MG101:

Introduction to Management

Table of Contents
Content Page No.
Introduction 3
Organisation Overview 4
Methodology 7
Literature Review/Discussions/Findings:
Planning 8-9
Process 10
Controlling 11
Conclusion 11
Recommendation 13
Reference 14
Appendix 15

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 Introduction
Project Overview
The organisation that has been chosen for the completion of this project is Airports Fiji
Limited trading as Fiji Airports. It is a company owned solely by the government of Fiji.
Recently, the company made alteration to the name that was previously being operated as
Airports Fiji Limited, now Fiji Airports. Fiji as a developing country with its various
companies, may seem minor compared to other countries and so a company being recognized
globally means that effective management policies are being implemented and successfully
carried out. As this project requires the use of the systems model, as well as stating vision and
mission, Fiji Airports deemed suitable for such a project because the company has made
progress through world recognition. Proper management of input and process has caused
output to be of an exceptional standard. The recognition of the progress made by Nadi
International Airport was through Skytrax, a site ranking airports from all over the world.
Nadi International Airport was ranked the world’s 6th most improved airport in 2018.

Purpose of the Project

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The purpose of this project is to provide an overview of the organisation’s history and to
clearly establish the mission, vision and operational procedure carried out in the company.
The importance of a company providing a vision and mission is so that the goals of the
company are set beforehand so that proper planning can be carried out to achieve the goals. It
will result in the alignment of operations in the company so that it becomes easier for
employees to work together to achieve the objectives. The project requires research based
materials that is, through primary and secondary research that will be carried out through
interviews with staff as well as through company reports and the internet. Through a
literature review of the important terms; planning, process and controlling, these terms will
be integrated into the perspective of the company. These terms will further be enlightened as
it is used by the company. The types of planning the company undertakes, the processes
involving input of employees, capital, technology, information and materials as well as the
type of controlling strategies best suited and used by the company, explaining why such a
strategy is used.

Organization Overview
History
According to Fiji Airports (2017), Fiji Airports, formerly known as Airports Fiji Limited is in
charge of operating the Nadi International Airport and other domestic airports in Fiji.
Establishment of the company took place on April 12 th, 1999. It was formed after the
restructure of Civil Aviation Authority of Fiji to become a 100% commercial entity, entirely
owned by the government under Ministry of Public Enterprise. Other than managing the main
airport and other smaller airports, Fiji Airports also takes the role of handling and providing
navigation services through Air Traffic Management.

Vision
As Fiji Airports runs the main airport of Fiji, Nadi International Airport, their vision is:
“To be the world’s leading small international airport and air traffic management service
provider whilst protecting our heritage” (Fiji Airports, 2017)

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Discussion of Vision
The vision of Fiji Airports is quite straightforward. Hailing from a small country, it is
important to keep up with other airports around the world. Though the airport cannot
completely match standards of other countries airports, Fiji Airports has the vision set to at
least make a mark as the number one airport in the world, particularly in the category of small
airports around the world. This is a realistic vision. The vision also caters for protecting the
culture and traditions of the country. This is visible through the newly renovated Nadi
International Airport. In terms of design, ‘masi’ print was used to decorate the walls and
pillars of the airport.

Mission
The following is the mission of Fiji Airports:
“To ensure world class airports and air traffic management facilities and services in the Fiji
Islands that are managed in a safe, secure and efficient manner that meets standards of The
International Civil Aviation Organization, exceeds customer expectations and provide a fair
return on Shareholders’ funds.” (Fiji Airports, 2017)

Discussion of Mission
The mission set by the company is exceptional as the company is in charge of all other
domestic airports in the country as well as the main international airport. Therefore it deems
right the company works toward making sure that all the airports are worthy of being used.
This means that airports must not just meet the needs of customers, but peculiarly meet the
needs, so that the general view and feedback of the airports and the company are competent
and of quality.

