Air Canada's Leadership Style Case Study

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Diagnosing the roles of the managers in the Air Canada Organization

Leadership style used by the managers of the Air Canada Company

Management theory used by the managers of the Air Canada Company

Communication skill of the Managers of the Air Canada Company

Discrepancy in the leadership style and situation prevailing in the organization

Managers role

Communication

Management or leadership style

Organizational success depends largely on the abilities of the management team and the leadership style adopted by the managers of the organization. Leadership styles such as transactional, democratic, and transformational leaderships influence the realization of the stated organizational objectives. Above all, communication skills used by the management team determines the overall realization of the stated organizational objectives; hence, its success. Therefore, the following paper analyzes different management practices of the Air Canada with more emphasis on the role of the managers, communication skills, and leadership styles they use. Introduction Air Canada is Canada's leading airline and flag carrier. The company has expanded its region of operations to 178 destinations globally since its inception in 1936. The airline provides its consumers with a variety of services including passenger and cargo carriage. The company is ranked as the seventh largest passenger carrier in the world. Montreal, Quebec, is the headquarters of the airline and has its largest hub at the Toronto Pearson International Airport in Mississauga. The excellent performance of the company is highly attributable to various factors. Among them is the organizational culture geared towards ensuring quality service provision and leadership style that ensure recognition of the contribution of each of their employees to the performance of the company. The company also faces numerous challenges, including stiff competition from other airline companies such as the Fly Emirates and the Etihad Airways alongside the frequently changing legislation affecting the airline industry and insecurity (Air Canada, 2011).

Structure of the research paper

This research paper analyzes different issues related to the management of the Air Canada Company. In specific, it discusses the roles of the managers in this organization alongside the leadership style adopted by the management team. It also analyzes the management theories that are evidently used by the managers of the airline company. In addition, the analysis discusses the communication skills of the managers alongside identifying the discrepancy in the leadership style, and the situation present in the organization. The analysis ends with the provision of recommendations that can be adopted by the managers of the Air Canada Company to ensure the effective realization of the stated strategic objectives. The analysis draws information from wide sources of research, including books, journals, and articles to illuminate the light into the topic.

Diagnosing the roles of the managers in the Air Canada Organization

The success of the Air Canada relies largely on the contribution of the managers towards the realization of the planned strategic objectives. The managers analyze the expenditures of the organization and other financial related information to come up with plans, budgets, and/or policies aimed at improving the performance of the organization. They collaborate with the other managers and the employees in formulating, implementing, and evaluating the effectiveness of the adopted strategies in improving the performance of the company. The managers also monitor the operations in the organization to ensure that the employees and the other managers comply with the stated policies, safety rules, and procedures that influence the overall organizational performance (Trompenaars & Woolliams, 2002).

Company analysis of the Air Canada shows that its managers play the key role of planning, organizing, and/or managing the activities of the subordinate staff to ensure accomplishment of the assigned tasks in ways consistent with the requirements of the organization. In addition, the managers direct investigations aiming at resolving employee, customer, and shipment complaints. The investigations aim at correcting the identified weakness in the organization and preventing future occurrences of a similar conflict. The managers of the Air Canada also direct procurement processes such as research on the equipment acquired by the organization, equipment testing, requisition approval, and vendor contracts (Wilson, 2010).

Moreover, the managers of the Air Canada organize for training opportunities to their employees to empower and equip them with the required knowledge, expertise, and skills for undertaking the assigned duties. The success of the organization also relies on the ability of the managers to conduct market research to identify the market trends in terms of prevailing opportunities, threats, and challenges that are likely to affect organizational performance. The managers also perform performance appraisal of the employees on an annual basis to make decisions related to their promotion, salary increment, and demotions.

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Other roles of the managers of the Air Canada include recruiting and selecting new employees, delegating duties to the other employees and authorizing expenditures for acquiring new equipment and property for increasing organizational efficiencies.

Leadership style used by the managers of the Air Canada Company

The excellent performance of the Air Canada highly depends on the leadership style adopted by its managers. Company analysis shows that the managers of the company uses democratic leadership style to execute their assigned duties. The use of the democratic leadership by the managers of this organization is evidenced, by the way, in which the managers encourage the employees to share ideas related to the performance of the company alongside encouraging creativity and innovativeness. The managers exercise democratic leadership by involving the employees in all the organizational departments in making decisions related to the introduction of policies aimed at improving the performance of the company. The managers also play an active role in leading the other employees by example. The managers use strategies such as group work, coaching, and mentorship to ensure the strengthening of the democratic leadership style and organizational culture.

The use of democratic leadership has allowed the organization to realize its strategic objectives in a variety of ways. For example, democratic leadership focuses on the provision of services that ensure empowerment of the employees and strengthening of the organizational culture. Employee empowerment often results in their commitment to their job and creativity that contribute to the success of the organization. Democratic leadership used in the organization contributes significantly to employee job satisfaction that fosters their sense of participation, autonomy, and control. The low rate of staff turnover in the organization attests to the employee job satisfaction due to the democratic leadership style adopted by it. The leadership style reduces the communication gap between the managers and the employees. The reduction in the communication gap results in low incidences of tension between them; hence, minimization of conflicts within the organization. Democratic leadership promotes the use of strategies such as mentorship, coaching, and delegation of duties resulting in the development of the desired organizational culture that recognizes the varied needs of the employees; thereby improved organizational performance.

Management theory used by the managers of the Air Canada Company

It is evidently clear that the managers of the company use the systems theory to ensure the realization of the desired organizational objectives. Unlike other theories such as the classical theories, the systems theory focuses on the human factors that influence the performance of the organization. Managers understand the ways in which each of the organizational systems work and affect the performance of the company. Organizational systems consist of different parts that work together to promote the realization of a common goal. The theory also allows the managers of the company to examine the patterns of events and their relationship in the workplace. In addition, systems theory used by the managers of the Air Canada Company helps them to coordinate different programs and activities to work in unison for the realization of the overall goal of the organization rather than the goals of each of the departments within the organization (Clements, 2010).

The foci of the systems theory is on employee motivation and the adoption of effective leadership styles that promote the realization of the planned organizational goals. At the epicenter of the above foci are assumptions related to the relationship between the managers and the employees within the organization. The managers appreciate the driving forces behind the behavior of their employees; thereby, the need for the adoption of the most effective strategies that promote the realization of the stated organizational objectives. As such, the process of motivating the employees as stated by the theory involves deciding between the alternatives of actions to achieve the desired goal. Combining the use of systems theory with democratic leadership style result in the provision of services, meeting the consumer and the employee needs; hence, organizational performance. As shown in the diagram below, systems theory focuses on understanding the relationship between motives, behavior, and the realization of the organizational goals.

Communication skill of the Managers of the Air Canada Company

The managers of the Air Canada practices active listening and establishment of trusting relationships between them and the employees basing on trust and respect. Active listening allows the managers of the organization to provide effective services such as counseling, training, and resolving organizational conflicts. A survey conducted….....

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