Qantas Airways: Leadership Practices, Issues, and Recommendations

This report provides a detailed analysis of leadership practices and associated issues within Qantas Airways. It begins with an introduction to leadership and its impact on organizational culture and performance, followed by an overview of Qantas's operations. The core of the report examines the leadership style of Alan Joyce, focusing on his strategies for motivating employees, fostering apprentice relationships, responding to crises, and acquiring talent. It highlights how these practices have influenced the company's success. The report then identifies and discusses key leadership challenges faced by Qantas, including handling cultural diversity, stakeholder views, and managing crises. It assesses the impact of these issues on the company's performance, providing a balanced view of both successes and failures. The report concludes with recommendations for improving leadership effectiveness within Qantas, drawing on the analysis of practices and issues. It is a valuable resource for understanding leadership dynamics in the aviation industry.

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11/2/2019

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Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Leadership practice within Qantas...................................................................................................3
Alan Joyce leadership practice....................................................................................................3
Leadership issues in Qantas.........................................................................................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................10
References......................................................................................................................................11

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Introduction
In the current environment, the leadership and management of business have a deep influence on
culture, direction as well as on the public image of the company. Leadership is considered as
both an investigation area and real-world skills that surrounding ability of distinct organisation to
lead or to provide the direct related to the teams, individuals as well as the entire organisation.
The paper aims to draw an analysis of the leadership practices and associated issues within the
chosen company. The company that has been selected for analysing the leadership practices, as
well as the issues, is Qantas, a company who is performing the operations in the Australian
market.
Qantas airways are well-known leading company present in the Asia-pacific region and provide
the services to the customers. The company is major airline by fleet size, worldwide flights as
well as the international destinations. It was originated by Winton, Queensland on 16th November
1920 by Hudson Fysh, Paul McGinness and Fergus McMaster. In entire market, Qantas has a
status for fineness in safety, operational reliability, customer service as well as maintenance. The
group of Qantasis the transportation of the clients using the complimentary airline brands which
include Jetstar and Qantas (Qantas, 2019). The brands of airline operate the regional,
international and domestic services. The group brand portfolio of secondary dealings ranges
from the Qantas freight enterprises to Qantas frequent flyer.

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Leadership practice within Qantas
The leadership style of the organisation is considered as paramount in identifying the
organisation success as well as direction. The leadership practice is essential for the company as
it contributes in motivating the employee’s as well bringing new strategies and planning
accordingly (Antonakis & Day, 2017). The practice of leadership shows that the great leaders
exemplify the values as well as the culture of their organisation which helps them to bring to life
with the mission and vision of their companies in everything that they are performing. They lead
by example and influence through effective communication which is one of the major practice of
leadership performed by Qantas (Shirey, 2017). Qantas leaders practice the communication
among the team with the employees as well as with the customers. Irishman Alan Joyce is the
CEO of Qantas Airways has proved master class in the leadership practice towards the company.
It has been found that from more than 10 years, Joyce has taken the decisions for the betterment
of the company and has improved the brand position in the market (Pontefract, 2019). The
company is now on the dizzying height of growth with incredible success which is possible with
the effective leadership practice of Joyce. In the practice of leadership, Joyce understood the
emotional intelligence as well as the significance of client relations even in crosshairs of the
competitive threats.
Alan Joyce leadership practice
Motivating the employees: - Every leadership practice includes one practice that is to engage
with the employees to boost the morale of employees so that can contribute in improving the
productivity of the company. Qantas leader Alan Joyce (CEO of Qantas) performs practice
leadership in which they engage with the employees to know their perception about the

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company. Joyce allocated top job that was to increase the confidence among staff and also to lift-
up staff engagement. However, decisions were taken by the Joyce to ground complete airline that
was a surprising call which emphasised federal government that has never been identified in
Australia. The practice of enhancing the motivation level of employees leads to the victory of
Joyce (Western, 2019). The practice made it possible to deadlock the break between the Qantas
as well as three unions as they were emphasised to mediation and in case they get failed then
they have to follow the arbitrary mediation. The CEO was ready to perform the leadership
responsibility and that majorly include the rebuilding the impact of the brand by winning the
trust of the employees as well as customers in the company (Northouse, 2017). The major reason
due to which Joyce was appointed at the position was to provide something distinct that remain
above the internal as well as the external candidates present at Qantas. The practice of leadership
maintained by Joyce proved the capability of doing the job effectively. The major characteristics
that are present in leadership practice of Joyce include leadership quality, expresses a clear
vision about the goals that they are looking to achieve within the organisation, not a pompous
person and many other. In addition to this, Joyce major characteristic is very decisive in actions
which mean they know that their actions can make the difference due to which they think for the
welfare of the Qantas (Western, 2019).
Form apprentice relationships: - Every leader wants better productivity from their employees
due to which they try to understand the potential present in the employees of the company
(Zwilling, 2016). The leader of Qantas performs the practice of leadership in which they
determine the team members who have high potential but they are not able to apply the same.
However, the employees are willing to contribute to the productivity and improving the
performance of Qantas for which they are working. The leader allows them with the opportunity

