Importance of external factors Essay

In an organisation there are several factors influence the growth and performance of the organisation. There are some factors which are influence the organization can be controlled by the management but some factors are beyond the organisation management control. The factors which are controlled by the organisation known as internal factors and factors which are beyond the management control known as external factors such as Political, economical, social and technical factors. Political Factors: For BA political factors are very important for business growth. As this company is operating around the world and involved in air transport, country’s political tension can hamper its normal operation as well as the revenue income. Economical: economical factor is another important factor for such company. As still air travel is expensive, people’s ability to travel and economic conditions should be considered when planning for BA. As an example BA faced a huge loss when the European recession started. Technological: Total business related to BA is based on the technology. As the air transport sector is too competitive, all companies are always ready to grab the new technology as a gift for their potential customers. So, as leading company BA always has to consider the technological factors within its business. Expectations of a stakeholders Stakeholders include those individuals, groups, and other organizations who have an interest in the actions of an organization and who have the ability to influence it. The stakeholder approach systematically integrates executives’ concerns about organizational strategy with the organization’s interests in marketing, human resource management, public relations, organizational politics, and social responsibility. This integrative perspective assumes that an effective organization strategy requires  consensus from a plurality of key stakeholders about what it should be doing and how these things should be done. The level of stakeholders expectations are depends on the various factors and types of stakeholders in a company. Considering all afcts BA’s stakeholders expectations are stated below: o Risk management of the company, o Technological change within the company, o Financial and economical performance of the company, o Environmental and ethical engagement, o Contibution to social, cultural and economical, o Policy for the future external and internal factors, o Program to address any negative impact, o Future development and goals. Major changes in the external environment As a company in airline sector BA is operating and has many offices around the world. So the socio-economic factors regardless of geographic areas can be a good factor fro its strategic planning process. For example, BA had closed their all operation and office from most of south Asian countries due to the continuous loss. The main reason for that loss was economic bad conditions in that area. Like this many socio-economic factors can be the major issues for BA’s strategy making. During the political tension in middle-east many people ignored to travel with BA, which caused a huge loss for its yearly revenue. Another important change that could affect BA’s strategy is legal issues. BA faced various legal obligations in different countries that played a huge impact on their future staretgy. Many countries has different rules for their airline sector and BA has to follow those rules to operate its fleet in those countries. A SWOT analysis of BA can be included here to evaluate its possible major changes in external environment. Strength:​ 1. Merger and Acquisition ​ ​ 2. Opensky agreement, ​ ​ 3. Strong brand image ​ ​ 4. Expansion of fleet Weakness: ​ 1. Cost of management, ​ ​ 2. Decline profitability ​ ​ 3. Labour strike Opportunities: 1. Emergence of new market, ​ 2. Increased travel business in europe, ​ 3. Economic restoration, Threats: ​ 1. Raising fuel cost, ​ 2. Changing of consumers’ behaviour, ​ 3. Unstable political issues worldwide. PESTEL Analysis In order to measure success in airline industry, en external environmental analysis is very important. This PESTEL analysis will explain the BA’s position in the market, particularly in terms of competitors and how it assessing to meet its current and future challenges. Factor Key Points Implications for BA Political 1. Heavy regulations, 2. Increased security due to past attacks. 1. Compliance is essential, 2. Sufficient security measures should be in place. Economic 1. Global Economic Crisis, 2. Oil price is not stable, 3. UK consumer saw largest decline in spending. 1. Possible reduction of business travel. 2. Directly affecting the BA’s cost base. Social Technological 1. UK has an aging population, 2. Increasing unemployment. 1. Online user normally use comparison site. 2. Online booking and reservation becoming more popular. 1. Potential opportunity for growth as older person will spend more time in holiday. 2. Increased bargaining power for new employees. 1. Increased bargain power for both parties. 