Businesses Are Constantly Under Pressure To Change As The Business Environment Changes Around Them!

Evolution and innovation are important to ensure the survival of any business. As a result, technology is the key to innovation In looking at the external

today in the modern globalised business world. Australia Post and Qantas, the changes in

environment, management skills and strategies for change and effective management have influenced these businesses in maintaining a competitive advantage and satisfactory profits.

As economic reform took hold, from the 1990s onwards, businesses were forced to innovate or exit. The new ideas for

Australia Post were focused on the way in which economic growth is driven by investment in human capital and innovation. The

Australian Government embarked on a wide-ranging program where firstly, the financial system was deregulated and subject to greater competition. The tariffs were reduced and government The Corporatisation of Australia

businesses were corporatised.

Post in 1989 meant that the government instructs Australia Post

to operate essentially as a commercial business.

The aim was to

deliver services efficiently and to generate a commercial return on assets.

The events of September 11, 2001 had a big impact on Qantas. It experienced a 30% decline in bookings from some key routes following September 11. The War in Iraq and SARS affected all

the airline operations leading to a 20% decrease in profits in 2002-2003. Qantas predicts that it will take 12 months to get Flights to non-SARS affected

loads and yields up to pre-SARS.

areas were also hit hard with a drop in bookings to Italy, Britain and Japan. In seeking to achieve its goals, the government has

impacted Qantas through the laws it passes and enforces and the regulations in enacts. For example

Qantas is subject to the regulatory control of the Civil Aviation Safety Authority.

The technological innovations have impacted on various aspects of Qantas. It has meant that Qantas has bought it newer planes

and updated their travel conditions to keep up with consumer

demand.

Due to Australias remoteness it has become a much

more attractive place to travel to, meaning that Qantass newly recruited staff are becoming more cultural sensitive and fluent in foreign languages.

Australia Posts management skills were needed to help carefully plan the strategies that would need to make their major changes successful. staff. Extensive staff training was needed to retrain the

This involved the staff going to postal training schools for

them to learn how to operate a new, modern efficient post office. For successful change within large organizations, extended negotiations with all stakeholders is imperative. For Australia

Post, that meant government, the board, staff, unions, regional management and customers. Change directed at increase

productivity, greater efficiency and lower costs represented a threat to jobs. Australia Culminating in a 5 year Retail Post Agreement. safeguards elating to

Post had to put in place

redundancy packages and pay increases.

These changes

enabled Australia Post to reach agreement of staffing levels that

resulted in savings that were essential to the change process.

In

response to changing times, the management of Australia Post considered how it was to face up to the impending challenges. In the late 1980s the well known management consultants, McKinsey, were engaged to look closely at the business, its operations and its future. The McKinsey study highlighted the

fact that Australia Post was losing money by the way its retail network was structured and run. It needed to look at how it was

going to restructure its business to compete effectively. Australia Post adopted McKinseys option to reform the existing network as the way forward which started a wide-reaching process that resulted in the new initiative. The response to

change had to be a solution that fitted with all of Australia Posts stakeholders. The answer was licensed post offices (LPOs).

LPOs replaced the existing semi-commercial relationships that had existed for 5 or 6 decades prior to the early 1990s. The

traditional arrangements with another business were costing Australia Post many millions of dollars a year. The intention was

clear to convert unprofitable corporate post officers into a similar

licensing format.

Each licensed post office today has an

independent business operator to whom Australia Post pays a commission for providing specified service on it behalf. As a

result today, more business LPOs do the more they get paid. The strategies that Australia Post adopted for change has resulted in them becoming and more competitive increased advantage their over its

competitors

profits.

clear

vision

was

identified

by

Qantas

and

was

clearly

communicated by senior management to staff.

They modernized

their aircraft over the next 10 years, expanded its catering and freight divisions to protect it from the peaks and troughs. Any

significant change at Qantas requires staff to learn new skills especially when new technology is introduced. In 2003 Qantas

developed and implemented additional security training for all flight and cabin crew and continuing to invest in engineering and maintenance training. They revealed plans to reconstruct the

company into eight separate business units to help its $1 billion cost reduction target over two years and respond to the unstable

international airline market.

Each business will have budgets

and profit targets and will be required to produce targeted return on assets, while operating to optimize the performance of the whole group. Mangers were reluctant to change at first, but they

realized that the changes needed to be made in order to have a competitive advantage over its competitors and increase its profits.

Australia Post realized there was going to be resistance to the changes. They held extensive negotiations with all their As far as staff unions were concerned, the central Thus, Australia Post put in

stakeholders.

issue was always about job losses.

safeguards relating to redundancy packages, enabling them to reach agreement on staffing levels that result in savings that were essential to the change process. Australia Post changed A new range of

the traditional service format into self service.

stationary and complementary products that have never been sold in post offices before was introduced. No surprisingly there

was some resistance form within pockets of the community,

particularly form local newsagents who saw the changes as providing unfair competition. But Post was undeterred in its The other feature of the

drive for modernity and efficiency.

change process reflected the change in image that Australia Post was seeking was updating of the corporate clothing staff wore in Post shops and customer service training. As part of the change

process, Australia Post totally changed the way staff dresses, reflecting the new way of dealing with customers and the goods to be sold. to the new. If they were to be successful, the old had to give way They realized that by maintaining and implementing

these changes Australia Post will remain technologically up to date and will satisfy consumer demand in order to maintain profits.

There are a number of reasons that have made it difficult for Qantas to effectively implement change. overcome them. Staffing resistance is one. But Qantas has They have provided

specialist training to reduce staff resistance to these new procedures, have a more democratic style of management where

employees have more input in decision making and have increased salaries. But considering the turbulent times in

aviation in the last two years, Qantas management has done a remarkable job effectively. During this time Qantas has become They have their

one of the most profitable airlines in the world. retrained staff to be culturally sensitive,

expanded

apprenticeships programme, have additional security training for all flight and cabin crew and invested in engineering and maintenance training.

Qantas realized that changes needed to be made (especially with all the international problems that were occurring e.g. September 11, SARS and the War in Iraq) in order to stay competitive within this market. Effective management restricting was needed in

order to remain technologically up to date in the ever changing business environment. Once changes were made to Qantass

structure, Qantas has since enjoyed a competitive advantage over its competitors and this has satisfied consumer demand which has led to them not just maintaining profits but increasing

profits.

Australia Post and Qantas in recent years have undergone considerable strategic and technological change in order to maintain a competitive advantage over their competitors by satisfying consumer demand, which has ultimately resulted in increased profits. Thus, the pressures to change that these

businesses faced from the ever-changing business environment meant that new environment management skills and restructed business has ensured that Australia Post and Qantas has what is needed to remain technologically up to date.

References

HSC

TEXTBOOK

(Business

in

Action

2nd

Edition)

www.Essaytrader.net en.wikipedia.org/wiki www.qantas.com.au www.australiapost.com.au (Globalisation)