Executive Summary

SEAL is in deep financial trouble and requires some necessary changes. The reasons
for changes are obvious: regaining brand reputation and firm’s profitability, ensuring
employee satisfaction. However, the organization’s urgency for changes is absent, especially
among top-level managers. Therefore, this report outlines Kotter’s 8-step model to implement
the changes required in SEAL. The report argued why Kotter’s 8-step model is relevant in
this case and illustrated the actions SEAL should take in each step while making changes. For
example, the report contended that SEAL needs a two-level coalition team to bring
fundamental changes to SEAL’s vision, mission statements, and core values and perform the
following changes. The new vision should be translated into a ‘shared vision’ through proper
communication, so everyone in SEAL cherishes and works for it. Moreover, positive news
about SEAL should be disseminated inside and outside the company. Periodic assessments of
employee performance need to be performed with recognition and reward for the best
performer. Besides, employee and customer satisfaction surveys should be performed
regularly. To institutionalize the changes, SEAL must ensure a learning culture where the
outgoing leader trains and educates the next leader along the way. The report also highlighted
SEAL’s top management’s existing skills and characteristics, how its top team process has
worked, and what areas could be improved with training. Finally, the report’s ‘additional
support’ section suggested some best sources to recruit new operations and IT directors, with
alternatives to arrange training for SEAL employees.
 Table of Contents

Introduction 1
Breakdown of Transformation Project 1
Identifying SEAL's Change Philosophy 3
Implementation Plan 4
Implementation Timeline 11
Senior Management Team Assessment 13
Team Process Assessment 17
Team Functions Improvement | Recommendations and Plans 18
Additional Support 23
References 26
 Introduction

We are presenting a consulting report for the Corporate Transformation Project of

South East Airways Limited (SEAL). This report will aid SEAL’s top management to
implement change successfully, with the following objectives:
1. Make an assessment of SEAL’s situation, evaluating the forces, needs, and challenges
of the organization and employees.
2. Design and deploy change strategies and plans adapted to SEAL to successfully
implement change
3. Guide and encourage SEAL’s members through the change process
Through this report, SEAL and the top management will benefit from first a better
understanding of its own capabilities, forces, and weaknesses, then tools, skills, and
knowledge to adapt the strategies to implement. This is all the more important in this
competitive market, considering the changing global context.
Following very clear and precise steps, with associated deadlines and specific people
involved, our team will make sure that you will go through the change process successfully.
We will provide you guidance and meetings for updates during the process over the next year
to ensure your success.

Breakdown of Transformation Project

The following is the breakdown of why the change is needed in SEAL. The points
also explain the triggers that are evident and the risks if things do not change in the
organization.
1. To be profitable again & regain the reputation of the brand
The first reason, and perhaps the most important, is that SEAL needs to go back to
growth and regain the reputation and the brand as a leading global aircraft company in South
East Asialand. In the early 10’s, the company was growing, and almost every metric was
positive. But there was a turning point in 2016/17. Looking at the numbers: the turnover
keeps decreasing and the net loss is increasing over the years. They lose more and more
customers (from almost 19.1m passengers in 2016 to 6.9m in 2021). This decline jeopardizes
all the facets of the company. If things do not change, the company may go bankrupt and
close.

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 2. The global economic context changed and some decisions are no longer relevant
Second, the global economic context changed, and some decisions are no longer
relevant. SEAL currently faces high maintenance costs due to an old decision: they bought
many different aircraft models because they could afford it in the context of the economic
recession in 2008/2009. Perhaps they should have focused on one type of airplane. In
addition, due to the covid lockdown, they decided to stop their expansion and even
discontinued the New York service, which was more profitable than the other ones.
The economic context can create even more problems as companies find themselves
needing to make difficult decisions that can impact employee satisfaction and even threaten
their jobs - as proved below. The ability to manage this in a perpetually changing
environment is crucial for firms that want to maintain a strong brand and strong bonds with
their customers/employees.

3. Within SEAL: employee dissatisfaction

If the company doesn’t change, its financial results will not go up. It will still go down
as it is currently going down. Bad results will lead to more budget cuts, more layoffs, and
more tensions between board members and employees. And this can be a vicious circle.
Because due to this bad working atmosphere, there will be a drop in productivity. A drop in
productivity means a job poorly done and more costs, and this means worse results. This
vicious circle could even end in bankruptcy and therefore the closing of the company. Figure
1 below highlights the reasons for change in SEAL.

Figure 1: Reasons for change.

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 Identifying SEAL's Change Philosophy

SEAL can spearhead organizational change by incorporating elements of both the E

and O theories. Although the two theories differ in their approach to change, numerous
companies have found success by adopting both. Nohria and Beer (2000) stated that
“Companies that effectively combine hard and soft approaches to change can reap big payoffs
in profitability and productivity.” To ensure effective change, SEAL should prioritize the top
four dimensions of change.

