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

Operations refers to the transformation of raw materials(inputs) into finished products(outputs). The operations process is one of the key business functions and is a crucial component to business success. Like every business, Qantas is affected by many internal and external influences requiring it to have effective strategies to respond to these influences. Businesses that are able to adopt and utilise effective operational strategies are able to quickly adapt and either reduce or take advantage of these influences that impact the business. The effectiveness of these strategies can measured by Qantas’ performance and whether or not it is able to hold it’s competitive advantage. How well these strategies respond to the influences on operations will determine the level of success that Qantas achieves.

One of the many influences that affect Qantas is the presence of globalisation, which has heavily affected the airline both positively and negatively. Globalisation is a process which refers to the increased integration between different countries and economies as well as the increased impact of international influences on all aspects of life and economic activity. Globalisation is responsible for the removal of many trade barriers and the increased level of competition that Qantas has been exposed to. The increased levels of competition has increased consumer sovereignty and forced Qantas to implement strategies to gain a competitive advantage in order to redirect consumers towards their business. Qantas has implemented a cost leadership strategy as a response to globalisation and the influence of cost based competition. One way that Qantas achieved this was by using Globalisation itself to the business’ advantage. Globalisation ha...

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...onclude, the strategies used by Qantas in dealing with these influences have all been relatively effective. The use of technology has been the most effective in providing the business with a competitive advantage and has very little downsides when compared to other strategies. Operations management has dealt with globalisation effectively and greatly reduced costs and provided the business with a competitive advantage at the expense of the business reputation and individuality. Strategies which involve product differentiation have been used very effectively and are beneficial to Qantas. However the more cost leadership strategies that Qantas uses, the more likely that the business will lose it’s own individuality as the “Red Kangaroo”. In general, Qantas has been able to keep it’s business running relatively successfully and has dealt with it’s influences very well.