The Internal Stakeholders of Virgin Atlantic Airlines

A stakeholder is anyone or any group with an interest in the organization or industry, they can have influence or be influenced by the organization's activity, objectives, and protocol. On that account, it means stakeholders have accountability for the success of the organization. Two types of stakeholders are internal and external.

Internal stakeholders are the ones who personally work within the organization. The internal stakeholders of Virgin Atlantic Airlines are the owners and the employees. The owner Sir Richard Charles Nicholas Branson, his role and how he mainly affects the company is to make significant decisions that will heavily concern the internal stakeholders and external stakeholders. For example, he decided to partner with a company called LanzaTech so that together they can manufacture jet fuel from carbon waste gases. This allows them to receive more customers; as it shows that they are more environmentally friendly which increases their brand image and will allow them to give back to society while taking care of the environment. When there are more customers, profit increases, which will might not just benefit the employees and facilities of the organization but the economy of the country as well because more people are using their facilities.

The other internal stakeholders which are mentioned above are the employees. [image: Image result for employees of virgin airlines] There is a different type of employees who are directors, managers, and staff. Directors are top-level managers so their primary function is to look at the performance of the organization. Managers are middle-level managers so they will be the ones who will supervise the staff so that they can make sure the staff doesn't play off-key which allows them to achieve the company's objectives. The staff will be the ones that are more knowledgeable about the technical skills; so, they will mostly do everything that involves technical skills. This is the people who make up the company so without them, the company's goals will not be met and are not achievable.

External Stakeholders are people or groups that will indirectly with the company but they care about the performance of the company. The internal stakeholders for Virgin Atlantic Airlines are its customers and suppliers. The role of the customers and how they affect Virgin Atlantic is to purchase the services provided by Virgin Atlantic Airlines which is to let their customers travel to different parts of the world. Apart from that, customers help benefit their own country's economy which will help in decreasing unemployment and have a higher average income. 

Without them Virgin Atlantic Airlines will be unable to gain profit; so, they will not be able to pay utility bills and keep up with other competitors, which will eventually lead them to bankruptcy. Customers care about the company’s performance is good because if more people use it, they are more willing to try it. An example of how great Virgin Atlantic Airlines treat their customers is when one of their customers missed her flight because she was feeling unwell so the staff arranged accommodation for her to rest for the night. The staff also changed flights for her even though she missed it and they didn't charge her a single cent.

The role of Suppliers and how they affect the company in Virgin Atlantic is by providing high-quality products from a producer. For example, one of Virgin Atlantic Airlines suppliers is Humphry Slocombe; they supply Virgin Atlantic Airlines' signature ice cream which they have personally created for the organization. The ice cream was influenced by the organization and owner quirky style. Another example of Virgin Atlantic’s supplier is Airbus which now manufactures their newer planes which are the Airbus A330-900. These planes produce lesser noise compared to the other aircraft so it will help decrease noise pollution and it helps save fuel by 32% there less fossil fuel will be used.

There are three types of skills all managers are required to have but the level of importance is different for each manager. The three types of skills all managers are required to have are technical skills, human skills, and conceptual skills.Technical skills are having the ability and understanding to execute a specific task. Technical skills are not only required to be very hands-on but also the skills to improve sales, innovate and market different products and services.

Virgin Atlantic Airlines only seek the best of the best but their strength is that they have a strong marketing team. For example, their marketing team maximizes their social media by playing hosting an online campaign. It is where Linda (a fictional flight attendant) posted on where it is traveling. If they can guess where she is, they stand a chance to win rewards that tie with the company's product. It allowed Virgin Atlantic Airlines to gain a lot of more social media following and customers. They also commercialize their owner as many times as possible because he already had a brand identity to himself.

The ability to communicate and interact with people. It is required by all three managers as they need to socialize with everyone so that they can build teamwork and relationships. Virgin Atlantic Airlines staff are trained to the very best so their communication skills are marvelous and excellent. For example, one customer said that when he wanted to check in there was no queue and when he was checking in the staff would ask him about his holiday plans. When his flight was delayed about one hour the pilot was very apologetic and gave a detailed explanation of why the flight was delayed. This shows that the staff has great human skills not just from their training but the organization has decided to make employees the number one priority. Allowing employees to know their purpose and come to work with high spirits.

It is the ability to think under pressure and form a creative solution that will help solve the problem. Conceptual skills are to utilize by top-line managers. Sir Richard Branson's creative thinking can be seen from his tendency to ask why a lot. He likes to use the five why's method as it allows himself and others to think deeper. By getting curious and asking enough question it will inspire to think of at least a few solutions, as it also allows to find the root of the problem. He uses this method as it helps to start from somewhere as that is what people cannot do.