one should adopt to climb the ladder and move ahead in his or her own career.

 

Task 1: Understand principles and practices of management behaviour

1.1 Compare different management styles. Management style followed by Ryanair and the suitability of different management styles to Ryanair.

Types of Management Theories:

Classical Theory: According to the classical management theory, employees were managed by the supervisors and the supervisors by their managers. There used to be a difference at each level, as all the employees were expected to follow strict business rules. Employees and managers were not allowed to have personal relations, and the focus was mainly on the professional aspect. The organisation used to hire and terminate employees on the basis of the skills possessed by the employees.

Human Relations theory: Human relations theory gives more preference to employees rather than the rules and regulations of the company. It allows employees and managers to interact. Managers interact with employees to motivate them to deliver quality work, while employees give their suggestions to managers in the decision-making of the company. Human resource management theory looks after the employees and considers them the most important aspect of any organisation.

The main advantage of Classical theory was that the strict procedure and rules, and regulations resulted in high-quality work as the company's focus was on working with a designed procedure without being impacted by the personal issues of employees. However, the theory failed to understand the importance of human resources and that they can’t be treated like any other non-living resource. Human resource has feelings, and their satisfaction plays an important role in bringing out the best from them and improving efficiency. This shortcoming has been fulfilled by Human Relations Theory, which provides better work conditions for the employees, therefore, employees feel more committed and satisfied with their work environment, thus improving their productivity.

Being hierarchical in nature, Ryanair follow Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of needs (Cowie, J, 2009). The lowest level of employees are expected to fulfil their physiological needs, hence are rewarded less. As they move ahead in their careers through promotions, it is expected that their needs will change according to the below pyramids, and hence the rewards and salary structure will be revised so that their needs are fulfilled.

Maslow’s theory of the hierarchy of Needs: Pyramidal model (Source: Huitt, 2004)
 

1.2 Discuss the various leadership characteristics practised in Ryanair and in general.

Different types of leadership style:

• • Autocratic leadership style: Autocratic leadership style is one in which managers are the ones who make all the business decisions while the workforce is expected to work as per the commands and guidelines set by the management of the company. Autocratic leadership style is characterised by quick business decisions from the management as employees are not involved; however, it is criticised for not allowing the major workforce to participate in the decision-making, thus demotivating them and decreasing their efficiency.

• • Democratic leadership style: Democratic leadership style involves equal participation from all employees in the decision-making of the company. Communication is more prevalent in a Democratic leadership style. This type of leadership style is mostly followed in flat organisations, which have fewer levels, and hence everyone is considered to be the same in the company. Employees feel more committed towards the company as the company offer more responsibility in terms of decision making for the company and values the suggestions given by the employees.

• • Laissez-Faire: Laissez-faire type of leadership style is one where there is no leadership at all. All employees are highly trained and experienced, and hence do not require any supervision. However, the Laissez-Faire type of leadership style is not followed these days because any organisation has employees who require supervision and guidance to work in the organisation (Eagly, 2003).

• • Ryanair leadership style: It can be seen from the behaviour of Michael O’Leary that Ryanair follows an autocratic leadership and a highly transformational leadership style from Leary (Nwagbara, 2911).  The strict and dynamic approach of Michael resulted in the rapid expansion of Ryanair in such a small span of time, with a low-cost and low-price business model. On the other hand, British Airways, one of the competitors of Ryanair, enjoys a democratic leadership style. Employees are given the power to make business decisions by themselves in order to fulfil customer requirements quickly (Kasper, 2002).

 

1.3 Evaluate the communication process practised in Ryanair

The highly rigid and autocratic leadership style followed at Ryanair has an adverse effect on the communication process that is followed inside the company.

The company has a strict way of upward and downward communication process using proper sources of communication like email, fax, notice board, team meetings, etc. However, the horizontal communication between employees of the same level is minimal in the company.

The information flows from the top level to their lower levels, which in turn pass it to their next lower level. While submitting reports, the upward flow of information also follows the same procedure. The lowest level passes the information to its above level, which in turn passes it to the next higher level. This makes the flow of information time-consuming and hampers performance.

Employees in Ryanair are supposed to work without communicating with each other for long durations under the strict supervision of their supervisors, who only expect professional behaviour from each other without discussing any personal aspect or developing any inter-personal relationship with each other. This kind of attitude demotivates the employees and has a negative effect on employees and the organisation as a whole (Mennen, 2010).

