WHat EK will do, if they haven't already done so, is "Map" Qantas management. They will determine who is competent and who isn't as well as who is weak or strong and what the political landscape looks like.
They will then execute the following strategy:
1. Suck the brains out of Qantas management.
2. Manipulate Qantas business strategy to suit EK.
3. Turn Qantas into a virtual EK business unit with no possibility of operating as a stand alone business ever again without major recapitalisation and investment.
The tactics to execute item (1) are:
(a) Hire or second any talented Qantas managers into EK from where they will be tasked with "managing" the relationship with Qantas
(b) Arranging the firing of any talented Qantas manager who won't get with the EK program. This is easily done by a word in Alan Joyces ear that "XXX is threatening the success of our brilliant partnership".
Executing item (2) is simply done by telling the remaining (dumb) Qantas managers that they should take advantage of EK's capabilities to achieve even bigger cost savings by closing Australian operations in favour of using EK's. That will no doubt include "harmonising" training and operational regimes between the companies as far as possible over time.
Again, anyone who won't suck up to EK and do their bidding will be fired on the grounds that they are threatening the success of Alans brilliant business decision. I would expect that even the dumbest Qantas manager would know that by now.
The resulting deskilling and disinvestment leaves Qantas totally dependent on EK by the end of the agreement
Maybe, EK interests in the QF A380 program is the first step in this direction?
Last edited by Sunfish; 5th Jan 2013 at 19:16.