Matt Dumont, Jake Sargent, Joey Wright, Dana Edwards and Julianna Brissette

Fortune 500 Company Paper

12/4/17
United Airlines
Dana's Writing
Chapter 1: The World of Innovative Management and Chapter 2: The evolution of
Management Thinking
Defined as the attainment of organizational goals in an effective and efficient manner

through planning, organizing, leading, and controlling organizational resources, management is

one of the world's leading most competitive fields. In today's world there are so many things that

influence us during our everyday lives between work, social media, current events, and the

expectations of society. In management all is taken into account and managers perform an array

of tasks, while on the job they must communicate with all employees to maximize efficiency,

arrange meetings to explain the specifics of the goals and obstacles to overcome, as well as

creating by weekly schedules for employee's. There are four main basic functions of

management: planning, organizing, leading, and evaluating. Planning is the most fundamental

function of the four basic functions and is what defines where the organization will go in the

future, it is the developing stage. According to Maslow's Ladder of planning, from bottom to top

there are physiological needs; food, water, warmth, rest. Then next comes the safety needs;

security and safety. Next up the ladder are esteem needs; feeling of accomplishment/ prestige.

And finally, a top the ladder is self- actualization, which is achieving one's full potential,

including creative activities. Good managers understand that plans will grow and change but

great managers are constantly preparing as best they can for a shift in plans. Although natural

disasters cannot be prevented or even accurately predicted, good planning can mitigate the

effects of the catastrophes. While organizing consists of assigning tasks, grouping tasks into
departments, delegating authority, and allocating resources. Then of course the leaders lead to

influence to motivate employees to get the job done, ultimately working with others to

communicate organizational goals. Furthermore, evaluating is the monitoring part of the process,

as once said in the US Army "Your troops will do what you check." As a company United

Airlines does an outstanding job with the first basic function of management, planning. This is

proven through the thoroughness of their travel plans, with 4,500 fights flying out daily there is

much to account for: fuel calculation, weather, other flights, air traffic compliance, as well as

departure/ arrival times. Thankfully for the improvements made in technology aircrafts are much

eco-friendlier today than before. With new developments in the engine, winglets, and lighter

seats, United Airlines has increased fuel efficiency by 34% since 1994. All of these things

accomplished by United Airlines perfectly exemplify both effectiveness and efficiency.

Effectiveness is defined as the degree to which an organization achieves a stated goal. While

efficiency is defined as the amount of resources and raw materials used to achieve a goal.

In the world of innovative management there are three skills: conceptual, human, and

technical. Conceptual managers often have the ability to see the bigger picture, always thinking

critically. Humanistic skills would include to motivate, facilitate, coordinate, lead, resolve

conflicts, communicate, and validate workers. And technical skills are mastering methods, these

skills are typically well developed by those in the fields of engineering, finance, and

manufacturing. Good managers work to remove obstacles, maximize the work environment, find

a common ground, as well as to validate their employees. While all managers constantly must

work to develop and motivate their teams, set objectives, organize, as well as working to find

efficiency and effectiveness in every communication with employees. With that being said and

210 destinations stateside and 120 destinations internationally, United Airlines must always work
hard with others to maximize effective communication, as well as to work cohesively to stay on

schedule. There are so many people to keep in mind when considering the United Airlines crew,

there are many people that go beyond pilots that help to finally get the plane in the air and in

route. There are many benefits to working for United Airlines, a specific benefit is that

employees and their families have access to discounted rates on airline tickets and unlimited

standby travel to anywhere United flies. Another benefit that largely benefits you down the road

in life is that United employees can enroll in the 401k plan, which includes a company match, to

provide future financial security. While offering a variety of medical plans which include vision,

dental, long-term disability, and life-insurance. Also, United offers a wellness program which

consists of lifestyle coaching, condition management services and a personal health record to

help lead employees to more fulfilling lives. At United employees are a crucial part to the

business' success' so they are valued for all that they do. This is why employees are rewarded

financially through profit sharing, customer satisfaction bonuses, and on-time arrival bonuses

when the airline preforms well. With employees always hard at work that are constantly being

pressed to meet standards of preforming with fluidly and executing tasks, they are rewarded with

paid vacation as well as granted sick time as needed. Yet of course as all business are, United is

growing larger and expanding every day. At United cultural diversity of the workforce is valued

and invite employees to participate in groups focused on multicultural backgrounds, veterans,

working women, and the LGBTA community, as a way to celebrate diversity as well as to

promote inclusion.

According to Frederick Taylor who founded Taylorism, as a manager you should study

the motions of the workers, and then work selectively to train, and develop the employees. Never

allow the employees to just figure it out as they go along for this could cause for error or
mistakes to occur. Doing this creates a manager to employee connection between management

and field workers, as well as helps employees better understand specifically what is expected of

them and how they can properly execute tasks. Taylorism is defined as one best way to

accomplish a task but I believe to look at it in a much simpler way this truly is the scientific way

to look at management. This philosophy is engineered to create a work environment that

maximizes efficiency as well as quality within the work. And at the end of the day of course

rewards are in place to motivate workers to perform the job in the "best way" to their ability.

