Ethics Assignment: Qantas Airways

This assignment discusses the code of ethics of Qantas Airways, breach of code of conduct, IS and IT governance, and CSR and ethics.

Ethics Assignment
Qantas Airways
Running head: Ethics Assignment 0
Student’s Name
Address
24-04-2019

Ethics Assignment 1
Contents
Overview Of company and its shareholders....................................................................................1
Code of Ethics of Company.............................................................................................................4
Breach of Code of Conduct.............................................................................................................4
IS and IT Governance......................................................................................................................5
CSR and Ethics................................................................................................................................6
Qantas View of CSR........................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................8

Ethics Assignment 2
Overview Of company and its shareholders
Qantas Airways is the third oldest airline in the world, which is doing well in its operations
(Abjorensen & Docherty, 2014). As per the annual report of the company published for the year
ended 30th June 2018, this company earned $1,604 million as its profit before tax. Top twenty
major shareholders are also detailed in the subjective annual report. HSBC Custody Nominees
(Australia) Limited, J P Morgan Nominees Australia Limited, Citicorp Nominees Pty Limited,
National Nominees Limited and Pacific Custodians Pty Limited (Emp Share Plan Test), BNP
Paribas Nominees Pty Ltd (Agency Lending DRP A/C) and BNP Paribas Noms Pty Ltd (DRP)
are few major shareholders of the company that holds more than 1% share of the same
(investor.qantas.com, 2018). In order to discuss the senior management of the company, this is to
say that the following people consist, the board of the company,
Name Designation Interest in other companies
Leigh Clifford Ao Chairman and Independent Non-
Executive Director
Mr. Clifford is a Director of
Bechtel Group Inc and Chairman
of Bechtel Australia Pty Ltd and
the National Gallery of Victoria
Foundation.
Alan Joyce Ac Chief Executive Officer Mr. Joyce is a Director of the
Business Council of Australia
and a Member of the
International Air Transport
Association’s Board of

Ethics Assignment 3
Governors, having served as
Chairman from 2012 to 2013.
Maxine Brenner Independent Non-Executive
Director
Ms. Brenner is a Director of
Origin Energy Limited, Orica
Limited and Growthpoint
Properties Australia Limited.
Richard
Goodmanson
Independent Non-Executive
Director
-
Richard Goyder Ao Independent Non-Executive
Director and Chairman -Executive
Director
-
Jacqueline Hey Independent Non-Executive
Director (Cew.org.au, 2019)
Ms. Hey is a Director of
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank
Limited and is Chairman of its
Technology Committee. She is a
Director of AGL Energy Limited
and Chairman of its Safety
Belinda Hutchinson
Am
Independent Non-Executive
Director
Chairman of the Future
Generation Global Investment
Company, Chairman of Thales
Australia and

Ethics Assignment 4
Michael L’estrange
Ao
Independent Non-Executive
Director
-
Paul Rayner Independent Non-Executive
Director
Chairman of Treasury Wine
Estates Limited, a Director of
Boral Limited and Chairman of
its Audit Committee, and a
Director of the Murdoch
Children’s Research Institute.
Todd Sampson Independent Non-Executive
Director
-
Barbara Wa Independent Non-Executive
Director
Director of Caltex Australia
Limited
Major shareholders of the company have an influence on the decision of the company as
they can reject the coming projects. As they hold a significant number of shares, they have
voting rights and therefore may remove any of the directors for a proper purpose if wants so.
Code of Ethics of Company
Company has its own code of ethics that provides a brief picture of the attitude of the
company along with the practices adopted by the same. This code is the corporate governance
policy of the Qantas group. As per the non-negotiable business principles mentioned under the
code, the Qantas group comply with the applicable legal requirements. Further, the group treats
people with dignity and committed to fair and true accounting reporting (Qantas.com, 2019a).

Ethics Assignment 5
The respective code also includes Anti-bribery policy according to which all the employees and
personnel of the group are required to comply with the applicable anti-bribery aw irrespective of
their designation in the organization. This policy restricts every employee by offering or
receiving any kind of amount or gifts for an improper purpose. Qantas groups adhere to keep and
maintain the records as required under statutory requirements. As Qantas is listed on Australian
Stock exchange, all the listing rules are applicable to the same. Continuous disclosure policy is
also there which requires every employee to inform all the material nonpublic transactions.
Section 1043A of Corporations Act 2001 consist of provisions related to insider trading. These
provisions are applicable to all the employee of the group in Australia. This prevents them by
misusing the available price sensitive information for personal benefits. The code of ethics
includes many other provisions related to the privacy policy, document governance and many
other related aspects.
Breach of Code of Conduct
After discussing the code of ethics of the Qantas group, it is clear that the group is
committed towards the adoption of ethical practices. In general, the group is doing well and also
has good value in the eyes of its stakeholders in terms of goodwill. Nevertheless, some incidents
are there where the group breached the code of ethics developed and maintained by itself. The
very first incident is the recent one which happened in the year 2017. The group revealed the full
name of its 8 passengers, their seta number along with their frequent flyer numbers who were
looking at the Check-in the app of Qantas (Whyte, 2017). As per the code of ethics of the group,
the same is committed to respect the dignity and privacy of its shareholders. The group has its
separate policy on the matter of privacy, which is a part of the code of ethics. According to this