Dimension of SEAL’s Approach to Change

Change

Goals The vision of SEAL is to attain recognition as a “Leading Global Service

Provider of Excellence, Choice, Service, and Sustainability.” Despite the
clear emphasis on value creation, SEAL has fallen short in adapting to the
changing global economic environment and external factors, such as the
COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, one of SEAL's missions is to cultivate
its position as a learning organization. However, some of the senior leaders
have been found to lack the requisite skills and mindset for their respective
positions.
Therefore, by redefining and effectively communicating the updated vision
and mission statement among all the employees and leadership teams, it will
serve as a guideline in all strategies and activities moving forward.

Leadership The management team should advocate for changes not only from a
top-down executive level, but also facilitate the engagement and emotional
investment of individual contributors in the company's transformation. With
growing discontent among staff members resulting from substantial cost
reductions and workforce reductions, failure to consider employee
perspectives and concerns may result in resistance to the implemented
changes and the ultimate failure of the change initiative.

Focus Building upon the previous dimension, it is imperative for SEAL to

concentrate on streamlining both the "hardware" and "software" components
of the organization as the leadership team implements changes. The

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 "hardware" encompasses the structural and systemic elements while the
"software" encompasses the organizational culture, employee behavior, and
attitudes.
Therefore, SEAL should prioritize the development and foster of a corporate
culture that encourages interdepartmental coordination and collaboration.
Simultaneously, SEAL must also examine and improve its organizational
structure and systems.

Reward System In order to effectively implement organizational change, SEAL must

demonstrate a comprehensive commitment to supporting its employees.
Research suggests that individuals are “striving for growth through
integration of both internal and external psychological material” (Olafsen et
al., 2020). To align with this principle, SEAL can provide both external and
internal support to its employees. External support can take the form of
financial incentives, while internal support can be facilitated through
initiatives such as a "Employee of the Month" program or investment in
skills and personal development training.

Implementation Plan

As change is perpetual and highly context-specific, scholars (e.g., Checkland &

Scholes, 1999; Reissner et al., 2011) argued that it is often difficult to recommend certain
approaches/models as best in every aspect. Throughout the evolution of the organizational
change concept, various models were proposed, such as Lewin’s 3-step model (Lewin, 1947),
Kotter’s 8-step model (Kotter, 1996), ADKAR framework, and McKinsey’s 7-S model. In
order to implement the change management process in SEAL, we will draw on Kotter’s
8-step model. There are several reasons for preferring Kotter’s 8-step model to other
models/approaches.

First, Kotter’s model remained the mainstream intelligence for expediting change
(Nitta et al., 2009) and the most persuasive technique for success in organizational change
management (Phelan, 2005). In addition, Appelbaum et al. (2012) postulated that this model
has been a key reference for managers dealing with change management for many years.

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 Second, Kotter’s model is highly regarded for its suitability in big and complex
organizations. The different steps of the model specifically address the urgency for change,
requirements for coordination between participants to change processes, vision building for
the organization, and integrating the change in organizational culture.

Third, Lewin’s model is disregarded due to its simplicity (Palmer & Dunford, 1996)
and inappropriateness for continuous change (Weich & Quinn, 1999). Besides, the ADKAR
framework is known for change management at the individual level (Hiatt, 2006). However,
Kotter’s 8-step model has been one of the robust and well-accepted models for managing
organizational change since its inception (Mento et al., 2002; Pollack & Pollack, 2015).

Fourth, SEAL is in deep financial trouble where a positive change is urgent, but the
readiness for change is deficient. SEAL requires a strong guiding team with the redefinition
and communication of its vision and strategies to uplift the current situation. Given the
current status of SEAL, we believe Kotter’s 8-step model could better address the underlying
mechanisms essential for change within SEAL as follows:

1. Establishing a sense of urgency

SEAL needs to create a sense of the inevitable need for change among its employees.
demonstrates the current level of urgency and readiness for change in SEAL. Figure 2
demonstrates the current level of urgency and readiness for change in SEAL. As discussed in
the above section, the reasons for changes are clear (e.g., regaining profitability and brand
reputation, ensuring employee satisfaction).

Figure 2: The current level of urgency and readiness for change in SEAL

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 At this stage, SEAL should conduct an internal survey to generate insights about
employees’ mindset toward changes (e.g., redefining the company’s vision and mission,
forming department-wise objectives and goals). Such survey insights will be combined with
external data to support the necessity for changes. The external data would highlight how the
landscape of the aviation industry has changed during- and post-pandemic periods and the
call for adjustments.

Moreover, the CEO, Brian Smith, must reiterate the urgency for change and a positive
turnaround of the company in meetings and conversations with employees.

