University Business Capstone: Reflective Essay on Qantas Airlines

This reflective essay presents a comprehensive analysis of a business capstone project centered on Qantas Airlines. The essay begins with an introduction outlining the project's scope and objectives, followed by an in-depth examination of the frameworks and methodologies used, including PESTLE and Porter's 5 Forces analyses. It delves into the financial aspects of Qantas, providing insights into its revenue and cost structures, and incorporates a SWOT analysis to identify the airline's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The challenges encountered during the project, such as time constraints and research limitations, are also addressed. The essay concludes with a summary of findings, recommendations for Qantas, and a personal action plan, supported by references to relevant sources. The project evaluates the current business strategies of Qantas to compete in the market.

Running head: Reflective Essay
Reflective Essay on Business Capstone Report
Competitive analysis of Qantas airlines
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

Reflective Essay 1
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Analysis of the theories and frameworks:..................................................................................2
PESTLE analysis:...................................................................................................................3
Porter’s 5 forces analysis.......................................................................................................4
The financial aspect................................................................................................................5
SWOT analysis:.....................................................................................................................6
Challenges faced during the capstone project:...........................................................................7
Conclusion:................................................................................................................................7
My future action plan:................................................................................................................8
References:.................................................................................................................................9

Reflective Essay 2
Introduction:
The course work of this business capstone project was for 11 weeks and our lecturer
present various topics during this time to work on the research report. Firstly, I would like to
say that the experience of working on this report was unique and exciting at the same time
because it was for the first time that I was involved in such detailed research for a single
assignment. Business Capstone report is based on topics that have global perspective and this
is the reason that the selection of topic had to be correct to meet the objective of working on
global perspective that would highlight the operational activities of different leaders in the
field. Right from the selection of the topic, to the entire research work evaluating the
opportunities and challenges of the selected organisation followed by proposing
recommendations to the organisation for improving its operational activities, it was a good
experience of analysing by using relevant business concepts and frameworks and supporting
it with the data. This essay will further produce the details of the challenges faced during the
course of writing the essay.
Analysis of the theories and frameworks:
On the first week of the Business Capstone project, I was cautious of selecting a
research topic based on which the entire project work will be carried on. At the very
beginning I faced certain difficulties in selecting the topic of research because the aim of the
capstone projects is to evaluate the business scenario from various perspectives including
internal and external environment where the company operates, the financial aspects of the
current situation in which the company is along with the changing market trends and
consumer choice of selecting the particular product (Clifford, 2019) In this way, at times I
felt that there are many options of selecting a topic and again there remained a dilemma
whether that topic will be evaluated properly based on the information available over the
internet. Thus, after considering various pros and cons of different topics, few of which were,

Reflective Essay 3
‘Changing pattern of customers choice while buying a car’, ‘Importance of performance
review of the employees in an organisation’ and others, I finally, decided upon working with
the Qantas Airlines (Graver & Rutherford, 2018). The topic selected was to ‘Evaluate the
current business strategies of Qantas to compete in the market’. This topic interests me the
most because I was sure enough that this topic will give me the opportunity of using the
frameworks like PESTLE, Porter’s 5 forces, evaluation of the financial aspects of the
company and other points which was the aim of the capstone project (Geaviation.com, 2019).
In this respect, I would like to mention that when I started working on the research part
during the second week, I came to know about the issues like the high fuel expenses and the
materials used by the Airlines to manufacture its Airplanes were much costly and this was
adding to the increase fare and high maintenance (Wang, Xia, Zhang & Zhang, 2017).
Therefore, my aim was to evaluate the entire scenario and then come up with the suitable
recommendations to improve the current situation of Qantas Airlines.
PESTLE analysis:
It was in the third week of the project, we started working on the PESTLE analysis.
The PESTLE analysis gives a comprehensive idea of the entire external situation including
the government’s intervention in any commercial project. From the analysis, I have found
that the political factors are very unbalanced when it comes to the operation of Qantas
because this airline covers a large area and simultaneously has to go through the different
political boundaries and has to abide by those political factors (Ibisworld.com.au, 2019). For
instance, the political instability due to the selection of the government in the Middle East is
one of the concerning matter for Qantas to operate there. Moreover, in Australia, the political
factors allow the entry of other airlines to operate in the country and thus, opening up the
scope of intense competition (Kang & Hansen, 2018). The economic factors are also not to
favourable for Qantas because in the recent time, it has been clearly identified that the new