Ethics Assignment 6
policy, all the employees of the group are required to comply with the privacy law and
regulation. By revealing the personal details of passengers, the group breached its code of
conduct. In the past too, this group found to be liable for exploiting cabin crew and other staff
and also paid penalties for the same. Further another incident is also recent where the group
asked its employees to work over Christmas that too voluntary and unpaid. Group faced huge
criticism for this (Puhak, 2018). As per the code of ethics of the group, the same believes to
follow good practices considering the interest of all the stakeholders. The employee is the most
significant stakeholder of the group and yet by calling them on work on Christmas day, the
company breached the code of ethics (Noyes & Cunningham, 2018)
IS and IT Governance
Qantas have a privacy and security policy. This states the manner in which the group
collects information about customers/passengers. According to this policy, the group is eligible
to collect and manage the sensitive personal information of customers. This policy also stipulates
the manner in which the group handles personal information. There are certain events where the
group can share the information of its passengers to third parties. The code of ethics does not
specify these details and provisions, hence this would not be wrongful to state that the code of
conduct and ethics includes IS governance to a very narrow extent. This code can be improved in
many ways in relation to IT governance. IT hack is common these days and in such a situation,
the group can develop a particular policy on the use of information technology. Group can
restrict/limit the access and use of software and internal data warehouse. Such steps will surely
increase the value of the organization. This can be understood by an example. For instance,
firstly there will be less risk of the events of a data breach. If no such breach will be there, groups

Ethics Assignment 7
would not have to pay any compensation, fines, or penalties. It will bring a positive impact on
the tangible assets of the company. Further, it will make goodwill of the company even better as
people will consider these groups as fair and ethical. This will lead to a positive impact on
intangible assists.
CSR and Ethics
Corporate social responsibility can be understood as a business approach that contributes
towards sustainable development by providing social, environmental, and economic advantages
to all the stakeholders. There are many definition and practices of corporate social responsibility.
This is to state that the area of CSR is wide and it consists many of the topics such as health and
safety, human rights, environmental effects, corporate governance and many others
(Lexicon.Ft.Com, 2019). The main objective of CSR is to ensure that a business is conducting its
operations in an ethical manner. CSR can be treated as an aspect of business ethics. Business
ethics is all about to the operations in an ethical manner. Here ethical manner refers to one that
considers the interest of all the stakeholders (Bradley, 2019). Business leaders are required to
check the manner in which their decisions affect society and other stakeholders. Business ethics
demand to act in a manner, which is beneficial for the stakeholders, and CSR on the different
side consider the interest of stakeholders and think beyond their decisions. In this manner, it is
not wrong to state that CSR contributes to business ethics or is an activity that supports the level
of ethics in the upper direction.
Qantas View of CSR

Ethics Assignment 8
Qantas consider CSR as one of the important areas of work. One may find the views and
attitude of this group regarding CSR by having a look at the “Acting Responsibly” link on its
website. Groups are committed to reduce the negative impact of their activities on the
environment. Fuel efficiency, carbon offsetting, sustainability insights are some of the emerging
areas related to CSR where the group is working (Qantas.com, 2019b). Under the corporate
governance statement of the group, which is mentioned under the annual report of the company,
the board believes to take the ethical and responsible decisions. Group also carries out the
activities of fair financial reporting. By looking after all these facts, one may say that the
company has a positive opinion regarding the adoption of CSR, which also reflect in the code of
conduct. The code has been developed considering the interest of all stakeholders, which further
support its corporate social responsibility. Equal employment opportunities, whistleblower
policy, privacy policy are some of the relatable areas. In this manner, this can be say that the
CSR views of Qantas and code of ethics developed by this group.
References
Abjorensen, N., & Docherty, J., C. (2014). Historical Dictionary of Australia. Maryland:
Rowman & Littlefield.
Bradley, J., (2019). Moral Ethics Vs. Business Ethics. Retrieved From:
https://smallbusiness.chron.com/moral-ethics-vs-business-ethics-57808.html

Ethics Assignment 9
Cew.org.au. (2019). Jacqueline Hey. Retrieved From: https://cew.org.au/members/jacqueline-
hey/
investor.qantas.com. (2018). Qantas Annual Report 2018. Retrieved From:
https://investor.qantas.com/FormBuilder/_Resource/_module/doLLG5ufYkCyEPjF1tpgy
w/file/annual-reports/2018-Annual-Report-ASX.pdf
Lexicon.Ft.Com. (2019). Definition of corporate social responsibility (CSR). Retrieved From:
http://lexicon.ft.com/Term?term=corporate-social-responsibility--(CSR)
Noyes & Cunningham. (2018). Qantas call for Christmas airport volunteers has workers seeing
red. Retrieved From: https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/qantas-call-for-
christmas-airport-volunteers-has-workers-seeing-red-20181207-p50kzk.html
Puhak, J., (2018). Qantas slammed for allegedly asking employees to work 'voluntary and
unpaid' shifts over Christmas. Retrieved From: https://www.foxnews.com/travel/qantas-
asking-employees-to-volunteer-to-work-for-free-over-christmas
Qantas.com. (2019a). Retrieved From:
https://www.qantas.com/infodetail/about/corporateGovernance/CodeofConductandEthics
.pdfs
Qantas.com. (2019b). Our planet. Retrieved From:
https://www.qantas.com/in/en/qantas-group/acting-responsibly/our-planet.html
Whyte, S., (2017). Qantas data breach reveals customer details. Retrieved From:
https://www.crikey.com.au/2017/04/04/qantas-passenger-views-other-passenger-details-
in-data-breach/