Link of Vision and Mission to set the Organizational Objectives for Fiji Airports
The vision and mission of Fiji Airports provides a sense of direction. This is used to portray
what the company is working towards. Through a vision and mission the company is able to
set out objectives which are more in detail compared to a vision and mission. The vision and
mission of Fiji Airports is just a general view of what the company wants to achieve however
the objectives are made using the vision and mission, this indicates what actually will be or
should be done by those involved in the operational activities of the organization.
With the use of vision and mission, these are some of the objectives that have been created:
 Provide world class facilities to customers – Any company would want their name
to be recognized in a good way. Similarly, Fiji Airports wishes to be in the good
books of tourists that enter the airports so that the word gets around and the name of
Fiji’s International Airport stays high. Major renovation took place recently with new
facilities such as self-check in service, to support this objective.
 Provide accurate Air Traffic Management – As the company is in charge of
providing air traffic management services, regular training takes place so that staff are

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 kept up to date with how to operate new machines for a better accuracy of air traffic
management for airline services.
 Provide Shareholders with reasonable returns – Investors must be rewarded with
returns that are worth their investment otherwise they will look for better options.
Therefore it is important for Fiji Airports to continuously try to market their airport
for more attraction. A way in which the company makes money is through investing
themselves elsewhere and through increasing the price of car park tickets.

OPERATIONS OF FIJI AIRPORTS

The operations of the Fiji Airports involves many tasks as the company has various
responsibilities and some which are not directly related to the airports in the country. Fiji
Airports, on behalf of the government takes charge of the control of all airports in Fiji. Fiji
Airports also carries out the role of a navigational service provider. This is not only provided
to the local airline company but also to those airline companies that enter the shore. At the
same time, the company has to communicate with navigation teams from other parts of the
world to ensure correct arrival and departure of flights. Miscommunication of such
information can lead to disruptions in flights.

CONVERSION PROCESS USED TO REALISE OBJECTIVES

It is first important to clearly take note of the various inputs Fiji Airports uses:
Labour – The employees of the company
Capital – The cost that was needed initially by the government to start the company.
Technology – Used to keep standards at utmost.
Information - Previous year’s information or standings of other airports is used.
Materials – Materials such as equipment and so on are made available for the
company to carry out operations.

To achieve the objectives, given below is the process undertaken by Fiji Airports
using labour input.

INPUT OF LABOUR (MANAGERS, ACCOUNTANTS, MAINTENANCE OFFICERS)

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 The labour input in Fiji Airports carry out their own delegated tasks. For example,
the maintenance officers of the airport will continuously try to ensure that the
airport is presentable and worth using. On the other hand, accountants will
prepare financial report and managers will try to efficiently lead departments so
that staff carry out their work correctly.

With labour inputs carrying out their assigned duties, objectives are easily
achieved.

 Maintenance officers will mean efforts will be made for the look of the
airport to be exceptional at all times.
 Accountants will allow for the company to handle expenses and keep
funds for further improvements at the airport or to hire overseas
expertise for navigational services.
 Managers will ensure staff are on their toes. For example, the purchases
department must accurately order for goods that will be used in the
airport.

Methodology

1. Primary Research

The material for primary research used by the group was:

(i) Questionnaires

5 questionnaires were made and given to employees of Fiji Airports and collected
within three days. The answers were then analysed to help provide information for
findings in this project.

2. Secondary Research

(i) Internet Sources

The internet was used to take out essential information needed in this project.
(ii) Reports

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The annual reports for Fiji Airports of previous years were also used to take out
important information about the growth of the company.

Analysis
The analysis of research data was qualitative compared to quantitative. This is
because there was less of statistical figures or data used to reach conclusions
about the company as analysis was based on words and not numbers. Questions
that were asked to a few people were generally analysed, not in terms of statistics
and the answers were not necessarily similar.

