MAS "Historical" Strategies Summary

below is my interpretation and summary for MAS past article. unsure if it fits the assignment given to produce a 1 page press release too. anyway just to share something i learned from MAS's past positioning strategies. perhaps readers can gain some insights too. don't worry, it's less than 600 words long, well, as i said, 1 page. hehe. hopefully it's insightful. =P

Malaysia Airlines, one of the world’s acclaimed first class airlines, continually position itself to be the leading airline by its vision, “An Airline of Excellence”. With strive for distinction in even the finest of quality ranging from safety, comfort, service, punctuality, technology to leadership.

MAS has its eye on 3 main thrusts within its mission. Namely: the benchmark airline for safety, efficiency, and quality of services; to develop KL as the preferred gateway to South-East Asia region, as well as a major cargo transshipment area for Asia-Pacific rim.

With its core focus on Destination Service Excellence (DSE) program, an extension of TQM since July 1991, further underscores the goals of establishing a customer-driven and quality-oriented culture.

Within the ambits of DSE, chairman Tan Sri Zain Azraai stressed upon kaizen by addressing 4 areas; expectation of total quality in the individual of the organization, managerial effectiveness by nurturing win-win partnerships with all people MAS has connections with, organizational productivity starting from the top leadership, and the non-human side of the organizational total quality comprising of equipments, facilities, processes and systems.

Consistent with the belief that quality is the key to long term competitive advantage, MAS reinforced its service quality strategy by embracing the concept of “quality in everything we do”, including decision-making, work processes, work environment and teamwork; also to improve customers’ perceived quality of MAS by covering the technical and functional aspects of the service offerings.

Among the few areas of concerns MAS had addressed profoundly includes Reinforcing the Corporate Culture to Foster Change, Communicating Externally with Customers, MAS Advertisements, New Uniforms for Frontline Employees, Quality Meals, Flexible Menu Policy, Quick Meal Policy for First Class Passengers, Prompt Meal Service for Golden Club Class Passengers, Beverage Service on Cart for Economy Class Passengers, Cabin Crew Proficiency in Foreign Languages, Taking Advantage of Technology, Computerization of Catering Operations, and Investment in Training Technology.

Shared values through internal communications both top-down and bottom-up using in-house newsletter (Berita MAS), cross functional action teams, and education of basic service standards consisting of telephone etiquette and handling customer complaints were among the corporate culture change strategy. External communications revolve around understanding customer needs, offering services, managing expectations, and persuading purchases.

Press releases, the in-flight magazine Wings of Gold, familiarization tours of Malaysia Airlines’ facilities for travel agents, journalists and the general public, and so on played tremendous roles in advertising MAS. The “Care” commercial, “Reunion”, “Mulu”, and “Special Fares” all catered well in the local market whereas the “Vision” commercial expands its influence internationally by working with Lucas Film Ltd, the most ambitious TV commercial ever undertaken by an advertiser in Asia.

Quality looks through cleanliness, orderliness, and customer-friendly systems; awarded quality meals by Inflight Research Services of London thanks to the attention to conditions and appearances of meals rather than just variety and health-conscious menu provided. RM140mil was spent by MAS in May 1994 to establish a high-tech training center. Al-in-all, MAS progressively delivers its quest toward “An Airline of Excellence”. Reviews on the means MAS uses to measure and monitor its service quality throughout organization and where it has come to will be disclosed in the future issue of Managing Service Quality.