Transformational Change or Not?: The Case of British Airways (2008-2010)

Abstract

The past decade was characterized with turbulent changes in the external environment and events which placed enormous pressure on companies in all industries. It ended with a wave of radical organizational transformations especially present among the larger corporations with an aim of strategic repositioning at the market and exploiting strategic opportunities and/or benefiting from the core competencies. In the process, due to the increased importance of the successful transformation, the area of organizational change and transformation became a topic of increased interest among researchers and practitioners of Strategic Management.

The aim of this paper is to contribute to the growing literature in the area of strategic change by providing a critical analysis on the transformational change of the company British Airways. In the development of the analysis, a descriptive and exploratory case study research strategy is applied. The study is based on secondary data coming from documented and published sources.

The findings question the sustainability of the rational planned approach towards change in today’s high volatile environments, and asks whether there is a need for changing the paradigm on change and recognizing that the same is a constant state of existence.

Keywords: organisational change, transformation, British Airways