Organisation Profile
Cargo entails everything other than the persons or personal belongings on transit (Intermodal Freight Transport and Logistics Best Practices 2010). Compared with other freight transportation means, such as ship, rail, and surface automobiles, air cargo is probably the newest addition to the freight sector. Since its inception barely after the First World War, the air cargo industry has become an indispensable part of the world’s global economy, holding an important market niche in the transport of lightweight and high-value commodities (Singapore Airlines Cargo: General conditions of Carriage for Cargo 2014, p. 32). Using the infrastructure largely put in place by public agencies for air passenger travel, such as airports and air traffic control-systems, Singapore Airlines Cargo services connect to almost every destination of the world today (Intermodal Freight Terminals: In search of efficiency to support inter-modality growth 2006). According to Bektas and Teodor (2007), the rapid rise of Singapore Airlines Cargo has always been driven and, so often, challenged by four domineering factors.
The first factor is evaluating, understanding, and reacting to the roles of intermodals in the dynamic customer requirements of the competitive supply chains. Other than that, there has been the necessity to respond flexibly and reliably to the ever-changing customer demands with unified and conjoined coordinated cargo freight through different modes. Moreover, Singapore Airlines Cargo has to contend with the knowledge of existing and impending intermodal freight, as well as the global operational alternatives and options, including the prospective for enriched information and communications technology and the challenges connected to their application (Singapore Airlines Cargo: General conditions of Carriage for Cargo 2014, p. 33). Finally, the limitations on the coordination of the infrastructural capacity, comprising of regulatory and policy factors, as well as improved management of the available infrastructure and a broader consideration on future investment plans are key growth impetus for the company.
Singapore Airlines Cargo comes into the global freight market with the managerial options of assimilating multiple modes that offer readily flexible responses to the dynamic supply chain required in the distribution systems and global management (IATA Annual Review 2013, p. 35). Markedly, Singapore Airlines Cargo’s integration of modes necessitates the systems approach or a process of execution and a given degree of knowledge and skill on the transportation and supply chain, equipment, information, and infrastructure (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD): Benchmarking Intermodal Freight Transport 2002). Singapore Airlines Cargo’s mission, as it evolves from a central infrastructural component to a universal focus on the processes or systems, aims to have a relatively more sustainability factor and applicability as far as global supply chain management is concerned (Intermodal Freight Transport and Logistics Best Practices 2010). Today, Singapore Airlines global network spills to over 65 cities, and is active in more than 30 countries across the globe. With nearly 1000 flights scheduled weekly, Singapore Airlines Cargo believes that their comprehensive network and unswerving services make them ideal airfreight cargo participants.
Overall, the management of Singapore Airlines Cargo points that employee motivation is vital in its robust performance in both Singapore and elsewhere (Bektas and Teodor 2007). The management approach of Singapore Airlines Cargo points that recommendations might soon be placed in an orderly manner for various intermodals to align themselves with Singapore Airlines Cargo admirable practices. The robust international business focus of Singapore Airlines Cargo include employee empowerment, adequate remuneration, employee job security, company work design, rewards based business approach. The system design of Singapore Airlines Cargo means that opportunities for growth and advancement have never been a problem to the company, as well as its stakeholders.
Assessment using Kirton and Greene typology (exhibit 8.3, p. 205)
In their book, the authors acknowledge that whenever different groups bring their different backgrounds and experiences together, then diversity exists in that organisation or workplace. Managing diversity, according to Kirton and Greene (2010, p. 205), entails capitalising on the various resources available as well as the diverse experiences for the betterment of the organisation. The authors note that knowing how best to do this demands the optimum understanding of one’s own background. However, the most important factor is how this background influences the manager’s perspective in terms of decision-making, individual behaviour, and personal prejudices. A successful manager who has the ability to handle diverse groupings, the authors observe, is one with the innate ability to cultivate and nurture a culture of tolerance (Kirton and Greene 2010, p. 206). In addition, these virtues are amicably achievable through education, attending numerous training sessions and conflict management workshops. The authors maintain that workplace diversity can offer great benefits given its likelihood to inspire morale, critical thinking, enhanced teamwork, and an environment of respect and mutual understanding for all.
With the increased globalisation of commerce, as well as the ever extending need to work effectively with a culturally diverse workforce, organisations are facing new, yet common challenges in meeting the demands of workplace management. The challenges, according to Brislin (2008, p. 156), include but not limited to communication problems, dealing with negative ethnicity, decision making, criticisms and disagreements, as well as the problem of interpreting the ever-changing workplace environment. In this compelling assessment, Kirton and Greene (2010, p. 205) tackle the benefits of earmarking knowledge reservedly for stepping up the necessary strategies for routine intellectual cultural interaction that guide intercultural communication and organisational behaviour.
