Qantas Airways: A Report on CSR, Leadership and Ethics

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Qantas Airways, focusing on its corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives, managerial ethics, and leadership practices. It examines Qantas's efforts in environmental sustainability, including its emission management plan and partnerships for sustainable aviation fuel, while also addressing criticisms related to waste management and carbon offset programs. The report delves into the external and internal environments of the organization, utilizing PESTEL and SWOT analyses to identify key opportunities and threats and how Qantas has responded to them. It also explores the leadership style of Allan Joyce, a successful CEO, highlighting his contributions to the company's strategy, employee inspiration, and overall development. The report further discusses the impact of the company's CSR and ethics, and the criticisms it has faced.

Running head: QANTAS AIRWAYS 1
Student’s name:
Course:
Institution:
Instructor:
Date of submission:

Qantas airways 2
Qantas Airways
Executive summary
The essay describes social responsibility and managerial ethics practiced by the Qantas
airway as it engages with all the stakeholders and the society. An outline and description of the
criticism that the organization faces as it engages in its interaction with society and stakeholders
in the sector. There is an analysis of both the external and internal environments of the
Organization. A PESTEL and SWOT analysis is done to the organization. The examination of
the main opportunities and threats within the organization, how they have been exploited and
better ways of exploiting these opportunities. Ways of dealing and managing existing threats. A
description of the leadership styles of the most successful CEO of the organization, his efforts in
bringing a strategy that is suitable to all, how he inspires the employees and the contribution of
the CEO towards the development of the organization.
Introduction
Successful organizations have a mechanism of being accountable to both the stakeholders
and members of the public. The management of any organization, therefore, has to set principles
and rules which will define what is right or wrong in the organization. The management of an
organization has a responsibility to make decisions regarding values in cases of conflict. The
management sets code of ethics that are respective to all stakeholders and the environment.
Qantas Airways is one of the biggest airway company in the world, the organization has
mechanisms developed by the management of ensuring accountability to the government, clients
and the stakeholders.
Corporate social responsibility in Qantas airways
Qantas Airways has made a lot of effort in designing corporate social responsibility
policies to boost the image of the company globally. Through these efforts, the airway company
has been able to prove to the customer that it minds his welfare and the environment (Jones,
2018). The airways have made a commitment to safeguarding the environment. As part of the
social responsibility, Qantas Airways has come up with policies and methods which are highly
respectful to the environment and the climate.
The airways have an emission management plan which it has simplified into three areas
of concentration which are; measuring, reducing and offsetting (Joyce, 2015). In measuring,
Qantas collaborates with several independent programs such as the National Greenhouse and
Energy Reporting body, and the sustainability Reporting and Carbon Disclosure Reporting.
These bodies supply the airway with information about carbon emissions. In reducing fuel
use,Qantas has adopted several implementing initiatives which includes: Aircraft reduction of
weight initiatives, efficient use of ground power units and using GPS technology. The Airway
has also invested in new fuel-efficient fleets such as the Airbus A380 which consume less fuel.
In offsetting strategy the company has adopted the largest airline program to offset carbon in
Australia. The company offset all the travel business by the employees for the fuel emissions.