Henri Fayol, a French mining engineer, majorly contributed to the founding of the five functions

of management which are; planning, organizing, commanding, coordinating, and controlling.

Eventually management was broken into and looked at in two different stages. The first stage

being scientific management and the second being human relations movement. Mary Parker

Follett is behind the human relations movement which is a movement that consists of the belief

that workers are a constant complex mixture of attitudes, beliefs, and needs and that for

maximum efficiency you have to motivate the workers and develop partnerships and

cooperation. From this belief that Follett shared, McGregor devised two theories', theory x and

theory y. The belief behind these theories is that from worker participation and considerate

leadership to managing work performance and combining motivation with a job design. The

differences between the two theories are very obvious, a theory x worker questions waking up

and going to work in the morning, "what's the point of it all" they may find themselves asking.

Yet a theory y worker enjoys waking up, grabbing a cup of coffee and heading to work to tackle

the day. All of these ideas of management were thought of early on, some as early to date back to

1940s.
 At United Airlines customer satisfaction is priority. By constantly changing polices,

conducting bag checks, and cancelations made easier, customers of United should find

themselves boarding their flights with ease, enjoying their ride to their destination with comfort,

and of course arriving on time. Although having run into a few minor hiccups, United Airlines

must promote with caution after Thursday 27th of April 2017 when Dr. David Dao was

physically removed from his seat when he refused to give it up. He was on the flight in route for

business, his destination wasn't a place but merely to help his patients who need him. This flight

was one that had been overbooked, when flight attendants asked Dr. Dao for his seat he refused,

this is when officials physically removed him. Through the removing of Dr. Dao from the flight

he suffered multiple injuries which consisted of the loss of his front teeth, a broken nose, and a

severe concussion. After this happened United Airlines was torn apart in the media for a long

duration of time after the incident had occurred. Due to this there was a decline in business,

however time has elapsed, the Airline has compensated Dr. Dao eight hundred dollars, and

people have moved on. Now today United Airlines is ranked eighty third on the fortunes five

hundred list and small improvements are made daily that will eventually allow for the company

to continue to climb to the top of the list.

Works Cited

• https://www.united.com/web/en-US/content/company/career/benefits.aspx

• https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/27/united-doctor-dragged-flight-settlement-

david-dao

Julianna's Writing
Chapter 4: Managing in a Global Environment
 When it comes to the business world, one of the most important ways for a company to

strive is to globalize. Organizations and managers are not isolated from international forces:

trade barriers have fallen, communication is faster, cheaper, and consumer tastes converge.

Organizations address the needs and desires that transcend national boundaries in order to obtain

a larger customer base worldwide. In order to manage in a global environment, managers need

to adjust in order to get the best outcomes. Managers have to gain the ability to appreciate and

influence individuals, groups, organizations, and systems that represent those of different social,

cultural, political, institutional, intellectual, and psychological characteristics. By doing this,

companies and managers develop as a brand by engaging with people from different cultures.

Globalization is a huge factor in making businesses as successful as they can be. So, this being

said, United Airlines has had to globalize in order to become number 83 on the fortune 500 list.

United Airlines has its headquarters in Chicago, Illinois making them a United States

based company. However, they are one of the few airlines that truly reaches a global market.

United has about 4,500 flights daily that are states bound and international “United Airlines flies

to 78 domestic destinations and 108 international destinations in 73 countries including US

across Asia, Americas, Europe, and Oceania” (United Airlines Destinations). United has 210

destinations stateside and 120 destinations internationally. People from all over the world get the

chance to travel near and far due to the opportunities that United Airlines gives to customers over

the competition: Delta, American Airlines, Southwest, and JetBlue. Among the competition the

best of the lot when it comes to globalization is American Airlines due to it having 96 domestic

destinations and 95 international destinations in 55 countries, next would be JetBlue due to it

having hundreds of international destinations, followed by Delta since it has only three

international hubs, and lastly among the competition would be Southwest has just begun flying
internationally. United does a fantastic job of beating the competition when it comes to flying

internationally just because of its greater selection when it comes to its customers. Those that

want to travel internationally still have a cheaper alternative compared to the higher-class airlines

that are more commonly used when flying internationally.

According to United Airlines,

“As the world's leading airline, United is committed to being a responsible global

citizen. In towns and cities across the U.S. and around the world, United connects

families and friends, colleagues and companies. We strive to meet our

responsibilities by taking an active role in our global citizenship by implementing

programs and services that help protect our environment, show pride in our

communities, celebrate our diversity, protect our human rights and lead our

industry in providing a clean, safe and reliable product” (Global Citizenship).

They show initiative to customers that they want to give them the best experience that they can,

that they appreciate all customers no matter their background and that they want to see as much

diversity when flying because it shows them that they are reaching a large audience and

customer base. In order to be a great company nowadays, companies need to adapt to the

changing world around them and United Airlines does a fantastic job of managing in a global

environment.