2. Creating a guiding coalition

It is quite impossible to accelerate the change management process and make it

successful single-handedly. In this regard, SEAL needs a ‘guiding coalition’ of people with
position power (powerful enough to proceed with change initiatives), expertise, credibility,
and leadership. We propose a two-level coalition in SEAL. These two teams will create
strings to tie up all employees and drive the change in a synergetic way.

First-level coalition team will be headed by the CEO, Brian Smith, with directors and
top-ranked general managers as members. This team will make the following changes:

a) Redefining the vision and mission of the company,

b) Setting department-wise objectives and goals within a particular time frame

c) Developing ‘Balanced Scorecard’ and ‘Change management performance management

(CMPM)’ metrics to assess department-wise milestones.

d) Finding a new operation director and an IT director, and

e) Positively changing interpersonal relationships among employees.

Second-level coalition team could be headed by the flight operation director, Khan
Iman, with employees as members having a strong positive attitude toward making and
working for change in SEAL. This team will supervise the:

a) Achievements of department-wise periodic goals and objectives,

b) Creation of attractive packages for the ‘leisure trip’ segment, and

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c) Continuous tracking (through customer surveys and feedback) of and ensuring customer
satisfaction.

3. Developing a vision and strategy

It is evident that the employees of SEAL have a serious mistrust of each other. Some
employees follow a ‘silo’ approach. SEAL needs to develop policies urging more
coordination and cooperation among departments and employees. As indicated in step 2,
SEAL should redefine its vision, mission, and core values. While addressing value creation in
the company’s vision, SEAL must include that they “are going to add value with their highly
expert and committed workforce”. SEAL could use the word ‘innovation’ (because it better
goes along with technology-based customer service) instead of ‘sustainability’ in its vision
statement. The term ‘hospitality’ could be added to the vision statement. Besides, ‘Concern
for staff’ and ‘Teamwork’ could be included as core values. Overall, the vision, mission, and
core values should be less verbose while addressing key areas. Integration of relevant
stakeholders to SEAL’s vision and mission would appeal to the enduring interest of
employees, shareholders, and customers. Specific guidelines should be in place to minimize
any misunderstanding among employees and take immediate actions (e.g., investigation)
against misconduct (e.g., corruption accusation against May Lee and Akhil’s misbehavior).

4. Communicating the vision

Well-poised visions and strategies will not alone bring required changes unless they
are communicated properly. Thus, the two coalition teams need a series of meetings with
multiple-level employees to share the vision and strategies for change. The department heads
should be well informed about the change initiatives and convey such information to their
subordinates. Changed vision and strategies should be communicated through two-way
face-to-face meetings. This will allow employees to provide feedback and ask for
clarifications if misunderstood. In other words, ‘vision’ should be translated into ‘shared
vision’ so everyone in SEAL cherishes and works for it.

Progress on the change initiatives should be posted and ranked as top news on the
SEAL intranet. Moreover, the sales and marketing director, May Lee, should be instructed to
promote such news to the external news media. As part of the communication, the CEO
needs to have personal meetings with Akhil Singh to talk about changing his behavioral

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approach with other employees. Besides, SEAL should perform an in-depth investigation of
the corruption accusation against May Lee.

5. Removing obstacles

As we continue to communicate the new vision for enforcing and empowering change
within the organization, it is crucial to identify and remove any barriers that may impede this
change. The employees may experience anxiety during this transition due to the uncertainty
of the unknown. However, by being transparent and clear in our communication and ongoing
investigation of any corruption and misconduct, we will have taken a strong stance in our
new approach.

Another potential barrier that we must anticipate is the inadequate involvement of

stakeholders. There were conflicts among the management leaders' working styles that
caused resentment among the team. Therefore, it is important for the CEO to engage in
one-to-one discussions with each director to address their concerns and feedback as the
change progresses. This will help to keep key stakeholders involved and informed throughout
the process. Moreover, SEAL must perform a periodic employee satisfaction survey with an
invitation for suggestions to improve organizational performance at different levels. Such
initiatives would empower employees by providing them with a feeling that they are an
integral part of the change initiatives.

Furthermore, SEAL should arrange or let its employees join training programs (please
see part 3 for details) which will enhance their capacities and overcome resistance toward
change. Drawing on this discussion, Figure 3 below highlights the key methods of tackling
resistance/obstacles in SEAL:

Figure 3: The key methods of tackling resistance/obstacles in SEAL

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6. Generating and celebrating short-term wins

Creating short-term wins during a change initiative within an organization can be an

effective way to build momentum and support for the change. One strategy for achieving
these goals is to identify opportunities for low-hanging fruit. As outlined in the second step of
the change process, finding and securing new leadership in key positions, such as an
operations director and an IT director, should be relatively easy to achieve within a set
timeframe. This will signal the change and stability to ripple across the organization, and the
infusion of new leadership will bring fresh perspectives and approaches to SEAL business
that long-time veterans may not possess.

