Thursday, July 25, 2019
Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 8
Management - Essay Example Examples of liabilities include debts repayable, deferred revenue and current-year loan and note payments (Sveiby, 2007). Liabilities = Assets ââ¬â Capital Shareholdersââ¬â¢ funds Shareholdersââ¬â¢ funds are a gauge of the shareholders' entire interest in the business represented by the sum of share capital and reserves (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2002). Shareholders' funds are the balance sheet value of the shareholders' interest in a company. Capital = Assets ââ¬â Liabilities In order for a business to be economically health, the companyââ¬â¢s total assets should be more than its total liabilities. Current assets such as cash, receivables, and securities should be able to cover liabilities. If a companyââ¬Ës assets significantly exceed its current liabilities, the company may not be putting its wealth to the most excellent use. Definition of intellectual property and forms of legal protection available to intellectual property. Intellectual property laws are laws set by countries with inventive home based industries to promote innovation by regulating the replication of inventions, identifying symbols, and creative expressions (Draft, 2002). These laws include patent rights; trademarks; copyrights and trade secrets. Patent rights protect inventions or patent (Management notes). Patent rights guarantee the originator, a unique right to avoid others from creating, using, and selling the inventorââ¬â¢s patented contraption for a predetermined span of time especially 20 years in return for the confession of the inventionââ¬â¢s information to the civic under the stipulations of the social contract. Another form of intellectual property is copyrights; the right of owning written work like a book, document, a patch of code or software application (Hellriegel & Slocum, 2002). This property is protected by a set of rights granted by the law of jurisdiction to the author of the original work and according to the World Intellectual Property organizat ion rights protected by copyright include; the ownerââ¬â¢s right to permit or prohibit, duplicate, allotment, public presentation, transformation, broadcasting, and version (Draft, 2002). More over, trademark is a word, symbol, device, or name used to designate the foundation of the goods and to differentiate them from other goods in the market (Management notes). Trademarks are exclusive to exact brand, product, or individual and consequently need to be secluded in the concern of preserving a productââ¬â¢s identity (Patents and data protection). In other words, trademarks refer to a distinctive indicator used by either individuals or organizations to identify itself to customers or consumers (Patents and data protection). Essentially, it enables the indication, that, the products or services originate from exceptional entity and designated for a particular market. In case of any infringement on the trademark, the owner may initiate legal proceedings to prevent unauthorized us e of the trademark. Advantages of a Gantt chart It helps in the planning of a project. One can see at a glance the project tasks and time schedules (Clark, 2002). A Gantt chart is suitable for small projects that fit on a single sheet. Gantt chart exhibits dependencies amid tasks using focussed
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Tourism Industry Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words
Tourism Industry - Essay Example Tourism offers avenues and resources for the authorities to politically socialize local residents and foreign tourists through a process of "branding" (Morgan et al. 2004). Such exercises reify particular identities for locals to imagine themselves and their identities (Ooi et al. 2004). Tourism becomes a vehicle for destinations to selectively market their crafts, their own philosophies, and their cultural identities. Routing and zoning provides a framework for reorganizing space. Tourism transforms the cultural and historical life of communities. State authorities may package and redefine customs and cultures, and reframe relationships between cultural groups in society through tourism (Wood 1984). The relationships between state and civil society are always open and responsive. Tourist consumption of local politics is often implicit, rather than explicit. Tourists, despite their relatively short trips, are subjected to many of the same conditions as local inhabitants. Countries perceived as unstable and unsafe do not receive many tourists. Their governments are often portrayed as being out of control, corrupt, or incompetent. When countries draw tourists, it implies that the tourists trust the host environment and system enough to come. Thus, tourists indirectly give a vote of confidence to the political regimes in the places they choose to visit. Howie (2003) points out there is rarely a single owner or manager of a destination, hence, there is less chance of a coherent set of goals and objectives. Poon (1993) states that today's tourists are more experienced travellers and therefore demanding, more informed of his or her rights and less passive in the quest of things to do than the tourist of a previous generation. Tourism success requires the cooperation of various agencies. Public authorities, local government, land control authorities, cultural management agencies, civil groups, and others have to cooperate to develop the industry. How the various agencies and political institutions within a country organize themselves to promote, plan, and develop itself as a tourist destination affects the speed, scope, and effectiveness in realizing its tourism development plan (Pearce 1997). Each agency has its own interests and agendas. Official tourism promotion authorities must take on a leadership role in the industry, and harness cooperation amongst various agencies through coercion and persuasion (Ooi 2004) Leiper (1990) noted that a 'system' can be defined as a set of elements or parts that are connected to each other by at least one distinguishing principle. In this case, tourism is the distinguishing principle which connects the different components in the system around a common theme. Main body How historical perspective in UK change from 1969-2002. The Development of the British Tourism Act of 1969Manufacturing was still Britain's main source of income when the 1969 Tourism Act was created. The development of tourism act was the first statutory legislation in the country specifically concerned with tourism. The primary reason for the introduction of the act
Essays Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
Essays - Essay Example A "hit" occurs when the new information presents a match with the data already entered into the database. Maintained by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, IAFIS is the acronym for The Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System. It is the biggest biometric database in the world. It is used by all jurisdictions which is a tremendous help in identifying suspects at crime scenes. In addition to fingerprints is also houses a criminal history database. The IAFIS provides "automated fingerprint search capabilities, latent searching capability, electronic image storage, and electronic exchange of fingerprints and responses, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year". (United States Department of Justice-Federal Bureau of Investigation) CODIS is the acronym for the Combined DNA Index System. It is responsible for exchanging and comparing DNA evidence in violent crime scene investigations by and between crime labs within the United States and several international law enforcement agencies. A. Step One - Planning and Direction. The intelligence/analytical process begins and must be run from identifying the main focus of the intelligence. It is responsible for delivering the final product to the law enforcement unit that is requesting it.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
How Can You Become an Authentic Leader and Be Successful Essay
How Can You Become an Authentic Leader and Be Successful - Essay Example Authentic leadership focuses on whether leadership is genuine; indeed, ââ¬Å"from an intrapersonal perspective, authentic leadership incorporates the leaderââ¬â¢s self knowledge, self regulation, and self conceptââ¬Å"(Northouse, 2009, p.206). Therefore, authentic leaders lead from conviction, as they base their actions on their values; they are also original and do not imitate other individuals, and their leadership is genuine as well. Northouse (2009, p.207) adds that, from a developmental approach, authentic leaders can be viewed as nurtured, whereby, authenticity develops in form of a behavior pattern in an individual over a life time. In addition, there are five dimensions involved in authentic leadership: values, purpose, self-discipline, and heart, inclusive of several characteristics - behavior, compassion, consistency, passion, and connectedness. Authentic leaders have a sense of purpose, such that, they are aware of where they are going, since they are inspired by thei r goals (Northouse, 2009, p.212). They are also passionate about their job and have self-discipline, which assists them in achieving their goals, as it acts as a source of determination and accountability. Such leaders are compassionate, and are sensitive towards otherââ¬â¢s feelings, having a will to assist them. ... Benefits of authentic leadership According to Avolio et al (2005, p.802), due to the many crisis facing modern organizations, unique leaders are required in order to restore hope, optimism, resiliency, and