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as well as personal growth assignments that are more than the training. It has been found that
training organised by the leader also remain effective. The leader of Qantas has decided for the
Flight Training Adelaide (FTA) as the training provider for Toowoomba site. FTA is considered
as the world-class training provider for the companies that fall in the Australian aviation
industry. FTA partnership with Qantas was possible because of the effective practice of
leadership due to which company is going to get the full range of services, selection of the
employees and advanced training courses with the management of the lodgings services (Qantas,
2019).
Responding to crisis: - One of the major practices of leadership includes offering the response
to the crisis that took place with the company. The crisis might affect the working and
profitability of the company (Alshammari, Almutairi & Thuwaini, 2015). The expected impact
on the leadership of the Qantas group is major due to the crisis. The leader is the one who can
proactively and accurately give the response to the crisis faced by the Qantas. The leader of
Qantas ensures that they can provide the safety as well as the welfare of the people, customers as
well as the wider community. The leader might face the major crisis related to health and safety
due to which the focus of the leader is required in this segment on a prior basis (Qantas, 2019).
Along with this, the leader is the one who protects the brand because it is a first and foremost
practice that is conducted. The leadership practice includes the different strategies that are
adopted by Qantas Company so that they can manage the image and can contribute in improving
the market share of the brand. Qantas leaders practice for operating the critical services which
are required to manage. This entire practice of leadership requires the capabilities of the leader
because this is the only way through which they can make the decisions.

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Searching for the new talent sources: - The best leader is one who knows that the practice of
leadership include the position that they want to fit with the best talent within their company.
Qantas leader always looks for the best talent to whom they should appoint within their company
for getting high productivity (Alghazo & Al-Anazi, 2016). Joyce remains in touch with the HR
team of the company who performs the activity of finding the right person as per their job
responsibility. The productivity comes with the employees who can understand the culture of the
company and fits in a job. In the current research, it has been found that Qantas Company has
taken out the top spot after being well recognised for the job (Human Resources Director, 2019).
The benefits which are providing by Qantas include travel benefits which make the company
most attracted. Along with this, the leaders of the company can make the perception of people
that they are the best employer who provides the benefit to employees. This shows that leader
value the employees which make the company to attain high growth and success.
Leadership issues in Qantas
In the research, this has been witnessed from the past few years that Qantas has entered a tailspin
and has not reached the end of the runway. The issue which is faced by the company in Australia
is related to leadership. It appears that on-going commercial failure of the national carrier is
proposed to remains classic (Rosenbach, 2018). Similarly, these sorts of issues are faced by the
company which raised the question on the leadership style as well as on the practice of the
leaders.
One of the issues which are faced by the leaders of Qantas includes the handling of diverse
culture of personnel and also revising views of stakeholders. The diversity is one of the essential
elements which are required to be managed by every company. The leader focuses on this and
makes the decisions for recruiting and making the planning for selecting the right talent for the

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company (Western, 2019). The views of the shareholders are required to be adhering by the
Qantas leader because they are the one who has invested in the company for a better outcome
with trust. Thus, Qantas leadership practice needs to be rational while making the decision or
dealing with the conflicts that might occur within the company among the stockholders as well
as employees. The issues occur when the leader of Qantas adopt the authoritative leadership style
under which they conduct the leadership practice. For instance; business closure of Singapore
was contradicted with a lot of criticism from different stakeholders. Thus, this shows that at the
time of the difficulty in managing the employees or business it becomes essential for the leaders
to bring the changes in the practice of leadership (Stuart, 2014).
In the research, this has been witnessed that since becoming CEO in November 2008, Joyce had
led Qantas through one crisis after another. The initial crisis begins with the global shit-down of
the operations in the year 2011 due to the industrial dispute which is considered as one of the
major downgrades of Qantas credit rating (Gahan, 2014). It has been found that the decision to
abandon Singapore hub was also taken by the Qantas which leads to a thousand losses of jobs.
Along with this, currently, the company is facing the losses which prove about the leadership
practice of Joyce. Qantas leader also faced the on-going as well as the persistent criticism from
the industry experts, union, shareholders as well as the loyal customers. The loss that is seen by
Joyce is approx. more than $2.5 billion (The Sydney Morning Herald, 2014). The entire issues
which took place under the practice of Joyce leadership make him challenging for the company.
However, some of the decision of Joyce as a leader went right which contribute to the success of
the business. The success in hiring the staff, improving the value of the brand, ensure the safety
of employees, motivating the employees. Although, a crisis that took place due to the decision of
Joyce also affect the brand.