Reflective Essay 4
airlines, especially those operating in the Asia regions have been offering flight fares at a
very less price and thus, even if the per capita income of Australians is high, the intense
competition from other airlines have been reducing the demand of this airline as a
consequences of the global recession (Porter, 2008). Next, in terms of socio-cultural
perspectives, Australians have been found to travel a lot and they found out time for
recreational activities for themselves and thus the need of travelling and availing the airline
transportation is high among the people (Srisaeng, Baxter, Richardson & Wild, 2015).
Technologically, I have found many that there is enough scope of improvement in the
internal operational activities that would eventually reduce the cost for the airlines and thus, it
would be able to offer its service to the consumers at a lower rate (Qantas.com, 2018). Most
importantly, the fuel cost is very high that needs to be checked. This can be improved only
when there is an entire change in the airline body parts and design because that would give
the opportunity of increasing the efficiency of fuel and the organisation can cut down on its
overall price (Cope et al., 2016). Legally, it can be said that as the opportunity for other
companies to operate in the existing market is high, there is no scope of monopolistic
business opportunity and thus Qantas is found to go through a challenging phase
(Qantas.com, 2018). Again, the airline has been forced to adapt precautionary action to
reduce the environmentally degrading actions like the burning of fuel and causing air
pollution or dumping the wastage including the body parts and other materials that declines
the environment.
Porter’s 5 forces analysis
The Porter’s 5 forces analysis talks about the internal environment or the suppliers
and buyers involved in the entire operational activities. It has been found that although there
has been no such substitute available instead of aeroplanes, people prefer to use other modes
of transportation like trains, bus or private cars for short distance between 300 – 600 Km

Reflective Essay 5
(Simmons, 2015). This preference has resulted in the reduction of use of flights for short
distance which directly affects the overall profit margin of the organisation. The threat of new
entrance is quite high as the airlines from Asia are providing rides at a much lower rate by
reducing the expenses in there other operational activities. Thus, level of competition is very
high in the recent time. This situation has eventually increased the rivalry among the other
airlines operating in the same routes and examples of such airlines are Air Asia, Malaysian
Airlines, Emirates and others (Thompso & Gamble, 2012). In fact, there has been news of
partnering with already established organisations like Woolworths which might start their
operational activities as well in the airline sector. There is no doubt that one of the intense
challenges that the airlines face that has resulted in declining of the profit margin is the
suppliers demand in supplying the raw materials. For instance, the high price of the fuel or
the maintenance cost that the airline has to bear is very high compared to the fare that they
would keep for the passengers (Wright, 2012). Again, in the same way, as mentioned earlier
that the power of buyers has also increased because of the availability of various options and
the declining economy globally. There has been fall of the demand of airline travels as well
that indicates the high bargaining power of the buyers. There has been a steady shift in the
number of customers from Qantas to other flights like Air Asia and Emirates due to change in
preference due to various reasons (Ma, Liu, Li & Chen, 2016).
The financial aspect
Talking about the financial aspect of the capstone project, I have done a good cost
analysis and financial perspective of the company. In the recent reports, it has been observed
that the company has a steady growth of 4% (Qantas.com, 2018). However, this has been
duly noted that this revenue is collected in the domestic sphere and there has been a
considerable decline in its international operation due to the presence of huge competition
worldwide. On the other hand, from the reports it has also been noted that the Asian regions

