Andrea Fults
Catherine Bollig
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Serves 160 million
customers each year
70,000 employees
16,000 flights daily
Hubs in Amsterdam,
Atlanta, Cincinnati,
Detroit, Memphis,
Minneapolis-St. Paul,
New York-JFK, ParisCharles de Gaulle, Salt
Lake City, and TokyoNarita
541 destinations in
115 countries
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Headquarters: Atlanta, GA
Frequent Flier Program:
SkyMiles (established
1981); more than 74 million
members
2008—Delta and Northwest
Airlines merge, creating an
airline with major
operations in every region
of the world
Annual Revenues
(2009):$28.1 billion
Stock Price: $13.87 (as of
04/16/10)
-52 Week High at $14.94 &
52 Week Low at $5.31
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Do to the merger changes have been made
◦ Addition of another full airline staff
◦ Operation under a single operating certificate from
Federal Aviation Administration
◦ Additional Terminals
◦ Changes in Check-in and gate locations
◦ Changes for flyers
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regarding booking
check-in etc.
Food service
World perks program integrated into SkyMiles program
The Burke-Litwin Model of Organizational Performance and Change
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Used for “OD interventions directed toward
structure, management practices, and
systems (policies and procedures) result in
first order change; interventions directed
toward mission and strategy, leadership, and
organization change” (French and Bell, 1999)
For the company to be successful, all aspects
of the model need to function appropriately
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External Environment
– Current world economy
•
Organization Culture
– Unionization Vs. Non-unionization
•
Systems
– The combining of both NW and Delta employees
•
Work Unit Climate
– Employees with a sense of non-involvement and
devalue
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Current United States Economy
◦ United States Economy suffering from biggest
recession since Great Depression
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Cost of Fuel is high
Additional operational costs are raising
Fewer people are traveling
Fewer people choosing to fly while traveling
•
Survey of Current Customers
– Determine why they choose to fly
– What keeps them flying with Delta
•
Survey of potential Customers
– Determine what customer expectations are
– Why do they choose not to fly
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Analyze data for truths
Incorporate customer recommendations
Publicize and promote new additions and
changes
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Retain Current Customers
Build a new Client base for the airline
Educate customers on what Delta has to offer
Help move the company forward
Increase profitability for the airline
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Unionization Vs. Non-unionization
-work groups' union representation, job
security, pensions and seniority at the
combined carrier in question
-NW has had flight attendants and
mechanics, as well as other airline personnel
unionized for decades, Delta has not
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Walton’s Approach to Third Party
Peacemaking is encouraged
-Confrontation: two principals must be
engaged and confront that conflict exists
(French and Bell, 1999)
-Third Party- diagnoses conflict situations
Ground Rules
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Unions and Delta want a positive result in
the situation- each has motivation to
achieve this result
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Balance of power
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Dialogue is open
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Each can understand each other
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Confrontation efforts in synch
1.
2.
3.
4.
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Diagnostic Model Based on Four Basic Elements:
Conflict issues
Precipitating Circumstances
Conflict- relevant acts of the principals
Consequences of conflict
Requires problem solving and bargaining behaviors
Each party will have different goals and different needs
Expectations can be highly influenced by differing goals
and can hinder or help the process, if aligned (Chang
and Sanders, 2009)
Cooperation, competition and independence all must be
factored in this type of intervention (Chang and
Sanders, 2009)
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Specific deadline imposed to reached a
decision on union status for each employee
group by Delta and unions
Pros and Cons of Unions, what happened in
the past for NW, how can this help in the
future for Delta?
How will this affect employees?
Bargaining for both sides
Legal involvement?