Qantas airways 3
The companies have many programs to mitigate climate change protection of wildlife and to
nourish the communities.
Qantas airline is a member of the Sustainable Aviation fuel user group. Qantas also has
been able to partner with other Australian companies such as the shell Australia and the federal
government to see a production of a sustainable fuel saving aviation in Australia. In order to
provide the safety of aircraft noise the Airways purchase new aircraft annually which have lower
noise footprints. The company also uses GPS tracking devices which are used at the airports in
redesigning flights to areas away from residence hence they are able to avoid noise pollution to
the residents.
The Airways ethics outlines zero tolerance of the management to the act of transporting
endangered wildlife species. It is part of managerial ethics to protect wildlife. Airways have
always been targeted by poachers and illegal transporters of wildlife as a gateway to smuggling
these illegal items. The trade in endangered species have bad consequences to the reservation of
the globe. Qantas Airways as an organization has policies which are committed to raise
awareness about the endangered wildlife, improving the detection of the endangered species and
also has mechanisms in place to share intelligence and offer best practice in the industry. These
policies by the organization are all in place to ensure that the airways are not used as
transportation areas for illegal items. Qantas Airways is a signatory to the convention on
international trade protection for endangered species. Qantas Airways has put strict limitations
on the carriage of wildlife with respect to the Australian government laws (Qantas Freight,2016).
The company works with the government and the cities to ensure that airline form of transport is
not used for transportation of illegal goods in and outside Australia. The company has worked
collaboratively with the government and cities to stop the illegal trade of wildlife commodities.
Criticisms of Qantas Airway corporate social responsibility
Qantas ambition on waste management has been criticized as not being as strong as it
should be. The company has been criticized as having produced so much waste emissions than it
is planning to reuse, compost and recycle. The company has raised a question on how it is going
to deal with the waste that is about thirty thousand tonnes per year. The plan to recycle all its
waste by 2021 has been seen to be not realistic and will require heavy financial muscles for it to
succeed. These criticisms are mostly from the media persons who are questioning the
practicability of the waste reduction management and have termed it as a mere public relation
exercise (Whyte, 2019). The plans that Qantas company have towards the establishment of a free
environment that is not filled with waste materials from fuel and noise has been taken to be
largely unrealistic and not achievable.
Carbon offset programs introduced by Qantas Airways have been criticized by the
environmentalists as being the cause of more harm than good. Scientists opposed to the carbon
offset schemes argue that the schemes adopted are disproportionate to the harm caused by the
problem of global warming which is caused by the problem of waste (Beder, 2014). The method
of carbon offsetting has been seen as a shift of responsibilities to individuals and not to the

Qantas airways 4
institution as it should have been. The carbon offset program has also been criticized as being a
public relation exercise and a seek for green legitimization.
Pestel and specific environment analysis for Qantas Airways
The Qantas Airways operations are affected by several factors outside and inside the
company. Some of the external factors include politics. Political development such as travel bans
issued in many countries, the tensions of diplomatic relations in many regions and the increased
terror threat. The bans and the hostile environment has affected movement resulting in a great
loss by the company. Economical factors such as inflation rate foreign exchange rate and the
investment rate in the country have affected the performance of the airline
company(Govinnange,2012). Emerging technology in the world is another factor that could
affect the performance of the organization. Investment in digital technology to carry out
operations and suit the changing need of the customers is a priority of the airline as they seek to
optimize their operations, these technology is expensive to use. Legally the company is facing
the problem of lack of protection of the rights of the organization. Other legal factors faced by
the airline includes laws on employment, health, and safety of the clients and workers laws.
Complying with laws from different contries is sometimes a challenge.
Specific environment
Qantas Airways is an airline that has been able to serve all the six continents of the world.
Qantas airlines compete with other companies in Australia airlines, but it has managed to
dominate the industry for the biggest time. The airline has dominated domestic travel taking
about 65%share of domestic travel mostly business travel. The company, however, face
increased competition from other airlines in the region of North Atlantic where it was one time a
monopoly (Kissing & Taylor, 2017). Qantas airlines also operate in different regions where it has
different segments of business units such as Qantas Domestic, Qantas international and Qantas
loyalty which has helped it greatly to sell in new areas.These units have helped in the expansion
of the airline.
The airline has strong alliances with some other big airways in the world. These alliances
give the airline an opportunity to expand further internationally with the help of the other
airlines. The airline has been able to successfully deal with competitions from other airline
providers in the north Atlantic region and it has still done very well in these regions compared to
other airlines.
Internal environment Analysis
Qantas Airways has a good customer relationship which has enabled it to achieve good customer
satisfaction. This customer satisfaction has made it a good brand hence attracting potential
customers. Qantas Airways has also been able to successfully exploit new markets and made
them very successful. These markets have helped it in building new revenue streams and have
diversified the economic risks in the industries. Qantas Airways operates subsidiaries such as
catering services including food and beverages to the customers (Qantas Freight, 2016). The
airline has also been able to invest in a range of partnership whereby it has acquired

