Massport Case

Running Head: MASSPORT CASE

Shaneika Granderson

City University of New York: Brooklyn College

Massport Case

March 25th, 2015

        On September 11, 2001 a life changing event occurred when two planes crashed into the twin towers killing thousands of people. The aftermath left The Massachusetts Port Authority (Massport) the public agency in charging of operating the Boston Logan Airport where the two flights departed from under intense scrutiny. In the months following the attack the number of flights at Logan Airport fell by 20%, and the number of passengers fell by 25%. In the case study Massport (A): The Aftermath of  9/11 it stated that “The purpose of the authority was to operate and embrace the region’s transportation infrastructure so as to meet the needs of local citizens and businesses as well as promote economic growth and development” (p. 2). As of 9/11 Massport’s ability to provide security in the airport was being questioned, because everyone wanted to know how the hijackers and their equipment got onto the planes undetected. This paper will look at the major problems, issues or dilemmas in a case study done after the attack. After looking at the problems, issues or dilemmas I will then propose a viable solution (intervention), and why I think it is the best solution for the case.

        One of the major issues in the Massport case was leadership within the organization and how the leaders were appointed. For many years Massport was operating as an independent agency and not as a department of the state government. The Governor of Massachusetts molded the direction and the operation of through his/her selection of the Board of Directors. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s the leadership was stable with Edward King and his successor David Davis serving as executive director for 15 years, but from 1990 forward there was a number of directors appointed who had little to no experience in transportation. The new executive directors had strong ties to the governor, and ran the organization as an extension of the state government. The directors usually tried to create economic opportunities while carrying out the governor’s economic policy objectives and missions. Many of the directors weren't focused on the bottom line and were instead focused on making decisions that satisfied the governor’s political objectives. Good leaders provide effective employee management that allows the employees to capitalize on their strengths and their ability to contribute to the accomplishment of work goals. Successful leadership promote employee engagement, employee motivation, employee development, and employee retention, which majority of the leaders of Massport lacked. A leader should ensure that team members have the necessary skills and abilities to do their job and achieve the vision. Unfortunately at Massport none of this was done because the focus wasn't the employees or Massport’s mission, instead the focus was the governor’s mission or political ideas.

        Another issue in the Massport case was a lack of patronage, the next four directors from 1990 forward had political ties to the Governor of Massachusetts. During the next 11 years the organization also had the highest turnover in leaders. The employees that were there during theses years were greatly affected, because they never knew what to expect as the directors came and went. When Stephen Tocco was appointed he fired top-ranking officers replacing them with those that held consistent views as him, which left many employees questioning their job security. Following him there was Peter Blute who was more easy going and the employees loved him, but they saw him as a leader who didn't do much they worked hard while he played hard. Ginny Buckingham helped the organization clean up the mess and embarrassment Blute caused before he was forced to resign. Governor Cellucci even appointed Jane Swift an individual that had no aviation experience to a well paid regional aviation management position. These leaders also had little to no aviation or transportation background and they didn't know the first thing about being a director. The Governor kept appointing executive directors to Massport that lacked the qualifications to run an organization and didn’t pay much attention to the operations at Massport. Luckily at Massport the lower level employees were hired with expertise in engineering, transportation, real estate development and project management so the day to day tasks were usually completed without any major problems.

        Employee morale is the emotions, attitude, satisfaction, and overall outlook of employees during their time in a workplace environment. Employees that are happy and positive at work are said to have positive or high employee morale and also said to have high productivity. On the other hand companies that maintain employees who are dissatisfied and negative about their work environment are said to have negative or low employee morale. Due to 9/11 employee morale at Massport hit an all time low due to the scrutiny the organization faced from the media and changes in the organization, which left employees feeling like they were being blamed for 9/11. Due to the attack and the lost in revenue employees had to be laid off which was a shock to them,  because the employees had grown to expect a guarantee of lifetime employment. The employees had never seen anything like it before, and they weren’t quite sure how to handle the changes. Unfortunately they couldn’t look to leadership for guidance because they themselves were under scrutiny, and dealing with their emotions from this life changing event. Low morale causes employees to lose interest in going the extra mile, especially when they do not feel valued by managers or care about the projects assigned. This occurs when management is unclear about expectations, and employees have not been effectively trained or do not feel a sense of ownership over their work.

        A major change needs to occur at Massport which is the hiring process of the company’s CEO. Massport needs to hire and experienced professional who has expertise in the aviation and transportation industry. The new CEO should have no political connections and not be appointed by the governor to fulfill a political agenda. Cultural intervention, which examines traditions, precedents, and practices the fabric of the organization’s culture in a direct, focused approach (French and Bell) would be the intervention I suggest to be used at Massport. Many of the issues present at Massport came about due to the lack of culture at the organization there was no set practices that the company followed, instead it came across as the company was fulfilling a political agenda. The intervention should be implemented by HR and a consultant who was brought in from outside the company. HR and the consultant will sit down go over the organization’s history, mission and accountability then decide what parts of each area needs to be adjusted to produce the outcome needed to help the organization make a turn around for the better.