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In the competitive market, Joyce practice being the leader was not correct which is witnessed
with one of the incidences. Internationally, new no-frills, as well as the low-frills carriers majorly
in Asia, have eaten away at Qantas ability to contest with the full-service operator. Similar to
Qantas, many other legacy transporters across the world are genuinely losing the money. It has
been determined that all of them have been scrambling to bring the reduction in the operating
cost as well as to regain the market share. The company faced the intense challenges within Asia
as well as in Middle East where most of the world-wide transporters that work as the partially or
fully state-owned businesses or benefit from the subsidies and tax concessions (Gahan, 2014).
The situation raises the question that: Alan Joyce is the right person for managing the turnover of
the company or not. It has been determined that the leadership of the Qantas deals with the on-
going pressure to compete with the full–service sector. It has been found that Joyce’s need to
focus on the leadership practice which is conducted by them.
Recommendations
Considering the issues faced by the company, it is suggested to the leader that they should bring
the change for getting the profitability back within the company. It has been found that in case
the company manages to pull off his ambitious plan for the company. Joyce might be considered
as one of the leaders who is criticised as a business leader for the well-know and leading
company.
 It is suggested to the Joyce to bring the change for which there is need of the team who
can analyse the loopholes and guide for the same.

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 Joyce should bring the changes in the leadership style which might allow the company to
make the right decisions and in favour of the company. The favourable decisions will
allow the company to attain a high profit (Fiaz, Su & Saqib, 2017).
 It is suggested that there is need of the right way of communication which might
contribute in reducing the issues among Qantas.
 It is suggested to Qantas to develop new skills and qualities of being an effective leader
which will help them to survive in the market.

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Conclusion
At the end of the report, this is concluded that leadership practice is considered as one of the
major practice that can influence the working of the entire organisation. The paper includes the
discussion related to the Qantas Company who deals with the issues of leadership while
conducting the practice. The practice of leadership is explained in terms of the company which
shows that Leader Joyce is contributing and focused towards their employees. The leaders are
required to be effective enough and need to work in a dynamic environment. It has found that in
the complex situation, Qantas leader is not able to react due to which they deal with the different
issues. The leadership practice has led to the crises which include a downgrade of Qantas credit
rating, industrial dispute, the loss has been registered and many others. Considering the issues, it
has been found that the company need to bring the changes in the leadership practice so that they
can work effectively.

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References
Alghazo, A. M., & Al-Anazi, M. (2016). The Impact of Leadership Style on Employee’s
Motivation. International Journal of Economics and Business Administration, 2(5), 37-
44.
Alshammari, A., Almutairi, N. N., & Thuwaini, S. F. (2015). Ethical leadership: The effect on
employees. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(3), 108.
Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership. Sage publications.
Fiaz, M., Su, Q., & Saqib, A. (2017). Leadership styles and employees' motivation: Perspective
from an emerging economy. The Journal of Developing Areas, 51(4), 143-156.
Gahan, P. (2014). Qantas turn-around: is Alan Joyce the right leader for the job?. Retrieved
from: https://theconversation.com/qantas-turn-around-is-alan-joyce-the-right-leader-for-
the-job-31051
Human Resources Director. (2019). Revealed: Australia’s most attractive employers. Retrieved
from: https://www.hcamag.com/au/specialisation/reward-recognition/revealed-australias-
most-attractive-employers/167125
Northouse, P. G. (2017). Introduction to leadership: Concepts and practice. Sage Publications.
Pontefract, D. (2019). 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/#5720bb106d1d
Qantas. (2019). About us. Retrieved from: https://www.qantas.com/in/en/about-us.html

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Qantas. (2019). Qantas Group Pilot Academy in partnership with FTA. Retrieved from:
https://www.qantas.com/au/en/about-us/our-company/pilot-academy.html
Qantas. (2019). Working Towards Our Vision. Retrieved from:
https://www.qantas.com.au/infodetail/about/corporateGovernance/BusinessPracticesDoc
ument.pdf
Rosenbach, W. E. (2018). Contemporary issues in leadership. Routledge.
Shirey, M. R. (2017). Leadership practices for healthy work environments. Nursing
management, 48(5), 42-50.
Stuart, N. (2014). Qantas woes down to a complete failure of leadership. Retrieved from:
https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/qantas-woes-down-to-a-complete-failure-of-leadership-
20140901-10avbf.html
The Sydney Morning Herald. (2014). Qantas result challenges Alan Joyce leadership. Retrieved
from: https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/qantas-result-challenges-alan-joyce-
leadership-20140828-109kxc.html
Western, S. (2019). Leadership: A critical text. SAGE Publications Limited.
Zwilling, M. (2016). 8 Leadership Practices That Will Make You Memorable. Retrieved from:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/martinzwilling/2016/04/03/8-leadership-practices-that-will-
make-you-memorable/#4fda76096c01

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