What Contributions does Qantas make to the Economy? Detail at least one positive and one negative contribution

Qantas contributes greatly to Australia's economy, the tourism industry in particular.
The tourism industry, which contributed $33.9 billion to the Australian economy and employed 500,00 in 2011 is both positively and negatively impacted by the actions of Qantas.

When Qantas is operating at it's best, jobs in manufacturing and services in Australia thrive, allowing hundreds of thousands of Australian's to enjoy better material living standards and thus have more disposable income.

To put things into perspective, a grounding of Qantas across Australia for more than 24 hours is comparable to the effect of a cyclone or floor for the Tourism Industry.

One negative contribution Qantas makes to the economy is that it transports Australians to overseas destinations. More and more people are choosing to spend their holidays overseas and this is weakening Australia's domestic tourism industry. The tourism industry employs many casual staff and so a fall in demand in the domestic tourism industry could easily coincide with an increase in unemployment in the industry.

One positive contribution Qantas makes to the economy is that the organisation creates many jobs for people in the manufacturing and services industry.

Management Functions - The role of a Human Resource Manager at Qantas

Qantas states on their website that: "Qantas works hard to identify talented people and helps them realise their potential."

Human resource management is all about looking after the people who direct and combine resources to produce goods and services for an organisation. People in an organisation are often referred to as human resources. Human resources are a vital asset.

An HR manager at Qantas would be tasked with coordinating all the activities involved, from acquiring to terminating employees at the organisation. Their role would be to effectively manage the relationship between the employer and employees of Qantas.

HR management begins with the establishment phase, in which an HR manager is required to help get people to work for the organisation. Once Qantas has selected the right people, they have to be inducted, trained and developed into highly skilled professionals. This middle stage is called the maintenance stage. Finally, there will come a time when Qantas employees will separate from the business, either voluntarily or involuntarily. This final stage is known as termination.

Qantas is successful in achieving its objectives by balancing the need for profitability (and satisfying shareholders) with a regard for the wellbeing of its employees. Qantas HR management's focus on positive work and employment relationships should lead to a motivated staff, increased productivity and, consequently, the achievement of organisational objectives.

At Qantas and other LSOs, a human resource manager establishes HR objectives and a process for how those goals will be achieved. They ensure that the right employees are matched with the right tasks. HR managers motivate and inspire staff to achieve organisational objectives. An HR manager at Qantas or another LSO will also establish measures to monitor employee performance.

Does Qantas operate in the public or private sector? In what industry do they operate and what are their objectives and related business strategies?

Qantas operates in the private sector. The organisation operates in the aviation industry, one which is rife with competition.

Qantas objectives:

Scouring through many different public reports that Qantas has made available to the public, I noticed that the organisation has many strategic goals.

Broadly speaking, their objectives are:

• To provide a satisfactory return to shareholders
• To generate enough profit in reserve to fund growth and the gaining of new aircraft
• Increased passenger ticket sales
• Increased market share in the airline industry
• To grow and create new routes
• To decrease operating costs, mainly labour costs

Below is a more in depth look at Qantas's objectives, taken from their 2011 investor presentation:

As can be seen in the image above, the organisation's key goal is to deliver sustainable returns to shareholders. This will be achieved through 5 sub-objectives, 3 of which will help strengthen Qantas's domestic business.

The 5 other objectives are:

• Profitably building on 65% market share through dual brands (increase market share)
• Deepening FFP (Frequent Flyer Program) member and partner engagement
• Growing our portfolio of related businesses
• Transforming Qantas International
• Growing Jetstar in Asia

These are all very specific strategic objectives. It is essential that businesses have specific objectives as it gives the organisation a sense of direction and allows them to efficiently focus their energy on achieving these objectives. The strategies they will use to achieve these goals have a clear focus on the customers and employees. They plan on achieving these goals by:

• Engaging and developing our people (employees/employee satisfaction)
• Building customer loyalty through great experiences and multiple brands (customers/customer satisfaction)
• Safety is always our first priority (customers and employees)

Above we can see that due to the detailed strategic objectives, Qantas has been able to make huge progress in achieving their goals. 

Why is QANTAS a large scale organisation?

How does QANTAS satisfy the LSO characteristics identified in the textbook?
The "Key Concepts in VCE Business Management Units 3 & 4" textbook states that "large-scale organisations are  characterised by a large number of employees, a large amount of assets and large revenue. The Australian Bureau of Statistics defines a large-scale organisation as one that employs 200 or more people or has assets worth more than $200 million.

Some characteristics of LSOs:

• Operate in many countries
• Produce goods and services en masse
• Have a huge range and large number of stakeholders 
• Make large contributions to the economy
• Have access to huge amounts of finance
• Produce goods and services efficiently because of technology and large numbers of staff
• Produce goods and services cheaply because they can reduce costs
• Undertake long-term planning in order to achieve corporate objectives
• Have great political influence
• Group staff together into departments
• Have management structures
• Have owners or shareholders, who have little to do with day-to-day operations

Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services (QANTAS) is an LSO. Qantas employs over 35,000 people (according to its website), with 93% of them based in Australia. Qantas has assets worth $20.2 billion (wikipedia) and total revenue of $15.9 billion (wikipedia). Qantas carries a 65% share of the Australian domestic market and carries 18.7% of all passengers travelling in and out of Australia. The company has serviced 48.2 million passengers in 2013 so far all around the world. Qantas is also a multinational corporation. While it is owned and based in Australia, it operates in 44 countries, flying to 182 destinations.

Unlike small businesses, the owners of LSOs have little to do with the day-to-day operations of the businesses. Instead, these operations are left to managers, who make day-to-day decisions and undertake long-term planning to achieve corporate objectives. This rings true for Qantas, which has many shareholders who are all part-owners of the company, yet do not have anything to do with the day-to-day operations of the company.

As has been highlighted above, Qantas carries many characteristics that make it a large scale organisation.