Leadership for Australian Qantas Airlines- MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about theLeadership for Australian Qantas Airlines Limited. Answer: Introduction Alan Joyce is an Irish-born executive. The soft- spoken and small in stature Australian Qantas Airlines Limited Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and managing director was born on 30th June 1966 as Alan Joseph Joyce. Joyce grew up in Tallaght on the outskirts of Dublin with his siblings. Given his humble background, Joyce focused on education and went to Dublin Institute of Technology where he obtained his Bachelors degree in Applied Science (Physics and Mathematics) and later attended Trinity College Dublin for his Masters of Science Degree (Qantas, 2017). Joyce started his career in Aer Lingus as a research analyst and later was hired by the non-operational Ansett Australia before joining Qantas group in 2000: Jetstar as the founding CEO in 2013. In addition to being a member of the Qantas Airways Limited, he was a board member of Jester Airways a subsidiary of Qantas until 2008 when he was appointed as the carriers CEO. Also, Joyce is a member of the Royal Aeronautical Society and the International Air Transport Associations board of governors (Financial Times, 2015). During his time as Qantas CEO and managing director, the airline has continued to lead in the Australian Market and forging of stronger airline partnership and the entry of the airline into Asian market. In 2015, Alan Joyce was named as the Airline CEO of the year by the Centre for Aviation (CAPA, 2015). Having worked in the as CEO initially for Jetstar and Qantas Airlines, Joyce has a wealth of skill on how to manage people in the airlines. Different leaders have adopted different leadership approaches to steer their organization. According to Allan Joyce having been chief executive for a start-up and an incumbent company Joyce exercised classical leadership qualities i.e. accountability, decisiveness, communication, and teamwork to achieve success in the organization. Joyce has always adopted the same transformational leadership style while working at Jetstar as well at Qantas (BCG, 2010). The executive acknowledged that decision are affected by the organization with Jetstar taking a shorter time to implement compared to Qantas which thirty thousand (30,000) employees. Transformational leaders work closely with their subordinates to effect the change that the organization needs, develop a clear and attainable vision to guide the change process and walks the walk hand in hand with t he team to fully execute the transformation in line with the laid down policies (Avoli, 1994). Transformational leaders exemplify ability to take the right risk, make difficult decisions, and encourage innovation and creativity while also keeping their ego- under control (Shelton, 2012). The transformational leadership style by Joyce can be evidenced by his move to slash the airline's jobs and wages by 15% of the workforce after a $2.8 billion net loss in 2014. In the three-year makeover, some of the persons facing retrenchment were Joyces mentors and friends which Joyce termed as appalling yet necessary. Following the move, Qantas registered a 234% jump in profits in its first half of 2015 and announced a $900 million profit for that financial year. In 2010 following a series of engine problems with Qantas A380s carriers and subsequent grounding of the six A380s, Joyce announced entering into an alliance with Emirates and this followed the closing of Singapore-Changi first class lounge given Qantas had no A380s operating. Qantas revised their route for London services through Dubai hence closing of Changi first class lounge was followed by opening one in Dubai (Australian Aviation, 2012). Joyce has further managed to restore company dividend policy after a seven yea rs period after which evidences the confidence of the ability of the airlines to continuously make profits. Joyce had embarked on a series of strategies to cut on the airline's fuel cost and revenue saving. Having been chief executive officer for Qantas for the last seven years, Alan Joyce has faced some challenges. In 2011, Qantas was faced with industrial dispute that saw Alan Joyce announce the grounding of their domestic and international fleet for two consecutive days .i.e. 29th -30th November to lock out all the staff until the trade unions representing the employees reach an agreement with the management. The three trade unions; Australian and International Pilots Association (AIPA) representing pilots, Transport Workers Union (TWU) representing the ground and catering employees, and Australian Licensed Aircraft Engineers Association (ALAEA) representing engineers. Staff claim action was escalated by the announcement for a restructure by Qantas in Asia which would lead to loss of one thousand jobs in Australia. Joyce emphasized was necessary for the successful move into Asia as a turnaround strategy of the airline to profitability. The move was to improve the earning capacity of the firm which was incurring losses and losing its international market share with stiff competition from Emirates and Virgin Australia (Parliament of Australia, 2012). The two-day grounding of the planes had devastating effect on the economy estimated at $80 million on loss from the tourism industry. Qantas itself lost revenue estimated at $40 million from grounding their fleet and a subsequent $70 million in damages. The intervention of Fair Work Australia (FWA) which ended the industrial action between the Qantas Airlines Limited and the trade unions gave room for negotiation and possible arbitration. Instead of grounding the fleet, Joyce should have considered negotiation which would have been less costly for Qantas. Another challenge experienced by Joyce is the slump in the value of the companys share after rumours that Qantas Airbus A380 had crashed in 2010. In the 90 years of operation, the carrier has not experienced any fatalities leave alone a crush. Following a series of engine breakdown, the six Qantas A380 were grounded to give time to investigate the malfunctions. Joyce had to assure the investors that the airline was safe hence his action to ground the Airbus A380 cleared the rumour thereby the share gained back on the previous losses. Further by steering the company to profitability, Joyce has strengthened the share price with prices rallying to a ten-month high due to growth in profit to a tune of twenty-five percent in 2016. With increasing the investors confidence in the ability of Qantas to continue growing its future. The more investors willing to invest, the more the price of shares are bound to escalate. To be more efficient and avoid slumping of stock price, the management nee d at all times contain problems to avoid negative company image. Alan Joyce offers valuable lessons in leadership. First, as a leader, its important to not show any form of physical stress since as far as the subordinates are concerned the leader should be calm and collected as he/she is a source of inspiration. Also, its important for leaders to compartmentalize tasks so that focus on tasks can be prioritized based on importance and urgency. Further, being a leader practicing inclusivity is key to the success of the team and the organization. Moreover, being vocal, decisive, and advocating for workplace equality enhances relationships among employees. In addition to being highly flexible, a leader ought to be adaptable, balance short-term and long-term goals of the company and be able to make quick and rapid decisions. In conclusion, Alan Joyce embraces transformational leadership, and he has stood out as the boss that most Australian workers wish to work under. In a recent survey carried on more than a thousand Australian staff. Of those who took part in the inquiry, 21% voted in favour Joyce for his excellent management style which is focused on the future of the organization. Good leadership should be able to stand the constant shock syndrome that management faces day in day out of the running of the business. References Australian Aviation, 2012. Australian Aviation. 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[Online] Available at: https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/BN/2011-2012/ChronQantas [Accessed 15 May 2017]. Qantas, 2017. QANTAS.COM. [Online] Available at: https://www.qantas.com/travel/airlines/qantas-ceo/global/en [Accessed 15 May 2017]. Randal, J., 2004. Managing Change/Changing Managers. 1 ed. London: Psychology Press. Rose, G. R. . M., 2004. A Leadership Paradox: Influencing Others By Defining yourself. 1 ed. Indiana: Challenge Quest, LLC. Schein, E. H., 2016. Organization Culture and Leadership. 5 ed. New Jersey: John Wiley Sons, Inc. Shelton, D. E. J., 2012. Transformational leadership- Trust, Motivation and engage. 1 ed. New York: Trafford Publishing.