Strategic Analysis of Qantas Airways: Structure & Strategies

This report offers a comprehensive strategic analysis of Qantas Airlines, examining its organizational structure, leadership style, and marketing strategies. It delves into the company's decentralized and centralized structure, including its matrix structure and the roles of various departments. The report analyzes the leadership style of Qantas, highlighting the balance between authoritarian, delegated, and participative approaches, and the influence of leaders like Alan Joyce. It explores Qantas's competitive strategies, focusing on cost reduction, portfolio diversification, and segmentation to target different customer groups. The analysis also provides recommendations based on the company's structure and strategies, emphasizing the importance of aligning structure with vision, mission, and objectives, and suggests leveraging diverse leadership styles for success in the airline industry. The report concludes by summarizing the key findings, emphasizing Qantas's ability to maintain a competitive market position through effective strategies and leadership.

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STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF QANTAS AIRLINES
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STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF QANTAS AIRLINES
Executive Summary
This report is based on the analysis of the organizational structure and leadership style of an
organization. The company that has been taken into consideration for this analysis is Qantas
Airways which is a low cost airline organization in Australia. The organization has also
formed a unique competitive position in the market with the help of the different types of
services that it offers to the customers in the market. The different range of services help in
catering the needs of customers belonging to different groups. The organizational structure
and leadership style of Qantas has been analysed in the report. The effectiveness of various
strategies have also been discussed in the analysis.

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Table of Contents
Introduction....................................................................................................................3
Organizational structure of Qantas Airlines...................................................................4
Leadership style of Qantas Airlines...............................................................................4
Strategy of Qantas Airlines in Australia and overseas...................................................7
Recommendations based company structure and strategies..........................................8
Conclusion......................................................................................................................9
References....................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
The fundamental aspects that are related to the successful operations of an
organization are mainly, the structure of the organization, the marketing strategies that have
been implemented by the company and the leadership style that is followed by the managers.
The organizations need to set up the accommodative structure and the appropriate structure
with the help of the effective style of leadership (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes,
2015). The company thereby needs to have a clear understanding of the goals, mission and
the objectives. The organization that is taken into consideration for this analysis is Qantas
Airways Limited. This company operates in the airlines industry and has its origin in the
Australia. The structure of the company, the domestic and international strategies and the
leadership style of Qantas Airways will be analysed in the report (Ashton, Lloyd and
Warhurst 2017).
Qantas Airways is considered to be a leading airlines organization in Asia-Pacific
region. This company also belongs to the category of the ten biggest airlines based
organizations in the entire world. The organization has established greater than 81
connections which links around forty destinations in the world. Qantas has been able to
engage in various local airlines based services in New Zealand and Australia (Qantas.com.
2018). The company serves greater than 30 million customers in the whole world along with
its subsidiary organizations. Qantas has also earned the membership of the alliance of global
airlines. The major services that are provided to the companies include, freight services,
corporate services and the loyalty programs and memberships. The employee base of the
company contains more than 28,000 members on a global basis. The services that are
provided by Qantas Airlines are quite famous in New Zealand and Asia (Qantas.com. 2018).

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Organizational structure of Qantas Airlines
The structure of an organization is important for the determination of the ways by
which the responsibilities, roles and power are allocated, coordinated and monitored. The
mechanism related to the flow of the information is provided by the structure of the company.
The organizational structure of Qantas Airlines has adopted the decentralized and centralized
structure. The organization mainly comprises of many subsidiaries which are headed by the
different executives who are provided with authority, responsibilities and roles which are
exercised by them. The management of the company is mainly based on two different types
of businesses which are Qantas International and Qantas Domestic (Ashkenas et al. 2015).
The other two business divisions of Qantas mainly consist of commercial functions and the
operational functions. The organizational structure that has been adopted by Qantas is the
adopted matrix structure. The highest level of the management consists of the members of
corporate governance and the executive team of the top management. The other departments
that operate under the top management are, commercial administration of business,
administrative management, functional management and project management. The various
teams work with the departments of the organization which help to ensure the objectives and
goals of Qantas (Van der Voet 2014).
Leadership style of Qantas Airlines
The leadership style of an organization is important for its determination direction and
success. The style of leadership which is followed is considered to be an effective
management aspect of the organizations. The leadership styles that are most commonly used
by the companies include, participative, authoritarian, delegation and participative style. The
authoritarian style is based on the ways by which the managers order the people to do the
activities that are expected from them. On the other hand, the democratic or the participative
style of leadership mainly involves the leaders and the employees in the decision-making

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process (Worley and Doolen 2015). The delegated style of leadership is based on the ways by
which the employees are permitted to take their own decisions. All the major aspects of the
leadership style are accommodated by the Qantas Airways. The top management of the
organization has been quite critical while managing the diverse employee cultures and the
ways of reviewing the various stakeholders. The company has been rational while taking the
decisions related to the organizational processes which could have otherwise raised issues in
the systems. The organization has however faced some major issues which have compelled
the company to be rational in the decisions (Dischner 2015). This has further led to the
decisions that have not been favourable for the employees and their trade unions. The
different decisions that have been taken by the organization have led to criticisms from the
various stakeholders of the company which include the industry experts and the loyal
customers as well. For example, the closure of the company in Singapore had faced many
issues and criticisms from the stakeholders of Qantas. The major argument was based on the
chief executive officer of Qantas being much more authoritative than being democratic. In
spite of the authoritative style of the management some major attributes based on the
delegated style and the participative style are depicted by the organization (Yahaya and
Ebrahim 2016). The leadership style that has been applied in Qantas is based on the following
major aspects which include,
 Vision of the company – The management of Qantas Airways has been able to
understand that the formation if an effective team is based on the vision of the
particular team. The top management based leadership of Qantas thereby
needs to provide strategy, direction and the vision which will provide support
to the employees of the company (Arnold et al. 2015).
 The management of diverse teams – The management team of Qantas Airways
consists of the individuals from various fields. The diverse team of the