2. Must ensure that BA’s remain up to date. Ethical 1. Noise pollution control 2. Cancellations of flight and baggage loss. 1. New legislation, 2. Such ethical issues could have a detrimental effect on reputation if left unresolved. Legal 1. Collusion and price fixing. 2. Open skies agreement. 1. Restriction on mergers will have an impact on BA’s proposed alliance with American Airlines. 2. Opportunity for BA and its competitors to freely transport aircraft between the EU and US. Task 2 Analyse the effects of current business plan Any organisation has to have a detailed plan for their business. This plan determines the mission and vision of that organisation. The strategic planning team develop this business plan for the organisation. By assesing this plan any stakeholder or other external entities can get idea about the type and area of business. There are many tools for analysing the effects of such plan over the organisation. These analysis tools includes: SWOT Analysis, Value Chain Analysis, Porter’s Five Forces Analysis etc. To consider the effects of business plan on BA, author will use Porter’s Five forces tool here. British Airways- market position, by Porter’s Five forces: Force Strength 1. Competitive Rivalry: b. BA caters for other flights, c. There are very small diffrentiation between BA and other competitors in terms of pricing, d. Short Haul market is more fragmented by small players. 2. Power of Supplier: a. Only two suppliers for aircrafts, b. BA restricted by sole supplier of fuel to the airport. 3. Power of Buyer: a. For long haul, customers has no choice most of the time, b. Availability of flight and seats are not enough c. Price normally changes according to demand. 4. Threats to new Entrants: a. Competitive Environment, b. High regulatory requirements, c. High cost requirements. 5. Threats to substitutes: a. Very few direct closed substitutes, b. Short Haul flight: Euro Star or Ferry, c. Long Haul flights: No notable substitutes. High High Medium High Low Current Market poistion of BA In startegic manageemtn various tools are used to analyse the current market position of any organisation. These tools are proven technical analysis tools in management sector. The analysis tools that mostly used for the market position analysis are: BCG Matrix, GAP Analysis, Life Cycle Analysis, Market Share Analysis etc. In order to undertake the BA’s current market share analysis as asked in the course work, author here used two tools. These are below, BCG matrix Figure 1: BCG Matrix (Source: Emerald Insight 2012) British Airways had a great market share and low growth in last few years. It is evident that, they did not make any big investment either in their fleet or increasing the destination, which could make them cash cow. In recent, they changed their staretgies and concentrating on increasing fleet as well as expanding the geographical market. BA’s another big strategic decesion was merger with Liberia which finally done on the end of 2010. This merger will help to increase BA’s revenue as a one of the top in the avaiation inductry. By doing so, BA will not only generate the large amounts of money they will also consume large amount of money per year. Therefore the cash in every direction approximately nets out. This kind of activities proves that British Airways is becoming a Star but in slow process. Product/Service life cycle Introduction Stage By the 1920’s Britain had a lot of airline companies but due to strong competition many private British air carriers were forced out of business. In 1923 all these companies merged to form a single british international air carrier called the Imperial Air transport. Meanwhile, the british airways, had begun to impose a big threat and competition to imperial air transport which resulted in the formation of the British Overseas Airways Cooperation was formed (BOAC) that later combined with the BEA and 2 smaller companies formed the British Airways (BA) Growth Stage The growth can be easily marked by the introduction of the concorde into the BA. In 1985 British Airways was made a public limited company. In February 1987 the privatization was finally consummated when 720.2 million shares of British Airways stock were sold to the public for one billion pounds. Expansion of fleet and routes were even more noticeable after mergers with other carriers like Bcal (British Caledonian). Due to the expansion of BA, another carrier Laker Airways were also forced out of business. This marked how dominant BA was turning out to be in the air carrier sector. Maturity Stage The BA mergers assured the dominance of the carrier in the home market secure for the time being. During this stage alliances and mergers made/attempted by BA with other carriers in different markets were numerous: Aliiance with Aeroflot in Russia to create Air Russia. Attempted merger with KLM royal dutch airways. Broke down due to valuation of the two firms. Purchased 25% of Qantas airlines in Australia. Gained 49.9% of the French, TAT European Airlines. Started a german carrier called Deutsche BA with 49% ownership. Evaluate the competitive strength and weakness According to