Qantas Airline - Case Study Example

AUSTRALIAN AVIATION Australian aviation Student’s name Course Code Course Name Instructor’s name Date Introduction In the contemporary competitive world, leadership skills take a central role in the success of any business (Dawson, 1996). Basically, leadership incorporates activities such as directing, guiding or conducting people, or rather initiating an activity. Turning organizations to be more innovative, responsible and responsive calls for various leadership, influence and power issues. This is with regard to the contemporary changes that are constantly shaping the nature of organizational operations which call for the development of political will, personal skills and expertise to become more innovative, flexible and adaptive. However, without the existence of political awareness and good communication skills, the organization is bound to become immersed in parochial politics, destructive power struggles, bureaucratic infighting among many other forms of conflicts that may deter the organizations overall performance (Dawson, 1996). There have been numerous reports of employee strikes and even organizational failures resulting from poor leadership skills. Good leadership incorporates such aspects such as good negotiation skills, proper influencing tactics, controlled power and politics that promote a good relationship between the management and the employees. For instance, recently, Qantas employees threatened to strike and call for an industrial action due to managerial issues. A solution was then reached between the management and the employees and the strike was eventually called off. From this example, we can analyze the relationships among negotiation and conflict, influencing tactics, power and politics. This paper will therefore use the recent example of the Qantas employees threatening strike and industrial action to explain the relationships among negotiation and conflict, influencing tactics, power and politics. Negotiation and conflicts A conflict can be defined as a disagreement between parties or emotional antagonisms that cause frictions between groups or individuals. There are two types of conflicts, substantive conflicts which are described as disagreements over goals or ends to be pursued and the means that are applied for their accomplishment. The other form, emotional conflicts arise from interpersonal challenges caused by feelings of dislike, mistrust, anger, resentment or fear. It is also important to note that a conflict can take place at an interpersonal level, involving two or more individuals, at an intergroup level, incorporating members from different teams, or at an inter-organizational level pertaining to matters concerning the organizations. In as much as conflicts are mostly taken to result in destructive results, they also yield positive outcomes. For instance, conflicts can lead to proper consideration of decisions, provide prospects for creativity and increase information that can be used for decision making. On the other hand, some of the negative impacts of conflict include distortion of group cohesion, hostilities among rival parties, and even death where physical fights are involved. It is therefore important to come up with an effective approach that can be applied to deal with the conflict. However, conflict researchers highlight that effective resolution starts with an analysis of the stage has reached and determining the source of the conflict. One of the best approaches to settling a conflict is through negotiation (Castells, 2009). This is considered as a process of communication applied to resolve a conflict or reach an agreement, when the parties involved in the conflict have differing preferences. Conflict theoretists and researchers have for a long time directing their efforts towards conflict resolution. However, there has been a recent shift from conflict resolution to conflict settlement, which has been considered as an essential achievement in the field of conflict. This indeed has increased the understanding of the significance of negotiation, which is considered as one of the best methods of settling a conflict more willingly than resolving it. However, it is important to note here that the main focus in this case is not the attitude but on reaching at an agreement that will modify behavior in a manner that will enhance settlement. Studies in conflict management highlight that one of the effective approaches to settling conflicts is enlightened self-interest. This is considered as a behavior that provides room to move towards attaining negotiation objectives, while at the same time making possible for the concerned parties to attain their goals. It is a combination of cooperation and pure individualism, in which one needs to get a way of attaining what is needed, and sometimes lees or more of what is earlier considered is attained. Indeed, it is normally referred to as a win-win situation since both parties wants have to be integrated in the final decision that is attained after the negotiation process. Although it is considered as a difficult process however, it provides an opportunity to analyze the problem while preserving the existing relationship between the involved parties (Castells, 2009). Looking at the case of Qantas employees, the employees threatened to go for strike and industrial action because of the unfavorable employment terms. The Transport Workers Union called for a ban on higher duties, and it is claimed that Qantas issued threatening letters to its employees in the middle of the night claiming that they would not be paid if they engaged in the ban on higher duties (Ben and Richard, 2011). There were also claims that the Qantas staff was threatening to go on strike in order to prevent the company from using cheap outside labour. Basically the reason for the strike was due to job security issues. The airline management had to therefore call for a negotiation process with the employees to solve issues that faced their job security. We note that the strike was later called off to provide room for negotiation between the employees and the management of the airline. It is therefore apparent that there is a link between conflict and negotiation. It is from the negotiation process that a conflict can be solved, or in other words, it can be said that negotiation offers solutions to conflict. As illustrated in the example of the threatened strike, it is apparent that the strike had to be called off to facilitate the negotiation process that will ensure the conflict is resolved. It is important to note however that negotiation preserves the working relationships. Organizational power Power can be considered as the ability of an individual to exert will to another or others (Buchanan & Badham, 2008). However, power is not an individual’s characteristic but is viewed in terms of transactions and relationships between people. Power takes a central role when it comes to conflict resolution, attaining individual or organizational goals and communication competency among individuals. However, it is important to note that power can also deter the process of attaining specific goals within the organization. It is through power that intentions are translated into reality. However, it is important to note that it is not the use of power, but rather the perception of power that influences people. Power is often derived from two sources, personal power and position power. The former is derived from followers with regard to the behavior of the leaders, while the later is derived form the management and passed down the chain of rule. There are various types of power. One of the forms is legitimate power, which is based on institutional practices and norms and from the established legal traditions. Coercive power is based on the capacity to punish or reward. Referent power is considered as the ability and desire to emulate others. The other form of power, expert power, is based on an individual perceiving the other as an expert based on the knowledge of a certain subject, while information power, is derived when an individual possess some important information at a specific time when such information is highly required. It is also important to note that power manifests itself in different forms, for instance dominance, prevention and empowerment (Buchanan & Badham, 2008). The negotiation process enables individuals to combine efforts in order to produce a common goal hence aggregating their power. Looking at the case of the Qantas employees, it is from the negotiation process that they decided to join their efforts and decide to call for a strike. Their common objective to call for a strike aggregated their power to influence an action. However, it is apparent that conflict is inevitable when it comes to organizational dynamics and thus power is the most essential resource in such circumstances. However, in complex organizations which are considered to have more institutionalized power and centralized control such as Qantas, the skills of applying power and influence play a major role in effecting changes. It is significant for the leaders to identify and understand the differing needs and issues of concerns that exist between the organization’s taskforce. In the same way, attaining a change in the organization requires proper application of power and influence, and the development of political will. It is also important to note that for power to convert influence tactics into effective outcomes, it is necessary to have multiple bases of power (Buchanan & Badham, 2008). Organizational politics Politics is a subject that exists in almost all organizations and Qantas airline is not an exception. Politics is simply power in action. It is the manner in which power is incorporated in influence tactics in order to attain a desired outcome (Buchanan, 1999). Politics is sub-divided into external political activity which includes competitor negotiations, market positioning and strategic alliances, and internal political activity which includes negotiation, consultation, resistance and conflicts between individuals or groups such as staff associations or trade unions. For instance, in the case provided, this entailed an internal political activity since the cause of the strike was an issue pertaining to the management of the airline and the staff. However, since power entails the employment of some influence through which behaviours, actions and events are impacted, it therefore follows that politics entails the practice of power in order to attain a goal or protect or enhance the interests of others (Buchanan, 1999). Therefore, the application of organizational politics illustrates that political activity is applied to deal with resistance, while providing an implication of the conscious effort applied in challenging the resistance in priority decision making. Indeed, studies in organizational politics highlight that effective leaders require being good politicians. Influencing tactics Politics, power and negotiation are all considered as forms of influencing. However, the manner in which power is applied is what matters when it comes to influencing power. For instance, personal power where self interests are promoted at the expense of the interests of the others is unethical and it can sometimes result into conflicts (Buchanan, 2008). When influencing others it is important to involve all the parties in the decision making process in order to attain a win-win situation. This is where negotiation comes in since we note that negotiation involves the incorporation of both parties in attaining a decision. In other words, the preferences of all the participating parties have to be considered and it is the ability of a leader to apply the influencing tactics that matter since it is the leader who will influence both parties to reach a specific goal. In addition, it is important to note that power is required in order to arrive at a final decision. Conclusion The terms negotiation, power, influencing tactics and organizational politics are related in some way when it comes to organizational management. These terms also come into play when it comes to the aspect of conflict management, especially in organizations. For instance, when a conflict occurs in the organization, it is important that all the concerned parties initiate a negotiation process that will ensure the preferences of all the parties are considered before the final decision is attained. However, power is required to ensure an effective decision is attained and it is the influencing tactics of the leaders that will convince the parties to arrive at an agreeable solution. Consequently effective leaders are said to be good politicians. Looking at the case of Qantas threatened strike, this can termed as a conflict since there was some disagreement. This therefore called for the negotiation in order to facilitate the attainment of a common goal where both the employees and the management would feel satisfied. The aspect of power is also important just to ensure an effective solution is attained and it is through the application of influencing tactics that would ensure this solution is attained. References Ben Schneiders and Richard Willingham (2011). Qantas engineers expected to take strike action. Available http://www.smh.com.au/travel/travel-news/qantas-engineers-expected-to-take-strike-action-20110817-1iy9f.html (Accessed October 1, 2011). Buchanan, D. (1999). 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