Project Assignment
Company: United Airlines
• Define the focal problem, event, or the practice you have chosen. Describe why the subject that you have chosen is important.
o The issue is important because airlines rely heavily on public image and relations to maintain a successful business. When a company such as United Airlines repeatedly ends up in the news for mistreatment of customers, death of animals, etc. It can have a very negative effect on how people view the company. In order for an airline to be successful, people need to be able to trust them. This trust can easily be affected by many negative headlines regarding United Airlines in the last few years. If the company realizes this and changes their policies regarding customers, rewards good behavior and starts to focus heavily on their public image, then they will be able to turn things around and boost their public image and become known as the airline that is the easiest and most comforting to work with.
• Discuss how the concepts from class apply to your topic/ situation.
o Motivated Blindness: Seems as though United overlooked that all of these examples have a deeper meaning, they simply acted on the first idea and did not think of consequences for themselves, they believed that it would end in their benefit. A large portion of the animal deaths on United Airlines flights are those of brachycephalic, or "short-nosed" dog breeds. United is one of the few major air carriers that allows the transport of these breeds in an effort to corner this sector of the market, even while knowing of the increased health risks associated with these animals.
• Describe what you recommend, and how those recommendations will address the results/ findings from your analysis.
o Motivated Blindness: United Airlines should decide that brachycephalic pets are too high-risk to transport in aircraft cargo holds and that the financial opportunity of cornering the market on transporting America's population of pugs and bulldogs may not worth the legal liability. Even if only a small portion of animals transported by United Airlines are injured or killed in flight, the financial opportunity does not outweigh the negative publicity and financial impact of a family's dead pet. Until changes can be made to accommodate the specific health requirements of brachycephalic breeds within cargo holds, the airline should temporarily suspend transportation of such breeds.
Guidelines
The purpose of this group paper is to take a course concept (concept related to human behavior in organizations) and apply it to an organization in the real world. The organization can be one where the group can get access to information directly, or it can be an organization that iscovered in the (legitimate) business press.
Select a topic/ concept covered in this class, and develop an analysis relating the concept(s)to a real world organizational event/ practice.This project will require you to apply and integrate concepts that you are learning.
In order to confirm that your group is on track, the team willwrite a short outline (1 page or less) for this project, and submit it for review (by March 27). This project will teach you both about the course concept you chose, as well as about working in a group.
The final paper should be roughly 3-4 pages (approximately 1000-1400words, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1" margins), not including exhibits or other data presented in an appendix.
Write your paper with the following components:
1) Define the focal problem, event, or the practice you have chosen. How do concepts of the class apply to the problem/ practice?
2) Describe why the subject that you have chosen is important.
3) Discuss how the concepts from class apply to your topic/ situation.
4) Describe what you recommend, and how those recommendations will address the results/ findings from your analysis.
Format your assignment according to the following formatting requirements:
1. The answer should be typed, double spaced, using Times New Roman font (size 12), with one-inch margins on all sides.
2. The response also includes a cover page containing the title of the assignment, the student's name, the course title, and the date. The cover page is not included in the required page length.
3. Also include a reference page. The Citations and references should follow APA format. The reference page is not included in the required page length.