confidence. Authentic leaders are capable of enhancing motivation, commitment, and satisfaction in their organizations. Building enduring organizations is not an easy task. Therefore, authentic leaders assist in building sustainable organizations, and they are capable of motivating their employees and maintaining a long-term value for the shareholders. Another benefit of authentic leaders is that they walk their talk; such leaders say what they mean, and therefore, they are ethically sound in their organizations. Due to their compassionate natures, they develop a special relationship with their followers based on mutual respect, trust, and support. These leaders are able to attain the best from their followers, since the subordinates are influenced by such leaders. In challenging t imes, they continue operating with humility, which inspires their juniors (The Cognitive Fitness Consultancy, 2009, p.4). Needless to say, the chances of continuous growth as an authentic leader are high, as individuals are capable of adjusting to the changing conditions. Authentic leadership fosters honesty and trust within the organization, and such leaders appreciate differences in opinions, leading to innovation enhancement. Bryman (2011, p.355) adds that authentic leadership mainly benefits the followers, who are said to increase their efforts in organizational activities, leading to better work performance. The followers also improve on their attitudes and mindset, such that, there is increased level of trust because of change in leadership. In addition, followers attain greater
Monday, July 22, 2019
Jackie Chan Vs Harold Lloyd Essay Example for Free
Jackie Chan Vs Harold Lloyd Essay Originality or the issue of authenticity is a paragon of any discussion. Arguing who or what is original is tantamount to debating which came first whether the egg or the chicken and which came first, language or notion. Several critics are bombarded with the originality factor in evaluating a piece; be it literary, performing arts, scientific discovery, etc. The talk about the first to do this and that should be set a side as far as criticism is concern because there is no such thing as original. If there is this one original thing in the realm of concepts and tangible things, it could be traced on the immediate before and/or after of Earthââ¬â¢s primordial soup status. Taking the writing techniques of the modern time as an example, it started long time ago when the ancient people vandalized in caves and stones. The markings in the caves and stones that are evident up to the present evolved to writings in the leaves and other minute things that are easily carried. Generations passed by and the people learned to devise the scrolls and parchment to better preserve the writings that contained the manuscripts of what happened in their time. At present, with the help of the fast developing technology, and with the desire of the people to carry things and information to the next generations in a handy manner, writings can now be saved in electronic gadgets. Thus, the emerging technological advancement that caters to the preservation of writing in the present time has no right to argue with their precedent on originality, so as the other way around. People should understand that absolute authenticity can never be achieved since every new product that comes into the market is an innovation of an old product. This issue is also the same as the idolatry issue. It is improper to claim oneself as an origin of many things that are like him or her in one way or another. Movie actors and actresses for example copied their styles and techniques from the elders in their industry. However, these ââ¬Å"eldersâ⬠cannot deny the fact that their strategies and styles were adaptations of those older than them, example: people from the realm of theater. Yes, the adaptation of movie actors from theater actors is possible because the later people emerged in the entertainment industry earlier. But this theater people could not be considered the point of origin of acting as performing arts, note that prior to the development of theater, rhetoric in the form of public speaking was practiced by Phaedrus and many others during the ancient times. And the chain backed track on and on and on. Idolizing other people should not be taken negatively. In the first place, people idolize other people because of the inspiration that ones get from its idol. For a healthy society that evolves progressively through time, idolatry is normal. In fact it should be acknowledged and encouraged because it ignites innovativeness in the part of those who idolize; since they are inspired to reach what their idols got and even more that what their idol got. This is supported by Bob Ong, a Filipino writerââ¬âauthor of ABNKKBSNPLAK, Bakit Baliktad Magbasa ang mga Pinoy, Paboritong Libro ni Hudas, Almat ng Gubat, and Stainless Longanisa. In one part of his latest book, Stainless Longanisa, he said that idolizing helps people progress. He confessed that he is never ashamed of claming Robert Fulghum as his idol in writing because Robert figuratively pushes him to go further, reaches Robert, and even surpass Robert. A very fine example of this talk is Jackie Chan and Harold Lloyd. If we are to examine Jackie Chanââ¬â¢s comedy style, it is apparently influenced by Harold Lloyd. However, we have to put into our consciousness that the authenticity is out of the talk. In comparing and contrasting the two actors, the aim should be: to distinguish the specific effects or influence of Harold to Jackie and to differentiate their style if there is any identified difference. The comparison of the two can only be limited to the identification of their commonalities and difference and their styleââ¬â¢s effects to the viewers because it is impossible to evaluate who is better between the two of them. First, they do not belong to the same generation. It would be unfair to Harold because during his time, movie and television technology is not that advanced compared to the time of Jackie. And second, the two have different set of audience so it would be a joke if we are to contest them based on a specific period of time e. g. Haroldââ¬â¢s time or Jackieââ¬â¢s time. The evaluation of their appeal to their audience should be evaluated contextually. Haroldââ¬â¢s evaluation should be based on his period and Jackie in Jackieââ¬â¢s period. One commonality of the two is that they both do stunts. Both Jackie and Harold hanged on helicopters, buildings, and busses. Jackies willingness to do his own stunts, originally the trademark feature of his movies, has gave him various injuries. Even though he is not scared of doing stunts, he admitted that he is Scared of needles and hates retaking shots. Because of the know-how on martial arts and stunts, Jackie personaly do these parts in his movies. While this claim was not scrutinized, he fells previledged on doing the most of them, including other characterââ¬â¢s stunts if their faces will not be focused on the camera. In effects, his fondness build up an lengthy list of injuries. This is the reason why he is insurance companies all over the world do not risk of accepting any of his insurance applpications. While filming Armour of God He in 1985, death was near him. He fractured his skull when accidantally fell from a tree in an exhibition scene. In Jackieââ¬â¢s autobiographical sketch, he mentioned he originally created his screen persona in pattern to Bruce Lee with a mixed comedic style from many screen performers before him like Charlie Chaplin and Harold Lloyd. By looking into the comedy style of Jackie Chan, Harold Lloydââ¬â¢s influence could be traced. In looking into the contributions and achievements of Lloyd in the American comedy film industry, the silent film era should be looked into. The era developed when Buster Keaton accomplished in his project with Arbuckle at the Talmadge Studios in New York City, where Arbuckle signed a contract to Joseph M. Schenck. Schenck provided him his own production unit, The Keaton Studio. He filmed several two-reel comedies which including Cops (1922), One Week (1920), The Playhouse (1921), and The Electric House (1922). He graduated to pantomime, full-length features after the success of these shorts. These films elevated Keaton making him one of the most popular comedians in the globe. At the time, he was speculatively the third most well known comedian in America behind Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin. Harold Lloyd as one of the most famous and in demand comedians made nearly 200 comedy films, both sound and silent, from 1914 to1947. The film Glasses Character made him known as an innovative, success-seeking go-getter who was perfectly in timing with 1920s era America. His films subsequently featured thrill sequences of chasing scenes and daredevil physical features, which marked in the showbiz industry up to the present. One of his images that awed the people was that when he was hanging from the hands of a ticking clock that in Safety Last (1923), which was one of the most enduring scene in all of silver screen. Lloyd actually performed many of these dangerous stunts withut a double, despite having extremely injured in an accident when a prop bomb was blown up that resulted in the loss of his his right handââ¬â¢s index finger and thumb. To measure the effectiveness of the two in their respective audiences, a contextual analysis was made. In this part, their educational background in relation to their profession and the recognitions that the received were considered. Both Chan and Lloyd have the sufficient background in their field of specialization, comedy.