Moreover, achievements of short-term department-wise goals (e.g. reaching a few

new customer segments in 2-3 months) should be celebrated, recognized, and communicated
within the organization. Employees who have worked for such achievements should be
rewarded and acknowledged. Employees in SEAL could be rewarded with a certificate and
some monetary benefits. News about the ‘Top-performing Employee’ winners should be
shared throughout SEAL to motivate those underperforming.

7. Consolidating gains and producing more change

Having successfully recruited the Operations and IT Directors, it is imperative that we

maintain the momentum of change implementation. The IT Director should prioritize the
development of a strategic plan to ensure the timely adoption of essential technological
advancements that are vital to the business. Meanwhile, the Operations Director should
evaluate the operational processes to identify areas of improvement, particularly with regards
to aircraft maintenance and associated costs. This realignment of responsibilities will enable
Ken Chan to focus exclusively on his role as Investment Director, which aligns with his
preferred areas of expertise. With specialists in each field executing their responsibilities, we
anticipate a more comprehensive and effective realization of change in our processes.

A quarterly inspection of how the current change initiatives are rolling out should be
performed. Such inspections should be based on the ‘Balanced Scorecard’ and ‘Change
management performance management’ matrices. This will be followed by necessary
modifications of change strategies and rewarding employees under the “Employee of the
Quarter” program.

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8. Anchor the changes in corporate culture

In the final step of Kotter's method, it is essential to secure the lasting implementation
of the changes within the organizational culture of SEAL. To achieve this, the reorganized
leadership team must institutionalize the changes into policies and procedures, and ensure
that employees (current and newly hired) receive proper training and resources to effectively
implement the updated operational process and new technologies introduced by the IT
strategy.

SEAL must ensure a learning culture where the outgoing leader trains and educates
the next leader along the way. In this regard, SEAL should announce the next candidate for a
managerial position a reasonable time before the current manager retires. Furthermore, it is
crucial for key stakeholders to offer support and provide feedback to employees to reinforce
the adoption of these changes. Besides, employees should be informed about the success of
the current change initiatives.

Figure 4: Summary of the whole change process of SEAL based on Kotter’s 8-step model.

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 Implementation Timeline

The following table illustrates the change initiatives’ implementation timeframe

highlighting what, how, who, and where change initiatives will be rolled out in SEAL.

SN What? How? Who? Where? Timeframe

1. Generating an Reiterating the urgency for Brian Smith Top-down April-June

urgency for change change and a positive 2023
turnaround of the company in
meetings and conversations
with employees

2. Redefining the Inclusion of some keywords in First-level Company vision April 2023
vision, mission, and SEAL’s vision, mission, and coalition and mission
core values of the core values (please see step 3 team
company for details)

3. Setting Coordinating with departments First-level Interdepartmental April-May

department-wise coalition level 2023
objectives and goals team
within a particular
time frame

4. Organization Chart HR Team to coordinate with Brian And Top-down April-May

Restructuring the entire team. Jill 2023

Set up merge meetings to build

understanding between
merging teams

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 Launch the new organization
chart company-wide.

5. Finding a new Standard recruitment HR and Top level May 2023

operation director procedure Brian Smith
and an IT director

6. Monitoring Quarterly inspection Second-level Interdepartmental Each

achievements of coalition level quarter.
department-wise team First one is
periodic goals and in June
objectives based on 2023
‘Balanced
Scorecard’ and
‘CMPM’

7. Developing policies Reviewing existing policies of First-level Organizational April-May

to minimize SEAL and others in the same coalition policy level 2023
misunderstanding industry and including missing team
among employees links
and take immediate
actions against
misconduct

8. Translating ‘vision’ Engaging two-way First- and Top-down and May

into ‘shared vision’ communication second-level bottom-up 2023-March
coalition 2024
team

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9. More training Arranging or letting First- and Inter-and July
programs for employees join training second-level intra-departmental 2023-March
employees programs coalition level 2024
team

10. Rewarding Assessing employee Second-level Inter-and In each

top-performing performance quarterly coalition intra-departmental quarter
employee team level

11. Institutionalizing Training and development. First- and Top-down and July
the changes into Ensuring a learning culture second-level bottom-up 2023-March
company culture (please see step 8 for details) coalition 2024
team

Senior Management Team Assessment

1. Brian Smith (CEO)

The Belbin role he plays is that of a “Teamworker” as he is very social and attempts to
avert frictions.
Experience
Brian has 31 years of experience in the aviation industry. His experience is not only in the
management team but he transitioned from being a pilot. He not only understands the
management nuances but is also familiar with what happens on the plane. He is well aware of
the services and the customer complaints as he used to be on board as a pilot too. He did not
have a direct transition to the position of CEO. He held multiple positions in the management
team which means he has ideas about the company at different levels and has a holistic
perspective of the company.
Charismatic
Brian is highly regarded by the people who know him. Such a leader can bring
credibility and trust to the company, which can be beneficial when it comes to obtaining new

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customers, partners, and investors. A highly regarded CEO can also bring a broad network of
contacts and resources, which can be beneficial when it comes to expanding the company's
reach. Additionally, a highly regarded CEO can bring a great deal of experience and expertise
to the table, which can be beneficial when it comes to making important decisions. Finally, a
highly regarded CEO can bring a sense of pride to employees, which can have a very positive
effect on morale and productivity.