Literature Review
Planning
Planning is to set out various activities that will be involved in achieving the
goals that were set by an individual, group or company. For example, for an
organisation to reach the goal of achieving a turnover greater than previous years,
plans must be made such as deciding how to control expenses, where investment
opportunities are bright and types of product that can be sold which will attract
customers. According to Ahmad and Bajwa (2005), planning deals with the
direction in which one must reach or go towards. This means to go creating
strategies or plan to reach a stage of success which complies with definition itself.
Andreas Faludi (1972) described planning as making changes to actions during
the actual process of planning.
The theory Advocacy Planning was brought about by Paul Davidoff. Davidoff
believed planning must consist of the views of the minority. The fact that some
people may be less educated does not mean they are excluded from taking part in
the planning stage. To improve this, based on the theory, an educated person is to

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 be present for providing training and guidance to help people understand matters
regarding the plans better than before. This included having knowledge about the
law. Simply, the perspective of each individual involved must be considered.
For effective planning, people must be first be allowed to freely voice opinions
regardless of the status one holds in the organisation. This is so that plans are
made taking into consideration all types of perspectives. Planning will allow for
the goals that have been set to be achieved in far less time than it would take if
planning was not done. Various types of planning include:
 Operational Planning: Concerned with each department will contribute
towards achieving the desired goal that had been set from the beginning. It
will consist of what exact actions need to be taken, the assigned
responsibility to each individual or group, a timeframe for the task to be
completed and also, the level of finance and resources that will be
required.
 Strategic Planning: This is used to cater for the needs of the organisation
in the long run and set the pathway in which the employees must work on.
 Contingency Planning: Plans may not be suitable for all types of
situation and one may not know when an unexpected event or turn takes
place. Contingency planning allows for alternative measures to be made
and undertaken to tackle situations.
Discussion and Findings
Fiji Airports’ has certain goals that have been set for 2019 with plans on how to achieve
them:
1. Improve Customer Service: The plan made to achieve this goal is to conduct
surveys on customer feedback and prepare reports.
2. Build tight relationships: The plan made for this is to improve on leave issues, staff
grievances and staff disciplinary cases.
3. Modernize the Nadi Airport Terminal: The plan is to redesign the terminal so that
there is more efficient and convenient passenger movement.
4. Provide world class airport facilities: The plan is to correctly comply with standards
of the International Civil Aviation Organisation to be a leading provider of air
navigation services.

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 Process

Process is the conversion that takes place to turn input into output. Inputs can be
labour, technology and information. Linking this in the perception of a business, a
process involves tasks that are connected to provide output. These tasks will
eventually help achieve the organisations goal. The inputs and output must be stated
clearly. The inputs and outputs all contribute to the value of the output produced.
(Appian, 2019). In terms of input as labour, shown below is the process with regards
to an airline company.

INPUT The pilots are to operate OUTPUT

the planes to help get to
LABOR: destinations while air Passengers reaching
navigations officers will their destination safely.
Pilots, Air Navigation Officers help provide direction
for the pilots.
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 The process theory of motivation involves how the needs of an individual will play a
part towards the type of output they help to produce (Oban, 2018). The employees
will be motivated in accordance to rewards and then will therefore try to put in the
extra effort to produce output of better standards. A company that applies and
practices this theory is Walmart in America. (Harris, 2013)

Discussion and Findings

As for Fiji Airports, inputs include staff such as managers, accountants, auditors,
security, and drivers. Inputs can be both direct and indirectly associated with the
actual operations of the organisation. Taking into consideration the goal of Fiji
Airport to modernize the Nadi Airport Terminal, staff must perform certain tasks to
reach a successful result. Shown below is the process of doing achieving this.

Input Output

A modernized Nadi
Managers Airport Terminal that
Mangers must work allows for convenient
closely with passenger flow.
associated people in
project. This include
Fiji Revenue and
Customs Services,
Government and Air
Terminal Services.

