Trans World Airlines (TWA) Essay Example for Free

Trans World Airlines (TWA) Essay Before Trans World Airlines (TWA) had expressed its interest to acquire Ozark Airlines (Ozark), it had already established itself so it will achieve dominance once the merger took place. The company initially equipped itself with knowledge and resources that will bring them to an advantage over Ozark. TWA went through three primary agreements prior to the acquisition on which it had displayed aggressive influence on all of them. In the Wraparound Agreement, TWA pilots used threats so they can have complete participation in drafting the merger terms with Ozark. They warned that they will withdraw their membership in the Air Line Pilots Association (ALPA) if the terms will not be drafted to serve their best interest. This control over the acquisition terms was amplified when TWA pilots and ALPA made an agreement with Icahn (the biggest stockholder of TWA) that they will â€Å"extend the wage and benefit concessions† in exchange for full influential power over the details of the merger agreement (Pierce Dougherty 146). The â€Å"threat† strategy was also used to compel Ozark pilots to sign the contract under the merger agreement. An Ozark respondent described that TWA had threatened to take additional 10 airplanes on top of the 4 already acquired and to lay off more pilots if the contracts were not signed. The same strategy was also used so TWA will obtain compliance among Ozark employees. The former had instilled the concept of it being a â€Å"big airline company absorbing a small airline company.† Hence, the latter as the â€Å"small company† should submit to their authority. Another communication practice used by TWA to display its dominance is by branding the employees. Branding was defined as the manner of creating a distinction between a TWA employee and a former Ozark employee. In databases, for example, Ozark employees were reported to have an asterisk symbol or big red letters â€Å"OZARK† beside their names. It appeared that though the two airline companies had merged, an internal division was still maintained. The â€Å"branding† also implied certain restrictions for the Ozark pilots. Contractual boundaries were set. These were referred to as â€Å"fences† (Pierce Dougherty 150). A TWA pilot attested that there were existing contracts that restricted former Ozark pilots to fly some of the aircrafts until a specific seniority level on TWA standards was acquired. Training opportunities for former Ozark pilots were also very low. With these restrictions, a seniority level which means better wages, benefits, equipment assignments and cockpit positions will be difficult or will take a longer time to attain for former Ozark pilots. The division was an accepted fact for both TWA and former Ozark employees. To further demonstrate this reality, both parties still display their distinctive badges, colors or pins. Some even had symbolic tattoos on their bodies. Pierce Dougherty interpreted this as an approach by the dominated party to display resistance (152). Through their unique colors or pins, former Ozark employees reinforced their identity amidst TWA’s dominant structure. Some former Ozark pilots also exhibited their identity by not adopting TWA’s flying standards. These forms of resistance may not have altered TWA’s dominance but former Ozark employees had gained their own source of personal power by identifying themselves as â€Å"Ozarks† (Pierce Dougherty 154). Through the case study made by Pierce and Dougherty which tracked the pre-acquisition and acquisition of Ozark by TWA, it was established that power-as-domination can be created, enacted and maintained through communication processes (157). TWA’s behavior was seen to be very influential from the very start. Since they were at an advantage when it came to resources and size, they were able to threaten other organizations such as ALPA to get what they want and how things should happen. Former Ozark employees also feared these threats and had no recourse but to follow what TWA mandated to avoid losing their jobs. It is evident from the case study that TWA made no effort to erase the division that resulted from the apparent disparity with the former Ozark employees. Instead, they reinforced the situation by further defining limits hence preventing any opportunity for the former Ozark employees to step up from their places and be an equal. This, as it appeared, was a way to preserve the status quo which had TWA as the dominating company. Pierce and Dougherty, however, described this situation as very unhealthy. They said this fosters a negative environment, lower productivity and lower commitment among the employees especially toward the parent company (157). From the authors’ observations in the workplace, TWA pilots and former Ozark pilots rarely interact as one group. Conversations were usually brief and only because urgency or necessity. The lack of unity was all the more evident by the different colors, pins or badges that the employees displayed to show the airline company where they had originated. Some former Ozark pilots also refused to follow certain standards as they do not conform to what they had been doing in the past. Pierce and Dougherty recommended that managers should not tolerate such differences within the company that came from a merger. The merging of two companies should be seen as a partnership not as â€Å"one company swallowing another† (158). The merger should invest on the strengths of both companies and strive to develop a better combined company that can compete with any similar company in the world. In the process of recognizing the contribution of each individual employee, whether he/she is a TWA employee or a former Ozark employee, communication processes that exhibit power imbalances will be minimized or will even be non-existent. Threats will no longer be necessary to achieve compliance and commitment. Instead, there will only be one airline company achieving its targets from the combined powers of TWA and Ozark. Reference: Pierce, Tamyra Dougherty, Debbie S. â€Å"The Construction, Enactment and Maintenance of Power-As-Domination through an Acquisition: the Case of TWA and Ozark Airlines.† Management Communication Quarterly 16.2 (2002): 129-164.