Virgin Blues Competitive Advantage free essay sample

Introduction Virgin Blue is the low-fare/high quality carrier, one of the leading airways in Australian airline industry. Its objective has been established itself as Australias leading low-fares scheduled passenger airline through continued improvements and expanding offerings of its low-cost service and caters to customers who are after an economical, yet reliable airline. Virgin Blue was launched on August 3, 2000. Having only starting with two aircrafts, it has since expanded to all major Australian cities and favoured holiday destinations (Virgin, 2007). Virgin stands for value for money, quality, innovation, fun and a sense of competitive challenge (Virgin, 2007). 2. Strategic management and strategic competitiveness In this context, VB has built strong strategic competitiveness in Strategic management. Strategic management is an endeavour to examine wealth creation and capture it by firm. Firms should be aware of their business level and should struggle to maintain or to expand their competitive advantage. Strategic competitive advantage is gained when the firm fully achieves core-value implementation. However, due to the advent of 21st century’s rapid, changeable and uncertain environment landscape, firms may encounter strategic discontinuities. In order to navigate effectively in this new competitive landscape, firms have to develop strategic flexibility and competitive advantage while building dynamic core competences, performing strategic leadership, employing valuable strategies, implement new strategic structures and so forth. VB has built strong competitive advantage by low leisure fare, offering corresponding quality compared to other airlines by innovations and services. However due to the quick responses of other airlines and the entrant of new low-fare provider, the VB’s competitive advantage is getting threatened. 3. External Environment Like every other organisations, external influences will always be presented. Virgin Blue has learnt firsthand how external influences can influence organisational behaviour. These external environments consist of general, industry competitor analysis which each presents factor/conditions of firm, affects firm’s profitability and predicts the dynamic of the competitors. As or VB, technological and global segments can be indirectly effected in general environmental term since it is strongly related to their profits. VB has to keep in pace with the existing technology and seek ways to survive within global competitors. Airline industry’s entry barrier is quite high which makes the industry seem attractive, hence, the competition between the airlines are somehow fierce. Australian domestic market is facing renewed competition due to the Singapores Tiger Airway and Tiger Airway is in an effort to break the cosy duopoly of Qantas and Virgin Blue. VB has to analysis and understand rivalry competitor’s capabilities and current strategy in order to stay in the track. 4. Internal Environment The internal environment consists of the inherent competencies of the firm and the structure of its internal systems and processes. It is imperative for the organization to conduct an internal analysis to obtain a clear picture regarding its strengths and weaknesses. This helps the organization to design suitable strategies towards leveraging its strength to gain sustainable competitive advantage in the market. VB has achieved its core competency by cutting costs by limiting the number of airports serviced, operating one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737,paying employees less than its major rival Qantas and successful outsourcing.. A continuous focus on cost-containment and operating efficiencies is a critical aspect of the Virgin Blues success. VB obviously has chose â€Å"Low-Cost† strategy and VB has created value to customers by providing as high quality and low cost carrier. VB supplies its own customer and ground handling services at its busiest airports but outsources these functions at other airports. It also outsources catering at all airports, some maintenance services, and the overflow from its call centers (Virgin Blue 2003). VB is more flexible about the implementation of a thirty-minute flight close out notion. VB also has announced  a program to offset its greenhouse gas emissions relating to save global nature or reduce carbon emissions, which increased company’s image and passenger number. Yet, to have sustainable core competencies, VB will have to create innovative ideas that are costly to imitate or non-substitutable in order to attract more customers and to lower the price since having low cost itself as a core competency is risky and insufficient to survive in this turbulent globalized . society. 5. Business level Strategies An organizations core competencies should be focused on satisfying customer needs or preferences in order to achieve above average returns. This is done through Business-level strategies. Business level strategies detail actions taken to provide value to customers and gain a competitive advantage by exploiting core competencies in specific, individual product or service markets. Business-level strategy is concerned with a firms position in an industry, relative to competitors and to the five forces of competition. VB is implementing cost leadership strategy, concentrating on searching for ways to lower the cost, providing satisfactory quality at the same time. It was achieved by homogeneous aircraft fleets, simple business processes and superior method of outsourcing. Successfully implementing and maintaining this strategy needs constant focus on driving costs lower relative to the competitors. However, making use of cost leadership is risk-free, as seen in present state, Tiger airway has caught the cost advantage of VB with differentiations, while Qantas still leading the airline industry. 6. Conclusion In conclusion, Virgin Blues idea: That people would fly a lot more, if it costs a lot less turned out to work brilliantly. VB’s growth has been not only been impressively fast, it’s also been based on developing good ideas through excellent management principle rather than on acquisition. VB looks opportunities where they can offer something better, fresher and more valuable and seize them. Also, Virgin Blues is reported to be Australia’s most on time airline. Steven Townend, Chief Commercial Officer and Deputy Managing Director of BOC Aviation said that â€Å"Virgin Blue is an established name in the Australian market for business and leisure travel†.

