Business Management: Critical Thinking Framework

United Airlines has been one of the biggest names in the airline industry that successfully takes domestic and international flights. However, recently, it has been in hot waters due to its several bad customer services instances that have cost it a loss of billions of dollars and damage to its company value. This paper aims to effectively use the VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) framework to solve the customer service problem of United Airlines and reflect upon the critical thinking presented by the particular context.

United Airlines Customer Service Problem

There have been numerous customer service problems at United Airlines, including pet deaths and stopping the customers from boarding the planes who have particular pet breeds, breaking guitars, throwing the customers out of the plane, not responding to customer service issues on calls and Twitter, and inedible plane meals, etc. (Nomadic Matt, 2019). These reasons have forced the customer to switch to other options since an airline is all about customer service, which United Airlines has not done well.

A United Airlines flight in April 2017 that was to travel from Chicago to Louisville happened to drag and throw one of the flight customers out of the plane. United Airlines had overbooked its flight and wanted some of its customers to leave the flight, for which they offered compensation as well. When no one from the flight agreed to their terms, they randomly picked four people from their airplane record system. One of those four people refused to get off the plane, which security people dragged out of the plane (Shaun Belding, n.a.).

The company made matters worse for itself when it released a report on the internet, and many social media platforms after outrage on these platforms was almost impossible to handle. The passenger was troublesome and belligerent (Matousek, 2018). The same passenger sued the airline as he was badly hit by the armchair while dragging and severely mistreated by the security people. The airline had to settle with the passenger for the mess it had created eventually.

Thinking Critically ...

…during the recommendations application process. Uncertainty could be removed with strong communication, as suggested earlier. Constant interaction with the customers would reduce the availability of information that is the primary reason for unanticipated situations.

The C component is about complexity indicating the interconnectedness of the forces in play. Implementing the IDIC framework and avoidance of overbooking would require several steps to be applied at a time. Such interconnectivity can cause complexity, which United Airlines cannot overlook. By keeping its cultural values strong and open-minded, cross-categorization could be made convenient for achieving effective results of the recommendation.

The A component of the framework is about the lack of clarity and the interpretation of the meaning of action plan steps that could confuse. United Airlines would again have to communicate with its employees so that customers could be better served with clear goals and directions. Only then, the confusion could be eradicated for better customer service for United Airlines.

Conclusion

United Airlines problem with customer service needs to be addressed promptly so that further harm to its image is barred. Serving its customers with respect should be its primary concern so that its commitment should be aligned with its policies and procedures for success in the long run. For becoming a customer-focused airline,…