Strategic Management Issue Of Regional Express Airlines

Question

Task: Prepare a report discussing about sustainability as one of the strategic management issue faced by Regional Express Airlines.

Answer

Executive Summary
The report has discussed about sustainability as one of the strategic management issue that most of the hospitality and tourism industry faces. The report has aimed to study the strategic management issue that Regional Express Airlines have faced in the recent years with poor performance and irresponsible attitudes. The company has been alleged of having defects in the manufacturing process that can costs the lives of the passengers. This has led the company face criticisms and undergoes investigations. The report has exploited the way in which the airline company was termed to be unsustainable in performance and showed the black face of poor management strategy. However, it has been recommended to the company to implement strategic quality management approaches, focus more on risk department and promote sustainable measures.

Introduction
The purpose of the report is to explore the strategic management issue that tourism and the hospitality industry has been facing. The report has chosen Regional Express Airlines as one of the case scenarios that has been struggling with sustainable operations issues. From the report, the different strategic management issue that the airline company has been struggling with will be discussed and provide recommendations. Companies can implement sustainable measures in operations with the incorporation of strategic management (Upadhayaet al.,2018). The report has focused on one strategic management issue that most of the businesses are struggling with and has created a mass impact on the customers. Through the report, the airline industry as a part of the hospitality industry does have a large scale influence in improving the reputation of the industry. Corporate Social Responsibility and sustainability are overlapping concepts which are considered as vital business concepts and essential for gaining competitive advantage. 

Findings
Sustainability includes the measures that are taken by the firms to be in line with legal, social and environmental aspects (Peeters et al., 2019). Organizations in the 21st century are driving hard to foster sustainability in business practices to gain a competitive edge and attract customers. Tourism and hospitality are largely connected with the airlines for making the traveling experience more comfortable and convenient (Lee, Kim & Ham, 2018). Sustainable development is sometimes impossible due to poor management practices, strategic management issue in the HRM policies and lack of CSR approaches. However, Regional Express Airlines have been witnesses to undergo sustainable criticisms from the end of the customers.

Companies suffering from sustainable and strategic management issue do come under the negative review of the customers and struggles hard to gain back the confidence. Recently in one of the business journals, it was reported that REX was irresponsible in its operation (McGowan, 2019). The complaint of the customer came in the Australian Transport Safety Bureau and it was stated that investigation would be carried out. Sustainable measures require the organization to perform ethical practices within the firm and be accountable for their actions. From this incident and the allegation, it was determined that Regional Express Airlines were not implementing sustainable measures in their operations (McGowan, 2019). A complaint was raised from the end of the customers that the management in their provision of services. The engine has been burning for about five minutes. This showed the irresponsible attitude of the management and has almost cost the lives of the passengers and brought the business reputation at stake (Mousavi&Bossink, 2017). The passenger was traveling from Sydney to another location and suddenly the engine burnt (McGowan, 2019). However, the airline company has claimed that there was no engine failure on that particular day. Later, it was investigated that the unsustainable REX was in its operations plane was having corrosion as exposed to the footage. This showed how. 

From the scenario, the airline industry has been too impacted with respect to the reputation and in losing the customer’s loyalty. For better travel experiences, customers look forward to having a convenient travel experience. 

In response to the criticism that was passed for REX, the company has responded that the claims were "baseless". This was due to the cowardly act of Casa that has led Rex to face so many media attacks. It was seen that the company has been used by other airlines and the fake report has been broadcasted. However, lately in March, an incident occurred where the propeller felt off and luckily no one was harmed. Yet this was another claim that was against the company that has not been reported. However, from the situation, it was evident that Rex needed to take care of the internal operations and was also irresponsible in providing better services. From the case scenarios and the facts that are being collected, Regional Express Airlines can be stated to be under suspicion though it has been claimed to be meeting all the obligations. Sustainable measures include the business to incorporate business ethics and stay transparent to the customers. In the hospitality industry, airlines are most trusted for providing better travel experience from one location to another. However, if the service is inadequate or risky then it can cost the company adversely and the industry as a whole. 

Corporate Social Responsibility is the strategic requirement of every business in the era of globalization (Tan et al., 2017). However, most organizations are now coming up with sustainable and strategic management issue that led to obstruct tourism development. Customers now have plenty of opportunities to travel any part of the world has led them to a desire for airline services that are innovative and able to meet their requirements on time. Moreover, the safety of the customers is the responsibility of the organization and maintaining it is known as the sustainable operations of the firm. However, to some extent, it is seen that REX has missed this strategic factor. 