Chapter 5: Managing Ethics and Social Responsibility

Being a trustworthy company is one of the most crucial things that a brand can do. In

order to gain this trust from their customers a brand must be ethical and responsible. Ethics are a

code of moral principles and values that govern the behaviors of right or wrong. However, it is
much harder to be ethical in today’s society because so many people have different views on

what is right and wrong. Ethical issues can be very complex and hard to come to a conclusion on

whether or not something should be done or not. For the most part, corporations and people

have become associated with greed, deceit, irresponsibility, and lack of moral conscience so in

order to remain a good company that is thought to be morally and ethically clean, companies

need to be run by ethical people. This starts at the top and trickles down, managers carry a big

responsibility for setting an ethical climate that is positive for everyone around the world.

Ethical managers should display honesty and integrity, show kindness, compassion, and concern

for needs and feelings of others, is fair in decisions and distribution of rewards, behave

communicates and enforces ethical standards. Many companies have a hard time of being

ethical all the time so in many cases companies have some kind of history where they are not

100% ethical. United airlines are no different in this case they have had their fair share of

positives and negatives.

One of the most recent ethical issues that surrounded United Airlines was the controversy

with a passenger being dragged off of a flight due to “overbooking.” However, the company did

not treat this case as well as they have others in the past.

“United’s apology, though, casts doubt on whether United learned its lesson. The

CEO blamed “[o]ur corporate policies [being] placed ahead of our shared values.

Our procedures got in the way of our employees doing what they know is right.

”Don’t buy this. United’s employees misread their own rules. United may deny a

passenger boarding if a plane is oversold. But the passenger who got roughed up

had already boarded! He shouldn’t have been bumped involuntarily. United’s

CEO bungled by initially blaming the passenger. The problem was not in the
 rules, but in United’s culture. Employees thought they could treat a boarded

passenger as they pleased. Then the CEO rushed to judgment. In order words, the

procedures were fine; it was the employees who didn’t know what was right. The

CEO’s job is to drive the culture. United’s CEO has driven it into a ditch. Add to

that his public relations blunder. United’s board should think hard about firing

him. United will now pay more for voluntary bumping and give staff greater

leeway to appease passengers. But what United really needs is to value passengers

as human beings rather than just butts in seats.

As you can see, the CEO, Oscar Munoz, did a very poor job of trying to make the best out of the

situation. However, they have had much better ethical decisions in the past but the recent poor

ethical decisions have left a tarnish on the United Airlines name.

As a large corporation, United Airlines has a social responsibility. In order to be socially

responsible corporations must distinguish right from wrong in order to do the right thing, be a

good corporate citizen, and make good choices that contribute to society and stakeholders.

Companies should follow a code of ethics, ethical structures, and whistle-blowing. Code of

ethics are a formal statement of the company’s values regarding ethics and social issues. Ethical

structures are systems, positions, and programs like ethics training. Lastly, whistle-blowing is

employee disclosure of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices. United has been known to do

this but they are not always the most ethical company out there. According to United,

“At United, we are committed to building a sustainable future. This report

highlights our involvement in the communities we serve, our commitment

to the environment and the investments we’re making in our fleet,

technology, facilities and co-workers. We believe these actions play an

 important role in ensuring that we operate an environmentally and socially

responsible business” (Corporate Responsibility Report).

United is involved in many charitable events in order to better their community which also helps

to increase the amount of social responsibility that they provide as a company. “

At United, we believe in connecting people and engaging local

communities to make a difference. United employees provide thousands of

hours of volunteer service each year through community outreach projects

in the cities where our customers and co-workers live and work. We

partner with organizations such as the American Red Cross, Boys & Girls

Clubs and Make-A-Wish. Our programs include Adventure Bear delivery,

Fantasy Flights and Volunteer Impact Grants, which recognize our

employees’ passion for service by providing grants to the organizations

where they volunteer” (United in the Community).

As well as what has been said above, “United Airlines is committed to connecting people

around the world. With a focus on our U.S. and international hub cities, United provides support

in a variety of ways, including in-kind contributions of travel and employee volunteer service.

We're dedicated to organizations supporting global disaster relief, veterans and military families,

and programs that inspire the next generation of leaders. We also support landmark arts and

cultural institutions” (Charitable Partnerships). United Airlines works with companies nationally

and also based in a variety of cities. The partners that are worked with nationally include the

American Red Cross, Make-A-Wish America, and Fisher House Foundation. They work with

charitable organizations in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San

Francisco, and Washington D.C. Through their work with these charities United has some hope
of having people remember them for the good things over the bad. Overall, United Airlines is an

average company that has had its fair share of fantastic moments and disasters. But that is just

how the world of business works. When a company is as highly thought of as United Airlines is

it is hard for them to come back from disasters but they are working on trying to build their

reputation back up. Ethics and social responsibility are crucial for a corporation to last in this

day and age. United Airlines is an ethical and socially responsible company that has had their

fair share of shame but have always come back.

