Module 1 – Case
Introduction to Decision Making
Assignment Overview
Like many airlines around the world leading Australian airline Qantas is facing very difficult times in spite of having a 65% market share in its home market of Australia. Due to rising fuel costs and a slow world economy Qantas has recently been losing money and their CEO Alan Joyce has some tough choices to make.
One difficult decision for Joyce is whether or not to sell Qantas frequent flyer program. It may seem odd for an airline to sell its frequent flyer program but Qantas program is much more than just an airline reward program. Members of this program can gain points not only by flying on Qantas but also through other means such as shopping at one of Qantas corporate partners or using one of their credit cards. Points can be redeemed not only with free flights but also with products from numerous retailers. Over 10 million Australians belong to this rewards program almost half of the population.
The frequent flyer program is Qantas most valuable asset and a sale of this program would help Qantas get out of its current financial troubles. However selling the program would also mean allowing another company to have access to Qantas most loyal customers including their business class and first class customers. In the long-run there is potential the sale could backfire and would not be wise.
Do some research on CEO Joyces current choice of whether or not to sell their frequent flyer program and also thoroughly review the background materials on intuitive versus rational decision-making including Moshal (2009) and Kourdi (2011). Your assignment will be to apply the background materials concepts to Joyces current big decision.
Some specific articles on Qantas to get you started:
Ross K. (2014 Aug 27). Qantas CEO faces tough choices. Wall Street Journal [Proquest]
Ironside R. (2014 Aug 15). Qantas warned to ground plans to sell frequent flyer program. The Gold Coast Bulletin [Proquest]
Gilder P. (2014 Mar 29). Loyalty future cloudy. The Gold Coast Bulletin [Proquest]
Australia: Qantas frequent flyer hits 10 million member mark. (2014). MENA Report [Proquest]
Case Assignment
Once you have finished reading about Qantas and reviewing the background materials including Moshal (2009) and Kourdi (2003) write a 4- to 5-page paper addressing the following questions:
Assignment Expectations
Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations.
Module 1 – SLP
Introduction to Decision Making
For the Session Long Project for this class you will be applying the concepts from the background materials to your own experiences in the workplace. More specifically you will be examining the decisions and decision-making processes of the leadership of the organization you currently work for or one that you have worked for in the past.
For this first SLP assignment think about some major and minor decisions made by your managers that you were involved with or impacted by. Review the background material concepts and think carefully about how you have personally observed some of these concepts. Then write a 2- to 3-page paper addressing the following issues:
SLP Assignment Expectations
Include both a bibliography and in-text citations. See the Student Guide to Writing a High-Quality Academic Paper including pages 13 and 14 on in-text citations.
Course Materials/Bibliography
Module 1
Required Material
Decision making. (2014). Pearson Learning Solutions. New York NY.
Moshal B. S. (2009). Chapter 7: Decision making in an organization. Principles of Management. New Delhi: Global Professional Publishing Ltd. [eBook Business Collection. Note you dont have to read the whole chapter just the first half up to the section Decision Making Environment. Also do not copy the entire reference into the eBook search engine. Instead just copy the title of the book e.g. Principles of Management]
Kourdi J. (2011). Chapter 2: Assessing your decision-making style. Effective Decision Making: 10 Steps to Better Decision Making and Problem Solving. London: Marshall Cavendish International [Asia] Pte Ltd. [eBook Business Collection]
Case Assignment Readings
Ross K. (2014 Aug 27). Qantas CEO faces tough choices. Wall Street Journal [Proquest]
Ironside R. (2014 Aug 15). Qantas warned to ground plans to sell frequent flyer program. The Gold Coast Bulletin [Proquest]
Gilder P. (2014 Mar 29). Loyalty future cloudy. The Gold Coast Bulletin [Proquest]
Australia: Qantas frequent flyer hits 10 million member mark. (2014). MENA Report [Proquest]
Optional Material
Buhler P. M. (2001). Decision-making: A key to successful management. SuperVision 62(2) 13-15. [Proquest]