Jhonson (2008), a value chain analysis is undertaken when a authentic approach to develop competitive advantage has made. In here, in order to analyse the British Airways competitive advantages, value chain analysis has done. Figure 2: Value Chain Analysis (Source: Emerald Insight 2008) Value Chain Analysis: Primary activities within value-chain analysis are the ones that directly affect the business within short period of time and their affect is easy to monitor. They are inbound logistics, operations, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and post-sales services. Inbound logistics. Goods received from company suppliers are referred to as inbound logistics. Competitive advantage is achieved in inbound logistics stage of the business by BA through establishing on-going relationships with suppliers, sophisticated system for stock control and professional training that has been accredited by UK City and Guilds (BA Press Office, 2008) Operations. Generally, operations stage of the business involves preparing goods and services to be sold to customers. BA has a range of competitive advantages in operations part of the business through offering its customers increased security for their luggage, offering quick check-in services and also offering some services such as ticket bookings and booking of other services online. Marketing and sales are considered to be one of the main grounds for gaining competitive advantage and usually is utilised by many companies fully. Competitive edge gained in marketing and sales by BA involve  marketing activities not only to customers, but also to all stakeholders of the company. Also, BA senior management large amount of budget for marketing and sales initiatives for the company. Task 3 Strategic options for British Airways In order to develop strategic options for an organization using modeling tools, author here used Ansoff matrix. Here is the discussion with this tool. The Ansoff implies business growth either by marketing new or existing products in existing or new markets (Shaw 2011, 83). Market Penetration Although BA already has presence in the existing market it is facing stiff competition. For example, in the short haul market, rapidly saturating with budget airlines, BA lost  £1 billion in revenues by end of 2009/2010 financial year. The major options currently are 1) Improving on people processes including bag handling 2) Further investment on information technology especially on internet bookings (British Airways 2010, 58) Market development Market development strategy focuses on non-buying clients in already currently targeted segments and focuses on new customers in new segments (Angwin, Cummings , Smith 2011, 73). BA is trying to regain some business class customers from Virgin airlines and other competitors. Product development Product development entails the process used to bring new products into the market. For example, BA introduced a new in-flight entertainment system in the Boeing 777-300 ERs in 2010 and the First Cabin, a sophisticated ne cabin that offers customers the chance to work, recreate, eat and sleep (British Airways 2010, 67). Diversification Diversification is a business strategy that attempts to increase profitability by introducing new products in new markets. Formation of alliances is a relatively new trend in new markets, for instance; by collaborating with India’s Kingfisher airlines, BA will increase destination connections and improve flight schedules (British Airways 2010, 76). Selection of the most viable strategic options The best way of doing this is by eliminating the least viable options to remain with the most viable options.   Renovation of brand image: British Airways already possesses the advantage of having a globally recognised brand name (Buckingham 2011, 13). Introduction of complimentary services: essentially requires the diversion of capital funds to implement. Currently, it does not significantly enhance Product development (Ansoff) (Punzel 2011, 32). Diversifying into other transport markets- Diversification is currently not a priority relative to other more beneficial strategies (Punzel 2011, 32). Supply chain migration: As part of diversification (Ansoff), this is also not a viable strategy at this time (Belobaba, Odoni, Barnhart 2009, 67). Options for future organisational strategy Through market segmentation , companies divide large heterogeneous markets into smaller segments that can be reached more efficiently with products and services that match their unique needs.(kotler, 2009) British Airways has divided it market segmentation into different variables. There are number of variables involved in consumer market segmentation, alone and in combination. These variables are: †¢Geographic variables †¢Demographic variables †¢Psychographic variables †¢Behavioral variables Occupation- British Airways give extra benefit for High Class .Some of the benefits like Club Card. Income- People who are into business class can travel in British airways as airfare are very high. Nationality – In british airway all different kind of nationality travel.