Conclusion
From the report exploring the strategic management issue, Regional Express Airlines operating in Australia is seen to be struggling with sustainable issues. This has led the organization to undergo media allegations and investigations from the bureau department. The report has shown how the airline industry is impacted by the unsustainable measures of the company and the irresponsible attitude of the management. In an organization as concluded from the report, the management has the bulk responsibility of implementing sustainability in the firm operations. The report shows the significance of sustainability as one of the issues that can bring down the reputation of the organization and lose the customers’ loyalty. The report will also address some of the recommendations that will help Regional Express Airlines to take strategic measures for a particular strategic management issue. From the report, it can be evaluated that corporate measures to help the organizations to sustain and survive in a competitive environment.

Recommendation
From the above scenario that REX has struggled with sustainability and strategic management issue, some strategic recommendations are suggested such as the following:

• Training of the employees: The Company can implement oriented training sessions that will make them identify the needs of the customers. Moreover, provide them with a 360-degree training of the way the service is to be provided. In reference to the building of the plane, the employees are also responsible for taking care of the raw materials that are used and the procedure involved in it. Before the plane is put to action, safety tests and risks evaluation must be carried out. This will help the organization in overcoming the risks in later stages if there are any. 
• Supply chain management: The supply chain industry and the suppliers are largely to be accountable for any defects in the products of the planes (Legrand, Sloan & Chen, 2016). The suppliers need to be communicated transparently about the raw materials and the quality to be delivered. Poor raw materials if supplied by the suppliers then it can cause defects in the manufacturing process. This will ultimately lead the plane to be defective in performance and cost the lives of the passengers. Therefore transparent communication between the procurement professional and the suppliers has to be there. From the good relationship with the stakeholder, the company can have a significant performance and increase the ROI as well (Park, 2019). 
• Innovative ideas and services: For example, special teams must be appointed in the company for risk evaluation. After every process, risks evaluation and monitoring of the performance has to be done. This will lead the organization to appear sustainable and ethical in business performance. It is also noted that among the employees, zeal will take place to perform with commitment. Sometimes due to the lack of knowledge sharing scope, employees feel de-motivated and feel to be in a stagnant position. By appointing a few of the employees in a different department, the company can smoothly carry out the tasks and oversee that the profit margin is increased (Baumeister&Onkila, 2017). 
• Quality management: Quality management is one of the strategic ways of overcoming sustainable and strategic management issue. For gaining a competitive edge and acquiring the interest of the customers, quality management strategies are adopted by firms. The Lean-Agile method in the operation will reduce cost, increase efficacy, and promote environmental measures (Laszlo &Zhexembayeva, 2017). From this method, the organization can foster new policies that will maintain the Code of Conduct. This will not only lead to complying with the legal policies but also make the company stand erect with sustainable outcomes. The quality management approach will lead the firm in implementing such measures that will increase the firm performance and satisfy the customers. 

References List
Baumeister, S., &Onkila, T. (2017). An eco-label for the airline industry?. Journal of cleaner production, 142, 1368-1376.

Laszlo, C., &Zhexembayeva, N. (2017). Embedded sustainability: The next big competitive advantage. Strategic management issue Routledge.

Lee, S., Kim, B., & Ham, S. (2018). Strategic CSR for airlines: does materiality matter?. International Journal of Contemporary Hospitality Management.

Legrand, W., Sloan, P., & Chen, J. S. (2016). Sustainability in the hospitality industry: Principles of sustainable operations. Routledge.

McGowan, M. (2019). 'Ball of fire': Rex passenger contradicts airline, saying engine burned for five minutes. Retrieved 7 April 2020, from https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/sep/03/ball-of-fire-rex-passenger-contradicts-airline-saying-engine-burned-for-five-minutes

Mousavi, S., &Bossink, B. A. (2017). Firms’ capabilities for sustainable innovation: The case of biofuel for aviation. Journal of Cleaner Production, 167, 1263-1275.

Park, E. (2019). Corporate social responsibility as a determinant of corporate reputation in the airline industry. Journal of retailing and consumer services, 47, 215-221.

Peeters, P., Bouwer, J., Bongaerts, R., &Eijgelaar, E. (2019). Airlines and corporate responsibility: Issues and challenges. In Corporate Sustainability and Responsibility in Tourism (pp. 163-180). Springer, Cham.

Tan, S. H., Habibullah, M. S., Tan, S. K., &Choon, S. W. (2017).The impact of the dimensions of environmental performance on firm performance in travel and tourism industry. Journal of environmental management, 203, 603-611.

Upadhaya, B., Munir, R., Blount, Y., & Su, S. (2018). Diffusion of corporate social responsibility in the airline industry. Strategic management issue International Journal of Operations & Production Management.