The reframing approach of 'Virgin Blue'- Part 1

In the tradition of Sir Richard Branson, his highly entrepreneurial and charismatic mentor, Brett Godfrey, the former CEO of Virgin Blue (VB) spawned the concept of introducing a low-cost-carrier (LCC) into Australia in 2000. Armed with a single type of aircraft and a no frills service model, Godfrey disabled the long lasting duopoly held by Qantas and Ansett Airlines and within only four years created a carrier producing a pre-tax profit of AU$158 million and achieving this despite the overall downturn in the global airline industry at the time. Godfrey’s ten year tenure had seen an aggressive expansion of the airline, holding 30% of the domestic market and introducing international routes to challenge many of the larger carriers. As a result of Godfrey’s growth strategy VB evolved into much more than a low cost carrier (LCC), perhaps more than the company can handle. 

Jiang (2007) describes four main business challenges for LCC’s in Australia since 2004; overcapacity, decline in average fare, controlling rising costs and differentiating product, the latter two highlighted as the most important for survival. Unfortunately, Godfrey’s entrepreneurial prowess ensures VB’s differentiation strategies are in constant flux and the associated over-inflating costs have seen an urgent $231.4 million capital-raising venture and an urgent need for VB to consolidate its current business practices. Godfrey handed over the reins to John Borghetti in 2010 who took VB into a new paradigm. It is the aim of the next few posts in this blog to critically evaluate the approach to organisational behaviour in reference to the changeover. Table 1 below provides a snapshot of the four frame model in organisational behaviour. The subsequent posts in this blog will revolve around the four frames from Virgin Blue's perspective.

Table 1- Overview of the Four-Frame Model. Adapted from Bolman & Deal 2003 Reframing Organisations 3^rd Edition.

		Frame
	Structural	Human Resource	Political	Symbolic
Metaphor for organisation	Factory or machine	Family	Jungle	Carnival, temple, theatre
Central concepts	Rules, roles, goals, policies, technology, environment	Needs, skills, relationships	Power, conflict, competition, organisational politics	Culture, meaning, metaphor, ritual, ceremony, stories, heroes
Image of leadership	Social architecture	Empowerment	Advocacy	Inspiration
Basic leadership challenge	Attune structure to task, technology, environment	Align organisational and human needs	Develop agenda and power base	Create faith, beauty, meaning