ICCM – International Cultural Consultant for Orlando International Airport
The Institute for Cross Cultural Management (ICCM) at Florida Institute of Technology, together with our partner firm, IOS Partners, is providing consultation on all cultural and international matters regarding the construction, design, operations, and development of the Orlando International Airport (MCO). This work is part of the $1.8 billion phase 1 construction of the new South Terminal Complex, which will add more gates to better accommodate the increasing number of passengers, and is expected to open in spring 2021.
“Given the global demographic trends, the significant current number of international travelers to the Orlando airport, and the increase in international travel that will follow the South Terminal Project, the inclusion of a cultural lens is a savvy strategic decision,” said ICCM Executive Director, Dr. Richard Griffith.
To support MCO’s goals in achieving the first internationally recognized culturally competent airport, the project team has carried out various initiatives. A comprehensive gap analysis was conducted to identify the gaps through analysis of airport metrics, perspectives of various stakeholders, and creative benchmarking. Voices of the customers were incorporated via targeted focus group interviews and social media analysis. The project team also helped the airport elevate the concept of customer service to customer experience, and conducted work to enhance the airport’s branded experience known as the Orlando Experience. Currently, the team focuses on training initiatives on developing a culturally competent and customer-centric airport workforce, and the first phase of the cultural competence and customer experience workshop is rolled out to all GOAA employees.
The ICCM team working on this project is multidisciplinary, and consists of airport management experts, organizational effectiveness consultants, and data scientists. In addition, this project has provided hands-on applied experience to graduate students in the Industrial Organizational psychology program. Featured student work include literature research to enhance the design and physical space of the airport, dissemination of applied research in areas of talent management and organizational assessment, development of training materials and interactive workshop activities, and application of new analytical methods in conducting customer analysis and brand analytics.
For more information on airport cultural consultancy or other work conducted by ICCM, visit our website at http://iccmglobal.com.