Works Cited

“Charitable Partnerships.” National & Local Community Partnerships | United Airlines,

www.united.com/web/en-
US/content/company/globalcitizenship/sponsorships/default.aspx.
“Corporate Responsibility Report.” Corporate Responsibility Report Download | United
Airlines, www.united.com/web/en-
US/content/company/globalcitizenship/sustainabilty.aspx.
“Global Citizenship.” Commitment to Global Citizenship | United Airlines,
www.united.com/web/en-US/content/company/globalcitizenship/default.aspx.
“United Airlines Destinations.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Nov. 2017,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines_destinations.
“United in the Community.” United in the Community | United Airlines,
www.united.com/web/en-US/content/company/globalcitizenship/community.aspx.
Zafft, Robert. “Ethics Talk: Did United Airlines Do the Right Thing?” Bizjournals.com, 17 May
2017, www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/how-to/growth-strategies/2017/05/ethics-talk-

did-united-airlines-do-the-right-thing.html.

Joey's Writing
Chapter 7: Planning & Goal Setting, Chapter 9: Decision Making
 Planning and goal setting is a big part of any company, especially a company who is

listed on the fortune 500 list for 23 straight years, so it is no surprise that planning and goal

setting is a big part of United Airlines success over the years. In chapter 7 we learned about

planning and goal setting in the management and business world and different ways that

companies achieve the plans and goals they set forth. Being and airline company United has to

do a lot of planning, for example they have over 4,500 daily global flights they must plan for and

make sure every plane gets to where it has to be and as on time as possible. While planning all

these flights they have a lot of different variables to consider such as fuel calculations, weather,

other flights of theirs and from other airlines, air traffic compliances, and several other things.

There is a reason that planning is the first of the four basic functions of management.

Another way a company such as United might plan things and set out the goals they

would like to reach could be by following the levels of the goals and plans pyramid, and the top

level is Mission Statement. This is the most important level because it is what over sees the rest

of the pyramid and trickles down to affect the levels below it. The difference between a good

mission statement and a great one is what can easily separate a good company from a great one

and what can get a company onto a list such as the Fortune 500. The mission statement for

United Airlines is “We are committed to providing a level of service to our customers that makes

us a leader in the airline industry. We understand that to do this we need to have a product we

are proud of and employees who like coming to work every day. Our goal is to make every flight

a positive experience for our customers. Our United Customer Commitment explains our specific

service commitments so that we can continue a high level of performance and improve wherever

possible. The commitment explains our policies in a clear, consistent and understandable
fashion. We have detailed training programs and system enhancements to support our employees

in meeting these commitments, and we measure how well we meet them.”

In my opinion this is a very good mission statement and really reflects on the type of

company United Airlines is and how they are able to stay atop the airlines industry year in and

year out. Within the first sentence they touch on how they are “committed to providing a level of

service to our customers that makes us a leader in the airline industry.” I feel it is great that they

talk about how they are committed to their customers and that is the top thing on their mission

statement and on their mind at all times. This then will trickle down the pyramid of planning and

goal setting and set in with the other levels such as senior management, middle management and

lower management and they will make sure their employees will put their customers first and

make sure they achieve the best experience possible.

They then talk about how in order to achieve this goal they must have a product they are

proud of and employees who enjoy coming to work every day. This is a must for any company

who plans to be successful. If you do not have a product you are proud of then you are not going

to want to be a part of that company and product they are putting out which will then make you

not enjoy coming to work every day. So, both of these goals go hand in hand. Also, if you have

employees who do not enjoy coming to work every day then you are most likely not going to be

represented well by those employees since they will be miserable and they most likely will not

put out the product you have promised your customers. Especially in a business such as an

airline company you want all your employees to be enjoying what they are doing and to be

happy because sometimes things do not always go as planned at airports and customers can get

aggravated and upset and you want to have a good employee there to help them with their

problems and make sure they get the best experience possible.
 The next part of the mission statement touches on how their main goal is to make every

flight a positive experience for their customers and doing whatever it takes to make that happen.

This might seem obvious but it’s good to have it written out so all their employees and customers

know this. It then states “Our United Customer Commitment explains our specific service

commitments so that we can continue a high level of performance and improve wherever

possible. The commitment explains our policies in a clear, consistent and understandable

fashion.” This United Customer Commitment list is made up of 11 commitments that United

Airlines vows to make to their customers to make sure they get the most enjoyable service

possible. The 11 commitments are:

1. Advise About the Lowest Available Rates

2. Notify Customers of Known Delays and Cancelations

3. Deliver Baggage on Time

4. Allow Purchases to be Cancelled for a Certain Period After Purchase

5. Provide Prompt Ticket Refunds

6. Properly Accommodate Passengers with Disabilities and Other Special Needs

7. Meet Customers Essential Needs During a Lengthy Tarmac Delay

8. Treat Passengers Fairly and Consistently in the Case of Oversales

9. Disclose travel itinerary, cancellation policies, frequent flyer rules and aircraft

configuration

10. Notify customers about travel itinerary changes in a timely manner

11. Ensure responsiveness to customer complaints

These commitments are available on United Airlines website and can be accessed by

anybody. This makes it an easier experience for customers since they can go here and plan out
their trip and know exactly what to expect from United. It also makes it easier on United’s

employees because it tells them exactly what customers expect from them and what

commitments they have to adhere to.

