Operational Strategies That Management May Use to Respond to Influences on Operations

On October 22nd, 2001, the Industrial dispute between QANTAS and its employees was initiated with the offering of a new Enterprise Bargaining Agreement. This proposed an 18-month wage freeze for employees plus a sliding scale profit share scheme. Ten out of twelve unions under QANTAS accepted the terms of the agreement, barring the unions of manufacturing employees (AWU and AMWU). They were holding out for a 4-6% pay rise. On the 8th May 2002, some ten months later, the dispute was resolved when QANTAS agreed to an across the board 6% pay increase. This essay provides an in-depth analysis into the dispute, including causes, the resolution process, the role of stakeholders, and costs and benefits for all concerned.

Operations management is essential for the survival and success of any organization. According to Heizer & Render (2011), operations management (OM) is the set of activities that creates value in the form of goods and services by transforming inputs into outputs. Operations managers today contend with competition, globalization, inflation, consumer demand, and consistent change in technology. Managers must focus on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes such as cost, dependability, distribution, flexibility, and speed. The intent of this paper is to discuss the processes and operations management of the Kroger Company.

The boards of directors are implicating new strategies to help Qantas renew in the post maturity stage. These strategies are:

Qantas is Australia’s largest domestic and international airline. Although Qantas is primarily a passenger airline, air freight is also an integral part of its core business. Other Qantas operations include catering, tourism and E-commerce devoted to transport and travel. In order to have an effective business and operations process, a company, like Qantas must be aware of the influences that can affect it. By being aware of the influences it enables the business to make decision and choices that can get the most out of each influence, by doing this it can assist the business in its endeavours for success.

Rivalry among industry competitors has caused attention to be focused on tariff levels. Airfare prices were at an all time low in 2009. This suggested a strong competitive rivalry based on price differentiation. This price differentiation will cause a dramatic loss in revenue if these prices continue to drop and this would lead to a reduced competitiveness. In an effort to safeguard revenue and reduce expenditure, Qantas has developed a strategy to deal with a change in the external competitive environment. .

Management practices at Qantas are more flexible and adapted to suit challenges in society such as the reaction to terrorism, the introduction of viral disease and the ever changing market and customer requirements.

Chase, R.B., Jacobs, F. R., & Aquilano, N.J. (2006) Operations management for competitive advantage (11th ed). New York: McGraw Hill/Irwin

Global strategy plays a vital role in strengthening organisations such as Qantas (Hill & Jones, 2010). Through the use of integration and global standardisation Qantas will be able to enhance its operations and increase its aviation market share. These strategies will enhance Qantas’ consumer base, whilst improving customer service outcomes. The implementation of these strategies will enable superior quality service delivery and improved performance against rivals in the aviation industry.

Operations management is defined as the design, execution, and control of operations that convert resources into desired goods and services, while implementing an organizations business strategy (Business Dictionary, 2015). Office Depot Inc. is one such organization that truly understands that solid operations is the foundation to the success they have had in recent years. In this paper, I will give the history and background of Office Depot Inc. and explain why they have been able to keep such a competitive advantage in the consumer and small business supply industry. Additionally, I will

Operations Management in an organisation is repsonsible for managing and in making decisions concerning the activities that convert inputs into outputs , that is goods and services. This covers both short term actvities as well as longer term activities to meet strategic goals. Inputs can be the raw materaials need to manufacture goods such as furniture or the computers needed to create a service like online shopping site. Operation management’s role is to make decisions to improve how operation activities function, for example, to improve the final quality of the output or to change production methods to be more efficient in terms of cost and in time.

These main business objectives help the airline to focus on deliver quality services of the customers. Qantas main business is passengers transports and it is the world’s second oldest airlines. Qantas group operates approx 5600 flights in a weak in 59 cities of regional areas. Internationally, the group operates around 970 flights (Qantas-630 and Jetstar-340) in 44 counties 182 destinations. Moreover, through operations the group focused on five key elements that are right aircraft or right

This analysis delves into the company’s operation management principles to interpret its successful strategies and offer future recommendations.

Qantas’ vision is driven by a business strategy focused on five key elements; (1) safety is our first priority; (2) right aircraft, right routes; (3) customer service excellence; (4) operational efficiency and (5) two strong complementary brands Qantas and Jetstar as the best in their respective class. Qantas has a hierarchal structure comprising of three divisions; Commercial, Customer and Marketing and Operations (Qantas, 2010a).

It is also their vision ‘to be a great airline that champion’s the Spirit of Australia’ (Qantas.com). Since it is their vision to demonstrate the Australian Spirit to the public, it is vital that they start incorporating practices that reflect this conduct within the

The basic requirements for operation managements is understanding of the customers’ needs and satisfied them, and use fewer resources to maximise the efficiency and effective of the company’s productivity. Therefore two typical Australia companies have been shown blew. One is the largest Australian supermarket, Woolworths Limited, and another one is the largest airline company in Australia, Qantas Limited.