This case examines two organisations that have many similarities as well as a number of significant differences. The essential technology and systems behind each organisation may be very similar, but the nature and style of management and its consequent impact on the way people working in these organisations think, feel and behave has created very different organisational cultures. So what are the similarities, and what are the differences?

The most obvious similarity is that both Virgin Atlantic and Ryanair operate in the UK passenger air transport industry. Both are relatively recent creations and might be seen as new entrants to the sector; Virgin’s air transport business was founded by Richard Branson in 1984 and Michael O’Leary took over in 1994 as Chief Executive at Ryanair, a small Irish airline which had originally been founded as Guinness Peat Aviation in 1985. Both started life in competition with major national flag-carrier airlines (British Airways and Aer Lingus respectively) and grew to be major challengers to these established companies. As they grew, their scale of operations brought them into competition with a much larger number and range of airlines operating from the UK; Branson’s Virgin Atlantic competes with some major American and other intercontinental companies such as American Airlines and United Airlines; O’Leary competes with the likes of Flybe and easyJet in the short-haul market. Both Branson, who was born in 1950, and O’Leary, who is ten years younger, are individuals with strong and distinctive personalities, who have a relentless appetite for media presence and who make extensive use of themselves in their frequent marketing communications. They are ready to engage in advertising stunts, they readily appear on the news media in relation to stories about the industry, and their faces and personalities are readily associated with their companies.

Your tasks

1. Using Morgan’s organisational metaphors, identify two which you think might be applied appropriately to Virgin Atlantic, and two to Ryanair. How would you justify your choices?

2. Critically evaluate both organisations in terms of one or more of the descriptions of the psychological contract given in the chapter.

3. Identify the different demands which might be made of managers to achieve organisational effectiveness in each business (you could use Figure 1.4 as a framework). What are the implications for the role and development of managers in each case?

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Figure 1.4 Interrelated influences on behaviour in work organisations Management as the cornerstone of organisational effectiveness THE INDIVIDUAL For example: Personality Skills and attributes Values and attributes Needs and expectations THE GROUP For example: Structure and functions Informal organisation Role relationships Group influences and pressure THE For example: ORGANISATION Objectives and policy Technology and methods of work Formal structure Styles of leadership THE ENVIRONMENT For example: Technical and scientific Economic Social and cultural Government The role of management as an integrating activity Organisational processes and the execution of work Coherent pattern of activities within the total work organisation Improving the people- organisation relationship Co-ordinating efforts of members of the organisation Systems of motivation, job satisfaction and rewards Satisfying the needs of people at work Creating an organisational climate in which people work willingly and effectively Achieving the goals of the organisation Improved organisational performance and effectiveness