Kraft and Cadbury Merger free essay sample

What is the role of the government in this merger? What is the impact on the shareholders, what are their thoughts about it and is it a successful merger or not. Other than Kraft and Cadbury four aspects of doing business internationally has been discussed and their influence in an international business career. 1. 1 How and why Kraft identified Cadbury as a potential partner? On 19th January 2010 Kraft the American Giant, acquired Cadbury the most popular and one of the most selling brand in chocolates for $11. 5bn. The reason for Kraft to identify Cadbury as its potential partner and even after Cadbury rejected its first bid on 7th September 2009, and then came up with a higher bid, was that Kraft wanted to bring in the most loved British Chocolates to USA, because the chocolates that America produces are only loved by American’s and are not so loved around the world, while they targeted the British company because they make better chocolates plus they wanted to get into the British market and to get into the British market remaining into the food industry they could not identify a better option than acquiring Cadbury by merging these two companies one they capture the British market of dairy food plus they introduce their products into Britain and the Cadbury products into USA having the plus points of both cultures. Expected benefits Kraft is the second largest Food beverage company in the world, which produced revenue of 49. billion USD in the year 2010 (Kraftfoodscompany, (2011) and is operating in more than 150 counties worldwide and has an Employee number of around 100,000. Where as Cadbury on the other hand is the second largest Confectionary Company in the world, which produced revenue of 5. 38 billion USD in the year 2008 (Cadbury annual report, 2008) and has a very strong hold in Asia Pacific and Latin America and has an Employee number of around 70,000. When these two giants combine, one American Giant and other British Giant, they both can conquer the food industry if they both are managed well. In 2010 Kraft already made revenue increase of 0. 7 billion USD from 2008 to 2010 after the take over of Cadbury (CNN, 2011). Kraft and Cadbury can both work very well and can avail a lot of benefits from each other provided that both them work together, because Kraft has its own management too large in scale and Cadbury as well. 1. 3 Synergies for both companies involved? After the merger of Kraft and Cadbury, both companies are expected to have revenue synergies and have an increase of the net revenue of up to 5% or more. They are targeting the long-term output for it. Which as a result will increase the net revenue. The combined company (Kraft and Cadbury) is targeting to increase their per share cost in 2011 of approximately $0. 05 and on the basis of cash. These two companies combined can make a lot of revenue. Parliament publication, 2012) Other than that Cadbury has other channels of gaining revenue like gas filling stations, corner shops which are well being forced by Cadbury and on the other hand Kraft has a strong hold on supermarkets and groceries. As they are merged now the overall distribution will be higher for Kraft and Cadbury and their revenue will increase. Both of the companies has opposite markets that they have captured for Cadbury they have a large influence in Asia, Africa, Mexico and Turkey and for Kraft they have more influence in Brazil and China. By combining together they both can capture almost every market around the globe. The total value of the British chocolate confectionery sector amounts to approximately EUR 3. 9 billion. In the UK, the parties activities overlap only in the markets of tablets and pralines. Kraft is active in tablets and pralines mainly with its brands Milka, Toblerone and Terrys chocolate Orange, and Cadbury with its brands Dairy Milk, Roses and Green amp; Black. (http://ec. europa. eu/competition/mergers/cases/decisions/m5644_20100106_20212_en. pdf page 9 ) (Kraft Foods Official 2011 Report) 1. 4 The risks associated with the choice of acquisition as an approach to this particular ‘partnership’ The first and last risk which is associated with this particular partnership is of keeping their word. The official position of the Fairtrade Foundation is the following: The Fairtrade Foundation is very proud of our relationship with Cadbury, and what we have achieved together, including the conversion of Cadbury Dairy Milk to Fairtrade in the UK and Ireland in 2009, now being extended to three other international markets Canada, Australia and New Zealand. This has had a tremendously positive public response, and is delivering major benefits to cocoa farmers in Ghana, quadrupling the amount they are able to sell on Fairtrade terms in 2010, compared to 2008. The Fairtrade Foundation and Cadbury have a shared vision for the future, and there are contractual commitments