2. Jill Ngoc (HR Director)

The Belbin role she plays is that of a “coordinator” and “plant”.
Experienced
Jill started with SEAL from the very beginning. She organically climbed the corporate
ladder starting from being an HR assistant to an HR director. She not only depended on the
training she got at her workplace, but she also went on to get a diploma to understand more
about the HR space. This shows her commitment to the position. We can tell that she is
well-read in terms of different spaces in HR as she is always bringing in new initiatives to
promote employee engagement and satisfaction. The initiatives she brings show a
comprehensive understanding of HR topics such as employee benefits, recruitment and
retention, labor relations, training, and compliance. Her efforts to create a productive and
positive work environment is very evident in her policies.
People-focused
Jill was one of the only employees in the senior management who protested against
laying off employees. She is usually in a tiff with other leaders in the senior management
team to forward her policies which are very helpful for employees and their well-being. We
can see that she wants to create a culture of respect, trust, and fairness. She tries to make sure
that employees are properly trained, rewarded, and motivated. The benefits of her efforts are
usually ignored by other members of the leadership team. By creating a workplace where
employees feel respected and supported, a business can develop a positive reputation in the
market and become an employer of choice. This can help to create a competitive advantage
and attract talented individuals to the company.

3. Akhil Singh (CFO)

The Belbin role he plays is that of a “finisher” and “implementer”.
Experienced

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 Akhil has worked in Finance for a long time and grew organically in the company. He
also has an educational background in Finance. He was hired as a disaster control after his
predecessor made bad financial decisions, which speaks volumes on how the rest of the
leadership teams trust him. He also has completed his MBA through distance learning which
shows his commitment to the growth of the organization.
Attention to detail
Akhil not only has great attention to detail but enforces that through-out the
organization. He demands similar levels of accuracy which contributes a lot to the
organization. CFOs are responsible for the financial operations of an organization and must
ensure that all financial activities are accurately recorded and reported. They must also have a
keen eye for spotting discrepancies. Especially during the time when the company is
suffering financially, having a CFO like Akhil is very essential to the business.

4. Ken Chan (Investment and IT Director)

The Belbin role that he plays is that of a “resource investigator”.
Explorer
Ken is a very good example of discovery leadership. He has spent enough time to
perfect internal systems and processes so he can easily delegate the day to day tasks. We can
tell that his main focus now is on networking. This is a very necessary skill to have. He is not
limiting the ideas to stakeholders but also exploring to find meaningful solutions. Even when
his team is not appreciating his efforts he makes sure he is networking and bringing in
external ideas.
Holistic Leader
Out of all the members in the leadership team, Ken is the only person who shows
different aspects of holistic leadership in his actions. He is not focusing on smaller day to day
operations because he knows it is in the system and it is not going to have much impact on
the business. He knows the mission of the organization and is finding new solutions to keep
the business afloat.

5. Khan Iman (Flight Operations Director)

The Belbin role he plays is that of a “shaper”.
Experienced
Khan shows a very organic progression toward his current role. He is highly regarded
as a pilot and is respected for his current role too. His years of experience as a pilot contribute

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to his current role as it helps him understand the entire operations inside out. He understands
the issues bothering the crew and works on solving them. He also has good relationships with
the teams involved in the process which brings him good suggestions to work on.
Commitment
Khan is highly committed to the company and the team. He is apparently being
approached by other airlines but he continues to passionately work for SEAL. He is also very
good to his team. He mentors other young pilots and creates an environment where there is
support.

6. Lucy Lok (Operations Director)

Flexibility
Lucy comes from a sales and marketing background. Not only her work experience
but her educational background is in marketing. When the company was in need, she
assumed the role of acting director of operations. This shows how flexible she is in her work.
Her dedication to the company is commendable. She came back after retiring to help the
company in need.