The final part of United Airlines mission statement is “We have detailed training

programs and system enhancements to support our employees in meeting these commitments,

and we measure how well we meet them.” This just lets anybody who reads United’s mission

statement know that they have training programs for their employees to make sure they follow

through with everything listed above and they will do whatever it takes in order to make sure

their employees reach these commitments. Overall I feel this is a very good mission statement

from United and helps show how they have performed at such a high level for such a long time

and directly states their plans and goals.

In chapter 9 we learned about decision making among mangers and businesses and how

every company is responsible for making tough and sometimes controversial decisions, and

United Airlines is no exception. In spring of 2017 a United flight was faced with a problem with

one of its flights departing from Chicago being overbooked. The employees working at that

airport and on that flight had to make a decision on how to resolve this problem, they came to the

decision to offer up to an $800 voucher and get them on the next fastest flight to their

destination. When nobody took this offer then they randomly chose a handful of customers who

had to take this offer and wait for the next flight. One of those customers was Dr. David Dao

who was traveling with his wife and had to take this fight home in order to make it to work on

time. Another thing about Dr. Dao is that he is an immigrant to the United States and does not

speak English that well, so he did not fully understand why he was being asked to get off the

plane and being separated by his wife. When he refused to listen to employees and get off the
plane they then made the decision to call in security and forcefully drag Dr. Dao off the flight.

They struggled to get him to cooperate and in the struggle Dr. Dao lost two teeth, got a broke,

nose, and a significant concussion. This incident was also filmed on dozens of other customer’s

smart phones and posted all over social media for the world to see, this made a huge PR problem

for United and they had to make more decisions after that tp try and make things right.

After this incident caught the world’s attention United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz

decided to come out with a statement that basically justified the removal of David Dao and said

the United employees followed protocol and did a good job “re-accommodating the customers”.

This decision by Oscar Munoz to come out with a statement like this was widely criticized and

so two days later he came to the decision to issue a statement and said nobody should ever be

treated the way Mr. Dao was. Mr. Munoz was then denied his promotion to chairman after the

horrible decision making he did during this entire incident.

Works Cited:

• “Our United Customer Commitment.” Our United Customer Commitment | United

Airlines, www.united.com/web/en-US/content/customerfirst.aspx.

• Dao's lawyers announced the deal Thursday. “United Airlines Reaches Settlement with

Passenger Who Was Dragged off Plane.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, 27 Apr.

2017, money.cnn.com/2017/04/27/news/companies/united-airlines-dao-

settlement/index.html.

Matt's Writing
Ch 10. Designing Organization Structure
 The organization of a company can affect how successful a company can be. If you have

the right people in the right spot can increase the likelihood that your company is going to be

successful. The are multiple different structures that you can set for your company with each

having their own benefits and holdbacks. The chain of command can greatly affect the company

as a whole. You want to make sure that the right people are being reported to and that no one is

being left out of decision or jumped over when it come to receiving incoming information about

the industry. New positions are being created yearly to adapt to the changing times and new

fields that affect how the business is run, so it is important for them to fit into the company in a

way that is beneficial.

United has a very sound organizational structure. They are composed of 6 different

committees which are audit, executive, finance, compensation, governance, and public

responsibility. The step above the committees is the board of directors. The board consists of 15

of the company higher up people. The heads of the company have a number of different job title

and corporate responsibilities. The CEO is Oscar Munoz. He was named CEO on September 8,

2015 after being on United’s board of directors since 2010. Before he was with United he was

with Continental since 2004 and when the 2 companies merged in 2010 that is when he joined

United’s board. Scott Kirby is the President of the company. He role as President is to deal with

United’s operations, sales, marketing, alliances, network planning and revenue management. It is

important for United to have a higher corporate leadership seeing how as of 2016 they have just

about 88,000 employees through-out the entire company.

The company leaders have to follow the corporate governance guidelines. The guideline

are just the basic set of rules that need to be followed. It is basically like their code of conduct. It

gives the roles for the different departments of the company. The role of the board and
management is to deal with the company’s day to day operations. The board is selected by the

stockholders to make sure that the long-term interests of the stockholders are being taken care of.

The board has no predetermined size and can be changed at any time but there needs to be at

least 5 people on the board that way there are more opinions when it comes to voting on things.