The authors use concrete examples, which they fondly refer to as critical incidences to illuminate the fundamental psychological paradigms that play an integral part in effective intercultural interactions within and across workplaces. The authors further observe that the differences that diverse teams face consists of individual and collective differences, the institutional emphasis on the status and individual importance, behaviour relative to cultural background, and gender expectations in the workplace. Kirton and Greene’s assessment gives insightful accounts from which ordinary readers and managers can learn and grow, rather than continually be challenged by intercultural differences that characterise diverse teams.
Freight industry is in fact a cause as well as a consequence for economic development, and being aware of this fact, Singapore Airlines Cargo management is doing all within its capacity to increase the efficacy of human capital (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD): Benchmarking Intermodal Freight Transport 2002). Consequently, Singapore Airlines Cargo has tapped the unique human capital in Singapore; it has had the potential of stimulating other sectors in the global economy owing to its crosscutting benefits and its expansive linkages. While acknowledging that the untapped human endeavours in this industry are enormous, the Singapore Airlines Cargo contends that by amicably addressing the managerial concerns in the industry, the catch could be great, especially with the company’s integrative administrative approach.
Being the fastest-growing industry and a leading economic booster in many countries, cargo is presumed to have generated around 10% of the current world GDP and approximately 9% of the total employment in the period between 2013 and 2014. The contribution of the freight to the global economy has maintained a high rating despite a 4% decline during the periods 2012 and 2013 (Singapore Airlines Annual Report 2012/13 2013, p. 22). For the better part of the previous year, travel and tourism investment declined by a bigger margin, but this drift is expected to scale up by mid next year. During last year’s evaluation, international freight arrivals rose exponentially, leading to the upsurge in current world GDP (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD): Benchmarking Intermodal Freight Transport 2002). Globally, travel and freight experienced a slump in 2010 due to the economic and financial meltdown experienced all over the world.
The industry was affected by low business turnover and poor consumer confidence, owing to the uncertainty related to factors such as availability of credit facilities, fluctuating exchange rates, employment trends, the epidemic of terrorism, and the H1N1 pandemic among other factors. Consequently, this has led to the current fall in tourist arrivals worldwide. Next year, the industry is expected to improve, as most of the leading economies are exiting the recession since the fall of 2009 (Singapore Airlines Annual Report 2012/13 2013, p. 25). However, this growth is expected to be gradual as corporations, households and governments slowly recover from the just concluded economic depression. Given the improvement in global economic conditions, the UNWTO predictions show that 3-4% increase in international tourist arrivals is expected this year (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD): Benchmarking Intermodal Freight Transport 2002). As Asia is currently showing the strongest signs of a rebound, Europe and America are expected to recover rapidly and Singapore Airlines Cargo will make an impressive debut.
Gender Participation
The participation of women in the freight sector has been nurtured through policy assimilation, capacity building, and institutional support among other things (Singapore Airlines Cargo: General conditions of Carriage for Cargo 2014, p. 36). Singapore Airlines Cargo recognises that gender equality at work is second to no other ideal in their managerial framework. It is undeniably that in most societies, poverty often has been synonymous with women. Women and girls, according to United Nations, constitute three-fifths of the poor population globally; their poverty rating is worse than that of men because of clear gender disparities in various areas, including remuneration (Kirton and Greene 2010, p. 205). On gender equality, Singapore Airlines Cargo seeks to foster active participation of women in income generating activities, with a robust focus on entrepreneurship.
\This effort further aims to deliver women to greater employability and a sustained income with equitable salary to their male counterparts within the industry (Kirton and Greene 2010, p. 206). Accordingly, this can be achieved amicably through enterprise development programmes that address the inequalities faced by women at work. Enhancing women’s access to credit facilities, business financing, as well as the capacity to be accorded equitable salary can adequately unlock the untapped human capital in women (Singapore Airlines Cargo 2014, p. 56). Research indicates that global progress in achieving gender equality is lagging behind because most women are technically locked out on free enterprise, and Singapore Airlines Cargo is doing all within its capacity to cash in on this rare advantage.
