Stakeholder Engagement and Management by British Airways

Business Environment constitutes factors such as its employees, raw material suppliers, government and laws, consumers, investors and many more (Khan et al., 2019). The slides will comprise of various factors affecting the business environment, types of stakeholders and the relationship between them. Stakeholder engagement and management by British Airways will be discussed in the slides. The PowerPoint presentation will analyse the influence of internal and external stakeholders on business practices.

Overview of British Airways

British Airways is the second-largest airline company of Europe. The organisation was established in 1974 and its headquarters are situated in London (britishairways.com, 2021). Sean Doyle is the CEO of British Airways and the organisation’s revenue is £13,020 million. International Airlines Group (IAG) is the parent company of British Airways.

Stakeholders and shareholders

Stakeholders can be defined as an individual or an organisation that have an interest in the success of the company (Lauff et al., 2020). These comprise of employees, managers, owners, customers and other suppliers of the company who lose or gain from the performance of the business. Whereas, shareholders are the people that own the company according to their share invested. They have the right to change management decisions. Stakeholders are broadly classified into two main categories that are internal and external stakeholders.

Types of stakeholders internal and external

Internal stakeholders: Internal stakeholders are those people that have a direct connection with the company's performance. Employees, managers, owners, shareholders, and others are internal stakeholders. The business performance has a fast and severe impact on the internal stakeholders. For example, an employee can get a lesser salary or termination in such a situation.

External stakeholders: External stakeholders are the people or organisations that are affected due to the working and performance of the business. The business performance has a slow and mild impact on the external stakeholders. This type of stakeholders can affect the business directly; for example, change in government policies has a direct impact on the business.

Stakeholder’s engagement by BA

Stakeholder engagement is a systematic strategy that is planned to identify, communicate, and manage the stakeholders so that organisational objectives are fulfilled successfully (Sterling et al., 2017). British Airways uses Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) to communicate its customers and other stakeholders through its website and mobile application (britishairways.com, 2021). These guidelines make the access user friendly and understandable to those having disabilities. The airlines communicate its customers through its official website www.britishairways.com for booking, cancelling and performing other transactions.

British Airways monitors its customers' opinions through Think Customer Survey. This survey is conducted every month on approximately 36,000 people. The survey identifies the future probabilities of British Airways. It also identifies customer opinions about the difference in the services provided by the company and its competitors. The survey also identifies the flaws and improvements needed in its service. The British Airways conducts a Speak-Up Program for all the employees encouraging them to give opinions about the organisational decisions, work style and others. The program is hosted by an independent research organisation Ipsos MORI (britishairways.com, 2021).

Stakeholder management by BA: shareholders, suppliers, government, customers, employees, local communities

Stakeholder management is a systematic process of identifying the needs of the stakeholders, planning the execution, and meeting their expectations (Oppong et al., 2017). The process includes the assessment of the plan and identifying the quality of the project concerning the stakeholders. R. Edward Freeman proposed the stakeholder management theory in 1984 that states the organisational management and business values and principles in managing the business environment (Freeman, 2015). The organisation manages the stakeholders as follows:

Shareholders: The Company keeps a continuous communication with its shareholders regarding its service and new changes to be implied. Shareholders play a key role in the major decision-making process. The organisation gives high returns to the shareholders to meet their expectation and maintain their loyalty. It provides financial details to its shareholders by issuing a detailed annual report to maintain transparency.

Customers: The organisation has various channels of communication with the customers such as website, mobile application, and offices. The company has a Tarmac delay policy where it offers its customers free meals and stay if the flight gets delayed for more than 4 hours (britishairways.com, 2021). The organisation interacts with its customers through a survey every month, to identify their problems and understand their expectations. Monthly, nearly 36,000 customers participate in the survey and the organisation tries to meet their expectations. The organisation fosters ‘Flying with Confidence’ course through which it helps its nervous customers fly without fear (britishairways.com, 2021). In the last 25 years, the organisation has helped more than 40,000 people to overcome their fear of flying.

Employees: British Airways has a dedicated team, which works with health service providers and sponsors so that efficient health services are provided at the company offices. The employees consist of ground staff, cabin crew, engineers, customer service, management teams and others. The company pays its employees according to the Gender Pay policy (britishairways.com, 2021). British Airways follows Modern Slavery Act while employing candidates.

