British Airways: Information Systems in Global Business

Introduction

Information Systems refer to systems designed to use computers as an aid to planning and providing direction in business and organization operations. Management Information Systems are used to transform data obtained from day to day operations into information that can be used to support decision making. Information Systems are used in business in order to achieve the following objectives;

They help in generation results from operation in terms of reports, financial statements, operations performance reports or even status of inventory reports that are used to evaluate the organizations performance.

Information Systems are also used to evaluate various option or effects that would arise on pursuing a particular business decision. The results obtained will guide the, manager as to whether to proceed or abandon the idea.

Information Systems also help manager in coming up with decisions by coming up with paradigms such as chart and analysis reports that are used by the managers in affirming their decisions. For example a management information system will get data from patients’ records and come up with an analysis of the occurrence of some diseases and provide recommendation on what mix of medicine will need to be bought in the recent future.

In today businesses it has become very hard to compete effectively without the use of Information Systems owing to the fact that business are operating on complex platforms in terms of client needs, technological advancement and the nature of complexity relating to modern products(Belobaba, 1998, p.297). Organization that are referred to as digital firms have integrated the have integrated the use of computer in every operation of their business.

How well the companies integrate the use of information systems into their business operations determines their success. However, the cost involved in purchasing and running of these systems is very high and will account for a very large part of the organization’s revenue. Furthermore, high investment in management Information Systems does not guarantee high revenue in terms of earnings to the firm. In order for a company to gain benefits from its investment in Information Systems it has an obligation to ensure that information system supports the critical factors of the business operations.

British Airways was formed in the early in 1930s, through the merging of small privately owned airlines. It has grown through decades from a market that was once stable and predictable too one that is highly competitive and unpredictable. The vast years of operation has seen it grow from a small company to a large consolidation of companies that command a large market share in the airline industry (British Airways, 2010). British Airways is known as one of the most successful large international airlines. It’s estimated to aid the commuting of approximate 36 million passengers and one million tons of cargo annually (British Airways, 2010).

British airway operates international and domestic flights, Mail and freight delivery as components of its core business function. The airline operated a fleet of over 240 aircrafts, where ten of them were smaller aircrafts used for inbound operations as at March,2009 (British Airways, 2010). The use of information systems in management of the operation of airlines especially with such a large fleet of aircrafts enables them to adequately meet their objectives.

Aim of the Study

The aim of this study is to analyze the way a digital firm uses information systems as an aid to its operation. The study analyzes the use of Management Information Systems and the effect of introduction of those services on the company’s business.

Scope the study

This study illustrates how British Airways has exploited the use of Information Systems on operations in operation of its business. The paper however does not cover the details of performance of every system but provides the effect application of the information systems of British Airways. The paper shall cover only but not limited to the operation of British Airways operations.

Key Information Systems applications used at British Airways

Information systems in airline industries are operated on different platforms and achieving of different objectives. The use of information systems in airline industry have been widening from year to year. The information systems have advanced from basic use in administration to automation of all the processes of the airline industry. Business systems are today used in the preparation of rosters arrivals and departures and assigning aircrafts and crew to these scheduled flights. These systems have affected the way the airline is managed in the following ways in various ways such as;

The have improved the ways instructions and objectives are communicated to the people. This has enable the organization re-structure it organization structure to only few layers. This is because instruction can be communicated to many people at one particular time or click of a button.

The information systems have allowed the organization’s employees to work online, saving on space and other parameters that cost the company inform of movement and hosting of its employees.

The information systems has further widened the market as British airways can now access the whole world through it e commerce sector as well as improving the way they handle and dwell with their customers (Boyd and Bilegan, 2003, p. 1376).

These information systems have allowed British airways to be in a position to streamline its operation in a manner that is less haphazard. For example flight reschedules do not have to be announced through public addresses but can be communicated to the involved crew and passengers through their mobile phones. Automation of flight and route scheduling has also eliminated conflicts in routes and civil aviation rules as all these issues are taken into consideration when coming up with the roaster. This promotes the image of the company as well as allowing the organization to concentrate on measure of improving the functions of the airline and improving revenue generation(Boyd and Bilegan, 2003, p.1375).

The information systems have enabled British airways to exploit new opportunities within the industry. For example the use of mobile application is one that looks very lucrative in future. The ability to offer client customized products such as these where a customer can book a ticket and update his executive point from his cell phone will be much welcomed and the eventual booking function transferred to cell phone will enable the company access people who are locate in remote area.

