Qantas Airway (Essay Sample)

CRITICAL ANALYSIS
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Long Essay
Executive Summary
This paper will critically analyze an article Sarina, T and Lansbury, R (2013), Flying high and low? Strategic choice and employment relations in Qantas and Jetstar. Some of the main areas of the article that will be analyzed include the key arguments and central ideas given by the authors, the methodology used, and the presence of facts or figures in the article and overall presentation and level of comprehension of the article.
Introduction
The main aim of this paper is to critically evaluate the article written by Sarina, T and Lansbury, R (2013), Flying high and low? Strategic choice and employment relations in Qantas and Jetstar.
Central Argument
The main argument that has been presented in the paper revolves around the strategic choices made by Qantas Airways and its low cost carrier Jetstar in relation to the employee relationships in the modern times of extreme competitiveness. Considering the history of these organizations, , it is seen that divergent employment relationship strategies were adopted. These strategies did not prove to be fruitful in the conditions of extremely turbulent business environments. Based on the current challenges of business environment, a more hybrid approach has been adopted by the airlines. Thereby the main aim of the paper is to analyze if the currently adopted strategies can be helpful in ensuring the long term survival of the Qantas Group in the modern and highly turbulent business environment. The authors have argued that the current level of turbulence in the airline business is one of the main reasons of an increased stress and challenges being faced by the airline organizations (Bamber et al., 2009). The research has also identified employment strategies that can be adopted by the organizations for long term and fruitful employment relationships which can help in the sustenance of the organizations. Certain key points have been highlighted by the authors. First, there is an increase in the complexities of the employment relationships due to increased competitive pressures on legacy as well as low cost airlines. Secondly, the overall discussion and strategic framework presented by the authors is based on the models of Walton, CutcherGershenfeld and McKersie (1994). Based on the model, the authors have highlighted a strategic framework for the development of a decision making process which can be used by the employers for the purpose of collective bargaining in the airline industry. The third key point given by the authors which reflects the level of understanding of the authors regarding the importance of employment relations is that there is a stronger correlation between the employment relationships and business imperatives which lead to a better transition and a change of the airline towards a hybrid approach rather a high or a low road approach towards employment relations.
Methodology Used
The adopted methodology reflects the purpose of the study, i.e. Analyzing the employment relations strategies of Qantas Airways and their evolution . A low cost carrier, Jetstar was established by Qantas in 2004 that has unionized as well as non-unionized workforce (Biddle, 2012). In order to find the answers to the research questions, primary and secondary methodologies both were adopted by the authors. Based on the model presented by Walton, CutcherGershenfeld and McKersie (1994), the reasons of evolution of the employment strategies of Qantas airways will be analyzed. Primary research included semi structured interviews were conducted with industrial relation managers and trade union officials of Qantas and Jetstar. 60 minutes of 15 interviews were conducted. The reason of selection of semi structured interviews as given by the authors justifies the strength underlying the most popular usage of these kinds of interviews. These interviews make sure that there is an in-depth recollection of rich data from the respondents in relation to their experiences and their perceptions regarding social reality. Thereby, a more thematic framework is provided by the responses which can help in answering the researchers questions (Gittell and Bamber, 2010). But one of the main disadvantages of the semi structured interviews is that the responses can include biases. Consideringmethodology, it can be seen that the fact is understood by the authors and in order to reduce the biasness, thematic questions were presented in the questionnaire based on the strategies effective employment relations and business practices in Qantas Airways (Hunter, 2006). Main questions like work organizations, job security, staffing and labor-management relations were covered in this thematic interview
However, the inclusion of more varied and a larger sample size would have been more helpful for gaining better and stronger conclusions. Instead of conducting secondary research, more focus given on the interviews and an expansion in the sample size
Critical Analysis of the Central Argument and Methodology
One of the main facts that need to be mentioned here is that the central argument is more focused towards a deeper analysis of the changes and evolution in strategic choices and business imperatives of Qantas Airways. Central argument reflects an increased understanding of the authors regarding the effects of employment relations and strategic choices on the level of success gained by the organizations. The central argument can be considered a stronger reflection of the complete study. The reader can easily grasp the main idea captured in the study along with drawing a picture of the adopted methodology. The level of comprehension embedded in the central argument of any study helps in increasing the reading flow and interest of the reader in the study. This is the case with the current side (Oxenbridge et al., 2010). The central argument is the complete reflection of the study which increases the interest of readers. One of the other main strengths that can be seen in the central argument of the article is that key points have been given by the authors which reflect the main aims of the study, the flow of the study. The key points also reflect the understanding of the authors regarding the main concepts that are reflected in the side. Thus it can be concluded here that the central argument has been written strongly and it is based on the mission of the authors that there is a need to increase the awareness of the readers for the concepts introduced in the study, which is very much achieved (Oxenbridge et al., 2010).
Central argument lacks theoretical relations of the key points with presented ideas. Theoretical aspects strengthen the original ideas of authors. The absence of these theoretical aspects weaken the overall presented key points as it leaves the reader in an unaware state of mind, where the reader fails to relate the key points with the theoretical foundations.
Considering the methodology, one of the main strengths is that the authors have comprehensively talked about the main aim of the study and the main research question.. This will help the reader in understanding the main reason based on which certain methodology has been chosen by the author. On the other hand, it has been seen that the reasons of the selection of the methodology is not only based on the aims and research questions of the study but also on the overall analysis carried out in the research. When the article is read in detail, it can be seen that the authors are more focused on the analysis of the changes that have taken place in the overall decision making process in Qantas Airways regarding the employment relations and the factors that have influenced these changes. Thereby, once the reader becomes familiar with the main areas of focus in the study, the flow of methodologies can be easily understood by the reader (Schulte and Zhu, 2005).
Moving on to the methodology section, it is seen that the main chosen methodology is semi structured interviews. Further on, it is realized by the authors that the semi structured interviews can often lead to increased biasness from the respondents which can be one of the main reasons of blurring of the conclusion and findings of the study. Thereby, in order to reduce biasness, the authors have designed questions that are based on the theme of the study. This will make sure that minimum percentage of biasness is reflected in the responses. This will additionally help in concluding better and more analytical findings. One of the second main strengths that have been seen in the case of selected methodology is that both primary and secondary methodology has been chosen by the authors (Schulte and Zhu, 2005). The findings from the questionnaires will be tallied with the findings of secondary research. This method will help in reinforcement of the facts that are to be concluded with the help of the questionnaires. The secondary research has been included in detail in the article. Some of the main areas that have been covered in the secondary research includes finding out the main reasons that lead to changes in the overall process of business imperatives and the processes of decision making in the organizations. What are some of the possible factors that have led to the changes in decision making processed and business imperatives of Qantas Airways regarding employment relations? The secondary methodology has found that the success of Qantas Airways is based on the strategies adopted for better employment relations. The primary as well as secondary methodology adopted in the articles is based on the strategic framework model proposed by Walton, CutcherGershenfeld and McKersie (1994). It was concluded by the authors that the strategies of Qantas Airways are not purely based on high road employment relations, rather the new strategies ar...