Sunday, July 21, 2019
Design And Build Procurement Route Changes Construction Essay
Design And Build Procurement Route Changes Construction Essay The design and build procurement route changes the traditional sequence of work. It answers the Employers wishes for a single-point of responsibility in an alleged attempt to reduce risks and overall costs. It is now commonly used in many countries and forms of contracts are widely available. Design-Build is sometimes compared to the master builder approach, one of the oldest forms of construction procedure. Comparing design-build to the traditional method of procurement, the authors of Design-Build Contracting Handbook noted that: from a historical perspective the so-called traditional approach is actually a very recent concept, only being in use approximately 150 years. In contrast, the design-build concept also known as the master builder concept as been reported as being in use for over four millennia. (Songer,1996). The disadvantage of the traditional procurement method had been identified in many reports. According to Lathem Report (1994), it stated that the traditional method has the problem of adversarial and inefficient way of doing things and separation of the roles and responsibility of team members. According to the Construction Industry Review Committee Report (2001) stated that a high degree of fragmentation with an adversarial culture and a contractual and confrontational culture would be developed. The alternative procurement method would be sought for solving those problems. Describing Design and Build as a viable alternative method, Songer and Molenaar (1996) concluded that there are a number of advantages associated with Design and Build such as: cost savings, improved constructability, time savings and claim reduction. From the Employers perspective, the single point of responsibility is the most attractive benefit derived from the DB procurement approach (Chan 2000). With the support of case studies and quantitative data, Hale et al. (2009) pointed out the Design and Build is superior to the traditional procurement system hence recommended to use Design and Build approach in both public and private sectors. Levy (2006, p.197) even suggested that the design-build delivery system appears to be a perfect vehicle by which to pursue sustainable or green building construction. According to Chan and Chan (2004), the completion time as it relates to speed of a project depended on the procurement method adopted for the project. They attributed the slow delay observed in one of the projects to be due to the use of the traditional procurement method. However, they recognize the possibility of other factors playing a role that it was noted as the project who has suffered delays; obtained better results in terms of cost compared those obtained through the method of design and build method The increasing the complexity of the project, the Employer would be hesitated to how to reduce the time for design and the time for construction. The Employer was willing to seek for the alternative method to reduce the time of the design stage and the construction time and improve the performance of the projects. There are many alternative procurement methods have been developed in recent years such as Novated Design and Build and Enhanced Design and Build. The traditional procurement method is not the only choice for the Employer. Design and build is now one of the most frequently used procurement routes in construction and it is a radical departure from the traditional design-bid-build method. The use of design and build is on the increase with many Employers perceiving it as providing better value for money and giving rise to less disputes than other procurement methods. As per the surveys of Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors,2004 , new procurement trends can be identified which may be associated with the boom period in construction in the early part of the decade and it clearly shows that the Design and construction has become the single dominant method since the previous survey in 1995, it was the traditional methodUnder a design and build contract the contractor assumes primary responsibility for the design of the development, in addition to its traditional role to supply work and materials. The contractor engages the design consultants, or more usually, has the appointments of the design Consultan ts novated to him. 2.1 THE DEFINITION OF THE DESIGN AND BUILD PROCUREMENT METHOD Design and build is and arrangement in which a building contractor enters into a contract with you to design and construct your new building. It is the simplest approach, as one firm is responsible for producing the building you want rather than this responsibility being divided amongst several firms, as is the case with every other approach. (Sarah Peace and John Bennett, How to use a design build approach for a construction project, CLOB, P2) Masterman(1992) state that the term Design and Build has almost been unanimously interpreted and defined as being an arrangement where one contracting organization takes sole responsibility, normally on a lump sum fixed price basis, for the bespoke design and build of a Employers project. This contains three main elements: the responsibility for design and build, contractors reimbursement is generally by means of a fixed price lump sum and the project is designed and built specifically to meet the Employers needs. According to David Chappell (1997), Design and Build contracts place responsibility for both design and erection in the hands of the contractor one point of responsibility for everything. In this system contractor will carry out two functions: design and construct. In other definition, design and build is an arrangement where one organization design and build to the firm order for the Employer to a single financial transaction. The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB-1983) defines Design and Build as the process where the Employer deals directly with the contractor for the complete building and it is the contractor who is not only responsible for but also coordinates the separate design and build process, including engagement of the design team who are, therefore contractually linked with the contractor and not the Employer. The diagram below shows the contractual relationship in the design and builds procurement method. Client Design Build Contractor In-house designers or external consultants Specialist Contractors Source: Sarah Peace and John Bennett, How to use a design build approach for a construction project, CLOB, P2 In practice, Design and Build procurement is generally structured in one of two ways; The Employers employ a dedicated Design and Build organization with its own in house design team. The Employers engage a general building contractor who employs external design consultant members of the contractors team for the duration of the project. 2.2 STRENGTHS OF DESIGN AND BUILD PROCUREMENT SYSTEM As the Design and Build defined, it is therefore important to reveal the strength or advantages of Design and Build as procurement system. One of the prominent feature of Design and Build is to provide a single point responsibility. This is achieved by allocating all design responsibility and liability to the contractor alone. The owner may have more design options to choose from the respective design builders who enter the tender. Owner will tend to have variation of design ideas together with the expected cost that was proposed based on his requirements. Unlike traditional approach which only appoint a single unit of design team to come out with the design ideas, Design and Build will produce much more different design ideas from the design builder who enter the tender (P. Chan et al.,1997). The owners administrative burdens may be reduced because the procurement of design and build services is consolidated into a single selection process. After award of the Design and Build contract, the owner will not be required to spend time and effort coordinating and arbitrating between separated design and build contracts. While the process does require the owner to provide prudent oversight of the design and build process, this responsibility is considerable less time consuming and exposes the owner to far fewer risks than the traditional approach (P. Chan et al.. 1997; Dennis Turner, 1986). Figure 2.0: (A): Single point responsibility D B Contract ,(B): Fragmented responsibility traditional contract (Source: Bennett and Grice, 1992) In addition to the single point responsibility, cost and completion time is firm in the Design and Build procurement method. This means the Employer knows his total financial