in place, which will form part of any intellectual property transfer between Cadbury and Kraft in any takeover. We believe that the progress we have made together in strengthening cocoa farmers to deliver long term sustainability of the cocoa supply chain, along with a fast growing level of consumer demand for Fairtrade products, not just in the UK but globally, present a unique and compelling case for continuing to pursue the Cadbury commitment to their Cocoa Partnership and to Fairtrade, and taking it even further in coming months and years. Treehugger, 2012) According to the Official Statement, they will perform Fairtrade for both the companies and Kraft confirmed that it would uphold Cadbury’s commitments to Fairtrade which were that: †¢ Dairy Milk will continue to be Fairtrade in the UK and Northern Ireland and in three more markets, Canada, Australia and New Zealand by early 2010; †¢ Green amp; Black’s (which is owned by Cadbury) will move its entire range to Fairtrade by the end of 2011. (http://www. publications. parliament. uk/pa/cm200910/cmselect/cmbis/234/234. df ) But no one is quiet happy with the outcome of the merger. Because Kraft did not really act upon what they stated to do before the merger, expression of the former first Minister of Scotland Jack McConnell asked Kraft in the Scottish Parliament to Honour the Fairtrade Part of the deal, he said There have been concerns expressed for many years that Kraft has never shown any enthusiasm for fair trade and therefore this must be under threat as a result of the takeover. (Treehugger, 2012). Warren Buffett isnt too keen now either. Discussing the CEO of Kraft, he said She thinks this is a good deal, I think its a bad deal. Mind you, he is probably not worrying about the fairtrade aspect. Cadburys 6,000 UK workers are also worried, because it is a hi risk for the workers to now work at Cadbury under the American Management which has already influenced the Cadbury management. 1. 5 Feasible alternative? The most feasible alternative to Kraft for Cadbury was Hershey Chocolates, which is also an American Chocolate brand. In 2009 before the hostile takeover of Cadbury by Kraft, Cadbury talked to Hershey personal to include themselves in the bid so they can recommend Hershey over Kraft to its shareholders and are taken over by Hershey, but unfortunately Hershey did not want to be the part of the bidding war over Cadbury with Kraft because Hershey is its self weighing up. Even for Kraft Hershey was a good alternative over Cadbury because both are American Companies and would understand eachother easily rather than taking over a company is a completely different region, Ferrero maker of Rocher chocolate and Nutella is also a very good alternative for Cadbury but at the time of bid according to Trevor Datson the spokesperson for Cadbury said the company had no comment. No one at Ferrero was immediately available for comment. Involvement of National and corporate cultures Neither is the Nation nor the Corporate section is happy with the merger of the both companies, because for public there is a fear of cutting off more than 6000 jobs is Britian and more than 46,000 globally so people working at Cadbury are really afraid to work at it and other than employees the Corporate personal are also in fear of that the world leading brands like Dairy Milk, Flake and Wipsa are at risk with this merger and the shareholder are also not very happy with the $11. 5 bn deal. Critical Evaluation of both the companies about this Partnership Both of the companies had their own management and their own way of doing business around the world. As Kraft is majorly dairy products maker and is being loved by that around the world. Where as Cadbury is also a very well known name in the chocolate industry, because a lot of people in United Kingdom and at other major parts of the world such as Asia and Africa Cadbury is really loved for chocolate. As through the analysis this is a very hostile takeover i. e. , between Kraft and Cadbury, after taking over Cadbury Kraft accepted some of the points that they will do and keep is at it is and after that takeover they did not manage to fulfill those commitments which lead to misunderstanding between these two companies after their merger. As Kraft agreed that they will stick to Faretrade organization and to keep the same cocoa supplier as Cadbury had before and before the merger Cadbury was to close one of their plants but after merger Kraft did not do so and now they are facing these problems which are not very good in the long run for both of the companies. Involvement Of the Government In this hostile takeover not just the employees and shareholders but also the government, had and also has issues with this mergers. With the merger of Kraft Foods and Cadbury a number of important issues have bin highlighted in the way through which the foreign takeovers of UK companies are conducted.