Information systems can be described according to the functions it assists within the functionality of the airline. For example:

  • The booking and ticketing as an example of transactions processing system
  • The schedule management system as an example of a management information system
  • The flight scheduling module of planning and scheduling system as an example of Decision- support systems
  • The system used in analysis of mergers and purchase as an example of an executive system support system

However information systems as applied in airline industry commensurate more than single functionality and the systems found in British airways are developed on a functional perspective. These systems at British Airways will include:

A system used for planning and scheduling of flights

This information system takes into account demand, crew availability, maintenance, airport restrictions and aircrafts and comes up with the required schedule plan as well as the required flight plan (Barlow, 2000, p. 202). It’s a composition of various modules, each handling a particular functionality of the airline business.

British Airways has contracted a company that provide them with services of managing its operations, the system assists them in scheduling of flights to different destinations and at the same time assist in allocation of crew involved in each of those flights. The system also analyses maintenance schedule of the various crafts and comes up with a roster of how the different aircrafts will be maintained with reference to their flight schedule. This information is used in coming up with a flight schedule taking into consideration the crew availability and the market demand at that particular time.

The above information system is used to come up with a list of arrivals and departures that is maintained within a single database. Some of the information in the database are susceptible to change for example the aircrafts assignment to particular destination depends on the demand while other information is not susceptible to regular changes for example details of airports and requirement by bodies of civil aviation. The system is input constraints and rules that will are used as the basis for assessing anomalies within the schedule. The information system allows the management of the airline to manage its resources and at the same time allow for rescheduling of plans of arrivals and departure from the same information system (British Airways, 2010).

An Information system for Ticketing and Reservation

The airline industry is seasonal in nature, there will be times when sale of tickets will be very low and there will be times that it will be very high leading to overbooking (Boer, 2004, p. 324). On the other hand the costs of running the airline are fixed as they entail payment of salaries, airport fees as well maintenance of the aircraft which are done periodically whether flight have been there or not (Dunleavy and Westermann, 2005, p. 381-382). This phenomenon calls for optimization of the period when there is a boom.

British Airways has an elaborate reservation and ticketing system that system that allows the airline to manage inventory, fares to various destinations, ticket less operation as well as credit card operations (British Airways, 2010).

The Employee Self Service Program (ESS)

As a measure to reduce costs associated with high number of employees British Airways decided to implement a system that would allow more of its worker to perform their tasks online. The former ESS manager Bill Francis (British Airways, 2003) indicated that the new system was developed to achieve targets for transformation, enable simplification of the process and initiate a new self service culture as well as provision of hard business case benefits. By 2007, the company reported that the organization had been able to save over 38 million pounds as well as initiate a positive culture within company (British Airways,2010).

Within five years of implementation, British Airways had managed to transfer over eighty percent of it workers to the on-line forum. This benefited British Airways as it was in a position to avoid duplication caused by use of paper. British Airways offered services all day and all night as well as manage to provide training without having to incur costs of running the training such as venues among other things.

Cargo handling system

Cargo transportation accounts to more that twenty five percent of the revenue of Airlines. The manner in which the cargo is handled is a determinant factor towards the customer loyalty as well as how the airline will receive its revenue (Billings et al, 2003, p. 73-74). A cargo handling system allows British Airways to maximize on the cargo it can handle at a time as well as ensure that they provide the client with the best service possible(Ingold and Huyton, 2000, p. 180-187).

With the assembly of large aircrafts many airlines have been able to carry large amounts of load. There are basically to kinds of load. One account for the maximum weight a passenger can carry and at the other being the cargo that is charged on weight and destination basis. A Cargo system assists the airline to handle cargo in manner that will maximize the number of passengers and at the same time maximize returns from the cargo section (Lee, 1990).

As explained above all the above systems are developed with an intention to fully integrate their functions as aid to the business process. Their application however have changed the business processes, for example the way the tickets are issued and reserved have changed since introduction as a passenger can choose where he would like to sit , book in advance or even place booking from his phone. These changes in business processes have improved the customer satisfaction and even improved the revenue from such activities.

