Air Canada: Flying High with Information Technology

538 Words3 Pages
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF CASE STUDIES IN MANAGEMENT HEC045 Volume 12 Issue 2 June 2014 Air Canada: Flying High with Information Technology Case prepared by Forough KARIMI-ALAGHEHBAND 1 and Professor Suzanne RIV ARD 2 We are in a customer service industry. In this line of business, the differentiators are service leve!, identification and innovation, but innovation is key. And innovating means staying on top of things, knowing your business in order to understand what could make a difference. We are constant! y searching for new ways to use information technology. 1 have one person whose sole job is to look at what's out there from an innovation standpoint, what would be good for Air Canada. He's looking at what's coming, and he shares. Also, in our outsourcing contract with IBM, there is a clause by which they have to organize innovation sessions for us. And although our contract with Operation SYS does not have a specifie clause on innovation, they know that we like to innovate, and they're coming to show us a new system that they have developed that could help us eut costs. (Senior Vice-President, E-Commerce and Chief Information Officer, Air Canada) 3 Managing the information resource of a firm that is focused both on "engaging with customers" and competing "more effectively on multiple levels against the low-pricing structures offered by 4 low-cost carriers" entailed many challenges, which the Air Canada CIO and her team had been addressing in multiple ways. Air Canada- The Company Founded in 1937, Air Canada was Canada's largest airline in 2011, serving over 32 million customers annually. In 1989, Air Canada was privatized. The first years after privatization were challenging. After four years of net !osses (from 1990 to 1993), 1994 marked the return to profitability. 5 Air Canada acquired its main rival, Canadian

More about Air Canada: Flying High with Information Technology

Open Document