Abstract
In the case study, The British Airways Swipe Card Debacle, British Airways (BA) introduced ‘a system for electronic clocking in that would record when they [employees] started and finished work for the day… which was a unilateral decision by BA to introduce the swipe card, and a lack of adequate consultation with affected staff” (Palmer, Dunford, Akin, 2009, pp. 239 & 240). As a result, the BA staff held a twenty-four hour wildcat strike which caused BA to cancel its services, leaving over 10,000 passengers stranded. The lack of change management is apparent and ways of avoiding a repeat of this situation are addressed.

British Airways Swipe Card Debacle Swipe cards. WOW! I wonder why when an organization introduces …show more content…

In sense making, the BA administration should have reflected on its employees. The administration did not take into consideration the concerns of the employees with regard to how they perceived the change to using swipe cards. A recommendation would be to hold meetings to address the employee’s concerns. Change management must take in all concerns in order to lead a change. Highly recommended is Ken Blanchard’s Six Stages of Concern. In Blanchard’s Concern model, all elements of concerns during change are addressed: information concerns, personal concerns, implementation concerns, impact concerns, collaboration concerns and refinement concerns. In contingency, “BA could hire permanent strikebreakers to replace striking workers. It is increasingly common for management to hire labor management consultants who specialize in mounting aggressive anti-union drives to dissuade workers from unionizing or to persuade union workers to decertify their union” (Riggs, 2008, para. 7). As a recommendation this would be a drastic resolution, however, it would prevent future strikes. In processual aspect, the BA administration could provide benefits and services which would reduce the allure of a union membership. Disputes could be settled through mediation or negotiation.
Negotiation and mediation are different in that negotiation is between two or more