Information Systems influence on, Organization, Management, And Strategy

An organization is identified as group of people working towards the attainment of a particular objective. An airline as an organization is a group of people in the business of facilitating the movement of people using aircrafts from on area to another. The management of operating an airline is very tricky due to the thin profit margins and the high investment that it entails (Andersson, 1998, p. 480).

In the recent years, various airlines have been merging and buying other airlines (Anderson, 2004, p. 358-362). British Airways for example has various subsidiaries with the latest acquisition being L’Avion, French airline that was acquired through is subsidiary called Openskies (Johns,2000, p. 145). The use of information systems has facilitated this kind of mergers on the basis that due to standardization of the software modules of the systems.

This allows for merging to be made easier. Moving from that, the idea of acquisition of an aircraft is as tough one as it entails the knowledge of recent developments and issues such as fuel efficiency improvement as well as changes markets among other economic issues. These decisions are expensive in both extremes. The management has to make a decision that will enable the organisation pursue the future opportunities. The evaluation of the decision will dictate the state the company will be in the years to come. At the same time if it abandons an ideas and a competitor pursues it successfully then the ideas will leave the organization at as disadvantage (Lancaster, 2003, p. 160-162).

British Airways has Executive Support Information Systems that allow the top personnel to evaluate various business ventures with reference to market changes and future expectations. This system helps in affirming various decisions made by top personnel such as kind of an aircraft that will make the company competitive in future. The decision to make an aircraft is communicated to the manufacturers long before it needs it delivered for example two years prior the day of delivery (Billings et al, 2003, p. 72-73). The kinds of attributes that will be sent to the manufacturer are drawn from the system. However caution should be made to ensure that the qualities e surpassed during the period of assembly.

British Airways operates on a strategy of focusing operations on the most profitable area within the industry. The use of e commerce has been one of the initiatives that has been directed towards the fulfillment of the strategy. For example online booking rose to over sixty percent of the booking within the first four years of operation. The use of e commerce allows the company to reach a wide market and at the same time offer services to clients from remote locations. This has prompted the organization to be in a position to evaluate the tendency by the customers or their preferences allowing them to make products for them such as discounted flights and provision of offers. This has promoted the business of British Airways to great heights.

The Digital Firm: Electronic Commerce and Electronic Business

In the year 2000 smaller airline companies like EasyJet opted to compete on the basis of use of internet where they allowed customers to book and pay online and at the same time get confirmation of their flights from the personal computers they were using (Barlow, 2004, p. 17-18). At that that time large airlines like British Airways preferred to handle the issue with a lot of caution. British Airways for example only allowed people who had registered with the site to process their tickets online (Barlow, 2004, p. 20).

The strategy at that time entailed customer tying where they assumed dealing with customer with a lot of generosity would discourage them from shifting to other airlines. E commerce brought about developments such as instant online reservations and multi scheduling of flights to one destination (Boyd and Bilegan,2003, p. 1365). This prompted the business people to change their attitude from loyalty to looking for convenience in their schedule and the way they handle their booking. As a result British Airways came to see how much they were losing and eventually embarked on a strategy to make sure they exploited E commerce.

In 2003, the company embarked on a strategy to sell their tickets online as a means of streamlining their operations, cutting costs and downsizing the business (Boyd and Bilegan, 2003, p. 1364). The application allowed clients to access the airlines services from personal computer, wireless devices and television sets. This helped in improving market penetration as well as saving as it was able to lay off over six thousand employees within four years (Boyd and Bilegan, 2003, p. 1367). The idea also allowed clients to manage their account from remote areas. For example customers would receive information on departure time, gate and seat number as well as change in either of the above through their television sets and mobile phones.

Mobile application

Recent industrial action along with the company’s mission of providing the customers with the best service has seen British Airways introduced a mobile application. The mobile application allows the company to communicate to the client on any flight cancellation or even the rescheduled flight details via his own mobile phone. The application developed in conjunction with Apple iphone allows the customers to perform boarding card facilities and at the same time link an accountholder to the Airline’s Executive club loyalty points. The management has proposed the idea of having a full operational booking system through the application where a customer can perform all the activities from his phone (British Airways, 2010).

Ethical and Social Issues in the Digital Firm

Airline business entails provision of service to people through the use of other people. The success of the Information Systems should be measured against satisfaction of both the customer and the employee. The information system should be in a position to improve intangible parts of a business such as improve is competitiveness, boost the desire of workers to do more, improve the quality of the services offered to the customer, boost the customer relationship and promote the good image of an organization. The operation of on line working for example has boosted the organizations’ competitive effectiveness due to the fact that the company is in a position to offer their products to customers who are remotely located.

