Business Change Notes

Definition: Business change is any alteration in the operation of a business, leading to a new state of operation.
It involves the adoption of a new idea or behavior by an enterprise.
Examples of Business Change:
- Changing product offerings to better suit customer needs.
- Moving production overseas to leverage cheaper labor rates.
- Altering motivation strategies for employees.
- Introducing a new management style through a new manager.
- Changing input suppliers.
- Modifying the dispute resolution process to include employee suggestions.
Change in Everyday Life: Similar to personal changes such as changing classes, friendships, or leaving school.
Business Terms Signaling Change: Growth, innovation, redundancy, outsourcing, relocation, diversification, and competition.
Importance of People: Successful change requires consideration of its effects on people, as reactions to change are internal and vary.
Employee Resistance: Employees may resist change due to anxiety, loss of personal identity, job insecurity, fear of failure, or disorientation.
Management of Change: Essential for progress; requires commitment, skills, and knowledge from managers, owners, and leaders to ensure smooth implementation.

Qantas's Initiative: Importing Australia’s largest shipment of Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) in 2025.
Strategic Significance: A major step in the airline’s long-term sustainability strategy.
Goal Alignment: Reduces carbon emissions and supports the aviation industry’s transition to environmentally responsible practices.
SAF Delivery: Received at Sydney Airport in May 2025, sourced from the United States, primarily made from used cooking oil.
Emission Reduction: SAF can cut lifecycle carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to conventional jet fuel.
Qantas’ Goals:
- Using 10% SAF in its fuel mix by 2030.
- Achieving net-zero emissions by 2050.
Drivers for Change: Growing environmental expectations from consumers, investors, and regulators.
Future-Proofing: Helps the business adapt to a carbon-conscious global economy.
Domestic Production: Qantas advocates for local SAF production to support long-term energy security and sustainability.
Communication Strategy: Transparent communication through media releases, stakeholder briefings, and sustainability reporting to build trust and educate the public.
Key Features of Transformation: Strategic, sustainability-driven, involves long-term planning, and responds to external environmental pressures.

Question: Describe the concept of business change (2-3 marks).

Achieving Full Marks: Requires more than just a definition; needs an explanation of transformation.
- 1 Mark: Awarded for a brief definition addressing transformation or alterations.
- 2nd Mark: Awarded for expanding on the idea with additional details.

Sample Response:

Business change refers to the process of making alterations in various aspects of an organization to improve its performance.
This is often in response to changing market conditions or factors from the internal and/or external business environments.
Business change can be structural, strategic, or cultural, and may be proactive or reactive.
Change can impact a business and its stakeholders in various ways.

Other Points to Raise:

Change can be proactive or reactive.
Different types of change (structural, strategic, etc.).
Examples of reasons for change (e.g., responding to internal and external pressures).
Impact of change on a business and its stakeholders.

Proactive Change:
- Initiating strategies prior to a competitor's actions or in anticipation of poor key performance indicators (KPIs).
- Seeking new opportunities by foreseeing changes and taking advantage.
- Example: Recalling faulty products before customer complaints arise.
Reactive Change:
- Responding to data indicating poor performance or a competitor's entry into a new market.
- Waiting for a change to occur and then reacting to it.
- Example: Implementing a chatbot on a website after competitors have done so.

Key Differences:
- Proactive change involves foreseeing pressures and implementing changes to take advantage or avoid them.
- Reactive change involves the business being impacted by pressures and changing as a result.
- Proactive change occurs before impact, whereas reactive change occurs after impact.

Similarities:
- Both can result in a change to the business’ environment (alteration of operations).
- Both require communication to inform stakeholders of the change.
- Both can affect employees and workplace culture, creating uncertainty, stress, motivation, or innovation.
- Leaders need to consider employee wellbeing and morale in both approaches.
Differences:
- Reactive change typically occurs quickly under time pressure with limited opportunity for in-depth analysis.
- Proactive change allows more time for preparation and implementation.
- Proactive change aims to avoid potential crises by altering structures and processes.
- Reactive change usually transpires after a problem has occurred.
- Reactive change is often unplanned and triggered by unexpected events.
- Proactive change involves deliberate and strategic planning based on forecasting and data analysis.

Qantas' SAF Change: Proactive change.
Acting in advance to address future challenges and opportunities through climate change, stricter emissions regulations, and customer demand for greener travel.
Voluntarily importing Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) now, even though traditional jet fuel is still legal and available. This shows forward planning.
The airline is preparing for a future where governments, investors, and customers require lower carbon emissions.
Why Proactive?
- Alignment with Qantas' 2030 and 2050 sustainability goals.
- Responding to environmental concerns before being forced to.
- Positioning Qantas as a leader in aviation sustainability.
- Building a competitive advantage by acting early.