Brandon Suing Essay

Brandon Suing Essay Reality T.VWhy do people watch Reality T.V.? What makes it reality? If it isreality, whycan we separate our lives from theirs? Reality shows arent really reality,they just depictsmall pieces of real life. Most people think of it as just an ordinaryshow. Others see it assomething that they can relate to everyday life. Given this; there aredisputes while livingtogether, arguments, and actual fistfights can break out when viewing thesetypes ofshows. Sounds like real life right?When you actually put time and thought into it before you watch it,(most peopledont analyze the tendencies of these shows) you begin to notice that adesignatednumber of people might act the same way in a different show, or may actthe same way,every time. These characters are developed as the show progresses, gainingspecific attitudes. The characters consist of the witty, shy, smart-assedloud mouth, anda relatively mellow character. All must have encompass some traits; if theydidnt, itwouldnt really appeal to the v iewers. You cant make money out ofsomething peopledont watch. The way society is designed, most people watch what is shoved intotheir faces,and watch what is given. To watch these shows, you need the I.Q. of 1. Whydoes theirreality differ so much from ours? Society also determines how the people inthe showsact during the course of it. For instance, if two people are beingevaluated, and they getbad reviews, the editors of the show clip out parts that are irrelevant,and they showparts of that person that would make them more appealing to the viewers. This isnt right,adjusting the way that a person is shown so that they be more appealing,with or withoutthe persons consent. This cant be real, Dramatizing people for the solepurpose ofentertainment. Racial issues are in this as well; most shows consist of a variety ofnationality. They try to have at least one of each of the ethnic groups. This way, theshow may drawattention from viewers from different races. From my personal view, thedirections ofthese shows are headed down a one-way street, theres hardly any characterdevelopment. Most of them center on just a few themes, including danger, dating andfamily feudsituations. This goes on and on from one show to the next. This isntsomething that wehave to struggle to understand. The shows require a little directing and alittle fewerscreen writing. They compete for prizes which vary (cars, to money, even ahusband / wife!). Then to add to the drama, they add a twist; a person hasto vote off theirfriends, or the one least liked, some are even voted off by the actualpeople who watchthe show. All in all, reality T.V. may be something that you and your friendsand family cansit back during the day to watch just to get a kick out of it. As for thereality part, youmay not find that much, if any at all. It may be the new thing in T.V., butits still got along way to go before it deserves the name Reality T.V..

Describing Some Special Interest, Significant Experience, or Personal Statement

Describing Some Special Interest, Significant Experience, or Achievement Relevant - Personal Statement Example Also, I convinced business owners to do their part by placing their business name on donation bags as part of their business promotion campaign. This idea was very well received and as a result of it, many ordinary members also decided to contribute in the form of a cash gift. 2. Knowledge or creativity in a field: Describe any of your special interests and how you have developed knowledge in these areas. Give examples of your creativity: the ability to see alternatives; take diverse perspectives; come up with many, varied, or original ideas; or willingness to try new things. I have been interested in economics from a very young age. I was encouraged by my grandparents to open up a cow-house. This was a great experience until Korea struck a new Free Trade Agreements with the United States. This caused livestock prices to fall and the whole sector experienced to slowdown. I was fascinated by the way that this FTA affected the Korean economy in different ways and this made me reflect more on economics, including factors like limited capital and external changes. I learned to recognize market and economic trends and this helped to develop my creativity in terms of economics and its related fields. 3. Dealing with adversity: Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to address this challenge. Include whether you turned to anyone in facing that challenge, the role that person played, and what you learned about yourself. Working a part-time job is not easy. I experienced some difficulties with one particular supervisor. He was very critical of my work. The more he tried to hassle me at work, the tougher and stronger I became. I was not going to let him treat me like an idiot. I turned to my senior co-workers and begged them to train me so that our supervisor could never find a reason to pick on me. I was able to prove that I could do the job and much more.  Ã‚  