Reflective Essay 6
including China, Malaysia and Bali has offered good number of passengers to this airline. It
has also been found that the airline has partnered with other companies to become an integral
part of the region and operate there (Baker, Merkert & Kamruzzaman, 2015).
SWOT analysis:
The challenges faced by Qantas Airlines in its operational activities are due to its
lesser fuel efficiency. There have been many reports that suggested that the company was not
able to match with the overall expense of the operation and thus, the company has to face
backlash or loss in its operation (Thompson & Gamble, 2012). There is just 2% improvement
in the fuel efficient every year as commented by the director of the company. Other
challenges faced by the company included negative behaviour from the employees of the
organisation, Due to lesser salary and other incidents, there was a time when the employees
called a strike that resulted in huge loss for the company because the airline had to cancel
around 300 flights and at the same time it hampered the reputation of the brand as well (Ma,
Wang, Yang & Zhang, 2019). It is after a detailed analysis of the operational activities of
Qantas Airlines; I had conducted a SWOT analysis of the organisation. Few factors like the
large market share of the company in Australia, it’s partnership with other established
organisations and the global presence adds to the positive growth of the organisation.
Moreover, there is no doubt that this organisation has a good reputation in the business and
keeps a strong brand value. These are the strengths of the organisation. (Wright, 2012) There
are still many opportunities available for the organisation like using advanced technology and
a better platform to leverage its big data. There is marketing opportunity as well that would
improve the customer service in near future. Talking about the weaknesses identified in the
operational activities, it has been clearly identified that the organisation lacks the efficiency
in terms of fuel usage and not using innovative products for better functionality (Baker,
Merkert & Kamruzzaman, 2015). The increased number of competitors in the market along

Reflective Essay 7
with the fuel price volatility is the major threats for the organisation. In addition to this, there
have been significant changes in the demand of the target group of people and more severity
in government regulations which have been matter of concerns for the organisation.
Challenges faced during the capstone project:
I would also like to mention that I have also faced a number of challenges while
conducting the research for the business capstone. Primarily, the 11 week journey seemed too
passed very fast. Although there was plenty of time to work on the proposal and later on the
project of 2500 words, at the last moment I felt that a bit more research would have helped
me to gain few other valid points to be included in the report. Once the research was done, I
wanted to jot down whatever I had researched on the topic nut the cap of the limited words
was also a challenge for me. Again I would like to mention that it was an individual project
and thus there was no scope of discussing the report with others in group from where I could
have got help or more information. As there was only the option of secondary research, I had
to depend on the materials and information whatever was available on the internet. Indeed,
the annual report of Qantas Airline has provide me almost all the information but in order to
know about the current changes and reforms by the organisation, I had to consult several
newspaper articles and recent news which were time consuming and at the same time there
was chances that the information could be biased. Thus, I had to filter the information before
using it for my research. I had used all the sources used for the report.
Conclusion:
The entire 11 weeks of the project was depended on various activities and step by step
we were able to achieve the outcome of the goal set by us. The first few weeks went by, by
carrying out the research on the market perspective. I have understood that the business
evaluation tools and marketing operational activities gives us the direction of evaluating a
scenario and then recommending the probable solutions to it. For instance, I would like to

Reflective Essay 8
state that the PESTLE analysis has helped to understand all those factors that directly and
indirectly affects the business operation, I have understood that it is not only basis the capital
investment on a project that the project starts to work, but there should be always a detailed
analysis of the entire situation when one intents to work on a particular project. I would like
to mention that after the completion of my course, I wanted to open by start-up business
because I believe that I have that strong entrepreneurial quality along with strong leadership
ability and this will definitely help me to go to that height where I want to be. This capstone
project has given me the opportunity to improve my business related skills further and
understand the actual situation behind the success of an organisation.
My future action plan:
After the completion of the project, I have realised that there a certain areas where I
am good at and in certain areas I have to come up with improvement and betterment. For
instance, the preparation of the report required me to carry out a thorough research using
various research reports, news articles as well as peer-reviewed journals. Therefore, I have
good research skills but I am certainly not much confident in evaluating the financial figures
and graphs and thus, improvement in this area is needed. As of working at a managerial or
leadership level, I would like to state that I need to improve in terms of inter-personal
communication as well as communication in group. I need to be more confident in my work
and I have to present my findings with better data.
For the short term and long term improvement plan I would like to get enrolled in
some personality development courses that would help me to build more confidence on me
and would strengthen my communication skills as well. I would also like to devote more time
in reading newspaper and magazines to keep myself updated with the recent happening
around the globe. I would also like to participate in debates and other competitions to
improve my exposure among people.