There are no term limits for the board of directors. They chose to have that because all though it

may keep new and fresh ideas out for a little bit, but it will also allow relationships and a healthy

work environment to be created for the people that work well together on the board coming up

with new ideas to help the company improve. The board selects the chair of the board and the

CEO of the company. Their decision of the person elected to the position normally depends on

the position of the company at the time. The responsibility of the chairman of the board is to

make sure that the meetings are being run and to make sure that everything on the agenda is

being discussed and taken care of. The responsibility of the directors is to exercise their business

judgement to make decisions that they believe would be beneficial to the company at the time

and in the long run. When they make their decision they should trust the sources that the

company has provided for them with the information that they are given. Due to the fact that

United is a publicly traded company the majority of their business decisions are made to produce

the most benefits to the stockholders. If the stockholders are happy more people will buy stock in

the company which will give the company more money to work with when they are making

decisions for the future. Any stockholder can contact the company if they have any questions

about the company or the decisions that are being made.

Their headquarters is located in the Willis Tower located in Chicago, Illinois. They

moved there in 2012 after the city of Chicago submitted a $35 million dollar bid for them to be

located in the city. They have approximately 2,500 employees working in the headquarters and
take up 16 floors of the building. They have training facilities for their flight crews in both

Denver and Houston along with an aircraft maintenance center in San Francisco.

United’s organizational structure has allowed them to be a successful company. Their

guidelines and job descriptions allows little leeway when it comes to the decisions that the board

of directors can make when it comes to changing the company. They have a good separation of

powers which does not allow one single part of the company to take over the rest of it. With the

world continuing to change they will need to adapt to new scenarios that may steer their

company in a new direction in the near future.

Ch 11. Managing Change and Innovation

The aerospace industry is one that is ever changing. Change can come in many different

forms. They can have a change in the leadership of the company or more commonly there is a

technology change that can make the company more successful in today’s society. Also, changes

in schedules and prices can attract many new customers to a company in a very competitive

market. The airline industry can not improve much when it comes to creating to aircrafts but it

can improve their current aircrafts that they have out at the market. They can really only get

better and become more advanced because the technology that they are using will never digress

and become worse than it currently is.

In 2010, United Airlines merged with Continental. The merger caused them to change

some of their ways of doing things. United bought out Continental for $3 Billion which created

the world’s largest airline. The boards of the two companies combined to form one larger board
for the partnership. With the merger it took away some competition for the companies which

allowed them to lower prices on airfares.

United has been working how on trying to adapt to change in the market. In 2015 Jim

Compton the Vice Chairman of United Airlines came out and said that “Airline management had

not met employees or customers’ expectations” He also said that since the merger with

Continental that they “had not done a good job of listening and getting customers’ and

employees’ input”. Ever since then the company has been working on improving. They are now

eco-friendlier as a company and have reduced carbon emissions, while improving fuel efficiency

by 33% since 1994. They created a new fuel-efficient winglet which increases fuel efficiency on

the planes by 3 to 5%. They are the first company to use Split Scimitar winglets which reduce

carbon emissions by 2%. They are looking at getting an annual 1.5% rise in fuel efficiency

through 2020, with a 50% decrease in carbon dioxide (CO 2) by 2050 compared to levels back in

2005. They are making their planes more customer friendly by adding Wi-Fi to a majority of

their aircrafts.

One of their big areas of innovation is with their fuel. They are working on creating and

using new biofuels that will aid with fuel efficiency. They are partnered with AltAir fuels which

in 2016 started delivering sustainable biojet fuel to LAX to use on the flights going in and out of

there. The new fuel has a 60% carbon emissions reduction compared to the traditional petroleum

based jet fuel. The 15 million gallons of fuel that they purchased can fuel the equivalency of

12,500 flights from Los Angeles to San Francisco. One of the quotes of United as a company is,

“We are committed to operating an environmentally sustainable and responsible airline.” The use

of AltAir fuel also created 65 jobs at the refinery so they are adding more money to the economy

as well as helping the environment.

 They are also working on becoming friendlier when it comes to their schedule for flights.

Compton said that they are trying to have more “out and back” flights which means that there

would be fewer flights delayed or cancelled due to weather conditions. In 2014 they were ranked

one of the worst airlines for on-time performance. If they want people to stay with flying United

they needed to change the number of their flights that way people would feel comfortable

enough to fly with them when they need to get somewhere by a certain time.

United’s innovation is not only good for the environment but also for their pockets. If

they are being more fuel efficient than they are not spending as much money on fuel as they were

in the past which leads to higher profits. Also if they are getting the fuel for cheaper they can

lower the prices on their flights which will lead to more people flying with them due to the price

of tickets. If more people are flying with them they will be more successful as a company.

Overall, change and innovation is extremely import for companies if they want to

continue to survive in todays constantly change market. United so far has made the right moves

in advancing their aircrafts to make sure that they are more fuel efficient and environmentally

friendly. If they keep on improving I believe that they will reach their goals that they have set

forth when it comes to producing a more eco-friendly aircraft.

Work Cited

“Corporate Fact Sheet.” United - Newsroom, newsroom.united.com/corporate-fact-sheet.