Organization Behaviour and Leadership Development Scenarios Essay

Organization Behaviour and Leadership Development Scenarios - Essay Example Scenario two setting involved unifying two competing junior employees i.e. Rosa and oli by finding common and unifying ideas, hence unifying them is of great importance in meeting the company objectives. The objective of this scenario was to get oli and Rosa to agree on maintaining customer retention in the call center at 65 % and also getting everyone to agree on using automated phone system. The steps I took to resolve this scenario were, actively listening to oli and Rosa, encouraging oli and Rosa to communicate to help reach an effective agreement, through asserting my leadership power toward ending the squabbles between them. Using work strategies tactics of constantly reminding them the goal of the organization in addition to using tension strategies where I introduced relaxing ideas that aimed to eliminate tension created by oli and Rosa The key learning point that emerged from this scenario was that tension in at workplace can lead to little work being accomplished, it is of great paramount to stay neutral where employee friction is involved in order to help them out, through focusing on goals of organization and constant reminder help people to work harmoniously, effective communication within organization facilitate dialogue that helps to resolve dialogue between employees and creating a kind of numeration system that helps employers to cooperate and work together.Supporting theory and academic insight for this scenario can be derived from democratic leadership.... ning to oli and Rosa, encouraging oli and Rosa to communicate to help reach an effective agreement, through asserting my leadership power toward ending the squabbles between them. Using work strategies tactics of constantly reminding them the goal of the organization in addition of using tension strategies where I introduced relaxing ideas that aimed to eliminate tension created by oli and Rosa The key learning point that emerged from this scenario was that tension in at work place can lead to little work being accomplished, it is of great paramount to stay neutral where employee friction is involved in order to help them out, through focusing on goals of organization and constant reminder help people to work harmoniously, effective communication within organization facilitate dialogue that help to resolve dialogue between employees and creating a kind of numeration system that help employee to cooperate and work together to achieve set goals in addition to engagement in team buildin g exercises. Supporting theory and academic insight for this scenario can be derive from democratic leadership , which is characterized by emphasizes in group participation , where decision and discussion are encouraged by leaders hence giving team member a voice in decision making (Goleman, 2000). Democratic leadership style builds flexibility and responsibility in an organization which in turn help in generating new ideas. . (Goleman, 2000).Through listening to team members in an organization which is encouraged by democratic leadership, leaders learn to resolve dispute between employees and in decision making. (Goleman, 2000). Third Scenario The third scenario set up was learning to manage up, where it is critical important for a leader to mange his juniors but at the same time have

China-Iran Economic and Security Relationships and Its Impact on the Essay

China-Iran Economic and Security Relationships and Its Impact on the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) - Essay Example has more than a quarter of the total world oil reserves, Iran has the fourth largest oil reserves and Iraq has huge oil deposits and is second to Saudi Arabia in terms of quantity. (10) On the other hand, DAB and Kuwait are also abundant in oil (9) and are considered as two of the leading oil producing countries in the world. What is more important around this region is that the cost of production of oil is usually low compared to the cost of production other oil producing countries. Several states in the region, including Saudi Arabia and Iraq, employs cheap labour thereby effectively reducing the cost of production even more. Since the cost of producing oil is much lower in Iraq and Saudi Arabia, these countries earn more income from their operations than most other oil producing countries. Furthermore, with low oil production cost, countries around the Gulf like Iraq and Saudi Arabia have more flexibility in the events where prices of oil in the world market dive. The instability of prices of oil in the world market makes it difficult for other oil producers to keep up with the fluctuations of prices. However, since oil is the primary source of energy all over the world and it is difficult to find alternative sources of fuel, consumers have to go through the ups and downs of prices. Every time there are disturbances in the Middle East and production of oil is affected, the prices will shoot up. For instance, if a crisis in Middle East causes a net deficit of four million barrels of oil a day – this estimate could double in just a short time.(6) This gap in the production and the consumption of oil could cause a huge imbalance in the supply and demand for oil. This means that when disturbances happen in the Gulf area, a series of economic events will be triggered as oil production in the area slow down. The United States understands the role that the oil producing countries are playing in the Gulf. It also sees the grave consequences of a slowdown in the

