ACI Europe Regional Airports Conference and Exhibition

Ljubljana, Slovenia Wednesday April 4th 2012

Key Note Address:

Building an Entrepreneurial Mindset in Regional Airports

Dr Richard Plenty

Managing Director, This Is... www.thisisinternational.com

Setting the scene ... This Is ...

Our vision... creating better organisations

Our work with airports Worked with DAA on transforming their organisation since 2005 Presented numerous papers at Airport Conferences since 2008 Including leadership in regional airports, Dubrovnik 2010 Interviewed Airport CEOs for series of articles in Airport World since 2009 Including challenges facing regional airports May 2010 Co-organisers of ACI Europe Leadership and Change Forum since 2011 Provided HR Strategy training to airports on behalf of ACI World since 2012

The focus of this talk

Building an entrepreneurial mindset in regional airports ….

What do we mean by an entrepreneurial mindset?

‘A set of personal dispositions, also known as the

entrepreneurial spirit, which leads to the innovative practice of

- Identifying and creating opportunities

- Acting to manifest these opportunities in a productive way’

Exercise 1 – Thinking out of the Box

When I give the instruction, open the box and take out the

object inside

You have 90 seconds to think of as many uses for the object as

you can

Kyle Macdonald - one red paperclip

If you don’t start, how can you finish?

Start small, think big, have fun

Just trade it!

If you really want it, you will

Made 14 trades from paperclip to house

Peter Boyle, entrepreneur ...

Jewellery entrepreneur

From ‘barrow boy’ to 40 shops

Turnover £35m, employs 500 people

You can always earn money if you put your mind to it

If you have to work all night, you do

I began to realise that I could do anything if I wanted to

You make real money by understanding what the customer will buy

Good social skills, respect for others, give a little - all go a long way

It’s dangerous to stand still - in street trading someone will take your pitch

Do you recognise these entrepreneurs?

Summary of the entrepreneurial mindset ...

Very strong desire for self reliance

Strong self belief and self efficacy

‘It can be done’

Passionate and open to new experience

Ability to identify and create opportunities

Prepared to collaborate

‘Call to action’ and prepared to work hard

Is there an entrepreneurial mindset in European

regional airports?

On a scale of 1-10 , where 1 is not at all and 10 a great deal

How much of an entrepreneurial mindset do you think the

European regional airport sector demonstrates at present ?

The challenge faced by regional airports

Size matters: smaller airports harder to run at a profit

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Find ways of supporting smaller airports by shaping policy

Ensure connectivity and support regional economies

Political Strategy

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Support

Smaller

Airports

Entrepreneurial Strategy

Reduce costs and increase revenues

Could have large impact on viability of marginal airports

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Decrease

Cost/PAX

Increase Commercial

revenue/PAX

A mindset of reducing costs

New Ways of Providing Customer Service Challenge all existing way of doing things - Use of new technology e.g. security, queues

- Any non productive use of labour e.g. opening hours

- Look for opportunities for outsourcing, shared services

Multiskilling, Mobility and Flexibility Look for ways of making better use of people - What do staff do when planes not in turn round

- Fire fighters, ground handlers, maintenance, snow clearing

- Management tasks

Usually means changing the ‘psychological contract’

A mindset of increasing revenues

Aeronautical Revenue Where possible, route development the key - Collaboration with airlines, tourism, businessmen, politicians

- Business parks, hotel destinations, conference facilities

- Developing connectivity as a regional hub

- However, there may be limits to what is possible

Ancillary Revenue Ancillary revenue can always be reviewed - What customers want: retail, services

- New ways of raising money: car parking, advertising

- Associated businesses: car valeting, servicing, mail

- Use of infrastructure: ‘concert hall’, offices, driving lessons

Consider new business models and partnerships

What can kill off an entrepreneurial mindset …

Organisation does not want challenge and ideas Status, hierarchy, over regimentation, ideas seen as threat

Unions and staff ‘protecting’ each other People who have grown up in company stuck in their ways

Little experience of thinking ‘business’ or ‘creative’ People lacking the skills to work in this way

Not the right calibre or experience of staff

Example: Inglis Lyons, airport leader ... Managing Director, Highlands and Islands Airports

Became Managing Director May 2005

Runs 11 airports from 8,000 – 600,000 pax/annum

Aggressive cost reductions, new revenue streams

Changed structure

Large head office managing 11 aerodromes to

11 semi-autonomous airports supported by Head Office

Gave airports more commercial freedom Accountability and ownership

Intuition as well as discipline and structure

Changed mindset

Challenged all ‘habits’ and existing ways of doing things

Looked for best practice examples outside

Training & Development

Leadership

Teambuilding

People Management

Building an entrepreneurial culture

Convince others (and yourself) this is the right approach

- Agree the reasons, rationale, strategy

- Set strategic objectives and KPIs

Take stock of the current situation

- What is your track record?

- What has been stopping you?

- What capabilities do you have?

Build your organisation capability

- Review organisation structure and culture

- Invest in training and development

- Look externally at best practice

Change mindset of relying on others

- External funding not the first port of call

- First, look for what you can do yourself

Building an entrepreneurial culture

Entrepreneurs are simply those who understand that there is little difference

between obstacle and opportunity and are able to turn both to their advantage.

Niccolo Machiavelli

I wanted to be an editor or a journalist, I wasn’t really interested in being an

entrepreneur, but I soon found I had to become an entrepreneur in order to

keep my magazine going.

Richard Branson

I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don't sit

down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them!

Madam C.J. Walker (first woman to make a million)

Thank you!

Don’t forget the ACI supported

Leadership and Change Management

Forum and Exhibition

London, Oct 17-19 2012

Richard@thisis.eu

Terri@thisis.eu