This allowed offering of services at any time they wanted. This boosts the probability of the company accessing the services at any time particular time. This improves the competitiveness of the organization. The operation of ESS allows employees to work from home and at the same time access training form remote location. This goes along way in improving the job enrichment of the organization. The worker will thus be more dedicated to the work that they are assigned (Barlow, 2000, p. 203-204).

The operation of booking from home and mobile phones also promotes the customer relationship as they provide means where customer can air their grievances which can be used to improve the products or come up with new products. This improves the customer relationship. The system of scheduling allows a person to choose where he would like to sit as well as make payment with regard to tat sit. The ability to access information from a remote location and get feedback are a great contribution towards the improvement the quality of service that the organization provides. The use of mobile application is one that has been pioneered by companies like British Airways such issues go a long way in contributing towards the improvement of the company’s image.

The application of the Information Systems should not result in negative impact to the organization. The system should be easily integrated with existing systems, allow data migration from legacy systems and existing systems, have positive perception from the intended users and be in a position to be run from the servers available.

The implementation of information systems should at the same time not affect the way people live or carry ought their lives. For example the introduction of online working should be implemented in a way that do not affect the family lives of the people concerned. British airways for example give everyone a roster that indicates where they ll be at whatever particular time. This allows them to be given their right to privacy such that the do not have to be recalled every other time to go to work. The system also alerts them sometime before on any changes through the tracking module of the planning and scheduling system.

The Sub system responsible for pairing takes into account the requirements by the trade unions and employment law before coming up with a pair this is meant to minimize the effect of the systems on the people involved

On the same note the operation of information systems should observe the law. The system should be applied I a manner that ensures the following laws are not contradicted; the, European directive on data protection, trade secrets, intellectual property rights and copyrights laws.

One of the major concerns about information system with reference to details of people held within the system. Of importance is how often that information should be update and who should be responsible for such updating. Information that is considered private should be restricted from being accessed by people who may have malicious intentions or even how they are used. The British system allows only the person whose information is contained in that a system to access his data and update it.

Infrastructure and emerging technologies

Due to the nature of task and capacity of work that information systems do in an airline, the systems call for an infrastructure that involves his large disk spaces, large amount of processors and will probably run of very large random access memory. Due to the nature of airline the company has to install some software for running the wireless systems such as; the communication via radar with the aircraft while on air, coordination workers who are working online. The company ought to have it’s our patented wireless bandwidth which allow it to communicate to various people while avoiding hacking and interruption by malicious people.

The company will have various inputs and output systems where some will be input automatically and others will be input by people. For example the number of flights in progress will be read automatically while the input of details of customer will be input by employees if he is not using the on line booking. Some information line crew allocation will be done as a group (batch) while others like details of maintenance of aircrafts will be one by one.

The implementation of Information Systems is not an easy task; one due to the reason that it is expensive and the other is there is a wide range of options from which a particular person can do (Dunleavy and Westermann, 2005, p. 382). On the other hand these systems can be operated on various platforms of operating systems and different network arrangements. A system can be implemented on either a peer too peer architecture or an client –server architecture.

A peer to peer architecture are system where the computers can exchange information in such a manner that you can view or extract information from another computer or remote source without restriction. This kind of system is usually found in the reservation and ticketing where you do not have to go back to the computer where you registered. This information can be obtained from any computer. On the other hand Client server refers to an architecture where data is held in a central location and accessed through other computers. For, example the data used by ESS is held at the company and accessed through remote personal computers.

There have been recent developments that have taken place in information systems of airline industry and have contributed to better management of airlines.

For example, the cargo management system is such a complex system, composed of many other sub systems that allow the airline to manage several functions from the same system (Johns, 2000, p. 143-148).

These sub systems include;

Cargo Revenue accounting module; This is a complex module that allows the performance of back office accounting of the cargo carriers. It will provide reports on work that should have done elsewhere (Kasilingamm, 1997, p. 38-40).

Air cargo Terminal Operations: this module automates the process of self handled facilities of carriers or airports that allow customers to be free when travelling.