“Corporate Governance Guidelines.” – United Continental Holdings, Inc.,
ir.united.com/corporate-governance/corporate-governance-guidelines.
“United Airlines.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 11 Dec. 2017,
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Airlines#Headquarters.
“How United Intends to Win You Back.” Fortune, fortune.com/2015/10/09/united-airlines-
change/.
“Eco-Skies.” Eco-Skies Commitment to the Environment | United Airlines,
www.united.com/web/en-US/content/company/globalcitizenship/environment.aspx.
“Fuel Efficiency and Carbon Footprint Management.” Fleet Fuel Efficiency and Carbon
Footprint | United Airlines, www.united.com/web/en-
US/content/company/globalcitizenship/environment/fuel-efficiency-and-carbon-footprint.aspx.
“Alternative Fuels.” Aircraft Alternative Fuels | United Airlines, www.united.com/web/en-
US/content/company/globalcitizenship/environment/alternative-fuels.aspx.
Jad Mouawad and Michael J. de la Merced. “United and Continental Agree to $3 Billion
Merger.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 2 May 2010,
www.nytimes.com/2010/05/03/business/03merger.html.

Jake's Writing
Chapter 12: Managing Human Resource Management

One of the most important parts of running any successful business is to have the right

people working for the business. People can be the one of, if not the greatest assets to a company

if they are chosen correctly. However, finding and hiring the right people for the job can be

extremely difficult. The human resource department of United Airlines is responsible for this. It

is safe to say that United has one of the best HR departments in the world because their correctly

chosen employees have helped create a Fortune 500 company.

According to the Corporate Support Center at United Airlines, “The Human Resources

team helps attract and recruit diverse talent, and works to provide employees with competitive

benefits, leadership resources and the support to be successful at United”(Corporate Support

Center). Getting the right talent in the door is huge task for any company, let alone a Fortune 500

company. The large variety of people needed to fill thousands of jobs such as pilots, engineers,

and flight operations, adds another challenge. The hiring process is always a lengthy one and
requires many steps. For example, at United, there are numerous perquisites pilots must have

before they can even apply for a position at United. Coming up with standards and required

experiences is a task United has to complete before they can even begin the interview process.

Once applicants pass the prerequisites, United officials can then narrow down the applicants by

interviews and figure out which person(s) is best for the position. This seems like a simple

process from the outside but it can take weeks to months to hire the right person. Firing someone

is the opposite, it takes very little time. If an employee is not the right person for the job, they

need to be let go immediately. United has been able to become very efficient at this process to

make sure their employees are the best in the business.

According to Jim Collins, the biggest thing a company can do to go from good to great is

to have discipline of people, thought, and action. Discipline of people refers to the hiring process

and getting the right people on board. “Employees are the biggest opportunity of a company, not

the biggest problem” (Collins). Discipline of thought is asking questions and leading debate

rather than having all the answers as a leader. Lastly, action, is leaders who have motive and love

what they do. United Airlines has a multitude of examples of discipline within its organization.

For one, CEO Oscar Munoz, is a leader who asks questions. Rather implementing his own ideas

of how to make the company better, he frequently asks for customer and employee feedback on

new ideas. This makes for a better company for customers and workers alike.

Chapter 14: Understanding Individual Behavior

As previously mentioned in chapter 12, human capital is one of the biggest assets to

company, and to get the most out of every single employee, managers and fellow employees

need to understand individual behavior. One of the most important steps a leader can take is

knowing the value of oneself. Knowing this will give them confidence, a better attitude, and
make them become a better leader. Once they are aware of themselves and their behavior, they

can begin to dramatically increase employee’s motivation, morale, and job performance. Even

just the slightest change in this area can result in huge effects on the company’s performance and

employees. The CEO of United Airlines, Oscar Munoz, recently had an interview with Business

Insider about how he was able to save the company from turmoil when he was hired. There were

many problems with the company when he was hired but one of them was the employees. The

problem was not the employees themselves but, how they were treated in the workplace. Many

employees did not feel valued by the company and did not care much for the job. Munoz

recognized this problem right away and knew it had to be the first thing fixed because how can

the public trust the company if the employees do not trust us? In the interview Munoz stated “For

me, it's common sense to treat other people like you would like to be treated. Empathy is a broad

concept, but how do you get there? People get there differently. I get there by truly building a

little trust and connection” (Zhang). Munoz got where he is today by knowing the value of his

employees and with this he was able to change their lives. He understands that all employees are

different and by treating them like he would like to be treated, he builds relationships and his

employees can become better. Since employees are the largest asset to a company, increasing the

value of that asset will definitely help the company.

Oscar Munoz was hired on September 8, 2015 as CEO of United Airlines. However, only

after a short time at United something happened that would change his life forever. On October

15, 2015, Munoz had a heart attack and was brought to the hospital. This was just 37 days into

his new position. Munoz survived this attack and received a heart transplant in January of 2016.

