Critical Analysis of Measures Undertaken by Saudi Airlines to make its Operations Digitalized (2017)

In today’s commercial aviation industry, competition has become so stiff that those organizations that success is realized by those organizations that engineer technology-based technologies. In fact, airlines that have state-of-the-art technologies outshine their rivals. Saudi Airlines has gained a huge reputation in the Middle East and in other parts of the world as one of the leading commercial airlines in the industry today. Currently, it operates in 120 destinations in North America, Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. One of the strategic measures that this airline has taken and which is proving to be beneficial is the privatization and digitalization various services.

In terms of digitalization, this airline has engineered various digital technologies that help its employees to track the progress of their performance. This study surveyed three departments: HR department, customer care department, and sales and marketing department. In each department, there are different digital technologies such as web-based applications and forms, telemarketing software, internet enabled phones and computer network, and a host of software that help employees in not only serving their customers, but also tacking their performance.

These technologies have a 95% endorsement from the surveyed department and have contributed to a high performance rate both at the individual and departmental levels; the average performance stands is above the 80% mark. However, this study recommends that the organization re-evaluates its frequency of collecting data associated with performance appraisal so that employees do not over-concentrate on the collection of such data at the expense of service delivery. In addition, this study has found a sluggish response to the technical bugs associated with the said digital technologies something that the organization should address with speed if it seeks to sustain its reputable service delivery and performance appraisal.

This dissertation aims to provide a critical evaluation of the impact of the measures undertaken to digitalize Saudi airline operations on performance appraisal. It aims to explore the role of digitalization within the Saudi Airline industry and to investigate the strategic and tactical tools being utilized to attain the performance appraisal goals. The focus is on the operational aspects of the Saudi Airlines and identifies measures towards digitalization that affect the performance appraisal practices of the carrier. Therefore, the goal of this investigation was to analyse the following research problems:

What are the measures undertaken by Saudi Airlines to make its operations digitalized particularly on performance appraisal?
To what extend do the measures undertaken to digitize operations of Saudi Airlines affect the practice of performance appraisal?

Dissertation Objectives

• To assess extend at which Saudi Airlines has changed with respect to the digitalization process
• To analyse how the digitalization of operations has affected the practice of performance appraisal in the airline
• To assess employee and administration conversancy with respect to performance appraisal and digital practices engineered towards its realization

• 11,000 words – 40 pages in length
• Excellent use of literature
• Good analysis of subject area
• Well written throughout
• Includes questionnaire
• Ideal for marketing students

1: Introduction
Background Information
Research Aim and Objectives
The Research Problem and its Importance
Dissertation Structure

2: Literature Review
Digitalization of Airline Operations
Impact of digitalization of airline operations on performance appraisal
Gaps in Literature
Theoretical Framework

3: Methodology
Research Design and Approach
Data Collection
Questionnaire design, sampling and primary data collection
Data Analysis: Graphical representation and descriptive data approaches
Ethical Consideration
Limitations

4: Findings and Analysis
Survey Findings
Demographic Information
Strategies taken by Saudi Airlines to digitalize its Performance Appraisal
Outcomes of the digitalization strategy
Analysis

5: Conclusions and Recommendations
Conclusions
Recommendations
Saudi Airlines
Future Research

References

Appendix
Questionnaire