7. May Lee (Sales and Marketing Director)

The Belbin role she plays is that of a “coordinator” and “plant”.
Outside Perspective
May was hired externally because there was no one in the company who could take
over the roles from Lucy. She brings experience from outside the company. She used to work
for SEAL’s competitor which means she can share experiences to make the airlines better.
Unlike most of the members in the senior management team, she has just joined the company.
The others have been in the company for years and don’t know how the rest of the industry is
operating. She knows processes and systems that have worked in her previous organization
and can apply some of them in SEAL.
Creative
May came into SEAL at a very critical time. Her contributions could either make or
break the business. In a way, she helped the business keep afloat. Her performance has made
contributions to the financial performance of the company. Even during critical times, she
could use her creativity to advertise products and push sales.

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 Team Process Assessment

The senior management team is very versatile. Despite facing adversities like
financial troubles, global pandemics, and internal conflicts, the team is able to keep the
company afloat. The beauty of this team is that it is made up of people with different
personalities and backgrounds, creating a sense of balance within the group. For example,
When the company was facing financial issues the senior management team was exploring
how they could carry on their operations without having to lay off their employees. But,
Akhil made the hard decision of letting people go. The team needed someone like Akhil to
come in with power to ensure that the company sustains. There might have been other
methods to do it, but that is the balance we see in this team where some of them have
economic profitability in mind and some of them have an organizational culture in their
minds.
The decision-making and problem-solving of the team are not perfect but we cannot
deny the fact that it is somehow working. When one member of the team is not available or is
busy engaging in something else, the other members have stepped in to make progress. For
example, when Ken was focusing on external investment opportunities, the other team
members Khan and Lucy came up with and implemented the idea of conversion of planes to
carry more freight in the cabin area once passenger capacity demand dropped by around 70%
due to travel restrictions. This was a great initiative that would not have been launched if the
bureaucracy of the company was very demanding. Therefore, the lenient line of command is
working for the company.
Moving on to the things that are not working, the financial statement of the company
tells us so much about how the company is losing money. In recent days, many of the
competing airlines have reported losses but that was due to the pandemic and traveling
restrictions. But SEAL has not reported a profit since 2016. There is clearly some gap in the
decision-making and problem-solving mechanisms of the team.
The team also has a lot of internal conflicts regarding processes and decisions made
by other members of the senior management. There are also complaints about corruption
within the company. These are the problems that are to be addressed by the senior
management team with a united front. But the members have conflicts within themselves too.
They are not willing to keep their differences aside to help solve problems and resolve issues.
The biggest problem we see is that they are not consulting with each other and have only
little or no trust in each other. They don’t trust that the other team members are doing their

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jobs well or have the company’s best interests in their minds. For example, Akhil’s efforts to
decrease the company’s expenditure resulted in significant layoffs but Jill was not on board
with the idea. Akhil should understand that Jill is the Director of HR, she is also entitled to
make decisions when it comes to layoffs. This will have a tremendous impact on the
company's culture and reputation in the long run. Akhil also had issues with May on the sales
team corruption investigation. He has a working method and he expects the entire team to
work in a similar way. His method of dealing with people is “my way or highway” which is
not fair because all the members in the team come from various backgrounds and have
significant experience in their work.
All in all, the internal conflicts and the disturbance within the team due to power
dynamics is very high. In spite of this environment, the team is moving forward and making
decisions to keep the business running. If the team went on ahead with a sense of
togetherness and collaboration, they can definitely solve the internal conflicts.

Team Functions Improvement | Recommendations and Plans

1. Accelerate the process of hiring an Operations Director

In the aviation industry, a good operations director is essential for ensuring that
operations run smoothly and efficiently. With their extensive knowledge and understanding of
the industry, they are able to create strategies and policies. In SEAL’s case, they are not able
to focus on operations as the team is being led by a temporary replacement who does not
have any background in operations. Jill from HR should make sure that her GM of HR is
setting up a team for succession planning of the Operations director and is focusing on
creating a pipeline of candidates for this position.
Alternatively, most companies in the aviation industry do not separate “Operations”
and “Flight Operations” in their departments. We could merge the two departments and make
Khan Iman the new Operations Director. He will be responsible for both general operations
and flight operations. If the responsibility is too much for Khan, we could hire a co-director
position. Having two separate departments for operations seems counterproductive since both
departments work on similar activities.

2. Bring in a Tech Leader in the senior management team

Currently, the way of doing business across the globe is changing. People are getting
more and more technology focused for smooth operations of their business, customer

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satisfaction and even profit maximization. We can see a clear gap here. SEAL does not really
focus on technology when it comes to business. Their competitors are already building tech
infrastructure and releasing it among their customers. In this situation, they should also work
on bettering their technology. We can tell that they have little to no focus on technology as
the IT director is also the director of investment. He has experience in IT but his focus seems
to be dedicated to the investment department. SEAL needs a separate leader for IT and
technology through which they can unlock new possibilities.
The company is dwelling on the past and not focusing on the future of tech. They
need to use artificial intelligence, machine learning and big data if they want to continue
excelling in the future. For instance, AI can be used to optimize aircraft routing and
scheduling, increasing both safety and efficiency. ML can be used to detect anomalies in
aircraft performance, while big data can be used to anticipate weather conditions and aircraft
maintenance needs. AI and ML can also be used to improve aircraft design and performance.
Finally, AI can be used to facilitate improved customer experiences, such as personalizing
travel itineraries and tracking baggage.

