Business Management
be made. An example of a business that had to employ change as a result of external pressures was Qantas.
Qantas is the world’s oldest continually operating airline. It was founded in the Queensland outback in 1920 and is Australia’s largest domestic and international airline. Qantas is also recognised as one of the world’s leading long distance airlines, having pioneered services from Australia to North America and Europe. Qantas employs more than 33000 staff across a network, which spans 142-destinations in Australia, Africa, America, Asia, Europe and the Pacific.
Qantas works in the global market place with its international flights operating in the countries mentioned above. International airlines also operate out of Australia such as Air New Zealand and British Airways. The fall of the Australian dollar had a significant impact on Qantas together with increased competition and the cost of airfares. Qantas was forced to introduce changes to its operations.
In response to the competitive pressures, Qantas introduced changes such as cutting their prices in the hope of putting competitors such as Impulse and Virgin Blue out of business. They also made business deals with Impulse Airlines for a takeover.
There are several factors that indicate that the changes within the organisation Qantas have been effective. Qantas in 2002 recorded a net profit of $A631.0 million which was up 5.7% of the previous year. Another indicator is the increase in market share, which at present is approximately 80 %.
Qantas is an organisation that is a ‘good practice’ example because their change within the organisation has been successful. Managers showed leadership skills, followed an effective change process, acted as change agents by developing a strategy. Managers gained employee acceptance and commitment to the changes and the key performance indicators reflected on how effective the change actually was. Qantas will continue to seek cost efficiencies, structural changes and actively manage its operations with a view to improving profitability. Strategies aimed at achieving these include a focus on market segmentation in both the domestic and international markets, invest in a new and more cost efficient fleet, a focus on improving the profitability of subsidiary businesses and continued investment in technology while competing in a global environment. Qantas is an example of an organisation that is surviving in a rapidly changing environment.