Employment Relations: Case Study Analysis of Qantas Airlines Conflict

This report analyzes an employment relations case study centered on the conflict within Qantas Airlines, specifically focusing on the contrasting leadership styles and values of Alan Joyce and Tony Sheldon. The report identifies Alan Joyce as representing radicalism, characterized by inherent conflicts between employees and employers, stemming from unequal power and income distribution. Conversely, Tony Sheldon is portrayed as embodying unitarism, where employees and management share common goals. The analysis highlights specific actions of both leaders, such as Joyce's grounding of aircraft in response to employee demands and Sheldon's leadership in employee protests. The report references several academic sources to support its analysis, providing a comprehensive examination of the employment relations dynamics at play within the Qantas case study, offering insights into leadership, workplace conflict, and differing ideological approaches to employment relations.

Running head: EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Assignment (Employment Relations)
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

1EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
Answer 1
It is a matter of fact that from the given case study, it can be said that the Alan Joyce
has the values of a radicalism where as Tony Sheldon possesses the values of unitarism. This
is because, by the actions and intentions of Alan Joyce, it is seen that there are a basic and
inherent conflict if interest between the employees and the employers under his reign. The
main conflict that emerged from the ownership is of the means of production and the
consequential unequal allocation of power and income (Atkinson & Storey, 2016). On the
other hand, the values of Tony Sheldon can be categorized as unitarism, and in this scenario,
it is seen that the relationship between the employees and the management is in general
harmonious. The employees and the employers share the common goals and ambition for the
organization. These values can be categorized by the actions of these persons from the given
case study (Bray et al., 2014). It is seen how Alan Joyce suddenly announced that they are
going to ground all the domestic and international aircrafts in a press meet and that affected
the Australian economy along with the huge workforce of that particular organization (Kim,
2017). It is a matter of fact that this was a result of the employees protest against the
organization asking for better work conditions. On the other hand, Tony Sheldon is seen as a
man of unitarism, as under his leadership the employees of Qantas Airlines protested against
the authority. In the year of 2011, Qantas Airlines and Transport Workers Union engaged
into an industrial bargaining where the union workers demanded that the organization should
have assured better work condition, and that resulted in a sudden shut down in the
organization.
Answer 2
The analysis of the values, those are present in Alan Joyce and Tony Sheldon matches
with their actions that is mentioned in the given case study (Kersley et al., 2013). It is seen

2EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
how Alan Joyce being the leader of the Qantas Airlines, is reluctant towards the well being of
the staffs of the organization. When the staffs demanded a better work condition, he abruptly
grounded all the aircrafts to teach them a lesson and that resulted in a heavy loss or the
organization and also that affected the Australian economy, which is unacceptable (Fox,
1966). The lives of the employees of that particular organization were also under huge threat.
On the other hand, the role of Tony Sheldon was appropriate for a man with the values of
Unitarism (Walby, 2013). It is seen how under his leadership the employees protested against
the deeds of the organization and finally how Tony Sheldon succeeded to continue his
campaign against tyrannical Aan Joyce, claiming that he is totally unfit to do his job and he
does not do justice with the post he was given in the organization. Thus, it can be said that the
analysis of the values in the first part rightly matches with the case study that was provided.

3EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS
References
Atkinson, J., & Storey, D. J. (Eds.). (2016). Employment, the small firm and the labour
market. Routledge.
Bray, M, Waring, P, Cooper, R and Macneil, J (2014). The study of employment relations:
Values, Chapter 3 in Employment Relations: Theory and Practice (3rd ed.). Sydney:
McGraw-Hill.
Fox, A (1966) Management’s Frame of Reference, excerpt from Industrial Sociology and
Industrial Relations, Royal Commission on Trade Unions and Employer Associations,
Research Papers 3, HMSO, London, Part 1, pp.2-14 in A. Flanders (ed) (1969) Collective
Bargaining, Penguin, Harmondsworth, p.390-409
Kersley, B., Alpin, C., Forth, J., Bryson, A., Bewley, H., Dix, G., & Oxenbridge, S.
(2013). Inside the workplace: findings from the 2004 Workplace Employment Relations
Survey. Routledge.
Kim, D. O. (2017). Employment relations and HRM in South Korea. Taylor & Francis.
Walby, S. (2013). Patriarchy at work: Patriarchal and capitalist relations in employment,
1800-1984. John Wiley & Sons.