He returned to work at the company shortly after that. As a vegan and active 52-year-old, there

were many questions as to why Munoz suffered a heart attack since he was a very healthy
individual. Munoz stated, “I do have a lot of advice, but with regard to what causes heart disease

and the concept of stress and workload and traveling and all those things, clearly taking care of

yourself is helpful, which I was” (Zhang). The answer to all these questions was that stress and

workload caused his heart attack. Chapter 14 talks a great deal of stress and stress management

since stress is one of the leading causes of decreased worker efficiency. The stress that hurts

workers the most is “threat stress” which burns you out and causes a multitude of problems. As

stated on page 478 of Management, Daft states, “If we put healthy, well-adjusted people in the

right foxhole with guns blaring at them, the likelihood of them experiencing depression and

anxiety is very high” (Daft). In the case of Munoz, this exactly what had happened. There were

many demands put on him right away, including the company he was just put in charge of was in

a downward spiral and there was no sight of change in the future. The stock price was down 17%

from the year before and that alone is a daunting task. In hindsight, there were many things that

Munoz could have done to prevent his heart attack. Attempting to reduce his stress by finding a

way to manage his energy could have benefitted him. When he started working there were many

problems within in the company so he was focused on fixing all of them and to no surprise he

became tired. He could have focused on one problem at a time instead all of the problems within

the company.

Chapter 15: Leadership

Effective leadership is required for any business to stay afloat and for a company to be in

the Fortune 500 and ranked at number 83 on the list, extraordinary leadership must be in place at

United Airlines. Oscar Munoz is a fantastic leader as CEO of United but there are plenty of other

leaders that make the success of the company possible. Leaders such as Scott Kirby, President,

and Kate Gebo, Vice President of Human Resources, have been instrumental in the turnaround
for United in the past years. Kirby’s role includes planning and revenue management. Since 2013

when net income for United was at $1.084 billion, Kirby and United have been able increase net

income to $4.5 billion in 2016 (United Announces Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2013 Profit).

This turnaround has so much to do with the talent working for the company and that is credited

to Kate Gebo who is VP of Human Resources.

According to Jim Collins in his book, Good to Great, there are different levels of leaders.

The levels go from 1 to 5 with one being the least special leader. The jump from a level 4 to a

level 5 leader is the where the term “good to great” occurs. Level 4 leaders are good but level 5

leaders are truly able to change the whole atmosphere of a company. Some of the ways that

Collins explains a leader can do this is through humility, willpower, and servant leadership. In

particular, servant leadership can turn around a company. Servant leadership is all about serving

customers and employees. At United Airlines servant leadership has transformed since CEO,

Oscar Munoz took over. A tradition he has instilled in his company was talking to employees on

a regular basis. “I can't tell you how many thousand of small moments that I've had with

employees in our company that have been nothing more than a one-on-one. I'll see the baggage-

services person, he or she is by himself. I'll pull them off to the side and have a 15-minute

conversation about their history, their life, that kind of thing” (Zhang). Conversations like this

with employees make them feel valued and is the start of servant leadership. Munoz is tasked

with serving his company’s needs as well as serving the employees. As mentioned earlier, a

company’s biggest asset is the employees and as a leader, serving those employees and making

their lives better will only benefit the company.

United Airlines, like almost all companies, define roles such as managers. However, even

though managers are often expected to manager a group of people, that does not mean they are
leaders. The main difference between managers and leaders is that “management promotes

stability and order within the existing organizational structure and systems” (Daft). Leadership

invites change within a company and that is what United Airlines have been advocating for in

their company. Leadership is preferred to managing when innovation and change is needed,

however leadership is not always the option, it should be a combination of the two. At United

there is the perfect balance of the two, and of course there is always room for improvement but

from where they were just a few years ago, the change is brilliant. One of the key aspects of

leading rather than managing is conversing with employees. Getting to know the employees will

create bonds of trust. Those bonds will give employees confidence to voice their opinions on

their view of the company and what can be changed for the better. At United, Munoz is known to

have conversations like these with employees. This is just one of the aspects that make him such

an influential leader.

Work Cited
Collins, Jim. Good to Great. Harper Business, 2001.
“Corporate Support Center.” Corporate Support Center | United Airlines,
www.united.com/web/en-US/content/company/career/corporate.aspx.
Daft, Richard L. Management. Cengage Learning, 2018.
“United Announces Full-Year and Fourth-Quarter 2013 Profit.” United - Newsroom,
newsroom.united.com/2014-01-23-United-Announces-Full-Year-and-Fourth-Quarter-
2013-Profit.
Zhang, Benjamin. “United Airlines CEO Explains How 'Raw and Visceral' Employee Feedback
Helped Turn His Company around - and the Case for 'Basic Economy'.” Business Insider,
Business Insider, 28 Feb. 2017, www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-ceo-oscar-
munoz-interview-2017-2.
Zhang, Benjamin. “United Airlines CEO Nearly Died a Month into the Job - Here's the One
Piece of Health Advice That Saved His Life.” Business Insider, Business Insider, 2 Mar.
2017, www.businessinsider.com/united-airlines-ceo-health-advice-saved-his-life-2017-3.