Suppliers: Boeing and Airbus are the major suppliers of British Airways. Other suppliers are the online travel agents through which customers book tickets. The organisation gives commission to the online agents such as websites or person.

Government: Government and legislative authorities are an important external factor because they have a direct impact on business performance. The organisation has to follow different government policies and laws regarding the business (Sharma and Starik, 2004). The government of the UK has passed the Carbon plan in 2019 stating that the organisations must decrease their carbon emissions by 34% by 2020. British Airways aims at reducing the carbon emission by 50% through investing in various carbon reductions projects such as reforestation and rainforest protection programs (britishairways.com, 2021).

Supporting Local communities: The organisation runs a program known as ‘Flying Start’ that is funded by its customers and employees. The program gives a kick-start to the disadvantaged and backward young people all over the globe. The company also organises ‘INSPIRE’ program that comprises of training and development of young people in the aviation industry. The organisation has developed low-noise engines so that the residents near the airports do not get disturbed because of the frequent take-off and landing noises of the flights (britishairways.com, 2021).

Identifying and mapping stakeholders

British Airways identifies and maps the stakeholders depending upon their influence on business performance.

High Power, High Interest: The UK Government has high power and high interest in the overall business performance of British Airways. Other stakeholders sharing the same attributes are the competitors and shareholders. These stakeholders have the power to manage the decisions and working of the organisation.

High Power, Low Interest: The suppliers and the customers have high power to change the business environment but do not have any interests in the success of the organisation.

Low Power, High Interest: The employees have the least power to change any business decision or work culture of the organisation. However, the success of the business affects the employees the most.

Low Power, Low Interest: The community that is the citizens of the UK has the least power to change the decisions or environment of British Airways. Additionally, it does not have any interest in the success of the business.

From the above discussion, it can be concluded that British Airways has premium shareholders and stakeholders. The stakeholders are efficiently engaged by the organisation through various communication channels using the latest technologies. The organisation manages its employees through 'Speak-Up' program and runs other charity programs to encourage its employees to donate. British Airways effectively manages the Green House Gas effect so that it leaves a lesser impact on the environment. It supports the local communities through various initiatives such as low-noise engines, 'Flying start', 'Fly with Confidence', and other programs. Additionally, the organisation aims in training and developing young students through ‘INSPIRE’ course at their workplace so that new talent is boosted. The organisation follows its corporate responsibility quite well so that the organisational environment is maintained.

britishairways.com 2020 About British Airways [Online] Available at: https://www.britishairways.com/en-in/information/about-ba?source=BOT_about_ba [Accessed 9 February 2021]

britishairways.com 2020 Corporate Responsibility [Online] Available at: https://www.britishairways.com/en-in/information/about-ba/csr/corporate-responsibility?source=BOT_corporate-responsibility#workforce [Accessed 9 February 2021]

britishairways.com 2021 Accessibility and site help [Online] Available at:chttps://www.britishairways.com/en-in/information/accessibility-site-help?source=BOT_accessibility [Accessed 9 February 2021]

Khan, K.A., Çera, G. and Nétek, V., 2019. Perception of the selected business environment aspects by service firms. Journal of Tourism and Services, 10(19), pp.111-127.

Lauff, C.A., Knight, D., Kotys-Schwartz, D. and Rentschler, M.E., 2020. The role of prototypes in communication between stakeholders. Design Studies, 66, pp.1-34.

Oppong, G.D., Chan, A.P. and Dansoh, A., 2017. A review of stakeholder management performance attributes in construction projects. International journal of project management, 35(6), pp.1037-1051.

Sterling, E.J., Betley, E., Sigouin, A., Gomez, A., Toomey, A., Cullman, G., Malone, C., Pekor, A., Arengo, F., Blair, M. and Filardi, C., 2017. Assessing the evidence for stakeholder engagement in biodiversity conservation. Biological conservation, 209, pp.159-171.

Bibliography

Freeman, R.E., 2015. Stakeholder theory. Wiley encyclopedia of management, pp.1-6.

Sharma, S. and Starik, M. eds., 2004. Stakeholders, the environment and society. Edward Elgar Publishing.