Reflective Essay 9
References:
Baker, D., Merkert, R., & Kamruzzaman, M. (2015). Regional aviation and economic
growth: cointegration and causality analysis in Australia. Journal of Transport
Geography, 43, 140-150. Available at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0966692315000265
Clifford, L. (2019). Qantas Annual Report 2018. [online] Investor.qantas.com. Available at:
https://investor.qantas.com/FormBuilder/_Resource/_module/doLLG5ufYkCyEPjF1t
pgyw/file/annual-reports/2018-Annual-Report-ASX.pdf [Accessed 25 Jul. 2019].
Cope, R. C., Ross, J. V., Wittmann, T. A., Prowse, T. A., & Cassey, P. (2016). Integrative
analysis of the physical transport network into Australia. PloS one, 11(2), e0148831.
Available at
https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0148831
Geaviation.com. (2019). FlightPulse | GE Aviation. [online] Available at:
https://www.geaviation.com/digital/flightpulse [Accessed 26 Jul. 2019].
Graver, B. & Rutherford, D. (2018). [online] Theicct.org. Available at:
https://theicct.org/sites/default/files/publications/Transpacific-airline-fuel-efficiency-
ranking-2016_ICCT-white-paper_16012018_vF.pdf [Accessed 26 Jul. 2019].
Ibisworld.com.au. (2019). Qantas Airways Limited. [online] Available at:
https://www.ibisworld.com.au/australian-company-research-reports/transport-postal-
warehousing/qantas-airways-limited-company.html [Accessed 25 Jul. 2019].
Kang & Hansen (2018), ‘Improving airline fuel efficiency via fuel burn prediction and
uncertainty estimation’, Transportation Research Part C, vol. 97, pp. 128–146

Reflective Essay 10
Ma, E., Liu, Y., Li, J., & Chen, S. (2016). Anticipating Chinese tourists arrivals in Australia:
A time series analysis. Tourism management perspectives, 17, 50-58. Available at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211973615300180
Ma, W., Wang, Q., Yang, H., & Zhang, Y. (2019). An analysis of price competition and price
wars in Australia's domestic airline market. Transport Policy. Available at
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0967070X18302154
Porter. M. (2008). The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy. Harvard Business
Review. 78-91
Qantas.com (2018) Qantas Data book 2018, Available at
https://investor.qantas.com/FormBuilder/_Resource/_module/doLLG5ufYkCyEPjF1t
pgyw/file/data-book/2018qantasdatabook.pdf, (Accessed 02 August 2019)
Simmons, C. (2015). Qantas turns to big data and IoT to cut energy burn | I-CIO. [online] I-
cio.com. Available at:
https://www.i-cio.com/innovation/energy-efficiency/item/qantas-turns-to-big-data-
and-iot-to-cut-energy-burn [Accessed 25 Jul. 2019].
Srisaeng, P., Baxter, G., Richardson, S., & Wild, G. (2015). A forecasting Tool for Predicting
Australia's Domestic Airline Passenger Demand Using a Genetic Algorithm. Journal
of Aerospace Technology and Management, 7(4), 476-489. Available at
http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?pid=S2175-91462015000400476&script=sci_arttext
Thompson, A. & Gamble, J. (2012). South West Airlines in 2010: Culture. Valuess. and
Operating Practices
Wang, K., Xia, W., Zhang, A., & Zhang, Q. (2017). Effects of high-speed rail speed on
airline demand and price: Theoretical analysis and empirical evidence from a quasi-

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natural experiment. Working paper, University of British Columbia. Available at
https://lms.polyu.edu.hk/media/1444/seminar-annoucement_20171011.pdf
Wright, T. P. (2012). Factors affecting the cost of airplanes. Journal of the Aeronautical
Sciences (Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences), 3(4).