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company mainly offers a wide variety of skills, views and education which are
important for the enhancement of the management of Qantas (Saleem 2015).
 The employees are a major part or resources of the companies. The company
thereby seeks their advice and opinions that are related to the various
organizational operations. Qantas has thereby been able to provide the highest
level of importance to the employees and their ideas.
 The management of Qantas mainly believes that the leaders of the company
need to honest, open and collaborative in nature. The employees thereby feel
much more motivated and are able to work towards their goals
(Nanjundeswaraswamy and Swamy 2014).
The leadership of Qantas Airways has been in the hands of Alan Joyce who was
successful in bringing about the greatest transformation in the organization in the years of its
operations in the industry. Joyce was appointed as the leader of Qantas Airways in the year
2008 although he had joined the company in the year 2000. The new CEO of the organization
was successful in turning around the sales and profitability of the company and had brought
Qantas out of many legal issues as well (Cooper 2015). The major challenge that was being
faced by Joyce was related to the intense scrutiny of the media over the various issues like the
30 - minutes closeout and the unallocated seating arrangements. The leader had implemented
the inclusive leadership style which helped the management to include the employees in the
various organizational processes. The leader has been able to stand steadily in spite of the
various challenges that are faced by Allan Joyce in the industry after he joined the company
(Saeed et al. 2014).

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Strategy of Qantas Airlines in Australia and overseas
Qantas Airways has been able to maintain a competitive position in the market with
the help of various marketing strategies even after facing fierce competition in the market.
The organization has been targeting the low-cost customers of Australia where the company
has been able to outperform its various competitors in the industry (Wheelen et al. 2017). The
major competitor of Qantas Airways in the industry is Virgin Airline. Qantas has been
applying the main concept of portfolio diversification which is related to the increase of the
base of domestic customers and the customers in the international market as well (Politis and
Politis 2016). This has helped the company in increasing the prospects related to growth in its
domestic market. The other major strategies that have been implemented by the company are
as follows,
 The major goal of the company in its operations in the market is based on the
reduction of costs to lowest levels. The strategy has been mainly adopted by
companies as their technique of marketing. The profitability of the company is
also considered to be a major competitive advantage which can help Qantas in
facing the competition that is provided by the competitors. The importance of
the cost efficiency has been therefore realized by Qantas and the organization
has applied the strategy based on cost efficiency for the purpose of penetrating
the international and domestic market (Ashton, Lloyd and Warhurst 2017).
 Qantas has further divided the business into different brands which had
enabled the organization to provide their services to the different types of
customers. For example, the strategy based on segmentation enables the
company to cater to customers belonging to the groups like leisure travellers,
corporates and the business travellers (Chungyalpa and Bora 2015).

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 The company has also planned for the expansion in other countries which have
helped Qantas to explore the new areas where they can conduct their business
operations. For example, the plans related to the expansion of Qantas Airways
in Asia has been helpful for increasing the sales and revenues of the company
in the market (Morschett, Schramm-Klein and Zentes 2015).
Recommendations based company structure and strategies
The effective structure of the company needs to provide the companies with various
strategies that are suitable for the achievement of the vision, mission and the objectives.
Qantas Airways has been able to create a strong organizational structure which has been able
to cater to the different needs of the customers. The company has also been able to achieve a
successful combination of the different styles of leadership which have enabled the company
to manage the employees and the other stakeholders. With the help of the integration various
types of leadership styles the leaders of the company have acted in an appropriate manner to
address the issues that are faced by the employees and the customers. The different styles of
leadership that have been used and implemented by Qantas Airways are situational and
transformational style. The success of the leadership has been depicted with the help of the
increase of revenues of the company. The analysis of the marketing strategies of Qantas
Airways have shown the different natures of the business. The organization has been able to
apply the suitable and right strategy that is applicable for the increase of the sales and
revenues of the company. The strategies that are applied by the company are attributable for
the success of the organization in the local and the international areas. The company has
gained a significant share in the market with the help of its successful strategies. The
organization has therefore applied effective strategies for marketing which has helped Qantas
to dominate the global and the domestic markets.

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Conclusion
The report can be concluded by stating that the leadership style, marketing based
strategies and the structure of the organization act as the most important aspects that are
related to the success of the company. The organizations have therefore adopted various
concepts in an effective manner for the smooth running in the industries and the markets.
Qantas Airways had achieved success by taking the different aspects into consideration. The
structure that has been formulated by the company helps Qantas Airways to delegate and
allocate the resources and duties in an effective manner for the process of effective decision-
making. On the other hand, the leadership style that has been formulated by the company has
provided a direction which has helped Qantas to create its dominance in the market. The
marketing strategies of Qantas also help in the determination of the profitability of
organization and the creation of the competitive advantage of the company. This competitive
advantage in the industry has provided Qantas with a different position as a low-cost airlines
organization in Australia.

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References
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Ashton, D., Lloyd, C. and Warhurst, C., 2017. Business strategies and skills. The Oxford
Handbook of Skills and Training, p.301.
Chungyalpa, W. and Bora, B., 2015. Towards Conceptualizing Business
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Available at: https://www.qantas.com/au/en.html [Accessed 22 May 2018].

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