Case Study: Engaging Tensions

Ideas in practice

Singapore Airlines has sustained itself over time as a performance leader while achieving both excellence in service and low-cost leadership.[2] These objectives seem incompatible, so how has the airline done it? One way is investing in newer airplanes. By making this short-term investment, the company has saved in the longer term on airplane maintenance, as well as logistical problems due to delayed or cancelled flights. Customers also prefer newer airplanes and see the effects of more reliable service.

In 2005, India’s Zensar Technologies created a temporary cross-functional team to build a disruptive software solution. This team was created when the CEO realized that the software solution required people who could imagine disruptive innovation and those who could think about execution. The team integrated these opposites and developed the new software, which proved to be a source of significant growth for Zensar[3].

[2] https://hbr.org/2010/07/the-globe-singapore-airlines-balancing-act

[3] https://hbr.org/2011/06/the-ambidextrous-ceo