Business Strategy of Qantas Airlines in Australia

Business Case Study: Qantas Airways
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Business Case Study: Qantas Airways
Companies often implement one or more strategies and leverage their core capabilities to enable them to gain a competitive advantage. This is a case study of Qantas Airways in Australia. This airline company utilizes a dual strategy that encompasses both differentiation and cost leadership competitive strategy. It also uses excellent customer service, a culture of safety, and rapid exploitation of market opportunities as its key core capabilities. Qantas has remained a market leader in Australia because of its ability to utilize its business strategic approach to drive these core capabilities. As a result of these core capabilities and its dual strategic approach, it has been able to target price-sensitive customers and those who are big spenders. However, it needs to create a better balance between these two groups of customers who are on the opposite ends of the price continuum. This can be achieved by outsourcing maintenance services to lower operational costs, providing low-cost services to customers, and utilizing business strategy differentiation and cost leadership.
Qantas Airways’ Scope and Context
Qantas Airways is Australia’s largest airline operating domestically and internationally. Qantas was established in 1920 in Queensland as Queensland and Northern Territory Aerial Services Limited (QANTAS) (Qantas, n.d.). Over the years, it has evolved through constant transformation to ensure that it is well-prepared for the future, and this has enhanced its sustainability for decades. Qantas’s core business involves customer transportation and air freight. It started as a domestic airline and went international in 1935 when it introduced its flight to Singapore (Qantas, n.d.). It has since expanded to include flights to Europe, Africa, and the Americas. The company has grown in numbers and experience over the years to become one of Australia’s strongest brands and a world-renowned long-distance airline. The strength of the brand has been attributed to, in part, Qantas’ association with the kangaroo. It has built on this association over the years because the tails of its planes have a kangaroo on them, making it its official logo (Harper & White, 2021). Qantas is now popularly known as the Flying Kangaroo.
Sector and Industry
Qantas operates in the airline industry to provide air transport for paying customers as well as for air freight. Qantas is considered one of the most profitable airlines in the Australian airline industry. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, Qantas was making profits while its largest competitor, Virgin, was losing money (Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), 2021). Thus, Qantas plays an instrumental role in driving the Australian airline industry. The Australian airline industry is quite competitive. According to ACCC (2021), it is expected to be more competitive in the coming years as new airline companies expand into other routes to serve the large Australian market. However, Qantas has remained quite competitive in the industry for over 100 years, thanks to its well-establis...