Controlling
Controlling is concerned with making sure that the plans that were made initially are being
followed. Controlling helps to identify if the actual performance is varying from what was
meant to be. It will then help identify the cause of deviation and eventually provide for
corrective measures to take place. Controlling is reaching targets and detecting problems in
earlier stages to prevent it from becoming a hindrance later on (Koontz and O’Donnell,
1968).
There are various principles of control. Efficiency of controls means that the more of control
measures that will be taken will allow for the detection of problems to take place earlier to
prevent facing consequences. The principle of responsibility control is aimed at the manager
being in charge of all control measures that must take place in the organisation.
Controls are of different types. Feedforward control deals with identifying the problems or
deviances from the plan before they actually occur. Concurrent Control involves keeping a
close eye on the activities or actions that are taking place to ensure rules are being followed
as planned so that targets are met as desired. Feedback Control means to go through and

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analyse information to ensure it the information complies with reaching the goal that has been
set by the organisation.
Discussion and Findings
Fiji Airports uses all three types of controls. Out of the three, emphasis is on Feedforward
controls. For an organisation as big as Fiji Airports, managing the main and smaller airports
in Fiji, it is highly important to be ready to tackle situations without facing much
consequence. An advantage of this is that it prevents disruptions to the operations of a big
organisation as such as disruptions will not only affect the company but also the customers
and related airlines that travel to Fiji. A disadvantage of this is that although much effort can
be put into this control strategy, if the right knowledge is not available, there may be
situations with problems that are not as easy to be solved within a given time frame before it
entirely disrupts the operations of the organisation.

Conclusion
Conclusively, Fiji Airports carries out a vital role in operating and maintaining the airports
situated in Fiji. The vision and mission of Fiji Airports is quite direct and through research it
is visible that the organisation is making every effort to become the world’s leading small
airport that provides world class facilities with customer satisfaction needs kept at paramount.
Operations within the company are carried out efficiently and that is why Fiji Airport’s is
currently providing facilities to accommodate needs of all types of customers. If processes
were not carried out correctly, operations at Fiji Airports would be at a standstill. This
research assignment has proved to be successful as all aspects that were needed in completion
of this assignment were discovered.

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 Recommendation
For the purpose of better control, planning and efficient processing, the following
recommendations are suggested:
 For the purpose of efficient processes in the company, unnecessary actions that
require more time and money can be omitted or the process itself can be changed.
Mangers in Fiji Airports are to deal with various companies such as the customs
departments and bio-security department. To make the process easier, appointments
can be made to various staff that provide help to managers when liaising with the
concerned organisations.
 For the purpose of customer care and satisfaction, the company can improve the play
area for children located in the departure lounge. It is careless to ignore the fact that
tourists consists of children as well. Adult satisfaction can provided through

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 improvement of restaurant services inside the airport. For the ease of parents, the play
area can de designed in such a way that security and safety is paramount.
 Take serious heed of time and technology. Self-check-in systems are provided at Nadi
International Airport however due to the limited number, not everyone is able to
check in using this method. People have to cue in lines to reach the counter where
manual check in is done. With time, more self-check-in systems can be put in place so
that fewer people have to stand in lines for a long period of time.
 Passenger’s late arrival for boarding planes is a common problem due to the
confusion when it comes to reaching the correct gate for boarding during departure.
Fiji Airports can implement direction systems within the airport which shows accurate
directions for easier understanding as well as the time that will be taken to move from
that point to the destination the customer wishes to find.

Reference

Ahmad, I. and Bajwa, I.U., 2005. Regional Development Planning-Issues and

Realities. Retrieved from: http://www.isocarp.net/data/case_studies/649.pdf on
15th April, 2019.

Appian, 2019. Business Process Definition. Retrieved from:

https://www.appian.com/bpm/definition-of-a-business-process/ on 1st April, 2019.

Faludi, A., 1973. The Systems View and Planning Theory. Great Britain.
Pergamon Press.

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Fiji Airports, 2017. Fiji Airports Annual Report.

Harris, C. 1993. Motivational Practices at America’s Best Managed Companies.

England. Emerald Publishing Limited. Retrieved from:
https://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/eb028329 on 2nd April, 2019.

Oban, C., 2018. Part 3: Process Theories of Motivation. Motivation 101: A Guide
for Public Servants. Retrieved from:
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?
article=1002&context=motivationforpublicservants on 1st April, 2019.

Schermerhorn, Davidson, Factor, Woods, Simon, McBarron (2017).

Management. 6th ed. Australia: John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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