commitment in the initial stage of the project, provided he does not introduce any changes throughout the project. The Design and Build entity is responsible for quality, budget, schedule, and performance of the completed facility. With the single point of contact, Employers can concentrate on definition of needs and timely decision-making rather than on coordination between designer and contractor. Besides, the Design and Build entity has total responsibility for the finished product and cannot shift design errors of construction defects to another party. Therefore, it will likely to end up with the expected or higher quality of end product. Unlike Design and Build approach, traditional approach contracts rely on restrictive wording, adversarial audit and inspection requirements and the legal system to attain project quality (Jeffrey L. Beard et al., 2001). Cost has always become the key considerations affecting adoption of Design and Build procurement method. Whilst project time is relatively easy to interpret and potential savings clearly identified, project cost is more ambiguous and therefore difficult to evaluate. A prominent consideration for the Employer, in any procurement form, is that final cost does not exceed the project budget. In this respect, Design and Build certainly presents a better chance of the Employer obtaining his completed building within budget. Jerry Adanison (2001), explained that several financial considerations make Design and Build desirable. Private sector have implement Design and Build for financial reasons. Completing a project quickly can save Owners used to finance projects. On the question of cost, real cost savings can also be made in Design and Build. According to Mastermann (1992), when using this system, the initial an final costs are lower than when using other methods of procurement because of diminished design costs, the integration of the design and build elements and in built build ability of the detailed design. Cost savings may also result in timesaving. The overall effects is reduction in the Employers financing charges, lesser effect of inflation and faster building operation, which, in a commercial context, produces an earlier return on the capital, invested, (Frank 1998). 2.3 FACTORS CONSIDERED IN PROCUREMENT METHOD SELECTION CRITERIA Requirements of the Employer The successful of the procurement method should fulfill the requirements of the employer. The objective of the Employer should be identified. Employer would require the best design for their project and meet his requirement stated in the Employers requirement. Time should be as fast as possible for the construction period. The cost of the building should be as lower as to satisfy his requirement. The Employer would prefer to minimize the contractual risk to avoid the unnecessary trouble. Time As time is money, the duration of construction period of the project is very important. Time at large, the time spending on the planning, construction and development would affect the economic scale of the Employer. The Employer would seek for the shorter construction period to earn for the greatest profit. The time- related cost item such as the cost of site office, human resources would increase as the duration of the construction period become longer. The early release the building, the greater profit for the Employer. Quality The quality of the workmanship and the quality of material is one of the main concerns for the Employer in general. The quality of the building should meet the requirement stated in the specification of the contract. Cost The development cost, the construction cost and the operation cost are the concern of the Employer. They totally affect the profit of the Employers. The construction cost is the cost for the building construction such as material cost, plant cost, labour cost. The operation cost is the running cost for the building such as maintenance cost, management cost. The development cost is the land cost, construction cost and other all expenditure which has paid for the development. Communication One of the major reason for choosing design and build arrangement is to benefit from the good communication that can occur between the design team and the construction team (Gould, 2003). Many of the large design and build companies specialize in particular areas and have developed a smooth flow between the design and build phases of the project. This collaboration allows the project to be easily fast-tracked, cutting down on overall schedule for the project. Direct contact between the Employer and the contractor as provided a Design and Build system lines of communication and enables the contractor to adapt more promptly to the Employers needs. Integration and encouraged inherently within the system (Griffith, 1989). The Employer and contractor will communicate closely during the process of the project. Communication between them will start at the beginning stage of the project. Therefore, in design and build it provides the Employer and contractor an opportunity to interact more often and more directly than traditional contract. In general, this arrangement allows easier incorporation of changes due to scope or foreseen conditions since their coordination occurs within the same contractual entity. The Employer is less heavily involved and sits outside the direct day to day communication between designer and constructor. This keeps owner staffing to a minimum and puts the full responsibility for good communication and problem solving. Risks The Design and Build contract transfer more risks to the contractor than any other construction contract. Among a variety of risks, a contractor usually takes on many speculative risks. Risks that can vary in incidence between the parties as they wish. Speculative risks can be within or out with the control of a contractor (Turner 1990). However, the suitability of a project to the Design and build approach must be carefully undertaken by ensuring that the contractor is able, willing and has relevant experiences to control the risk satisfactorily, otherwise they may pass these back to the Employer (Hogg Morledge, 1995) Figure 2.0: Risk allocation for each type of procurement system (Hogg Morledge, 1995) 2.4 THE FACTOR AFFECTING THE SUCCESS OF THE DESIGN AND BUILD 2.4.1 THE PROJECT CHARACTERISTIC Large and complex projects take longer construction durations. It is difficult to use the design and build procurement in such projects. Because it is unfair for the contractor to take risk on the material inflation on the lump sum fixed price contract. Therefore, the size and the complexity of the project should be considered. 2.4.2 THE CONTRACTOR SELECTION According to Sarah Peace and John Bennett, it is very important for the selection of the contactor to process the design and build project. From the figure shown that the design and build project in increasing because of the government is willing to use Design and Build procurement method. As the adopting design and build procurement method by the Government, there is the system for selection of the Contractor as per the Procurement Guide Lines The selecting the Contractor is not only concern the tender price, but also the quality Time, Contractors financial status, potential contractor with good reputation, manpower good record for the previous project as per the pre-qualification marking scheme of National procurement guide lines. Therefore, the contractor who meets the Employers requirement for time and quality at the best price would be selected. 