Identifying a need for change
Leading and influencing change in an organization requires a lot of effort, and the method used to transition through the change process is fundamental. The report’s objective is to identify the appropriate ways in which leaders can influence changes in their businesses for the active growth of the companies. The change that is supposed to increase the inflows of an organization is very beneficial since it enables the members to find the most suitable ways to eradicate losses and deal with the challenges that are coming up in an organization. However, in most cases, change will not be embraced by everyone in an organization (Australianaviation.Com.Au, 2014). People cannot compare their lives today and that of the 19th century, thus it is essential to consider different changes in different fields. Section one describes the process of leading and influencing change in a corporation; section 2 provides detailed information about Qantas Airline including its strengths and weaknesses. Part 3 of the essay, discusses the leadership skills that Alan Joyce considered important in running an organization and influencing change.
As a CEO it is important to note that change is inevitable, change happens every day in any economy. It is, therefore, significant to understand how the market works, as it is the determinant of the change, CEOs also need to identify the innovations to be made for a productive business flow (BLue Swan Daily, 2018). Alan Joyce understands the power of change which allows the improvement in the financial status of Qantas (BBC NEWS, 2014). From the move, the corporation has gained a 900 million profit together with a compelling growth rate and an evolved status.
At the same time as a chief executive officer, one needs to know the right areas to focus on a useful change. Making changes in the wrong regions does not bring out the best of the corporation. It is important to focus on; the difference that enables better services to the customers, the type of change that will attract more customers into the corporation and the kind of change that will be a motivation to the workers.
Every leader attempting to achieve a change must understand the operational order for change manipulation to be able to apply the required adjustments in the system. Before implementing the change, all the stakeholders and the interested parties involved, need to understand the necessity of the modification in the institution. Some individuals tend to be antagonistic to the change hence it is important to make them understand the revolution’s inevitability. Explaining the goals of the modification gives a chance to the employees and all other affected parties to raise their concerns and also to give their opinions and views on the change that is about to be implemented.
Changes at times may be overwhelming; thus as a CEO, it is essential to be considerate and implement the change in phases. This will enable all the affected parties to adapt to the revolutions, and by the time the full changes are implemented, it won’t be too much for the people affected by the transition to accept it and handle it within the organization (BBC NEWS, 2014). Implementing change in phases gives a chance to analyze the impacts of the adjustments. The process assists in the acquisition of more knowledge about the new venture that is taken up in the institution. (Chong, 2015).
Implementing change
When change is implemented, it is important for a leader to observe the impacts of the shift to the corporation. The process is conducted through monitoring; whereby the supervisor gathers information about the reform progress. It is also significant to share the information about the modification’s performance (Chong, 2015). Whenever a corporation decides to take up any variation, they always aim to make improvements in the organization. Employees should be informed to know the requirements for executing the change thus allowing the achievement of the targeted results.
Qantas Airline was established in the year 1920; the company escalates its flights from Australia to 85 international destinations, the business has the following strengths; (Durkin, 2017). Steady and consistent growth; from when Qantas Airline was founded it has mostly shown steadiness and growth due to its sound strategic framework. Superior services; unlike most airlines, Qantas partnered with the university of Sydney. The partnership comprised of conducting research that identified the most comfortable and suitable services that could be provided for all their customers including those that would be taking long flights lasting for more than 21 hours (Forsyth & Stewart, 2012). Qantas transformational program; at the time when Qantas was faced with problems, they introduced this program to improve the quality of their services at minimum costs. The program became very beneficial to the airline since it established the airline’s customer base worldwide.
Some of the challenges that Qantas airline faced include the following:
Union problems; just like any other airline Qantas airline also had some troubles with the union whereby there were some disagreements between the Qantas and the unions in regards to some of the programmes undertaken by the Airline. Low profit in international flights; Qantas even with its popularity still had the trouble of not raising high earnings from all the international flights that were operated by the company (Forsyth & Stewart, 2012). Competition; this was a significant threat for Qantas airline especially because, the airline became popular in Australia and was not well developed internationally. Therefore, Qantas had trouble with some airlines like the American airline.
Having a vision; Alan Joyce insisted that for any organization to move forward, it needed to have an idea which indicated the strategy to carry out activities. The vision comprised of a direction that was to be followed by the corporation in executing its activities (Grant, et al., 2014). He insisted that to take any step in the airline organization the workers needed to know what they were working towards and what was to be achieved.
Having a diverse team; Alan Joyce stated that for an organization to work well, it needed to have people with different opinions and perspective. This gave the institution a chance to grow different and unique ideas for the establishment of the business. Diversity is crucial as it brings about the aspect of assortment in the manner of thinking within the workforce thus allowing the establishment of various business ideas.
Risk-taking; he encouraged people, particularly the employees at Qantas to be risk takers (Mulki, et al., 2015). Alan Joyce helped individuals within the organization to take risks, as they calculated the consequences that came along with the risks. Joyce knew that some dangers would affect the organization negatively. Therefore, he encouraged through research before engaging.
Owning up to the mistakes; in the organization whenever Alan Joyce committed a mistake, he owned up it and tried to fix the error. This encouraged the employee team to work with honesty and own up to their faults.
Commitment; Joyce Alan assigned work to the employees and took part in the assigned work in helping the team reach the most suitable results.
One of the most notable strengths of Qantas airline was the Qantas transformational program. This program was initiated to identify the quality of services that the airline could provide to their customers to make their experience more comfortable while flying (Sheedy, 2016). The most noticeable thing about the program was the fact that the services were efficient with the costs being very affordable. The transformational program was the missing piece in Qantas and after it was used the figures of the airline changed (Sutton, 2018). The program increased the profits of the airline and as well attracted more customers, this platform opened the doors for Qantas internationally and locally.
Conclusion
Leading at times may prove to be difficult. However, teamwork is considered a useful aspect at times of crisis and for the efficient running of the organization than working individually. Working together enables sharing of ideas and consistency. All workers need to work together to create a sense of equality, the factor of loyalty is established among the members realize that their views are appreciated by the leaders. Change is unavoidable and always comes from within all the workers within an institution, the leaders included.
References
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Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-28948855[Accessed 10 September 2018].
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Durkin, P., 2017. Bank ‘tax grab will spook investors: Don Argus, Alan Joyce, Andrew Thorburn. Australian Financial Review, 11.
Forsyth, A. and Stewart, A., 2012. Of Kamikazes and Mad Men: The Fallout from the Qantas Industrial Dispute. Melb. UL Rev., 36, p.785.
Grant, R., Butler, B., Orr, S., and Murray, P.A., 2014. Contemporary strategic management: An Australasian perspective. John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.
Mulki, J.P., Caemmerer, B. and Heggde, G.S., 2015. Leadership style, salesperson’s work effort and job performance: the influence of power distance. Journal of Personal Selling & Sales Management, 35(1), pp.3-22.
Sheedy, C., 2016. Qantas: The most remarkable turnaround in aviation history?. [Online]
Available at: https://www.icas.com/ca-today-news/qantas-nine-lives-flying-kangaroo
[Accessed 10 September 2018].
Sutton, C., 2018. Qantas CEO Alan Joyce doubles pay in massive bonus to $25 million. [Online] Available at: https://www.news.com.au/finance/work/leaders/qantas-ceo-alan-joyce-doubles-pay-in-massive-bonus-to-25-million/news story/ae770137f09daddbb7281951b4549a26[Accessed 10 September 2018].