Diversity and Equality Measures in Company and Their Implementation
Workplace diversity, according to Engler (1964, p. 35), is a broad faculty that covers not only the differences between colleagues and co-workers, but also the understanding, accepting, and celebrating those differences. Thus, diversity in an organisation provides a variety of perspectives, especially when it comes to making decisions, accessing wider client base and broader audiences. Establishing and managing diverse environments, according to Kirton and Greene (2010, p. 207), comes with preventable and immitigable challenges that can be damaging to an organisation. In fact, the challenges that affect most diverse organisations are in most cases concerned with communication problems. For example, Kirton and Greene warn that poor communication between employees has the capacity of weighing down an organisation in ways that could be unredeemable. In diverse environments, misunderstanding is regular, and this normally leads to communication breakdown.
The authors further suggest that to beat equality challenges, the management might be required to undertake thorough office retreats, occasional diversity workshops, and meetings to iron out some of the emergent issues at the workplace. To deliver on equality, the authors further suggest that people in managerial positions have no choice, but to adopt a structured approach to leadership that respect such diversity. Managers, according to Kirton and Greene (2010, p. 208), must plan their work and implement their strategies in a critically thought out procedure. Notably, the authors suggest that these objectives could be achieved through brainstorming with managers and different executives categorically tasking them on how to implement workplace diversity effectively. In ordinary cases, the authors propose bringing a diversity consultant on board to assist in making up a diversity plan. The relevance of this assessment is that it gives Singapore Airlines Cargo various instances on how to deal with diversity challenges, and how these challenges could be mitigated to have minimal impacts on its capacity as an organisation.
Positive Action
Several components are open to any firm as far as outlining the overall people management strategy in a company is concerned (Singapore Airlines Annual Report 2012/13 2013, p. 75). Alongside the emergent functions such as information technology, operations and finance, as well as sales and marketing, involving people to be key players in the management function has delivered Singapore Airlines Cargo to its current celebrated status. The approach to this concern, according to the Singapore Airlines Cargo management, aims to answer what the organisations itself expect from its employees as well as how such employees in turn help the organisation attain its objectives. In most cases, Singapore Airlines Cargo management usually poses in its line of duty to question whether every individual within the company’s mainstream is meeting their expectations (Hall 2007).
More than that, for Singapore Airlines Cargo, it is equally significant for the management to stem its people in the right positions as an endeavour that aims to impact on its very forward mobility. Usually, Singapore Airlines Cargo achieves this stature by ensuring that every individual employee makes the optimum significance to Singapore Airlines Cargo developmental paradigms. A company, as Zaccaro and Klimoski (2002, p. 35) observe, must incorporate people as part of its diversity strategy of reaching out to the optimum in its business endeavours. Strikingly, this is what Singapore Airlines Cargo has always yearned for especially in outlining its workforce preferences. People management strategy is a great business enablement that is crucial to Singapore Airlines Cargo’s growth, and this incorporates some of the essential objectives in its management (Hall 2007). Among these includes employee recruitment and selection, training and development, performance management, employee engagement, as well as rewards and recognition.
Training: Employee Recruitment and Selection
The success of the Singapore Airlines Cargo as both a regional and global business venture begins by hiring the right people for the job (Miller, Vandome, and McBrewster 2009, p. 45). Essentially, for a company’s ideals to be successful, it is critical to recognise the type of positions the company will require in its future endeavours. Singapore Airlines Cargo incorporates its future needs into the current budget to streamline its strategies with the succession plans. While it may be difficult to predict with precision all that a business requires, a staffing forecast, which the Singapore Airlines Cargo amicably utilises, has the ability to assist in proper planning for its growth.
The moment the management outlines positions the company needs to fill, this usually guarantees the need to establish a result-oriented recruitment plan. This move, according to Hall (2007), is Singapore Airlines Cargo’s greatest strength. This strategy, as Muduli and Kaura (2011, p. 116) note, include identifying responsibilities, core competencies, skills, and knowledge identifiable with the business, as well as the cultural fit for the company’s ideal employees. Moreover, the Singapore Airlines Cargo management usually finds it imperative to apply creative recruitment sources that target individuals with the best talent that the company targets to absorb (Miller et al. 2009, p. 51). Perhaps an interview procedure that allows the company and the prospective candidates to learn much better about one another is another success factor that Singapore Airlines Cargo rolls out in its budget.
Training and Development
Good organisations recognise the fact that their employees are their greatest assets in possession. The Singapore Airlines Cargo Company usually finds it important to use diversity driven management strategy in identifying high potential employees. The essence of this strategy, according to Hall (2007), helps the management to identify individuals who capitalise on the training opportunities. The identification in turn enhances the company’s performance and productivity. The Singapore Airlines Cargo usually incorporates within its strategy, an annual compliance training, and tuition reimbursement to inspire the relevant skills the company requires in individuals. At its behest, Muduli and Kaura (2011, p. 115) opine that this endeavour passes out as a most opportune moment for the company to determine its employee growth structure. A thoroughly executed employee training strategy within Singapore Airlines Cargo eventually contributes to the complete success of the company without necessarily having to distort its traditional organisational culture (Wells 2003).