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Agreement for both sides/less conflict
Happier workforce
Representation of Union Understanding
Everyone is on the same page and informed
Seniority, job roles, pensions, etc. are no
longer a question
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Combining of NW and Delta employees
◦ Merger of two staffs brings two sets of procedures
and practices
◦ Leaves employees to question new company’s
operating practices and procedures
◦ When two different procedures/practices are
operating tension arises between employees
•
Survey both Delta and NW employees
– What is similar
– What is different
•
Review both Delta and NW practices
– Which procedures are most effective
– What procedures can be used from both airlines
– Outline a new procedure process
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Train staff
– Re-train all staff regarding new procedures
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Give both Delta and NW staff a chance to
express concerns
Allows for a feeling of appreciation and helps
create buy-in for employees
Pin points practices from both airlines that
were not successful
Through new company training:
◦ Helps to unify both employee bases
◦ New practice information is delivered properly
◦ All individuals have same practice information
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Employees feeling
devalued through noninvolvement in merger
process
Employees not always
receiving all
information
Employees not able to
give feedback on their
needs and suggestions
through transition
process
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“AI seeks, fundamentally, to build a
constructive union between a whole
people and the massive entirety of
what people talk about as past and
present capacities: achievements,
assets, unexplored potentials,
innovations, strengths, elevated
thoughts, opportunities,
benchmarks, high point moments,
lived values, traditions, strategic
competencies, stories, expressions
of wisdom, insights into the deeper
corporate spirit or soul-- and
visions of valued and possible
futures” (Cooperrider and Whitney,
2008)
Appreciative Inquiry
 Four Phases (Cooperrider)
-Discovery- strengths of organization
(small
->large groups)
-Dream- envision potential in the future10-20 years
-Design- create initiatives to bring dreams
to reality
-Destiny- drafting action plan, mission,
vision, etc.- focus on strengths of ideas
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•Provide happier, more committed and
valued employees
•Provide opportunities for employees to
voice feedback and a place to have their
ideas heard
•Gain great insight and new ideas from
people on the frontlines
Questions from the group?
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Adesola, Sola, & Baines, Tim. (2005). Developing and evaluating a methodology for business process
improvement.. Business Process Management Journal. 11(1). Retrieved from
http://ezproxy.lib.uwstout.edu:2082/Insight/ViewContentServlet?contentType=Ar
ticle&Filename=Published/EmeraldFullTextArticle/Articles/1570110103.html
Alexander, Jackie. (2002). Organizational Diagnostics: Integrating Qualitative and Quantitative
Methodology. Journal of Organizational Change Management. 15(2). 156-168.
Chang, Yang-Ming, & Sanders, Shane. (2009). Raising the cost of rebellion: the role of third party
intervention in intrastate conflict. Defense and Peace Economics. 20(3). Retrieved from
http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/section~db=all~content=a913046811~fullte
xt=713240928~dontcount=true#s913046862
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Cooperrider, D, & Whitney, D (Draft). A Positive Revolution in Change: Appreciative Inquiry. Retrieved
from http://appreciativeinquiry.case.edu/uploads/whatisai.pdf.
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Delta and Northwest Merger. (2010). Retrieved from
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Delta, northwest approve merger deal. (2008, April 14). Retrieved from
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Delta Airlines Inc. (2010, April 25). Retrieved from
http://www.delta.com/help/faqs/merger/index.jsp
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/04/14/business/main4014360.shtml
http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/news/business/companies/delta_air_lines_inc/index.html
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Foust, D. (2008). Delta-Northwest Deal Grounded. Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved from
http://www.businessweek.com/bwdaily/dnflash/content/mar2008/db20080318_527222.htm
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French, Wendell, & Bell, Jr., Cecil. (1999). Organization development. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey:
Prentice Hall.
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Http://www.delta.com/about_delta/index.jsp. (n.d.). Retrieved from www.delta.com
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Johnson, Dana. (2004). Adaptation of Organizational Change Models to the implementation of Quality
Standard Requirements. International Journal of Quality and Reliability Management. 21(2).
154-174
Martins, Nico & Coetzee, Melinde. (2009). Applying the Burke-Litwin Model as a Diagnostic Framework
For Assessing Organizational Effectiveness. South African Journal of Human Resource
Management. 7.(1). 144-156.
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Moylin, Martin. (2009, October 29). One year later, delta-nwa merger sees few kinks. Retrieved from
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2009/10/28/northwest-delta-merger
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Moylan, Martin. (2010, February 10). Delta-northwest merger nearly complete. Retrieved from
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/02/08/delta-nwa-merger-nearly-done
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Unger, C. (2010, January 6). Delta-Northwest Merger Nearing Completion. Retrieved from
http://www.smartertravel.com