BUSM1074: Case Study Analysis of Koala Airlines Bargaining Process

This case study analyzes the collective bargaining process at Koala Airlines, a regional airline that expanded its operations and later entered into a marketing agreement with a major national carrier. The study focuses on the negotiation between the company and its employees, particularly examining the key stages of negotiation, including setting objectives, planning, and opening negotiations. It explores the various strategies employed, such as negotiation and communication strategies, and the tactics used by the negotiating teams, including direct communication and the use of surveys. The analysis also delves into the implications of these tactics on the negotiated agreements, highlighting the effectiveness of the union's approach in achieving its objectives, such as presenting information effectively, maintaining smooth communication, and actively engaging all parties involved. The study concludes that effective communication and the implementation of appropriate negotiation processes are crucial for reaching mutually beneficial agreements between management and employees, as demonstrated in the Koala Airlines case.

Running head: CASE STUDY: BARGAINING AT KOALA AIRLINES
CASE STUDY: BARGAINING AT KOALA AIRLINES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Key stages........................................................................................................................................2
Strategies..........................................................................................................................................2
Tactics used by negotiating parties..................................................................................................3
Implications of tactics concerning the negotiated agreements........................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................5

Introduction
The study is focused on understanding the nature of collective bargaining that takes place
at Koala Airlines. The case study of the collective bargaining process that took place between the
company and its employees over a significant period of time has been used for reference. The
effectiveness of the collective bargaining processes at Kola Airlines is evaluated through the
study. Koala Airlines began to operate in the year 1971. Initially, its services were focused on
two cities. Later, the Airlines expanded its service scope to serve 18 cities by the year 1997. In
the same year KA purchased the Regional City Airlines and merged the operations. In 1998, KA
entered into an agreement with a large feeder airline. Some important development occurred
between the management and the union of the organization that need to be evaluated.
Key stages
There were various key stages in the negotiation process. These stages helped to organize
the negotiation effectively. In the first negotiation stage the League of flight attendants sent
Deborah Lee as the national bargaining representative. The second stage was setting the
objectives for bargaining for the Union. In this stage the wages were compared with the other
airline organizations operating in the country. A surveys was also conducted among the
employees to know their opinions. The third stage was the union plan. A four point plan was
created to ensure the achievement of the major objectives. The major objectives were keeping
members informed, involving them, convincing the employers and settling the matter with
unanimous consent. The fourth stage was the employers selecting the negotiation team. The fifth
stage was opening the negotiation. The sixth stage was concerning the initial stage of the
negotiation. The final stage was the negotiation of the grievances and the final settlement of the
negotiations.
Strategies
Various collective bargaining strategies were implemented by the negotiating teams. The
predominant strategy implemented was the negotiation strategy. The idea was to create a fact
based negotiation process through which some of the legitimate demands of the employees of
Koala Airlines. The negotiators wanted to utilize a clean communications strategy to help the
negotiation process. The facts and figures were neatly presented and the differences in the
various wage categories were presented to the employers. There are certain important stages in
all negotiation processes. These are preparation, opening, trading and agreement (Zhu and
Carless 2018). All these stages were given more importance in the negotiation process to make it
more effective. An important strategy was to communicate the viewpoints of the members to the
employers. More, importantly, the views of the members were effectively incorporated within
the entire bargaining process (Ahammad et al. 2016). The employees were encouraged to take
part in surveys and provide their valuable opinions. Direct communication was given more
importance.

Tactics used by negotiating parties
There were some important bargaining tactics that were utilized by the negotiating team.
Deborah Lee was aggressive in negotiating the terms of the union when the initial position of the
management was declared. Lee and the negotiating team took a very good stand when putting
forward the grievances of the employees. Some of the tactics that were used ensure that a group
process was maintained. Negotiation processes depend on effective group engagement.
Moreover, negotiations need to be continuous processes in order to ensure their effectiveness
(Borbély and Caputo 2017). The agreements however, were bipartite. Some important tactics
were taken by Lee when undertaking the negotiations for the shoe and uniform allowance. One
of the important part of the tactics was to maintain a smooth communications process. This
meant that the opinions of the employers were known before clearly providing the opinion of the
Union. Moreover, the facts were used effectively and well presented. The survey taken among
the employees helped further in enhancing the negotiation process. It was an effective way of
managing negotiations.
Implications of tactics concerning the negotiated agreements
The implications that can be gathered from the given scenario points towards the fact that
an effective strategy was implemented by the negotiating union body. The negotiation became
quite effective in terms of the outcomes. One of the main aspects of the negotiation process was
the effective presentation of information. It is important to note that the negotiation process was
led through unanimous demands that were put forward by the union. The negotiators from the
part of the union were effective in terms of the authenticity of the presented information, the
smoothness of the communication process and the active engagement of all the parties
(Heimstädt and Dobusch 2018). It needs to be remembered that the various stages of the
negotiation process helped in the development of better and more effective negotiation
platforms. This led to the better management of the negotiation process through systematic
planning and presentation. Effective tactics were implemented by Lee when undertaking the
negotiations for the shoe and uniform allowance. One of the important part of the tactics was to
maintain a smooth communications process (Brooks, Wakefield and Plowman 2018). This meant
that the opinions of the employers were known before clearly providing the opinion of the
Union.
The negotiation processes have given importance to the opinion of all the sides.
However, at first the management was reluctant to provide the demands of the employees. The
process became more important as it helped the employees in understanding the elements that
were central to the development of their negotiation process (Borbély and Caputo 2017). It needs
to be considered that the correct presentation of information and the occasional employment of
aggressive negotiation tactics helped to keep the demands of the employees more effectively in
front of the employers. In essence, the stages, strategies and tactics helped in engaging more
effectively in communication with the leadership.

Conclusion
The implications of the study point to the fact that negotiation processes are difficult. It
needs to be enhanced through the implementation of proper and effective communication
processes. In essence, negotiating parties need to find ways to reach mutually beneficial
agreements. This helps to bridge the divide between the management and the employees.

References
Ahammad, M.F., Tarba, S.Y., Liu, Y., Glaister, K.W. and Cooper, C.L., 2016. Exploring the
factors influencing the negotiation process in cross-border M&A. International Business
Review, 25(2), pp.445-457.
Borbély, A. and Caputo, A., 2017. Approaching negotiation at the organizational
level. Negotiation and Conflict Management Research, 10(4), pp.306-323.
Brooks, K.J., Wakefield, R.I. and Plowman, K.D., 2018. Activism, prosocial public relations and
negotiation: the case of St Vincent de Paul. Corporate Communications: An International
Journal.
Heimstädt, M. and Dobusch, L., 2018. Politics of disclosure: Organizational transparency as
multiactor negotiation. Public Administration Review, 78(5), pp.727-738.
Janssen, M., 2019. Supplier satisfaction and negotiation behaviour (Master's thesis, University
of Twente).
Kiessling, L., Pinger, P., Seegers, P. and Bergerhoff, J., 2019. Gender Differences in Wage
Expectations: Sorting, Children, and Negotiation Styles.
Schwalbe, M., McTague, T. and Parrotta, K., 2016. Identity Contests and the Negotiation of
Organizational Change. Advances in Group Processes, 33, pp.57-92.
Zhu, Q. and Carless, D., 2018. Dialogue within peer feedback processes: Clarification and
negotiation of meaning. Higher Education Research & Development, 37(4), pp.883-897.