Evaluation Essay Movie - An Easy Introduction

Evaluation Essay Movie - An Easy IntroductionEvaluation essay sample movie is a great way to get started. For some reason, the film industry seems to be obsessed with writing a wide variety of examples of one kind or another. Many of these examples are designed to give you an idea of what an actor or actress is like. And even though it's true that these people are often complex, it's still nice to see their lives portrayed.But in addition to this, writing an analysis essay sample movie is also a good way to start a conversation. If you're a student or teacher, it may not seem like it to you but all of your students are going to want to see how you write. In fact, if you were to give your own analysis of the essay, they may actually want to read it. Even your teachers will enjoy it and learn from it. So keep your eyes open for opportunities like this.This is especially true when it comes to analyzing a report, such as an evaluative essay movie example. And what's most important about this, of course, is that if you do write one yourself, your students and your colleagues will think you're incredibly clever. And that's why it's so important to get started early, before they ever get to know you.Of course, a good way to get started is to find an evaluative essay movie example that fits the scope of your needs. Look for a story that speaks to you personally, or maybe in a genre that's comfortable to you.There are many formats, and most of them are fairly common format. For example, you could use the following to give you an idea of the different types of analysis essay movies available. The examples could range from a story to a fantasy, but they would all have a serious message. These messages include the message that any particular person's talents or emotions can be used in a good and effective way.It could be a message that you've learned a lot in your life, or that you hope someone will learn in theirs. However you find the message, it's still important to see that it's something that can help your readers' understanding of the facts of the evaluation essay. Perhaps they will come away with more knowledge after reading it.So, if you'd like to write a movie example for your own purposes, be sure to keep that as simple as possible. Be sure to keep it appropriate for your audience. Keep it as short as possible. But make sure that it helps your readers to become more aware of the world around them, in whatever genre it may be.

The Proposed Legalization Of Same-sex Marriage Is One Of The Essays

The proposed legalization of same-sex marriage is one of the most significant issues in contemporary American family law. Presently, it is one of the most vigorously advocated reforms discussed in law reviews, one of the most explosive political questions facing lawmakers, and one of the most provocative issues emerging before American courts. If same-sex marriage is legalized, it could be one of the most revolutionary policy decisions in the history of American family law. The potential consequences, positive or negative, for children, parents, same-sex couples, families, social structure public health, and the status of women are enormous. Given the importance of the issue, the value of comprehensive debate of the reasons for and against legalizing same-sex marriage should be obvious. Marriage is much more than merely a commitment to love one another. Aside from societal and religious conventions, marriage entails legally imposed financial responsibility and legally authorized financial benefits. Marriage provides automatic legal protections for the spouse, including medical visitation, succession of a deceased spouse's property, as well as pension and other rights. When two adults desire to "contract" in the eyes of the law, as well a perhaps promise in the eyes of the Lord and their friends and family, to be responsible for the obligations of marriage as well as to enjoy its benefits, should the law prohibit their request merely because they are of the same gender? I intend to prove that because of Article IV of the United States Constitution, there is no reason why the federal government nor any state government should restrict marriage to a predefined heterosexual relationship. Marriage has changed throughout the years. In Western law, wives are now equal rather than subordinate partners; interracial marriage is now widely accepted, both in statute and in society; and marital failure itself, rather than the fault of one partner, may be grounds for a divorce. Societal change have been felt in marriages over the past 25 years as divorce rates have increased and have been integrated into even upper class families. Proposals to legalize same-sex marriage or to enact broad domestic partnership laws are currently being promoted by gay and lesbian activists, especially in Europe and North America. The trend in western European nations during the past decade has been to increase legal aid to homosexual relations and has included marriage benefits to some same-sex couples. For example, within the past six years, three Scandinavian countries have enacted domestic partnership laws allowing same-sex couples in which at least one partner is a citizen of the specified country therefore allowing many benefits that heterosexual marriages are given. In the Netherlands, the Parliament is considering domestic partnership status for same-sex couples, all major political parties favor recognizing same-sex relations, and more than a dozen towns have already done so. Finland provides governmental social benefits to same-sex partners. Belgium allows gay prisoners the right to have conjugal visits from same-sex partners. An overwhelming majority of European nations have granted partial legal status to homosexual relationships. The European Parliament also has passed a resolution calling for equal rights for gays and lesbians. In the United States, efforts to legalize same-sex domestic partnership have had some, limited success. The Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc. reported that by mid-1995, thirty-six municipalities, eight counties, three states, five state agencies, and two federal agencies extended some benefits to, or registered for some official purposes, same-sex domestic partnerships. In 1994, the California legislature passed a domestic partnership bill that provided official state registration of same-sex couples and provided limited marital rights and privileges relating to hospital visitation, wills and estates, and powers of attorney. While California's Governor Wilson eventually vetoed the bill, its passage by the legislature represented a notable political achievement for advocates of same-sex marriage. The most significant prospects for legalizing same-sex marriage in the near future are in Hawaii, where advocates of same-sex marriage have won a major judicial victory that could lead to the judicial legalization of same-sex marriage or to legislation authorizing same-sex domestic partnership in that state. In 1993, the Hawaii Supreme Court, in Baehr v. Lewin, vacated a state circuit court judgment dismissing same-sex marriage claims and ruled that Hawaii's marriage law allowing heterosexual, but not homosexual, couples to obtain marriage licenses constitutes sex discrimination under the state constitution's Equal Protection Clause and Equal Rights Amendment. The case began in 1991 when three same-sex couples who had been denied marriage licenses by the Hawaii Department of Health brought suit in state court against the director of the department. Hawaii law required couples wishing to marry to obtain a marriage license. While the marriage license law did not explicitly prohibit same-sex marriage at that time, it