Equality Audit
Since its debut in the airline industry, Singapore Airlines Cargo has been dramatically changing to conform to the prevailing diversity factors that continue to shape the course of business of the airline industry after 2001 (Intermodal Freight Terminals: In search of efficiency to support inter-modality growth 2006). From the benefits and the risks that technology brings forth, over to the terrorist attack in 2001, the many challenges that the airline faced over time provoked many corporations to fasten their grips to beat these challenges. From 1970s over to 2001, air transportation grew exponentially, making the industry to be among the fastest growing business ventures within that period. In 1970, for example, the airlines were transporting close to 172 million passengers, and by the turn of the new millennium, this number grew to 615 million passengers (Bektas and Teodor 2007). Regrettably, for the financially tight corporations, the recession, coupled with the September 11 terrorist attack, the passenger level reduced drastically, affecting all types of costs in the airline industry.
Out of these diversity glitches, some companies have managed to explore their market strategies to remain effective in the market. An understanding of Singapore Airlines Cargo’s internal resources as well as its external market opportunities has been extremely important in countering these diversity factors. In the case of Singapore Airlines Cargo, the corporation had to re-evaluate its market strategies to moderate the prevailing threats (IATA Annual Review 2013, p. 37). For instance, Singapore Airlines Cargo saw what their competitors were reluctant to offer and created a strategy that supplied those unmet needs to the consumers (Aguinis 2013, p. 45). Notably, the company first rolled out a competitive policy that made it a low cost waiver in the industry. These successes further enhanced the company’s competitiveness, as it became a low-cost frontrunner in the airline industry.
Apart from that, the company was also becoming increasingly more customer focused as it embarked on providing consistent customer delivery with unique customer experience services. Singapore Airlines Cargo accomplished this by making sessions with their customers jocular, playing games in the airports, and giving freebies such as alcoholic drinks. Moreover, the company put its employees at the top of its priority in the business, making them feel very valuable assets for the corporation. In turn, the employees were able to undertake their assignments with a lot of dedication, treating their clients with respect and making flying with Singapore Airlines Cargo a unique and memorable experience.
Performance Management
Within the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company ideals, the measurement for each individual’s performance is necessary, especially in ensuring that an employee meets his/her expectations as required by the firm (Hall 2007). These strategies employed by Singapore Airlines Cargo usually give rise to feedback mechanisms. The management is usually in control. This ensures that employees have enough opportunities for improvement while addressing performance matters whenever employees are not meeting their expectations (Muduli and Kaura 2011, p. 117). Whereas some organisations prefer to leverage on performance management, an ideal strategy for the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company tend to seek out a time bound performance management approach. This approach does not only extend reward to high performers, but also binds compensation increment, as well as bonuses to employees, which are the overall turnouts of the company.
Performance management outlines the developmental factors in an organisation’s people management strategy (Mayer and Caruso 2002, p. 56). Singapore Airlines Cargo usually capitalises on these ideals. As the company maps out its trajectory of the succeeding years, the management finds it imperative to consider the individual employee performance evaluation, and this usually include frequent check in employee progress. In the event that the organisation experience problems, it do employ an individual employee development plan. This usually makes it possible for the management to monitor individual employee easily, closely, and frequently. However, Singapore Airlines Cargo may have to contend with poor perpetual performance problem (Muduli and Kaura 2011, p. 118). Usually the management finds it necessary not to let the problem drain the rest of the team, and weigh down the business in the process.
Strategic Management
Strategic management requires teams to solve various problems so that they position such themselves to develop strategy alternatives to encounter the challenges of leading diverse teams (Zhang and Zhang 2002, p. 275). This case situation particularly holds when dealing with virtual teams in making decisions. In retrospect, seeking consensus with qualification suffice as the best held approach. In situations where consensus is untenable, the most relevant yet senior personality in management capacity often makes the decision. Naturally, this decision reached upon by the top management must stem from other like-minded personalities. A much considerate team will utilise consensus as a process in the analysis and evaluation of a situation while developing policy recommendations within an organisation’s framework. Consensus with qualification model utilises systems approach in tackling strategic problems emanating from team management.
