Flight Centre

In a world confronted with global security threats, lower disposable income and the continued advancement of online ticket sales, the travel industry has demonstrated few success stories of late. One business that seems to be reversing this trend is Flight Centre. This iconic international travel agency originating from Australia operates more than 1,200 retail stores and employs more than 5,000 people with locations in the United States, United Kingdom, South Africa, Canada and New Zealand. The company puts many of its achievements down to its unique but successful approach to people management where every store is a family and loyalty reigns supreme. At the core of the business philosophy is a distinctive organizational structure interlinked

The set of wings being the organisational structure which gives balance to the aeroplane as well as keeping it in the air, and the engine being the organisational culture which drives the aeroplane and gives it power. If there was no engine, the wings would be useless, and if there were no wings, so to the engine. Ultimately, without either the wings nor the engine the aeroplane would not fly. Hence, an organisation would cease to exist without its organisational structure and culture as well as the intertwinement of the two. “A strong culture that encourages the participation and involvement of an organisations members appears to be one of its most important assets” (Denison, 2003) Organisational culture is a system of values and beliefs shared by a common group of people. It develops within an organisation and guides the behaviour of its members to maintain consistent patterns of social systems. It forms integrated behavioural traits used to survive in the ever-changing environment (Denison, 1990; Schein, 1992) Organisational structure is a hierarchal arrangement of authority, it determines how the power, roles and responsibilities are controlled, assigned and coordinated, and how information within an organisation flows from one area of management to

The mission statement of the company states that their purpose is to be able to open up the world for those who want to see. Flight Centre is committed towards bringing about positive contribution towards community along with social responsibility for their people and for their customers. According to a survey conducted in 2009 the “FCL’s recruitment and selection processes were a major contributing factor in creating a workplace culture where employees were motivated to upgrade and expand their job skills” (Bond Baker, T. 2009). Flight Centre believes that each member within the company should have the opportunity to share in the success of the company and that the business leaders and business team members run the business as their own. The organisation believes that working in small groups is a dynamic and more effective way of achieving their goals (Johnson E & Blake D, 2001) Furthermore, it operates with minimal staff in the stores with no emphasis on centralised bureaucratic control or economies of scale. Flight Centre Limited has many strengths such as its empowerment of employees, competitive state, its recognition of good performance of its employees as well as their incredible teamwork. (Dunford & Palmer, 2002). Additionally, it has been proved that there is a relationship between strong