2.4.3 THE EMPLOYERS REQUIREMENT The Employer should fully state their requirement, idea and specification of the workmanship in the Employers requirement. The more detail of the Employers requirement is, the fewer disputes will be occurred in the later stage. The design of the building and the standard of the building is according to the Employers requirement. The Employer should understand what he needs in the building and the idea should be fully explained in the Employers requirement. The proposal responded from the Contractor should be carefully checked by the Employers representative. Once the Employer accepts the proposal from the Contractor, the contract will be formed between them. The design of the building and the construction method will not be changed which stated in the contractors proposal. The changes by the Employer would cause the great amount of the variation. Therefore, the accepted proposal should be fully understand by the Employer which is suitable to his ideas. According to Ashley et al. (1987) identified 4 factors contributing to project success and grouped them into five areas including (1) management, organization and communication; (2) scope and planning; (3) controls; (4) environmental, economic, political and social; and 5) technical. The implications of the Employer should develop a thorough project plan in which the scope of work is clearly defined, and the contractor should understand and commit to the achievement of project objectives. The contractors capability and experience in managing Design and Build project is critical to project success and project team members commitment toward the project goals is also important. Songer and Molenaar (1997) identified 15 characteristics of successful Design and Build. They found that the top five important project characteristics were well-defined scope, shared understanding of scope, owner construction sophistication, adequate owner staffing, and establish budget. Although the Design and Build projects are expected to deliver the project faster and cheaper as compared to the traditional bid and build projects, not all the Design and Build projects can really accomplished it. Many empirical studies have been conducted to examine the impact of various project success factors such as the study of factors for a successful public sector Design and Build projects by Songer and Molenaar (1997), study on architects and builders views on Design and Build procurement method in Hong Kong by Mo and Ng (1997) and many others (Albert P.C. Chan et al., 2001). Accordingly Chan et al., (2001) has developed a series factors contributing to the success of Design and Build projects. These factors are the duties, responsibilities and capabilities of different project participants including end-users, contractor, architect and design consultants in Design and Build projects. CONCLUSION The intention of this chapter is to present an overview of the literature published on the subject of selecting the procurement method from the current construction industry; The objective of the Employer in terms of time, cost, quality and risk would be found out also. And the factor that may determine the successful of the procurement method would be identified. They are the project characteristic, the contractor selection and the employers requirement. In general, it can be summarized that Design and Build provides single point responsibility for the whole design and build. Contractors, who are responsible for the implementation of the project, have power to control all over the projects. This nonetheless does not deter the involvement of the Employer. The Employers need and requirements are always been taken into consideration, which this consequently presents uniqueness of the system. In conclusion, it is essential that whoever really want to procure Design and Build method need a thorough understanding of the types and characteristics of that kind of procurement. Therefore, benefits of Design and Build can be exploited. Many studies also showed that the characteristic of Design and Build that make Design and Build different from other procurement system in offering single point responsibility, fixed time and money, communication, allocation of risks and others. Getting success in Design and Build projects enables an assurance of getting the project completed at the right time and within allocated budget. The Design and Build procurement system has better time performance and cost benefits, which are essentially what the end-users are concerned about. This research can be a key to assessing the performance level of Design and Build projects, and the project participants can learn about the important factors for setting up an effective management system to turn Design and Build projects with excellent performance.
Saturday, July 20, 2019
Ryanair: PESTEL and Porters Five Analysis
Ryanair: PESTEL and Porters Five Analysis 1.0 Introduction Ryanair is an Ireland based airline company and it involved in commercial aviation business since 1986, operating scheduled passenger airlines, serving short haul and point to point routes primarily between Ireland, Britain and Europe. It is the pioneers of low fare airline in Europe and even until now Ryanair is the only airline that offers cheapest air fare to passengers travel around Europe. Micheal OLeary is the CEO of Ryanair, holds 4.6% stake of the company, His dynamic low fare strategies along with the evolution of Ryanair have had led to burst of many budget airlines and some of them had been bought by Ryaniar around Europe, simply because of their inability to compete with Ryanair. European aviation industry is wider, but squeezed with many incumbents that are operating both short haul and long haul routes. As European short haul airline market segment is price sensitive, Ryanair handles no frills strategy and charges lowest price from its customers. In order to obtain bett er margin in the low fare demanding market Ryanair held in a position of cost leader and fundamental low fare strategy supports for rapid growth of its business. The strategic capabilities underpinned by its unique resources and core competences are the preliminary constituents for Ryanair to be a cost leader and offer low fares. This will be explained in detail under below topics about the feasibility of various strategic circumstances. 2.0 External Analysis: The analysis of Macro-environment explores core cause of factor; assess the nature of effects and immediacy. PESTEL analysis has been undertaken to evaluate the external environment of Ryanair. 2.1 PESTEL Analysis: (P)olitical/(L)egal factors: Preferential Treatment of home base airlines in some countries, at the same time they prevent thriving foreign companies and inflict them in more operational cost. Increased terrorists activities have prompted airline industry to tighten security measures and alleged terrorist plots will adversely affect flight turn-around time. Detrimental mental effects are also possible due to any terrorists plots targeted on Ryanair. The rapidly changing government rules and regulations are an inevitable legal factor for Ryanair. This will be discussed in detail under suppliers bargaining power. (E)conomic factors: The instability in fuel price cause major problem for airline industry. If they do not hedge, the fuel price hike is inevitable and they need to find cost savings in other spheres of business when the fuel price is soared. Ryanair was especially more vulnerable to fuel price rises in the past. For example: In the last quarter of 2008, when the fuel price was in its hike, Ryanair reported losses of $130 million dollar and it blamed a 71% increase in the price paid for fuel during the quarter due to the abnormal surge of fuel price of more than $ 1,100 a ton (K, Capel. Airline. The Telegraph, Feb 2 2009.). (E)nvironmental factors: As the world is heading towards more and more greener, all governments taking appropriate measures to control greenhouse gases from carbon emission which would lead to catastrophic human and economic consequences. Ryanair has network virtually in all European countries, so it is more vulnerable to all EU environmental rules and regulations. The mounting pressure on EU laws to tax aviation fuel and anticipated charges on environmental pollution by airlines would have direct impact to Ryanair. (T)echnological factors: Technological factors such as internet, innovative developments in telecommunications such as video conferencing, instant messaging, web conferencing etc. will mean less need for travel, especially on scenarios such as business meetings. 3.0 Industry environment: 3.1 Segmentation and positioning: Ryanair is positioned in the lowest fare segment and has least customer experience among other budget airlines in the European market. The market segment for its rivalries is broader with larger geographical area including operations to main airports, whereas Ryanairs networks are limited only to low cost secondary airports with smaller geographical area. Ryanair predominantly focuses on only people who are desperate for low fare and it has no separate segment for people who want luxury service or business class. Despite, Ryanairs continuous traffic growth, shows that the people wanting low fare in European market are tremendous and European market is for the low fare short-haul carriers. Perhaps, high air fare carriers neither cope up nor sustain against low fare carriers. The competitive position is deeply elaborated in section 3.2. 