Management of Information and Operations Flow Essay

Management of Information and Operations Flow - Essay Example British Airways has adopted Astute Solutions to improve its flow of operations. While Astute ensures delivery of excellent responsiveness across BA’s global area network, Lean can be used to optimize the process. The focus should be on customers’ satisfaction through high-quality service provision. Carlzon (1987, p. 59) observes that the only true assets of the airline are its customers. The airline information and process flow should be focused on the customer. A smooth flow of the process cannot be achieved without an efficient and reliable operations process. British Airways is the leading United Kingdom International scheduled airline flying over 36 million passengers in over 216 destinations annually (British Airways 2014, p. 1). BA operates a fleet of 240 aircraft (Airbus and Boeing). Effective management of information and operations flow has propelled British Airways to the status of one of the most profitable airlines in the world. At one time, British Airways was the leading airline in terms of profitability. In 1996, British Airways overtook Singapore International Airways to become the global leader in profitability. However, towards the end of the millennium BA’s profits slackened, and it recorded the worst financial results in 18 years. BA Operational Research group that is considered to be the largest private sector research group in the UK played a great role in directing a change that helped BA to rise in terms of operations and profitability. Changes in operations included operations planning and delivery, flight and services, and crew resources. During the same challenging period (2000-2003), BA adopted Lean in order to avoid being pushed out of business. However, since its implementation, a loss of focus on the model of the management has been witnessed.