Unlike other airlines like Southwest Airlines of America, Ryanair does not have any problem solving communication with its employees. Moreover, the key emphasis is laid on focusing on your own job without interfering with others’ work.

However, the flow of information to stakeholders is managed by the Chairman of the company, who acts as the link between the Company and the stakeholders of the company.

Being a low-cost company, Ryanair tries to use low-cost media of communication, like face-to-face and print media, for communicating within the organisation. The company uses a newsletter like “The Limited Release” and also has an internal TV network which provides employees with information about the company’s new plans, issues and challenges. The company also invested in web-based communication systems like intranet, emails, etc., for quality management, which helps crew members, ground members and maintenance team to stay connected to coordinate.

The external communication in Ryanair towards stakeholders is much more managed. However, Michael O’Leary’s approach toward the media and his provocation words have left the company at the mercy of its customers.  Media is one of the powerful stakeholders in the company and should be dealt with wisely to improve the reputation of company. However, Michael's aggressive behaviour in the media has resulted in a low reputation for the company among people (Power, 2008).

 

1.5 Analyse the organisational culture and structure of Ryanair

The organisational structure of Ryanair is hierarchical in nature, with many levels involved in the company. However, the company has a weak culture within the organisation because of less communication within the organisation. The employees feel insecure, lack motivation and do not have trust among each other, which results in lower productivity and frequent turnover rates in Ryanair.

Since the employees do not have the authority to make decisions, most of the time, a new customer request is turned down by the employees as they are not in a position to react to requests which are not specific to their field of concern.

Thus, it can be said that Ryanair follows the hierarchical type of organisation culture where operations are performed in a strict and controlled manner and the main characteristics are efficiency, stability and discipline (Burrell, 2011).

On the other hand, British Airways follows a clan-oriented organisational culture where the focus is on nurturing and doing things together. The effective communication and developing interpersonal relationship with the supervisor makes employees highly motivated and committed towards their work. Employees enjoy a feeling of belongingness and are blessed with motivational factors other than hygiene factors according to Hertzberg's Dual Factor Motivational theory, which is lacking in Ryanair.

 

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Task 2: Be able to review own potential as a prospective manager

2.1 Assess your own management and leadership skills while applying for the role of CEO in Ryanair. Do an audit detailing personal and professional skills.

While taking the place of Michael O’Leary, it is important that one should understand the high leadership values that he possesses and should try to eliminate the mistakes or errors made by him.

While applying for the role of CEO in Ryanair, it is important that I analyse my management and leadership skills before:

Being a highly analytical person, I possess the most important management skill, which is quick business decision making, which is highly essential, especially while running a hierarchical type of organisation like Ryanair.

Secondly, as a leader, it is essential to enhance communication within the organisation to increase the performance of the employees. The main difference between Michael’s working style and I is that I would share more responsibilities with the employees and would promote more efficient communication within the organisation. Employees will be free to develop personal relationships with their subordinates, colleagues and superiors.

Thirdly, the most important leadership quality which I possess is motivator. Following on the principles of Hertzberg's theory, I strongly believe that employees should participate in the decision-making of the company. The main reason is that not only does it bring a feeling of responsibility and commitment towards the company from the employee, but new ideas and suggestions are important to bring innovation to the company, which is highly essential to compete in the highly competitive market (House, 1967).

 

2.2 Do a SWOT analysis on your self-development.

It is important that a person is aware of their strengths and weaknesses so that they can work on their strengths and try to minimise his/her weaknesses to become successful in life. SWOT analysis helps to judge you better while applying for a responsible post like the CEO of a company.

SWOT analysis on myself for the post of CEO in Ryanair:

Strength:

As mentioned above, my major strength is good analytical skills, which are essential for understanding the market conditions and taking quick business decisions based on them.

• • Calm behaviour: One of the key characteristics which also differentiates me from Michael is that I am cool and composite from inside. Michael, on the contrary, is an aggressive character as a result of which, ends up fighting in front of the media, which puts the company in a bad light. I believe that a leader may be aggressive in decision making, but should bear a cool head to deal with people, groups, stakeholders and media.

• • High leadership qualities: I believe that I have been a motivator and believe in leading by example. I respect each and every employee and try to gain the trust of the employees through effective communication.