Carnival Cruise Line, The Fun Ship Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Carnival Cruise Line, The Fun Ship - Assignment Example Whereas such an approach may work well in many other product or service offerings that exist within the current economy, oftentimes when people go on vacation luxury and immunity are some of the first things that they seek to ensure our present. Although there is nothing wrong with seeking to make Carnival Cruise Lines the Walmart of cruise lines, publicly stating such an approach is likely have a negative impact on sales and further foster negative images within the consumer. Anytime one seeks to engage with the given firm as a means of determining its overall strength within the market, it is necessary to perform what is known as a SWOT analysis. Such a SWOT analysis is merely shorthand for analyzing the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the present themselves to given firm with any given market. Accordingly, in analyzing Carnival Cruise Lines strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, it is the understanding of the student that the most salient strengths ar e with regards to its recognizable name, large budget and extent vessels and staff, and overall profitability of the brand. Each of these strengths helps the firm, even if economic difficulties present themselves, to continue to exist and draw upon these strengths as a means of furthering business. Likewise, with regards to weaknesses, it can be understood that Carnival Cruise Lines exhibits the following: poor public relations, bad image, and a brand that is struggling to differentiate itself within a market that is increasingly saturated. Similarly, with regards to opportunities, these can be understood as a means to counter the weaknesses that it been previously mentioned (DATAMONITOR, 2013). Accordingly, the opportunities are as follows: working to increase public relations, building a better image, and finding a more appropriate way to can P with and stand apart from the many forms of competition the currently exist within the market. Lastly, the threats that it been chosen to be analyzed within this brief response are concentric upon the following: noticeable downturn in economy, reduction in overall number of people each year choosing cruises as their preferred means of vacation travel, and the demographic shift that threatens to further reduce cruise participation once the baby boomer generation discontinues their currently high level of vacation spending. As a function of these specific strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats, the reader can come to be understanding that the primary issue facing Carnival Cruise Lines is with regards to the extent which it continue to be relevant within the current market, as well as speak to specific concerns that individuals within society have doubtless come to realize with respect to the overall cleanliness, hygiene, and safety of cruises as a form of relaxation and vacation. As with any firm, one of the most effective means of determining the overall financial success that it is enjoyed over the past several years is to review the stock price and draw inference upon the means by which investors have valued the company over time. As a function of performing this particular analysis with current cruise lines, it can be determined that the most financially turbulent times were of course realize right after the financial crash 2007/2008 (Conant, 2013). At such a time, Carnival Cruise L

Challenges In managing diversity and benefits of diversity Term Paper

Challenges In managing diversity and benefits of diversity - Term Paper Example This concise report is primarily based on discussing the nature and meaning of diversity, intricate challenges faced by all the major organizations in managing diversity, and myriad benefits offered by this trend that is spreading fast around the globe. Diversity is basically a determined tendency to recognize and appreciate the variety of characteristics that make all the persons working for an organization significant and important, while creating such a working environment that encourages all the employees to participate in the betterment of an organization. Age, sex, racial, ethnic, religious, geographical or cultural background, language, and political affiliation are those major characteristics on which the structure of diversity is based. This is an unequivocal fact that a diverse workforce is a real asset for any organization and that is the reason why almost all the major successful companies and giant conglomerates in the world place diversity among the topmost preferences for maintaining success. Wal-Mart is one such worth mentioning example, which has running outlets around the globe. The workplace diversity initiatives introduced by Wal-Mart have majorly helped this conglomerate in achieving success and living up to the changing requirements of the customers. Nondiscriminatory treatment of the workforce is the hallmark of Wal-Mart company.