New Summative Assessment Brief : CW7 Management Essentials

Assessment Brief

This module is assessed through one graded element worth 100%. You must achieve at least 50% to pass the module. For this assignment you will produce a Business Consultancy Report based on Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited (HAL) written in an academic style. 

Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited (HAL)

Company FAQs (Frequently asked questions)

Heathrow's history

Who built Heathrow?

In 1930, British aero engineer and aircraft builder Richard Fairey paid the Vicar of Harmondsworth £15,000 for a 150-acre plot to build a private airport to assemble and test aircraft. Complete with a single grass runway and a handful of hastily erected buildings, Fairey’s Great West Aerodrome was the humble precursor to the world’s busiest international airport, Heathrow.

During World War II the government requisitioned land in and around the ancient agricultural village of Heath Row, including Fairey’s Great West Aerodrome, to build RAF Heston, a base for long-range troop-carrying aircraft bound for the Far East. An RAF-type control tower was constructed, and a ‘Star of David’ pattern of runways laid, the longest of which was 2,743 metres long and 91 metres wide.

Work demolishing Heath Row and clearing land for the runways started in 1944. However, by the time the war had ended the RAF no longer needed another aerodrome and it was officially handed over to the Air Ministry as London’s new civil airport on 1 January 1946. The first aircraft to take off from Heathrow was a converted Lancaster bomber called Starlight that flew to Buenos Aires.

The early passenger terminals were ex‑military marquees which formed a tented village along the Bath Road. The terminals were primitive but comfortable, equipped with floral-patterned armchairs, settees and small tables containing vases of fresh flowers. To reach aircraft parked on the apron, passengers walked over wooden duckboards to protect their footwear from the muddy airfield. There was no heating in the marquees, which meant that during winter it could be bitterly cold, but in summer when the sun shone, the marquee walls were removed to allow a cool breeze to blow through.

By the close of Heathrow’s first operational year, 63,000 passengers had travelled through London’s new airport.

When was Heathrow built?

The first airfield on the site of the current Heathrow was the Great West Aerodrome, built in 1929 by Fairey Aviation. Redevelopment of the area began in 1944, however the end of World War I meant it was surplus to the Royal Air Force’s requirements, and instead was designated to become a civil airport by the UK Government. The new airport opened on 25 March 1946, initially as London Airport, becoming Heathrow in 1966.

What is Heathrow named after?

The name Heathrow is named after the ancient hamlet Heath Row, upon where the airport is now built. The settlement, which was largely an agricultural area, was demolished fully in 1944 to make way for the development of the airfield.

Why was Heathrow built?

Following the end of the Second World War, it was realised that air travel was going to become a growing commodity. London’s previous biggest airport, Croydon Aerodrome, was becoming
increasingly populated, and the site of the Great West Aerodrome was chosen as London’s designated airport.

Who owns Heathrow now?

Our company, Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited (formerly BAA) owns and runs London Heathrow Airport.
Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited is in turn owned by FGP Topco Limited, a consortium owned and led by the infrastructure specialist Ferrovial S.A. (25.00%), Qatar Investment Authority (20.00%), Caisse de depot et placement de Quebec (CDPQ) (12.62%), GIC (11.20%), Alinda Capital Partners of the United States (11.18%), China Investment Corporation (10.00%) and Universities Superannuation Scheme (USS) (10.00%).

Further information can be found on the following reference:

Heathrow Airport, 2022. Company. Heathrow Airport. [Online]. [Accessed 24 January 2024]. Available from: https://www.heathrow.com/company/about-heathrow/company-faqs
It is recommended that you should carry out a substantial amount of independent and individual research to strengthen your understanding of the business context and the preferred style of
management practice.

Assessment Tasks

Acting as a Business Consultant you are required to produce a business report for the senior management team at Heathrow Airport Holdings Limited (HAL) by utilising the techniques and
concepts you have covered in the module.
You are to critically evaluate the current management practices at HAL and recommend changes based on your evaluation that HAL must implement to improve its success in the transport
industry.

The report must cover the following sections:

Introduction

Define leadership and management and provide an overview of the purpose of your report including an indication of the contents.

Task 1 - Management Practices

• Identify HAL’s mission, values and management practices and critically assess whether all these are all aligned.
Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research. 

Task 2 - Analysis of Business Challenges

• Identify and critically discuss 2 key challenges that HAL is encountering in the current environment.
• Critically discuss how HAL’s current management competency of Creativity and Innovation can enable HAL’s management to resolve the challenges identified.
• Critically evaluate what improvements are needed by HAL’s management to implement in their management competency of Decision-making to mitigate the challenges identified.
Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research.

Task 3 – Critical evaluation of the impact of Management Behaviours on Employee Engagement and Organisational Performance

Critically evaluate the potential impact of the emotional intelligence of HAL’s managers in promoting high levels of employee engagement and organisation performance.

Your analysis needs to include the following:

• Identification of the key management’s behaviours of emotional intelligence that have impacted HAL’s success.
• Analysis of the positive and negative effects of these behaviours on HAL’s performance.
• Recommendations for cultivating or modifying these management behaviours to enhance HAL’s success.
Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research.

Task 4 - Management competencies development

Critically assess any 2 of the following management competencies using relevant models/ frameworks to propose recommendations for developing and nurturing these skills among current and future managers at HAL to improve its success in the transport industry.
i. Managing Resilience
ii. Managing Stakeholder Relationships
iii. Managing Conflict and Negotiation
iv. Managing Teams

Support your arguments with reference to appropriate academic literature, case study materials and your independent research.

Conclusion (250 words)

Provide a conclusion that summarises your recommended changes that HAL must implement to improve its success in the transport industry. 

Presentation and Referencing:

Your report structure should include the following sections:
• Cover page (BPP University Administration Cover Sheet)
• Table of Contents
• List of Abbreviations (if appropriate)
• Introduction
• Task 1
• Task 2
• Task 3
• Task 4
• Conclusion
• References
• Appendix (if required)