3.2 Porters five forces: Industry environment analysis figures out the foreseeing competitive pressure in European aviation and the profitability of the industry likely to be in future. It explores the magnitude impact of Threat of substitutes, Threat of Entrants, Rivalries in European market, bargaining power of supplier and bargaining power of customers. Rivalries: The high rivalry impacts for Ryanair are from Easy Jet, Air Lingus, Lufthansa, Iberia, SAS, Airfrance, KLM and Air Lingus. Few airlines (Easy Jet, Air lingus and Lufthansa) the first three of them are roughly more or less equal in size to Ryanair and some of their performances are even better in terms of customer service. This is considered as a significant threat to Ryanair. Despite, among all short-haul carriers Ryanair is the cost leader with having highest market share in the European market. Although Ryanair has firmly improving its competitive advantage, the core strategy of the company is to maintain the operational cost as minimum and offer low fare to customers, which is virtually same among its rivalries, but the outstanding scenario is Ryanair constantly creates new paths to bring down the operational cost . Threat of New Entrants: The short haul no frill airline market is a highly profitable business in Europe so far, while long haul market in Europe is experiencing huge losses like Air Lingus long haul airlines. So, the business scope in the short-haul market may attract new entrants. Although, European airline industry is de-regulated and open for both national and international companies, Airline business is not something like setting up a dot.com with minimum capital in anticipated profit. Hefty capital investment is required to acquire route, fleet, set up flight maintenance centre, building infrastructure etc in order to establish an operation. Industry knowledge and time associated with entry are significant for companies that want to start short haul airline business in Europe from other industries such as tourism and Rail way etc, but for airline companies from some other market like Asia, South America, North America and Australia can trace out the European market in some extent and such huge investm ents also may be affordable for them. Threat of substitutes: The threat of substitute is possible threat for Ryanairs traffic growth as passengers tendency to switch to other means of transport such as buses, trains and cruise. This kind of threat has medium effect over Ryanair, despite, the ubiquity of other means of transport to travel across European countries. Particularly rapid growth of railway network is considered to be a most influential substitute for short haul air travel across Europe. Congestion in airports and difficulties (such as boarding, airport journey) involved in air travel could cause passengers more likely to choose railway. Some government like U.K is substantially funding for the expansion of high-speed rail networks to and from Europe, especially to curb short haul carriers through heavier taxation due to the pressure arising from the environmental groups to cut down carbon emission by domestic aviation. The government intervention to establish better rail links in other countries such as France, Germany and the Nethe rlands is more vulnerable to Ryanairs routes in those countries (Dan Milmo 2009. The Guardian. 5th Aug). Bargaining power of supplier: Aircraft Supplier: In aviation Boeing and Airbus plays duopoly in manufacturing passenger aircrafts. Boeing is the main aircraft supplier for Ryanair, since its establishment. In terms of supplier bargaining power, Ryanair holds significant scale of power over Boeing, as it can easily switch to Airbus anytime in-case of high price charged by Boeing. The recent Micheal O Learys announcement of negotiation with Air Lingus evidenced the high bargaining power over its Aircraft supplier (Sarah Arnott., 2008. Ryanair looks to order 400 aircraft in plans for massive expansion. The Independent, 8th Aug.). Airports: The enforcement of new rules and regulations by airport authorities are inevitable, eventually they have more control on their bases with both short haul and long carriers airlines operating in any government airports. Ryanair has been either strongly protesting or recklessly withdrawing and switching its routes to alternative airports, at bases wherever it is experiencing significant problems. For example: Recently Manchester Airports Group refused to bring down its prices, which resulted Ryanair to pull nine out of its ten Manchester routes(Sarah Arnott., 2009. Price dispute sees Ryanair cut nearly all Manchester flights. The Independent, 18th Aug.). So, Ryanair can switch its destinations easily in case of its bargain does not take lead. Ryanair holds substantial power in the other spheres of suppliers such as staff recruitment agency, food providers and ancillary product suppliers etc due to substantial availability of those kind of suppliers in the market. Bargaining power of customer: European market is almost saturated with many airline companies including premium services to economy classes. Bargaining power of customers is high as low budget airline a commodity today and presence of more substitutes in European market. Ryanair had shrunken the bargaining leverage to its bottom with no other airlines could possibly offer such low fares, as the result that Ryanair is having extra-ordinary performance in traffic growth consistently year by year, but this growth is uncertain if Ryanair pushes its fare up. More people travelling on Ryanair, because they like the fare and can easily afford it. 3.3 Value Networks and Business Partners: It is necessary to analyse value creating areas in Ryanairs Industry value chain, which consolidates it competitive advantage by delivering those precious values to customers. According to porter, 1985, Value chain of any organization comprises of two activities, primary and secondary activities. Primary activities are directly concerned with delivery of service and that includes inbound logistics, operation, outbound logistics, marketing, sales and services. The support activities include administrative infrastructure management, human resource management, technology and procurement. Inbound logistics: Stock control of Food, beverages and Ancillary sale items: Although, Ryanair is a no frills airline, it is making huge profit through the sales of food, beverages and Ancillary items. Ryanair manages strong relationship with various foods and beverages suppliers, in-order to receive quality standard goods and on time delivery, which adds value throughout its value chain. Route selection and airport base: Ryanair only selects low cost route with the anticipation of traffic growth. Ryanair has strong relationship with various airport authorities around Europe, thus they provide subsidies in exchange for high traffic and low fares. Jet fuel: This is the most significant input that Ryanair has to scrutinize, as jet fuel contributes around half of the operating cost. Well hedged contracts will minimise cost, so recent hedging arrangements adds value to get control of fuel cost in some extent. Aircrafts and Maintenance: Deployment of single type aircraft Boeing 737-800. Operation: Ryanairs operational activities includes passenger check-In, loading ancillary and catering items in the flights, baggage check-In, Hospitality, In-flight services and daily flight operations. Contemporary online check-in system reduces cost associated with staff and avoids passenger queues in airports, thus it provides convenient journey for passengers. This adds value by enabling quick turnover of flights and prompt minimum waiting time of flights at airports. Additionally, Ryanair has contractors at certain airports for ticketing, passengers and aircraft handling (Includes loading various goods into aircraft) as well as for engine repairs and heavy maintenance at competitive rates. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 10 Jan, 2010) This third party contracts are more cost-efficient than Ryanair perform these activities itself. Productivity-based incentives, this includes sales bonuses for on-board sale of products by flight attendance to increase ancillary revenue through reward mechanism and pilots are remunerated based on number of hours or sectors flown, which c uts unnecessary staff cost. Ryanair facilitate the usage of onboard mobile and electronic device for its passengers in order to add value for customers. Marketing, Sales, Services and Outbound Logistics: Ryanair advertise its seasonal fares and other company related commercial advertisements on its fleet with zero advertisement costs. Furthermore special ticket offers are being advertised on its website to promote sales. In order to curb substantial operational cost and tackle high number of booking, Ryanair has introduced new Online Reservation System in addition to the host system. The system new has been provided and maintained by an outside contractor, Navaitire. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 5, Jan, 2010) It adds value for passengers by increasing system speed and avoid Ryanair is being on exposure to the risk of resolving system failure issues. There is no sales agent commission adds value on passengers fare and it adds value in terms of the distribution cost aggregate nearly to zero and convenient journey for passengers. Online baggage claiming system for baggage l ost passengers, which adds value to passengers as it is an easy way to claim their bags. 4.0 Resources and Capabilities: 4.1 Resources: Resources allocation and capabilities development are the source to gain competitive advantage for a company, while the market and environment establish constraints and pressures. Resources of Ryanair are basically what it holds as productive assets and can be differentiated into three different forms, tangible, intangible and human resources. Capabilities are what it can achieve by exploiting opportunities in the external environment and efficient deployment of its unique resources that exist within the company to achieve competitive advantage. Tangible Resource: Ryanair had 181 aircrafts in operation as of March, 21, 2009, among which 109 aircrafts were funded by The Export and Import Bank, 43 aircrafts were in operating lease, 20 of the aircraft in the fleet were treated as financially leased by Japanese operating leases with call options, 6 of the aircraft in the fleet were encumbered with commercial debt financing and three remaining aircrafts are entirely owned by Ryanair without any finance related encumbrances. Ryanair also owns and operates six Boeing 737-800 flight simulators for the purpose of pilot training. All the above are long-lived assets virtually all of them were aircraft totalled to 3.6 billion Euros. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Even though many aircraft are encumbrances, ownership accompanied with the bank loan gives greater independency and financially the cost involved in leasing arrangements i s higher than being owner of aircraft. In addition to aircraft, administration offices in Dublin and East Midlands Airport, simulator and training centres are entirely owned by Ryanair. It also has leasehold property in eight airports for the purpose of flight maintenance and an office building in Dublin Airport Business Park. The recent investment of 702 million Euros for the purchase of property, plant and equipment in 2008 is remarkable. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Ryanair serves over 1000 routes across Europe and Morocco from 40 airport bases, which is considered to be high in numbers compare to its rivalries. (http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2010/q3_2010_doc.pdf, accessed on: 15th Jan 2010). Airport bases served by Ryanair are ultimately considered as strategic assets due to its low cost. Financial Resources: The huge cash reserves held in the company of over 2.5 billion Euros will allow having abundant cash flow for its operation. Cash pile would financially leverage to take strategic decision in future expansion of business. Ryanair holds 93.15 million Euros worth of available-for-sale financial assets, which are not considered as an investment in an associate company due to insufficient power of Ryanair to influence over the investee. And also, Ryanair is the biggest investor on its rivalry Aer Lingus with the acquired stake of 29.8% of Aer Linguss share capital through private acquisition with the total aggregate cost of 407.2 million Euros. Ryanairs long term debt totalled to 2398.40 million as of 2009 annual report, which is an increase of 131.9 million from 2008 annual report. The latest debt increase is primarily due to financing of new aircraft, which will be delivered within two years as per the schedule. [Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 4 Jan 2009]. Intangible resources: Ryanairs climbing traffic growth and established brand name are most consolidated and valuable intangible assets for the company that embedded in its relentlessly flowing low fare strategies to make huge profit. In terms of operational prospective, minimum aircraft age of 3.77 years average age of all its Boeing 737-800s is a unique intangible asset and no aircraft is more than 9 years old. The company also holds considerable intangible asset of landing rights that flows future benefit into the company. Human Resources: There are 6616 staffs working at Ryanair as of March 2009, this includes 1041 additional experienced pilots contracted from employment agencies to satisfy short term pilot requirements. The employees figure is constantly increasing year by year due to rapid expansion of the company. Ryanairs top management comprises of eight boards of directors, all of them are having more than 7 years of experience with the company and their remuneration including different share options scheme are available and based on experience, as well as their job position. David Bonderman, Chairman of the Board and Director, who has served more than 13 years with the company. CEO and Director of Ryanair, Micheal OLeary is the most valuable human resources in the company and he has been successfully leading the company for nearly two decades, as CEO since 1994. (Ryanair, 2004. Annual Report 2008-2009. [Online]. Available at: http://www.ryanair.com/doc/investor/2009/Annual_report_2009_web.pdf. [Accessed 20 Jan, 2010]). 4.2 Capabilities: In this section, we will discuss about the special knowledge and a skill possessed by Ryanair in order to gain competitive advantage and the key success factors that positioned the company as cost leader. The companys innovative pioneer strategies to keep the operating cost low and its ability to carrying passengers at lowest fare demand are the special capabilities it posses. Apart from these, the table below contains Ryanairs last three years operational data up to March 2009, which will demonstrate the operational capabilities during that period. The average yield per revenue passenger mile and average yield per available seat miles are decreased in 2009 due to the intense competition and further reduction of average booked passenger fare by approximately 4 Euros compare to the previous years. Yield management is crucial for airlines as the gross profit of the company mainly depends on it, so achieving better yield would perhaps maximise Ryanairs profit. The fares of Ryanair need to be continuously monitored in a way that would create demand, at the same time that would maximise companys profit. Ryanair has only little control over the fuel fluctuations like many other airlines, so increase in fuel cost is an unavoidable increase in operating expenses. The remarkable factor is the recent fuel hedging arrangements increased Ryanairs power to some extent to influence those cost aroused due to high fuel price. The next factor is cost per available seat miles, which is operating cost by available seat miles. This is one of the mo st success factors that gain competitive advantage for Ryanair, as it always being low compared to all other short haul airlines in Europe. In the table above, the increase in the operating cost in 2009 is mainly due to the rise in fuel cost. The low fare strategy is embedded in the companys capability and it is most valuable for the company by creating demand for its service. The constantly increasing load factors year by year, while the average booked passenger fare is decreasing indicates that the unique capability of Ryanair to make the traffic grow and how well it filling its seats through creating demand by stretching its fare to lowest possible. So the increased load factor is mainly due to decrease in the fares. One of the main mottos of companys CEO, Micheal OLearys is to maximise profit through selling ancillary products. Ryanair is the highest ancillary revenue making airline in Europe, which add extra profit for the company. Motivating cabin crews through commissions to sell ancillary product, consistently increasing and introducing various ancillary products and having many commission based related business are the main source for ancillary revenue. The number of airport served and average flight utilisation hours are some other measurable capabilities of Ryanair. The best service to the passengers in terms of punctuality of its flights and less baggage missing scenarios are in Top Priorities and it makes competitive advantage for Ryanair in its operation. In fact it has the policy of publishing its customer service statistics every month to show the leads from its competitors. The table below shows that the Ryanairs capability in terms of punctuality, Bags handling and journey completions among its few rivalries. 