MANAGEMENT TRAINEE PROGRAM OF TURKISH AIRLINES: GLOBAL DISTANCE EDUCATION

ABSTRACT

It has always been a contested task to try to present a scientific base for the concept of ‘management.’ The concept of management, which has always been of great importance to the institutions and organizations, has gone through periodical changes both in terms of its structure and scope, and improved in a parallel fashion as the time goes by. Political, economic, social and cultural transitions at global scale in the second half of the 20^th century uncovered the necessity for certain organizations to revisit their concepts of management. 

As a result of the economic equilibrium, which was driven by globalization, technological developments and political trends, neoliberal tendencies started to be favored all over the world. Consequently, free market system has been adopted and the increasing level of competition, which is supported by the system, gave way to the idea that the only way for the organizations to dominate the market that they play in is to present a more institutionalized, holistic and innovative approach.

The organizations, which have been following a more traditionalistic approach to management in the previous periods, started to make modifications in their methods. The workers, who have been considered to be mere manpower in the past, started to be seen as ‘value’ and that came out to be important for the sustainability of the organization. This viewpoint gave way to the strategic management practices. Management trainee programs of the institutionalized units are a result of this understanding. Today, several organizations train their managers on their own or through different means. 

This study aims at examining the management trainee programs in the latest technological level that they arrived at, by focusing on how practical and productive these measures are in the special example of the Turkish Airlines.