3. Restructuring of the organization chart

We would like to suggest a few reorganizations in the organization chart. The
organization chart currently has a CEO who is the reporting line of Directors of the different
departments of the company. And below the directors are the General Managers of different
sub departments. We would like to suggest a few shuffles in the department for smooth and
efficient operations of the business and to avoid redundancy.

a. Khan Iman is promoted to the role of “Operations Director” and he looks after both
“Operations” and “Flight Operations” departments. He also gets a co-director in the
same position who will help him oversee the merge of both departments. The
sub-departments of “International Flights” and “Regional Flights” get merged as
“Flights”, the GMS will work as co-GM. This is for maintaining the quality of flights
consistent in both regional and international flights.
b. The sub departments under May Lee of “ Marketing and Sales Regional” and
“Marketing and Sales International” get merged into one sub-department “Marketing
and Sales” to assure consistency in both services. Both the GMs will also work as
co-GMs.

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 c. “IT Infrastructure” is introduced as a new department and the HR team focuses on
hiring an IT champion to lead the team as an IT Director. (preferably someone with a
background in AI, ML and big data).
d. Ken Chan remains the director of “Investment and Business Development”.
e. “GM of Crew Planning” under HR director Jill is assigned to the Operations
department since the operations department is already handling most activities
relating to cabin and the crew. It makes sense that the GM of Crew Planning also falls
under operations and not HR. But the team works on a cross functional basis.
f. All the GMs that work directly under the CEO, Brian gets assigned to different
departments. The CEO already has directors reporting to him. It’s too much for him to
handle a huge team with multiple reporting lines.
- GM of Quality Assurance reports to Operations directors as the department is
already looking after different aspects of the flight services.
- The GM of Flight Training reports to the HR director as the HR team already
has a training team.
- The GM of Media Relations reports to the Sales and Marketing Director as the
marketing department is already responsible for corporate communications
and marketing. This will ensure consistency in communication.
- The GM of Legal reports to the Finance Director as Akhil has a keen attention
to details. He will be able to handle the legal complications.
- GMs of “Security”, “Customer Satisfaction” and “Inspection Board” will
continue reporting to Brian, the CEO.
Therefore, the proposed organization structure looks as follows:

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4. Training and development plan: details for 3 members of the board
a. Brian Smith (CEO)
- Skill Gap
The gap is based on Brian's transition from a pilot career at European Airlines (EA) to
a management position and several key management positions at Southeast Airlines Limited
(SEAL). While Brian was familiar with what happens on an aircraft and had some hands-on
flying experience, he needed more experience to make decisions as CEO. Therefore, it
resulted in him not effectively handling allegations of corruption and overall employee
dissatisfaction within the company yet.
- Training Recommended
Moving from pilot to management, he can benefit from training in leadership, ethics,
and communication skills to address allegations of corruption and employee grievances
within the company. Training should emphasize ethical decision-making, effective
communication strategies, and fostering a positive and transparent work culture. He can also
seek guidance from a mentor or find other resources such as books, courses or seminars on
effective leadership and management skills. Because those who know Bryan respect him. So
Brian can network with other attendees when he attends leadership training sessions. Meet
other professionals and learn about their skills, experience and knowledge. Find people with

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skills that will benefit the organization in problem-solving. Gain the knowledge and skills
needed to effectively use the skills of others to solve organizational issues by actively
participating in leadership courses and leveraging existing resources and relationships.

b. Akhil Singh (CFO)

- Skill Gap
Akhil is an uncompromising business leader. However, his behavior of publicly
challenging others in meetings and even sometimes belittling someone can seriously
undermine trust, respect, cooperation, and communication in a team. This behavior creates
tension, hurts morale, and leads to conflict, negatively impacting team dynamics and
productivity. It can also make team members feel disrespected or disregarded, leading to
decreased motivation and engagement. So like Brian, he needs to take leadership and ethics
training, especially communication training, to strengthen his communication skills. Learn to
listen to others and respect others.
- Training Recommended
Recommend attending Marshall Rosenberg's Nonviolent Communication (NVC)
workshop training, which focuses on improving communication through the use of empathy
and compassion.
1. Identifying Feelings and Needs. Learn how to identify feelings and needs and identify
them in others.
2. Expressing Needs Effectively. How to make demands in a non-threatening way, and how to
express needs effectively.
3. Handling Conflict. How to handle conflict in a non-violent way, express empathy and
compassion for others, and find mutually beneficial solutions.

c. Ken Chan (Investment and IT Director)

- Skill Gap
Ken did use the day-to-day management of IT services to achieve web development. His
strength is business development, but he needs to work more closely with his department
heads. Therefore Ken's department needs to improve communication.
- Training Recommended
1. Establish clear lines of communication by encouraging regular meetings, email updates, or
video conferences between managers and department heads.