Unit Load Device module: this allows for management of how the unit load device is handled

Air Mail management module; this module is made in a manner that supports UPU handling process as well as revenue accounting for the mails

Cargo revenue management module; this is a complex system that has various algorithms and statistical analysis tools that help the airline to manage forecast demand , optimize capacity utilization as well as maximize the cargo carrier revenue.

The planning and scheduling system is also such a complex system that allows the airline to do among others; prepare schedule for flights, organise the crew pair, in form the staff on changes among others. This complex system is usually composed of the following sub systems

This information system is composed of the following modules to handle the task effectively:

Access control; this module is responsible for authenticating who can access a system and who should not.

Data management Module; this module is responsible for the provision of control on how static information is updated as it has an effect on of the results obtained using the dynamic data.

System Configuration Module; this module authenticates the password provided by users when they want to access the system. The module will allow some members of an airline to access a system to particular level and deny access to other levels

Schedule planning; scheduling is an important factor in the achievement of the load factor benchmark. To operate optimally the company’s usually come up with the most feasible schedule. This is obtained through calculations from various routes and revenues relate. The algorithms for calculation of these probabilities are obtained in this sub system. The results of the most plausible roster of arrivals and departures are forwarded to department in charge of planning and publication of flight schedules for the necessary scrutiny and procedures to be done.

Schedule management sub system; usually in airline business airline will at times allow passengers to purchase for seats and tickets through other airlines as if they are the other airlines tickets. Code sharing refers to such kind of agreements. This sub systems comes up with a schedule that takes into account the tickets and passengers that have purchased through other airlines. Incase the seats belong to the code share partner the subsystem will also include it in the partners schedule.

A module that allocates an aircraft a route with reference to it maintenance schedule; this sub system allows the airline to allocate aircrafts to different routes with reference to market demand and the maintenance that they ought to go through(). This module addresses the following issues:

First, it generates and maintains the airlines maintenance schedule, provides for each kind of maintenance, and specifies the location of maintenance.

The sub system also receives the flight plan in form of arrivals and departures and assigns where the maintenance checks shall be done depending on the routes that it is assigned. Where an aircraft will be allocated to go will depend the time to maintenance check as well as limitations of the aircraft or the destination.

Movement control module; this subsystem allows the airline to update which aircraft has undergone maintenance and which has not undergone the maintenance. The sub system also checks on anomalies occurring between the maintenance checks and proposes future maintenances that ought to be taken into account. The module is operated on any time of the day or night allowing for the catering for allowance for emergencies.

This module also allows for rescheduling and moving of flights as means to reduce costs of airline and passenger disruption. This module is usually integrated with an intelligent system that allows for analysis of probable solution to a problem in case it occurs. Furthermore the module allows for on-time departures, easy notice of delays and/or problems related to flight schedules. Problems such as insufficient ground times, curfew violations, flight and resource conflicts or even overdue departure and arrival time can be established and corrected well in advance.

Strategic Crew planning this sub system looks into the future requirement of the staff of within the crew and come up with a roster that does not inconvenience the staff or the operations of the airline. Such requirements maybe short term requirements such as crew pairing or long term such as assessment of the airlines future demand and indication of the vacancies that are likely to arise.

Crew pairing; the airline industry is one of the most liberated industries in the world. This is as a result of formation of the associated trade unions long ago. Pairing refer to the shortest time a crew can be assigned the same kind of flight again. This is subject to, legal, industrial and company rules. This module also performs other functions such as booking of crew tickets to fly in foreign or host airline a phenomenon known as Pax flights.

Crew scheduling: this sub system allows the airline to come up with a roster that indicates where an employee should be and what he should be doing. This roster will take into account the training requirement as well as expiries of licenses and certificates of trade. The roster will cover particular period probably extending to a whole year for British Airways. In case of a position that is not filled the system will look for an employee who is qualified to fill that position and fill it appropriately.

Crew follow up module: this sub system allows for the airline to know where employees are located especially with the application of online working schedule. The sub-system also allows for relay of updates to these employees incase of any changes.

The tracking will include the analysis of the pairing plan and crew roster. In normal running of airlines, the companies experience various challenges such as lateness of flight probably due to weather changes or various natural calamities like the volcano eruption that occurred recently. During such unanticipated anomalies the airline alters the arrivals and departures as well as crew’s roster to take into account such emergencies. This sub system is responsible for such rescheduling of flights and peoples roster while at the same time catering for constraints of the parameters involved

Crew leave module; this system module indicates when an employee should go for a leave on a fair basis. The system requests for leave bid from various member of the crew or staff and when the bids are opened by the system the system awards some their bids while other will be requested to place other bids.