Qantas airways 5
infrastructure holdings, terminals, and lounges for partnership in various countries of the world.
These investment has helped the organization in its expanding to various corners.
Most successful CEO of Qantas Airways
The current chief executive officer i Mr. Allan Joyce is a very successful CEO and has
been voted as the boss who most employees in the country admire to work for. Mr. Joyce has an
appeal of the industry, he is compassion and offers visionary leadership to the company. Mr.
Joyce effort in ensuring the champions of women in leadership has gained him a lot of
admiration and support (Durkin, 2017). Mr. Joyce is a leader who has offered a servant type of
leadership to the company having been involved in many acts of support to the staffs and
employees of the organization. Mr. Joyce is also a democratic leader who makes all his
employees feel included in the system sought after and at the same time very important to the
model
Mr. Joyce has made the company rise to high heights for more than ten years he has
offered leadership to the company. His leadership has seen the Qantas airway becoming one of
the biggest airline company in Australia. Mr. Joyce has shown qualities of intelligence in his
actions and also has been able to demonstrate and nurture the employees to acquire the values of
respect of the customer and acquire good customer relations (Pontefract, 2019). These virtues
that he has possessed as a leader of the organization has gone greatly in inspiring the employees
and also acted as teaching to the employees.
Mr. Joyce has been able to exercise his power authoritatively to make some decisions in the
company of making the workers motivated in their work. Mr. Joyce decision to shut down the
operation of all activities in the airline at the time when it was a high season was highly hailed.
Mr. Joyce used a situation crisis management to deal with the workers who had disturbed him
with increased strikes and protests called by the labor unions. After the crisis, the CEO and the
workers were able to come on an agreement that reached the end of the crisis (Hoe, 2017). Joyce
has employed a wide range of risks throughout his period of leadership as the CEO of Qantas
Airways. Mr. Joyce always offers his declaration and decisions to the world on important social
matters such as the marriage issues and other issues concerning the welfare of the workers of
Qantas Airways . Mr. Joyce has been very accommodative to many people in the organization
not minding their political affiliations, religions or their other beliefs.
Conclusion
The airline business requires the cooperation of various stakeholders. These stakeholders
include the government, suppliers, workers, suppliers international governments and non-
governmental agencies. Qantas Airways an international airport in Australia is one of the
companies that have been able to efficiently exploit the external and internal environments
involving it. The airline has been able to create corporate social responsibilities such as those
working towards the betterment of the environment, the offset system applied by the Qantas
Airways in particular and the waste management plans that seek to mitigate the damage caused
by its activities on the ground and over the air. The values developed by the management of the
airline has seen the airline become an international airway serving across all the six continents.

Qantas airways 6
One of the contributing factors to the success of the airline has been its Chief executive officer,
Mr. Allan Joyce. The CEO has brought transformational leadership to the organization making it
to successfully achieve its goals. His democratic style of leadership has encouraged all the
stakeholders in the company to work for the achievement of the goals of the company.

Qantas airways 7
References.
Beder, S. (2014, May 28). Carbon offsets can do more environmental harm than good. Retrieved
from http://theconversation.com/carbon-offsets-can-do-more-environmental-harm-than-
good-26593
Durkin, P. (2017, February 20). Alan Joyce voted Australia's top CEO. Retrieved from
https://www.afr.com/leadership/alan-joyce-voted-australias-top-ceo-20170224-gukxdt
Governance, S. (2012). Qantas Airways Limited PESTEL / PEST & Environment
Analysis[Strategy]. Retrieved from
http://fernfortuniversity.com/term-papers/pestel/nyse4/6367-qantas-airways-limited.php
Hoe, J. (2017). The Qantas Crisis Case Study. Retrieved from
https://www.academia.edu/16400513/The_Qantas_Crisis_Case_Study
Jones, S. (2018, March 28). Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy . Retrieved from
http://study-aids.co.uk/dissertation-blog/corporate-social-responsibility-strategy-qatar-
airways/
Joyce, A. (2015). Retrieved from https://www.qantas.com/infodetail/about/environment/our-
commitment-to-environmental-sustainability.pdf
Kissing, S., & Taylor, M. (2019). Analysis of the Internal Environment at Qantas Airways
Limited Essay. Retrieved from https://www.123helpme.com/analysis-of-the-internal-
environment-at-qantas-airways-limited-preview.asp?id=263270
Pontefract, D. (2019, March 11). Qantas Airways CEO Delivered A Masterclass In Leadership.
Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/danpontefract/2019/03/11/qantas-airways-
ceo-delivered-a-masterclass-in-leadership/#7206b1696d1d
Qantas freight. (2016). Sustainable cargo. Retrieved from https://freight.qantas.com/sustainable-
cargo.html
Whyte, J. (2019, February 24). Why Qantas Airways is wasting its waste initiative. Retrieved
from https://www.afr.com/business/transport/aviation/why-qantas-airways-is-wasting-its-
waste-initiative-20190222-h1bm6a