alan joyce, page-88

many "experts" take the easy road and just blame unions and workers for the current situation, not the management.

Such people are not familiar with how a company works. And the chain of responsibility.

Have a look at any successful company and you will see a culture of enthusiasm that trickles down from the top. The MD sets the tone. No company can do well unless the workers want to go to work because they want to be there. And enjoy their work.

In other words its management, management, management, 100%. If failure is seen as the workers fault, then what is the MD there for? His role is to deal with any and all problems, full stop.

A good MD needs the support of his board, and that I think is what Qantas lacks. The Board is made up of career boardies, who could care less about anything. Their future is assured and comfortable, a hangover from a lazy past. Most have various qualifications for everything except what they need. They basically "don't get it" at all. Alan Joyce is on his own, but no doubt if he tries anything radical they will veto him, an impossible situation.

A new radical manager with a clean slate could transform Qantas. I believe that the Qantas brand is one of its most valuable assets, and a new manager AND board could make it one of the world's best.

As it is, the culture is poisoned, we see more of the people on TV who hate the company than we do those that are positive. Once again, the MD needs to fix that first off.

The present course is a drift to oblivion.

There are other major companies in Australia with the same disease. One of them is a big bank. Morale is rock-bottom, the MD is weak, and the board is lazy, same story. Same return.