Qantas Ceo Alan Joyce Managing Critque During Industrial Action
MGT5000 MANAGING ORGANISATIONAL BEHAVIOUR
Faculty of Business & Law University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba, Queensland
Assignment 3
Prepared for
Dr Retha Wiesner
By Student name: Matthew Caughley Student number: w0093045
Due Date: 1st June, 2012
Matthew Caughley w0093045
MGT5000 Managing Organisational Behaviour
-1-
The following essay critiques the performance of management at Qantas during the industrial action of 2012, and the power and conflict issues that arose during the dispute. In particular, the essay focuses on the management style of CEO Alan Joyce, and whether or not Qantas can recover from the crisis with Joyce at the helm.
Task 1.1
Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas, made use of his position as CEO and the legitimate power given to that position during the Qantas industrial disputes, which peaked when he chose to ground all Qantas flights, both domestic and international. Due to the ongoing strikes and industrial disputes with three different unions, Joyce felt he and the rest of Qantas management were backed into a corner. According to Joyce, “This was the only solution we had. This was an amazing decision for us (Qantas management) to make and it wasn’t made lightly. It was only made when every single alternative was exhausted to us and there was nowhere for management to go” (Bamber, 2011). The power tactic used by Joyce was the sanctioning of use of organisationally derived punishment. He chose to make use of his legitimate power by grounding the fleet ‘indefinitely’, thereby suspending all Qantas employment. Of course, ‘indefinitely’ meant until Fair Work Australia (FWA), operating on behalf of the federal government intervened. His use of legitimate power ensured all parties were forced back to the negotiating table and the involvement of FWA meant a solution to the industrial dispute was inevitable, by either mutual agreement between Qantas management and unions, or by binding arbitration. Mr Joyce made use of the
Faculty of Business & Law University of Southern Queensland Toowoomba, Queensland
Assignment 3
Prepared for
Dr Retha Wiesner
By Student name: Matthew Caughley Student number: w0093045
Due Date: 1st June, 2012
Matthew Caughley w0093045
MGT5000 Managing Organisational Behaviour
-1-
The following essay critiques the performance of management at Qantas during the industrial action of 2012, and the power and conflict issues that arose during the dispute. In particular, the essay focuses on the management style of CEO Alan Joyce, and whether or not Qantas can recover from the crisis with Joyce at the helm.
Task 1.1
Alan Joyce, CEO of Qantas, made use of his position as CEO and the legitimate power given to that position during the Qantas industrial disputes, which peaked when he chose to ground all Qantas flights, both domestic and international. Due to the ongoing strikes and industrial disputes with three different unions, Joyce felt he and the rest of Qantas management were backed into a corner. According to Joyce, “This was the only solution we had. This was an amazing decision for us (Qantas management) to make and it wasn’t made lightly. It was only made when every single alternative was exhausted to us and there was nowhere for management to go” (Bamber, 2011). The power tactic used by Joyce was the sanctioning of use of organisationally derived punishment. He chose to make use of his legitimate power by grounding the fleet ‘indefinitely’, thereby suspending all Qantas employment. Of course, ‘indefinitely’ meant until Fair Work Australia (FWA), operating on behalf of the federal government intervened. His use of legitimate power ensured all parties were forced back to the negotiating table and the involvement of FWA meant a solution to the industrial dispute was inevitable, by either mutual agreement between Qantas management and unions, or by binding arbitration. Mr Joyce made use of the
References: Bamber, Greg, How might Qantas rebuild relation with its workforce?, The Conversation, 14 Nov 2011, accessed 6th May, 2012. Chamorro-Premuzic, Tomas & Furnham, Adrian 2010, The psychology of personnel selection, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. Dunphy, C & Stace, A 1988, 'Transformational and coercive strategies for planned organizational change: beyond the OD model ', Organization Studies, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 317-334. Eunson, Baden 2007, Conflict Management, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton, Qld. Luecke, R 2003, Managing change and transition, Harvard Business School Press, Boston, Ma. Phillips, Ken, Qantas shows Air Canada who’s boss, Business Spectator, 4 Apr 2012, < http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/Qantas-Air-Canada-industrialrelations-pd20120404-SZS8A?OpenDocument&emcontent_spectators> accessed 7th May, 2012. Riesner, R 2012, Managing Organisational Behaviour Study Guide, USQ Toowoomba Robbins, SP, Judge, TA, Millett, B & Waters-Marsh, T 2008, Organisational Behaviour, Pearson Education, Australia. Turner, Rodney & Müller, Ralf 2006, Choosing appropriate project managers: matching their leadership style to the type of project, PMI, Aust. Wood, J, Zeffane, R, Fromholtz, M, Wiesner, R & Creed, A 2010, Organisational Behaviour, 2nd edn, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Milton, Qld. Matthew Caughley w0093045 MGT5000 Managing Organisational Behaviour -9-