Large Group Interventions at Airbus’ ICT Organization
Airbus is an EADS company that remains among the leading aircraft manufacturers in the world. The success of the company in the industry has been influenced by its focus on customers, commercial know-how, manufacturing efficiency as well as technological leadership. The company is headquartered in Toulouse, France with approximately 55,000 employees. In 2012, the company recorded a revenue of 38 billion EUROS and a backlog of aircraft valued at approximately 523 billion EUROS. This case concerns a transformational process in Airbus’s Information and Communication Technology (ICT) function. In this case, the ICT represents a transnational group employing around 1,300 information system professionals located in various operation regions of Airbus.
Summary of Case
The case regards Airbus, an EADS company headquartered in Toulouse France. Notably, the company has an extensive workforce reaching 55,000 employees. While Airbus has a new CIO, it is faced with constraints owing to the previous reorganizations that disrupted the company’s operations. The increasing pressure from competitors in the aircraft manufacturing industry and the global financial and economic crisis has made it necessary for the company to address the ICT issue as fast as possible. Notably, Dekkers, the CIO requested Susan Donnan to be his internal change agent during the implementation process. Through the guidance of Donnan and her experience, the company incorporated the whole system transformation model in fostering change.
The process developed by Donnan started by securing the executive commitment while offering a perspective of the process. Donnan’s idea was to transform the executive team into “one brain”. She noted that the full support of the board was critical in ensuring the success of the transformation. Donnan and Sullivan lead ICT manager focus groups and executive team interviews in preparation for the retreat. This approach created an opportunity for the raising of views and opinions regarding the intended changes. The purpose of the summit was to create a single-minded team that would engage and commits to fostering change throughout the organization.
Implementing and sustaining the change
To ensure the implementation and sustainability of the change, Donnan and the team monitored the progress and supported the executives in fostering change. Donna also organized monthly meetings with the transformation network to share insights and best practices for the organization. The approach encouraged employees who felt empowered to become change agents at different levels within the company.
Problem Identification
In this case, the new Chief Information Officer (CIO), Guus Dekkers is faced with numerous difficulties due to the company’s numerous reorganizations in the previous years. Notably, Information Communication Technology(ICT) performs its operations for 24 hours a day, thus making it critical to the company. Thus, the CIO was concerned with implementing the appropriate changes that would originate from the top management of the company and become adopted by other teams. The challenge had subjected the new CIO to a lot of pressure since it required to be addressed within a shorter period to ensure the smooth running of operations. The problem in this case, therefore, is developing a plan that would serve to motivate the entire organization to operate as one branch and foster change. This plan would align the intended changes with the business goals of the organization and achieve the desired results.
Recommendations
In this case, it is appropriate to utilize an intervention strategy that aims at aligning all the parts of the organization. On the other hand, it essential to trust the executives to foster changes within the rest of the company’s workforce. Notably, granting the executives a chance to incorporate new changes within their teams results in their commitment towards transforming the organization. Also, this approach would make them feel like part of a team. The idea of giving various members of the company responsibilities brings a sense of unity within the organization. In this case, every member of the executive team would be motivated to ensure the success of their approach within their teams. This strategy is appropriate as opposed to the idea of practicing superiority while undermining the role of top executives within the organization.
Response to Case Questions
- What large-group intervention theories and models were applied in this case?
In this case, the Whole Systems Transformation model was used. The model was appropriate for the large group intervention that was carried out at Airship. This approach would help executives to engage in large, critical, and representative segments aimed at improving the operations within the organization. Notably, the transformation of the whole system is the best practice for ensuring that organizations easily accomplish a positive change with minimum costs and within the shortest time period.
While the model requires all parts of the system to be modified, it was essential for Airbus to include various executives in the transformation. The model advocates for the involvement of the entire system, suggesting solutions as well as focusing on alignment. In this case, Airbus involved the executives in the decision making by ensuring that they all supported the ideas to be implemented. Consequently, the company ensured the alignment of the changes with the business processes (Cady & Dannemiller, 2005).
- Do you believe that the interventions made a difference in this organization?
Yes. The interventions brought a change in the organization. The transformation of the executive team, their commitment, and alignment to the transformation were among the critical features of the intervention. Given that all the executives were in agreement, it was possible to transfer the change initiatives with ease. Thus, the fact that the initial conditions for success were met after the intervention reveals that it played a major role in bringing a difference within the organization. Additionally, the agreement and collaboration between the executives lead to the commitment of all members across the board with the aim of sustaining the implemented changes.
Thus, the commitment and support of the executives were key in transforming the organization and ensuring that it remained at the top within the industry. In her initial strategy, Donnan had sought a methodology that was able to integrate the design features and the organizational members. This aspect would also mean that the members would support the implemented changes. As such, the company became successful following Donnan’s strategy that led to the collaboration and commitment of the executives.
- Do you think the right activities were planned and executed given the objectives of the intervention?
Yes. The incorporation of teams of employees from various levels within the organization was an indication that the company wanted to establish a collaborative approach in its transformation. The segments involving the executives were appropriate in fostering change in a large group since they acted as representatives at different levels within the organization. Given that the company used the Whole System Transformation model, it was essential for the company to encourage a collaborative approach in its operations. This approach would help in ensuring that all the members supported the ideas of the company. The personal commitment and a chance for hiving feedbacks gave the members an opportunity to present their views regarding the new vision of change. In this case, the approach fostered the transformation of the entire organization. The engagement of the ICT workers provided them with the right tools for furthering the transformation and fostering change management.
Personal Reflections
From my perspective, analyzing interventions requires one to consider certain criteria to ensure their success. I can relate to the intervention with the transformation in my company where a new manager wanted to foster changes in the production department. It was difficult to incorporate the new methodologies introduced at the same time. Also, this would require a lot of time to incorporate given that some employees may be reluctant to adopt the new changes. As s result, the new manager included the team supervisors in various meetings to discuss the intended changes. Additionally, the manager was interested in finding out whether the members would support the changes and communicate the necessary details to the rest of the team members. Thus, the methods used in my company are similar to the ones applied in the case.
In the case of Airbus, the company had gone through a series of interventions that resulted in further disruptions in operations. This aspect made it difficult for the incorporation of the changes due to the previous occurrences. Notably, the fact that the previous interventions had failed would mean that the employees were reluctant to adopt the new changes. On the other hand, the CIO found it difficult to implement ideas in a company that had failed to succeed in the area in the past. I believe that collaboration is the key to success for companies that intend to make a transformation without disrupting the company’s normal operations. In this case, the approaches incorporated were appropriate because they involved a small team of representatives who would help in fostering change on the entire workforce of the company.
References
Cady, S., & Dannemiller, K. (2005). Whole system transformation. Why is this topic important? 440.
Cummings, T. G., & Worley, C. G. Organizational development and change (11th ed.). Cengage Learning.