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2. Set mutual expectations. Increase interactive collaboration between employees and
supervisors to facilitate setting clear expectations. This can help ensure everyone is on the
same page and working toward a common goal.
3. Encourage social bonding among managers and department heads to break down any
communication barriers and improve collaboration.
4. Provide training and development opportunities for managers focusing on effective
communication, teamwork, and leadership skills. Invest in training and development
opportunities for managers to equip them with the necessary skills to work closely with their
department heads and achieve a common goal.

Training for the staff

We have been through different pieces of training needed by each member of the top
management, but we should not avoid the most important part of the organization: the
employees. The top team should not be the only ones allowed to improve themselves.
Moreover, it was demonstrated above that due to the current context, the staff may be
reluctant to change. SEAL should facilitate a smooth transition for all the changes. For that,
staff needs to be trained to welcome new tools/techniques/devices/software smoothly, without
having the feeling of being overtaken by all the changes. We do think that if employees are
getting skilled and trained, they will be more likely to go through all changes successfully.
We suggest that SEAL offers the opportunity to employees to get trained on the topics
of their choice. SEAl should propose a large choice of training, covering different skills:
technical skills, soft skills. The training won’t be mandatory. Each employee is free to register
for one or several training sessions. As it’s non-mandatory, we should promote the training
and encourage staff to participate actively. For example, SEALs should dedicate special time
so that employees can be trained without being overcharged by their current workload. We
can also think about implementing a reward system for those who attend at least 2 training
sessions per semester.

Additional Support

As a part of the organization chart restructuring plan, we are planning to do multiple

hiring in senior management roles. While there is a capable hiring team within SEAL, the
hiring team inside SEAL may not have the bandwidth with them for upcoming hiring given
the layoffs and restructuring, we suggest the team use external hiring companies and

23
headhunters. Especially for the roles of IT Director and Operations co-director, it is tricky to
find candidates with the right experience. The market currently is very competitive, the
companies are retaining their best talents and we need to find better candidates and offer
better compensation and benefits. The internal team might not have the expertise required to
do this. The following is the list of talent acquisition companies and headhunting companies
that are very popular in the market for finding the perfect fit. We have also included their
fees. Our consultancy has already negotiated the best service fees from the companies on the
list.

Name of the Company Service Fees

1. Korn Ferry 25% of the selected candidate’s first-year

salary

2. Spencer Stuart 30% of the selected candidate’s first-year

salary

3. Heidrick & Struggles 30% of the selected candidate’s first-year

salary

4. Egon Zehnder 35% of the selected candidate’s first-year

salary

5. Russell Reynolds Associates 20% of the selected candidate’s first-year

salary

As a part of the training and development plans, we have laid out plans to train senior
executives in different aspects. We do have courses available on Coursera, LinkedIn, and
masterclass and we would encourage the team to take those training but it is very common in
the market to send senior executives of the companies on training facilitated by well-known
companies. They understand the training needs of the individuals and curate training
programs to fit their needs. This has been very fruitful in many companies as they get trained
about conflict management and organization behaviors as well. Below is the list of companies
we have already worked with to train senior executives of the companies we were previously
consulting and we have received amazing feedback. We have also received special pricing

24
from the companies which we would like to extend to SEAL. The pricing depends upon the
nature of the training which is why we are not able to put that information on the list for now

Name of the Company

1. Korn Ferry Leadership and Talent Consulting

2. Vantage Leadership

3. Potential Project

4. VitalSmarts

5. Talent Plus

One of the suggestions we are making is to improve their technology. We have also
suggested hiring an IT director who will concentrate on using AI, ML, and Big Data in their
industry. AI, ML, and Big Data can play a major role in transforming the operations and
customer experience of SEAL. The specific application of these technologies will depend on
the specific needs of an airline company, but overall, the implementation of AI, ML, and Big
Data can lead to increased efficiency and improved customer satisfaction in the industry.
The company currently does not have a good IT infrastructure to make all of that
possible. We might need to bring external consultants for the digital transformation. We have
worked with multiple AI and ML consultants that have helped companies grow with digital
transformation and helped build the infrastructure for it. We have a list of companies below.
Their service fees and pricing will depend on the level of groundwork they need to do. We
have a special contract with them that allows us to extend special discounts.

Names of the companies

1. Quantum Black

2. Boston Consulting Group

3. Infosys

4. Deeper Insight

5. Cambridge Consultants

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