Assessment Type: Individual Reflection Report
Assessment Type: Individual Reflection Report – 1000 – 15000 words – individual assessment
Purpose: The individual reflection report is designed to allow students to evaluate their group’s performance, and their individual contributions the group’s performance based on hindsight against theoretical principles. It is designed to encourage students to take ownership of their learning, their performance and their outcomes.
This assessment contributes specifically to Learning Outcome e.
Value: 20%
Due Date: Week 13 - 5.00pm Friday October 17th 2014.
Topic: Reflections on the group experience..
Task Details: Individual Reflection Report – Students need to write a reflection report discussing and analysing the group work process undertaken during the group assessments. Students should refer to team work theory, and explain how well or poorly it operated in their group, and in their own specific performance. Students should conclude with at least three actions points that can improve their future group work performance, now that you have the benefit of experience and hindsight.
The report is to be reflective and evaluative (use referenced theory), and it is important that you offer critical insight. Avoid offering descriptive accounts as to "who had which role" and “what happened, when this or that went right or wrong". The review should focus on what you learnt as a consequence of the role(s) you fulfilled, leadership you offered or experienced, exemplary practices, the use of new found skills, or "moments of truth" (e.g., finding out how to give and receive feedback - the hard way).
Research requirements – students should use a minimum of 4 academic journal articles to support their reflections and analysis.
Presentation: 1000 - 1500 word short report – Word .doc or .docx
Title page, suitable headings and sub-headings, in-text referencing and reference list (Harvard – Anglia style)
Marking Guide: Analysis 30%
Theory support 30%
Recommendations/conclusions 30%
Presentation 10%
Total mark will be scaled to a mark out of 20
Why other airlines were not facing the issue?
Grounding of Qantas
The main motive for Qantas' difficulty is that its worldwide division is far from cost-effective. This is true for a lot of reasons. The first being that Australia's air marketplace is pretty liberalized as well as open skies agreements with countries like the UAE, have obverted Qantas with rigid competition from airlines like Etihad, Emirates, and Qatar Airways who overflew the market with surplus capacity along with a fantastic product for the reason that the financial support they get from their prosperous governments (through oil revenues). {Rourke, A. (2011)}
Virgin Australia has a tough brand plus has been doing well in building share in the commercial travel segment, even though from a low base. This approach has been capital-intensive with added domestic capability requiring noteworthy investment in new narrow body jet. The corporation managed to catch the attention of high-yielding passengers. In addition to that, the airlines are able to contain costs. However, essential revenue performance came under strain from challenging operating circumstances. Virgin is extremely geared, although fresh capital raisings to sustain acquisitions and also fleet investment have condensed balance sheet pressure. We suppose Virgin has sufficient funding of capital through its worldwide equity partners, Singapore Airlines, Etihad, and Air New Zealand. On the other hand, dilution may appear as a risk for on hand shareholders. Interest cover is low for the reason that of depressed earnings as well as high funding costs.
Looking again into the issue of the Qantas, the government of Australia is not in position to supply this monetary support to a lot of carriers based Australian which is in operation. This failing business model formed through the over-liberalization of the aircraft market, rigid competition from Asian/middle eastern carriers is more heightened by the absolute geographical location of Australia which is rather frankly distant from a lot of significant destinations Qantas serves, requiring costly, long range aircraft. Qantas operates a convoy that cannot optimize their functions (troublesome A388s, fuel guzzling 747s, and no B77Ls). {Danwarne, D, 2011}
On the other hand, Virgin Australia and other major airlines, has the benefit of being a younger company with a lesser and chiefly domestic network which makes alteration much more simplified task and less impactful/remarkable. {Creedy and Hannan, Steve and Ewin, 2011} With slight amount of effort made on the part of Qantas to modify their network last the last few years, on top of unstable oil prices and a volatile global economy has put Qantas in a poor monetary position, hence the mishap and concerns everyone hear regarding in the news.
Escalation of commitment by Qantas in 2011
There are few commitments which actually made Qantas to get into difficulty. Australian based airline Qantas, in 2011, faced noteworthy financial difficulty subsequent to the worldwide financial crisis. Its worldwide business was suffering a huge loss and, as per the CEO of the group Alan Joyce, the major commitment the airlines repairs and patch up expenditure were amongst the least efficient and most costly in the world. Not only this, commitments regarding high paid pilots and engineers were hard to bargain with. Tough reforms as well as restructuring were consequently proposed. These issues presented noteworthy challenges for Qantas in terms of HR Planning, which this statement will converse. {S O’Neill 2011}
I find Joyce as an individual decision maker rather than the group on the whole. He has taken a large amount of the condemnation himself which is what authentic leadership is about, so it might be easier for the Qantas brand name to get better. Either way, its worth repeating that a victorious international Qantas will ultimately deliver.
SWOT ANALYSIS
Strengths
Strong authority in Australian market
The multi brand plan allowed the company to place Qantas’ domestic system as ‘best for business as well as premium travel’ supported by Jetstar offering time and again stumpy fares. The execution of the strategy is proved by Qantas and Jetstar enduring to be the two most gainful Australian domestic networks, upholding its competitive situation with 70% market share.
Diversified geographic markets
The group’s offers services across different locations by using its two corresponding airlines, Qantas and Jetstar which function international, domestic and local services. Qantas’ main markets are domestic as well as international traffic connecting Australia. {Creedy and Hannan, Steve and Ewin, 2011 }
Weaknesses
Industrial action disputes
The company Qantas is extremely vulnerable to industrial action dispute. Inside Australia, wide-ranging industrial action plus union campaigns to disgrace the Qantas brand sourced noteworthy damage to the company in 2012. For example, the Transport Workers’ Union (TWU) endeavored to utilize the bargaining course of action for a new enterprise contract to dictate how some parts of Qantas ought to be run including how Qantas make use of human resources of a Qantas subsidiary in addition to preventing Qantas from making the reasonable use of contractors.