Inputs to consensus with qualification involve the manager, team members, as well as other resources pursued to achieve a decision. In essence, the quality of the process of decision-making and the decision achieved in turn traces their strengths from the quality of the inputs (Zhang and Zhang 2002, p. 276). This normally holds true with regard to the contribution of a team leader. When making distribution decisions, the Singapore Airlines Cargo inventory management coordinates with their suppliers and customers for consensus. Distribution only occurs after the suppliers provide all requisite load measurements of the freight. In addition, the customer who receives the cargo often acknowledges receipt after confirming that Singapore Airlines Cargo should transport the products. When this happens, the Singapore Airlines Cargo agencies at its headquarters communicate with the outlet in the country of receipt. Distribution decisions often follow due inventory processes because the records arrived at during consensus assist in managing the firm decision-making criterion.
Employee Engagement
Perhaps the best way for a management to have its fingers on the spur of individual people it employs is to have the capacity to measure and gauge their satisfaction (Hall 2007). Employee engagement though essential, could sometimes pose grave challenges that a company has to withstand (Miller et al. 2009, p. 54). As part of the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company’s venture to conduct employee satisfaction, all that the management seeks out is to ensure that the strategy outlines critical areas of concern in strategic planning. The moment the Singapore Airlines Cargo management designs an employee engagement stratagem, structures accompany such plans to ensure that employees channel their aspirations as well in order to protect varied interests. These do happen in an anonymous feedback mechanism so that individuals feel protected in their honest opinions (Muduli and Kaura, 2011, p. 118).
Engaging individuals, according to Mayer and Caruso (2002, p. 354), will definitely open up several individuals to volunteer insightful observations that may be instrumental in the overall organisational decision-making. The moment the Singapore Airlines Cargo management obtains such feedbacks from individual employees, the company finds it imperative to put such forms of communication into consideration so that the management can embark on synthesising data, and act appropriately on various dissenting views (Hall 2007). For the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company, incorporating the various opinions from different employees is of great necessity. These endowments usually keep employees’ morale high in the knowledge that they feel part of the management strategy.
Rewards and Recognition
Diversity management within the Singapore Airlines Cargo takes into consideration the ability to recognise and reward deserving individuals based on various outstanding performances (Muduli and Kaura 2011, p. 115). For the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company, it is the sole prerogative of the management to demonstrate value for employees (Goleman 2000, p. 79). Those individuals who do better in their assignments usually receive appreciation for the various contributions they make to the company. This in turn ensures morale boosting while nurturing a cheerful spirit at workplace (Miller et al. 2009, p. 74). Studies, according to Clark (2005, p. 16), continue to show that cheerful employees are cumulatively more productive, and more engaged with the ability to provide greater level of service to the customers. In addition, organisations that aim at ensuring employee satisfaction has the ability to improve corporate morale augment turnover and revamp customer satisfaction with the ability to inspire repurchase. The Singapore Airlines Cargo Company’s reward and recognition programme is archetypical of training and development; this usually is not necessarily costly to effect. Therefore, it is imperative for the management to work out a plan of action to roll out things that the company needs rewarded as frequently as possible (Singapore Airlines Annual Report 2012/13 2013, p. 53).
Discussion
Generally, these tactics made it possible for many people to enjoy the light atmosphere that Singapore Airlines Cargo marketing was already volunteering. If anything, Singapore Airlines Cargo offered the lowest cost strategy that made it possible to penetrate the market as their air costs become more pocket friendly. With this, they were able to capture new market niches that were earlier less receptive to their marketing strategies. In the process, Singapore Airlines Cargo was among the first in the carrier industry to use online booking services. With online ventures, customers have been able to increase their trust in the services offered by the company, thus receiving millions of new clients every day. Coupled with so many innovative ideologies forged by the company, the general marketing approach brought about in countenance of these diversity factors made the company to outshine all other competitors in the industry.
Conclusion
Today, numerous business organisations are shifting to achieve employee wellness programmes to achieve optimum performance. Studies within the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company reveal that such endeavours like employee engagement and motivation show a strong link between promoting workplace job satisfaction and increased productivity. Markedly, people management strategy within the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company takes into consideration, employee management wellness as part of its focus. Besides, diversity management programmes have the commitment to improve satisfaction, reduce stress load among the workforce, and inspire concentration. Undoubtedly, each factor leads to an increased productivity. Diversity management programmes equally increase employee fidelity given its ability to guarantee individual loyalty. These endeavours also have the ability to keep employees robust by ensuring that they work as per the stipulated timeline. This reduces chances of absenteeism among the workforce. While diversity management programmes require considerable and consistent commitment as well as time to realise positive results, an organisation making this a priority stands a chance to enjoy abundant benefits including competitive advantage and an expansive market niche, which is the case at the Singapore Airlines Cargo Company.
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