4.3 Strength and intellectual assets: All routes are point to point rather than transitional. Although it is easy to establish point to point routes for a short haul carrier, it enhances convenient journey to the passengers. Ryanair has entered into fuel hedging arrangements followed by the huge losses on 2008. The unprecedented hedging arrangements will provide substantial protection against fluctuations in fuel prices, generally through forwarding contracts covering certain periods in the future. Ancillary services including non-flight scheduled such as Car hire, Hotels, Travel Insurance, in-flight sales, rail and bus ground transport services in its business model adds extra revenue for the company. Ryanair has direct sales channels; the only way to book ticket nowadays is via the website or via Ryanair direct call centre. It helps to take out sale agents commission and special offers would directly reach the customers without any discrepancies. Ryanair has been deploying Boeing 737-800s, same fleet community in all its routes. The company can save training cost as all staffs are only be trained for one type of aircraft and also saves on maintenance supplies and labour as only one type of parts and skills needed. High seat density of 189 seats per aircraft accommodates more passengers (compare to its older version Boeing 737-200A, which had only 130 seats per aircraft) and it tends to extra revenue for the company. The use of Secondary Airport with frequent transport medium to populated cities for the purpose to keep its airport charges low and for high turnaround times. The well known scattered strategy of no frills such as, free food, drink, and lounges etc 4.5 Weakness: Even though its fares are far cheaper than any other airlines in Europe, it is being severely criticised by many people for its extravagant hidden charges. The basic reason for this criticism is advertising fares without the disclosure of most basic inevitable charges such as, taxes, online check-In or airport check-In charge(which is outrageously costlier than the online check-In), card surcharge other than master card (only possible way to pay as the booking can feasibly done through either website or call centre), administration fee etc Ryanairs deliberate controversial advertisements and statements by its CEO such as charging one pound to use the toilets in flight, are practically generate additional free publicity for the airline, but significantly it depletes brand reputation and it often perceived as bad impression among peoples mind. The poor customer service by its staffs employed and disgrace treatment of passengers by its CEO, Micheal O Leary and the company are misleading companys reputation for not even providing the basic services and rudeness involved in customer query replies are the weakness that embedded in its system. According to the comments analysed from 280 websites, Ryanair came bottom of the ranking with minus 40 points. Poor customer service and extra cost the airline charge for check-in bags are the major complaints. [Lisa Minot, 2008. Sun Air News: Ryanair suffer Over Service. The Sun, 2nd Aug.] The company is heavily addicted for traffic growth and rivalry led in European short haul market. Because of that growth, Ryanair is not able to identify the reputation and loyalty in its brand among passengers. 5.0 Strategic situation: Perhaps, I have mentioned about 2.5 billion cash reserves in its financial resources. It has announced plans of start paying dividend from its cash pile to their shareholder from 2013. (Sarah Arnott, 2010. Ryanair to pay dividend from 2013. The independent, 8th Jan). Instead of paying dividend out of its cash reserves or by using companys profit, it should decide to deploy its cash reserves in its on-holding strategy towards long haul routes. The company will get significant future growth by launching long-haul transatlantic routes. According to CEO, Micheal O Learys statement, if Ryanair introduces long haul routes from Europe to six US destinations, two segments of seat will be offered, one lowest unprecedented economic class and ever high fare business class with extravagant services. This rational strategy will generate huge profit by luring middle economic-class passengers; perhaps transatlantic passengers will want something cheaper in their tickets. The cheapest fare no frill for economic class passengers with onboard sale of everything from breakfast to dinner, beverage to entertainment would create substantial ancillary revenue. In spite the airline destinations must be in populated area or rich cities such as Chicago Midway Airport, Atlanta Hartsfield International Airport and Dallas Fort Worth International Airport etc to fill up business class seats, Otherwise there is no logic in adding business class seats in long haul routes. Alternatively, it can choose rural destinations in US, but the business class passengers firmly transited to populated cities without any delay and inconveniency by having alliance with US luxury short haul carriers. Although, I have mentioned Ryanairs 29.8% stake over Aer Lingus, its first bid in 2006 to acquire entire share capital of Aer Lingus was firstly blocked by European commission on competition grounds and the second bid in 2007 was also failed after the Irish Government (25% stack holder on Aer Lingus) said Ryanair undervalued the company, while the offer totalled à £701 million. So, Ryanair is not yet planned to make any further bid in recent future, rather it aims to boost its cash reserves. [Pilita, C, Vincent, B, 2010. Third Ryanair bid for Aer Lingus unlikely. Financial Times, 7th Jan.] Perhaps, the acquired stakes consolidate its financial position over Aer Lingus for convenient takeover in the future, in case of any failure or the acceptance of further bid by Aer Lingus. In consideration to Ryanairs future growth in the existing market and anticipated transatlantic expansion, it has to press hard for a horizontal integration over Aer Lingus by raising the offer price from its last bid of à £701 million. The acquisition of Aer Lingus is more likely to see tremendous expansion in European market by acquiring market share and implementing low cost operating strategy over it rivalry. In a situation when a competitor disappears in the market, the competition gets ease for some instance. The acquisition also allow Ryanair to get easy access into the transatlantic routes, as Aer Lingus already operating flights to some major airports in the United States such as, Houston (HOU), Houston (IAH), Indianapolis (IND), Columbus (CMH) and San Francisco (SNF) etc 6.0 Strategic Choice: Identification: The first choice what I suggest is Ryanair can expand its market through Related Diversification by the launch of new international routes from Europe to Selected Asian countries, such as India, Malaysia and Singapore. Ryanair will be able to grow its traffic by selecting core destinations such as Mumbai, Bangalore, Goa, Chennai and New Delhi in India, Kualalampur in Malayasia and Singapore. In the other end, Ryanair would be able to cover travellers and tourists from all European countries by setting up transit hubs in selected airports in Europe such as Frankfurt, Madrid, Milan, Glasgow and Dublin (So, flights from the new market will land in those transit hubs and then passengers can reach their end destination by Ryanairs local network flights through transit from these airport) travelling to our selected destinations in Asia, as it already has firm and established operation in Europe. The above selected strategic choice would be demonstrated under Ansoff Strategic Direction Matrix Market/product choices. According to Ansoff Matrix (developed by Igor Ansoff, 1957) the above selected business is launching of new service in new market, so it will be categorized under Diversification. Although, Ryanair has an on-holding plan of introducing transatlantic routes, but not yet lunged, the new strategic choice is to flourish market share in developing nations. The assumed service in those markets is clearly business to consumer type of activity, as Ryanair directly engaged in carrying passengers or providing service directly to the customers. Ryanairs main targeting customer segment in the above three countries are tourists and passengers who are looking for low fares, as well as high fare over luxury service. The differentiations in fares with price premium for passengers perceive it as on luxury segment and without price premium for passengers perceive cost benefit under low fare segment. All the three countries are developing nations with low income, middle class and rich people. Among them, people who afford to travel to Europe are
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