Opportunities
Increasing Australian domestic market
With downward moving worldwide travel demand on its network the Qantas group has amplified its focus on its in-country operations in the precedent few years to prop up business travel among major capitals and local communities, as well as in the fast-growing intrastate marketplace of Queensland as well as Western Australia.
Support from government
For Qantas, Australian government was extremely supportive in both odd and even times. This has given the company a lot of domestic support which opened the opportunity for the company to regain its brand name. This could also flow in a large amount of fund for its expansion.
Worldwide aviation partnership with Emirates
To strengthen its service further in increasing Asian region as well as to progress its network coverage transversely the Middle East, Europe, and Africa Qantas created a new worldwide aviation joint venture with Emirates. Under this tactical partnership agreed upon on September 2012, Qantas will shift its hub for Europe.
Threats
Virgin Australia and other major airlines, has the benefit of being a younger company with a lesser and chiefly domestic network which makes alteration much more simplified task and less impactful/remarkable.
TRANSFORMATION
I find the company has pursued transformational change
Objective TRANSFORMATIONAL
1 Competitive cost position for Qantas in both Domestic as well as worldwide businesses
Transformation in Operational efficiencies in Engineering, cost of sales improvements, Ground Operations, Catering, savings in IT, Procurement plus corporate functions
2. Leader in costumer centric market leadership
Transformation of Qantas Service offering, aircraft reconfiguration, ongoing enhancements in Alliances
& Network, and other customer initiatives
3 Development of workforce in order to match up with other competitors in the industry Investment in management training, communication effectiveness, and workplace transformation in addition to leadership and change capability,
Alan Joyce A Transactional Leader
Alan Joyce was chosen as CEO of Qantas and later assigned the top job to enhance the morale of the workforce and to pick up the staff commitment. But the decision by Joyce to ground the entire airline was an astonishing call which enforced the federal government which had never been viewed in the business world of Australia.
But if we see strategically, he come into view as a conqueror, for the reason that if we see to end with he was competent to rupture the log jam flanked by Qantas and the three unions as they were enforced to intercession and if they botched it then they would have to pursue arbitrary conciliation. Thus this was a no option condition for Joyce, the easygoing Irishman had to wage. He is obdurate concerning rebuilding the brand name of Qantas, by building the confidence of the customers in addition to employees in the corporation. He was selected and appointed as he had something different exceeding the internal and external candidates at Qantas, as he had the sparkle to get the toughest task done as Leigh Clifford, the chairman of Qantas, says (Cleary, 2012). The few characteristics which are set up in Joyce’s’ management approach is: {Schein, E.H. (2010)}
• Not a arrogant person
• Superb management quality
• Expresses a comprehensible vision
• Very self-effacing and modest
• Very prompt in actions
Thus if we verify, Joyce pursue more of Transactional management style where the leader wants that the squad members selected ought to be ready to comply with and follow whatever their leader ask them and the leader has the right to punish the team members if the work done is not up to the required standards in addition to that they are paid for the work done (Leadership Styles: Being the kind of leader your team requirements you to be., 2008).
Ethical Issues
The following is the two major ethical issues connected with this event. The first is; did Mr. Joyce taken a right decision in grounding Qantas operations? The next issue is; were the union’s acts and demands justifiable?
We have to think about what drove Mr. Joyce to opt for such radical measures? Let us have a Look at the numbers. $AUS 70 million of monetary damages and 7000 passengers were affected is not excusable, particularly in the highly aggressive airline industry. It appear simple to say that he ought to have merely given in to the union’s demands but, practically speaking, the workers were not giving the impression to compromise and furthermore sustained to go up their demands. So Mr. Joyce had his motives, but did he actually move on for right action? It was just about going for a chance. From an ethical point of view, on the other hand, Mr. Joyce demonstrated great ethical veracity – he wedged with his decision knowing all of the threats. He also used his management tools in order to solve the crisis to the best of his skills in the greatest interest of the group at large. On the other hand, it can also be observed that he went in opposition to the company’s unsurpassed interest by stopping what makes an airline company, a successful airline group, which is fairly wide of the mark.
Now let’s move on to the second issue and look at the employees unions. Their actions were unswervingly against Qantas’ best interest, which is wrong, ethically. {M Skulley2011} However we ought to take into thoughtfulness their incongruity with the company’s potential targets, which in part give good reason for their actions. But what defines the final limit? The unions threatened to carry on their industrial action for a whole year and were not wiling to finding the middle ground. Their acts were actually wiping out Qantas. Now that’s what makes it unethical issue.
References
• E Hannan, ‘Evans rebuts both sides on Fair Work’, The Australian, 14 April 2011, p.2, viewed 14 November 2011,
• M Skulley, ‘Unions want stronger hand’, The Australian Financial Review, 14 November 2011, p.3, viewed 14 November 2011,
• S O’Neill, Chronology of Fair Work: background, events and related legislation, Background note, updated November 2011, viewed 22 November 2011,
• P Wells, ‘Staff cuts crucial for Qantas to fly’, The Australian Financial Review, 21 November 2011, viewed 22 November 2011,
• Rourke, A. (2011) Stranded passengers await outcome of Qantas crisis talks, 30 October, [Online],
• Schein, E.H. (2010) Organizational Culture and Leadership, 4th edition, Son Francisco: john Wiley & Sons.
• Creedy and Hannan, Steve and Ewin, 2011, Qantas crisis costing economy $250m a day, viewed 11 February 2012
• Danwarne, D, 2011, Qantas delays A380 to buy 110 A320s, while eyeing first 787, viewed 23 March 2012,