Principles of Management People Express Case Study

PRE-MID ASSIGNMENT

TOPIC: Principles of Management (People Express Case Study)

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SUBMITTED TO

Dr. Saira Farooqi

SUBMITTED BY

Bakhtawar Attique

                                                          MAJOR

                                                     Biotechnology

                                                     COURSE TITLE

Economics and business applications

SEMESTER

VIII

KINNAIRD COLLEGE FOR WOMEN, LAHORE

    DATE

        27th February, 2019

PRINCIPLES OF MANAGEMENT

People Express Case Study

Instructions: Read the case study carefully and solve it from different perspectives. Your answers should reflect your perspective.

A.        From Employees’ (Workforce) Perspective

B.        From the Employer’s (Management) Perspective

C.        From Consultant (Specialist but Neutral) Perspective.

PEOPLE EXPRESS

Donald Burr, the founder, and chairperson of People Express, has been hailed in his attempt to build a more humane organization. But his leadership style was changing as the organization grew. Managers at People Express has a distinct managerial style: hard driving, but giving employees a great deal of freedom. All employees are expected to carry out a great variety of tasks. Thus, pilots help out in handling the baggage. Even top executives rotate from job to job to learn the major aspects of the business. Full-time employees must buy stock in the company, although they receive a large discount.

After the company expanded and experienced its first losses, its emphasis on participative management changed. With the acquisition of Frontier Airlines, Inc., People Express became the fifth largest airline in the country-only 5 years after its formation in 1980. With its growth, however, the firm changed its character from a family-style organization to a more traditional one. Critics maintain that within the company it is even risky to ask an unpopular question. One of the original managing directors, Lori Dubose, who was one of the architects of lifetime employment at People Express, was unexpectedly fired. She thinks now that asking Burr challenging questions was risky and probably a mistake. Another director, Harold Parety, who did not like being told that he had to be at work from 6:00 am to 9:00 pm regardless of the workload, quit and formed his own airline (Presidential Airways, Inc.), applying many of the People Express’s managerial practices. 

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