Crew training module; this is a module that is responsible for recording the staff training proposed by the strategic planning module and coming up with a timetable that encompasses when various members of staff will go for seminars , simulations, classrooms and units to be undertaken. The arrived schedule will then be communicated to each employee where each employee will be notified when he or she will attend what lesson.

Renewal scheduling module; various professional bodies have rules that call for additional training or form of subscription for being a member of such bodies. This is usually done after a regular period of time. This sub system will allow for such renewal procedures to be input into the roster independent of human input

Crew rule workbench; this module allows the, user to analyze and come up with solutions to specific scenarios and disruptions while taking into consideration the rules and legal issues involved. It allows for the through testing of crew rules in a separate phenomenon rather than what currently exists. This is very useful in evaluating proposals or negotiations with the crew members and heads of the staff union.

Crew Remote Access; this module allows members of staff to access the system from remote location. When accessing the system the user will be required to provide his authentication details which will allow him to access the functionalities relating to members of staff. These functions include bidding for leave periods, enquiries on issues relating to the roster as well as bidding to be included in some flight categories or other groups of interest.

Foundation of business intelligence: database and information management

Modern organization have information systems that sense trends, or dig information from data registered and propose the relevant changes that ought to be taken. British Airways has the various systems that help in analysis of the issues at a hand and propose the required changes that ought to be input. The fundamentals of these systems is having a single database that allow various elements of data to be will act as that basis for any proposals or any adjustments that will be obtained. The airline hosts the following databases;

An inventory and Flights database

Flights to various destinations are entered well ahead without limitation using a flight inventory. The system is elaborate enough that it can sup. ort flight operations of one year ahead. The system also allows for flights to be specified for a particular range and will be activated for several days of the week.

The Cargo database that allows the airline to know how much load is expected to be transported to the destinations and who owns these loads. Apart from these databases for the system to perform well it ought to have systems that realizes the trends or anomalies as well as proposing the required changes or adjustments. These subsystems are programmed with algorithms that and artificial intelligent codes that allow the system to learn and make changes. Example of such sub systems include:

Schedule planning; scheduling is an important factor in the achievement of the load factor benchmark. To operate optimally the company’s usually come up with the most feasible schedule. This is obtained through calculations from various routes and revenues relate. The algorithms for calculation of these probabilities are obtained in this sub system (Littlewood, 1972, p.98-100). The results of the most plausible roster of arrivals and departures are forwarded to department in charge of planning and publication of flight schedules for the necessary scrutiny and procedures to be done.

Movement control module; this subsystem allows the airline to update which aircraft has undergone maintenance and which has not undergone the maintenance. The sub system also checks on anomalies occurring between the maintenance checks and proposes future maintenances that ought to be taken into account. The module is operated on any time of the day or night allowing for the catering for allowance for emergencies.

This module also allows for rescheduling and moving of flights as means to reduce costs of airline and passenger disruption. This module is usually integrated with an intelligent system that allows for analysis of probable solution to a problem in case it occurs. Furthermore the module allows for on-time departures, easy notice of delays and/or problems related to flight schedules. Problems such as insufficient ground times, curfew violations, flight and resource conflicts or even overdue departure and arrival time can be established and corrected well in advance.

Cargo revenue management module; this is a complex system that has various algorithms and statistical analysis tools that help the airline to manage forecast demand , optimize capacity utilization as well as maximize the cargo carrier revenue.

Pricing of routes and Fares module

The system allows the fares to various destinations to be assigned, and they are retrieved when a user assigns passenger to that route as well as currency conversions to different currencies.

Conclusion

The implementation of information systems is not an easy task; one because it is expensive and the other is that there is a wide range of options from which organizations choose from. The success of implementation of any information system is judged on the basis of contribution of the information system towards the following aspects. The information systems contribution towards the strategy of the company, intangible part of the business, improvement in the way business is done in form of tactical considerations, the operations of the company improvement as well as the tangible benefit both financial and non financial. The analysis of the success of implementation of in formation systems at British Airways will be measured against these objectives.

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