Weaknesses:

• • Communication skills: While taking up the post of CEO, it is essential that a person should be a good orator. The person should have the ability to move masses from his or her speeches, which I lack. I have started working on my communication skills by joining clubs and interacting with more people.

• • Impatient: I try to finish my work as soon as possible, sometimes in the same day, to have a sound sleep. I may end up spending hours continuously to finish work, which takes a lot on my body and health. It is important to break down your work into smaller portions and work accordingly.

Opportunities:

• • My dynamic nature, along with the hunger to learn more, distinguishes me from other people. Every industry is different and offers a different learning experience. My appetite to learn more and grow results in providing me with ample opportunities in the management of any type of company, which may be the airline industry, hotels, the IT industry or anything else.

• • Learning technology like customer relationship management or supply chain management is are important tools which most of the company’s these days uses to manage their stakeholders. These tools have revolutionised the working of the company and yielded surplus benefits for them. The performance of many companies has been boosted by the use of the latest technologies. Thus, automated enterprise packages like CRM, SCM, etc. offer wide opportunities to fit into any kind of Service Company (Hendricks, 2007). 

• • Entering into airline industry in UK, companies like Easy Jet and British Airways will offer bigger opportunities. Considering the present culture of Ryanair, it is important that the company should soon improve its working conditions, otherwise the employee turnover rate for the company will remain high.

Threats:

• • Economic Fluctuations: Economic Recession is the biggest threat for everyone. The organisations suffer as their sales go down, people suffer as their purchasing power is reduced, and employees suffer as unemployment increases. Thus, the biggest threat to my career path is economic recessions.

• • Competitors: Managers working in different organisations, along with my batch mates, are my biggest competitors and also a threat to me.

 

2.3 Set and prioritise objectives and targets to develop own potential

Based on the SWOT analysis, it is clear that I need to improve my communication skills, which is of utmost importance. Therefore, my first SMART goal will be to improve my communication skills. The time span for improving my communication skills is 2 years. I need to divide my objective into smaller goals of around six months and measure them continuously. I will join communication improvement programs and join a club where proper training is given. I will interact with more people and ask my near and dear ones to give me unbiased advice on a regular basis. Since proper communication skill is the most important aspect of my personal and professional development, it is on the highest priority list and should be completed within the stipulated time set by me.

Working on my impatient behaviour, it is important that I engage myself in meditation and the gym to keep my body fit and fresh before the start of the day. It is essential that I eat healthy. I should not spend more time sitting in the same posture and should look to take regular breaks and do stretching exercises to remove work stress, which reduces efficiency. It is essential that I try to bring all this into my daily routine to avoid any mental or physical stress and work with high efficiency.

It is essential these days to learn web-based technologies and automated software and tools, which have become an essential component in any type of business. Therefore, my next focus should be to learn in detail about the different management tools that are being used by Ryanair and keep myself up to date. I should be up to date with the technology and its working in the next year. A daily hour of learning and practice will help me accomplish my SMART goals for learning new technology. During my learning, I should try to apply my theoretical knowledge gained in practical and real-time scenarios to understand things better.

 

Conclusion

Thus, it can be concluded that to become a successful manager in future, there are various skills, managerial, personal and professional, which one should possess. After doing a SWOT analysis on myself, I realised my weaknesses and various opportunities. Working on my strengths, my career development plan focuses on overcoming my weaknesses and grasping various opportunities which lie in front of me.

 

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References

• Bambacas, M., & Patrickson, M. 2008. Interpersonal communication skills that enhance organisational commitment. Journal of Communication Management, 12(1), 51-72.
• Burrell, K. 2011. Going steerage on Ryanair: cultures of migrant air travel between Poland and the UK. Journal of Transport Geography, 19(5), 1023-1030.
• Cowie, J. 2009. The economics of transport: a theoretical and applied perspective. Routledge.
• Eagly, A. H., Johannesen-Schmidt, M. C., & Van Engen, M. L. 2003. Transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire leadership styles: a meta-analysis comparing women and men. Psychological bulletin, 129(4), 569.
• Hendricks, K. B., Singhal, V. R., & Stratman, J. K. 2007. The impact of enterprise systems on corporate performance: A study of ERP, SCM, and CRM system implementations. Journal of Operations Management, 25(1), 65-82