Someone i admire Essay Example

Someone i admire Essay Example Someone i admire Essay Someone i admire Essay The question should teenagers be allowed a television in their bedroom has been debated for many years now. With the forever updating technology such as; mobile phones, pods, computers and laptops television should really be the least of our parents worries. In my opinion teenagers should be allowed a television in their bedroom as long as they agree to use it in moderation and of course, fulfill that agreement. Some of the reasons a teenager should be allowed a television in their editor are; it shows them that you as parents, trust your teenage daughter or son. Being a teenager myself I know that it feels brilliant to be trusted and granted freedom. Another reason I feel teenagers should be allowed a television in their bedroom is that it would help to avoid a lot of arguments between siblings or parents on what to watch. Additionally, as parents would you rather that your teenage son or daughter was watching television in their bedroom at night or out in the streets with friends you disprove of? Personally if it were me I would prefer them watching television. Another example could be; as a parent would you rather you teenager was watching a television programmer about illegal drugs or using illegal drugs? Again if it were me I would rather they were watching television. Television can also help discourage the use of things such as; drugs, cigarettes or alcohol as sometimes it shows the effects or consequences on people. Even though there are scenes of violence, sex, drug abuse and such, scenes of this nature can also be viewed on other electronic gadgets such as; mobile phones or computers. There are also a lot of violent and inappropriate video games these days which can be in the bedroom, therefore surely if televisions are not allowed in the bedroom no electronic devices should be. By not allowing teenagers to have any electronic equipment in their bedroom they may feel you are taking away their freedom and making their privacy a minority. I feel that television is probably one of the easiest electronic devices to monitor, this is because parents can find out what exactly is on each channel. Ultimately it is gadgets like mobile phones, tablet computers and laptops we should be worried about. Firstly they are much harder to monitor and secondly, a teenager is much more likely to stay up social networking or testing that watching television. Overall I think parents should allow teenagers to have a television in their bedrooms provided that they get enough sleep, get all their school work done and listen to their parents.

Working Relationships between the National Health Service and the Essay

Working Relationships between the National Health Service and the Independent Sector in the UK - Essay Example According to the study despite its small share in the market, the independent sector in the UK has had a significant effect on the NHS. For instance, it has helped ensure that NHS preserves the quality while minimizing costs. Debate concerning the independent sector indulgence in NHS regularly gives the image that the sector’s portion of activity in NHS is more crucial in scale than it is in the case. Presently, the independent sector indulgence (excluding mental health, dentistry, and GP practices) remains principally static at approximately 5% of the conventional clinical services. The aforementioned figure does not include GP and dentistry practices. It is important to note that GP practices are privately owned small business and they conduct 98% of NHS general practice activities despite regarding themselves as a portion of the NHS. Study conducted recently indicates that there are close to 315 independent GP practices of the total 8,300 practices in England. Within the co nventional clinical services, the main type of activity is the elective care. This paper declares that elective care in this case entails non-emergency and pre-arranged care, which also includes scheduled surgery. As stated before, 3.5% of the procedures are conducted by the independent sector, either by specialist treatments centres or in private hospitals. Despite having a small share of the entire market, impact of the participation of the independent sector for several decades has been considerable, especially in some specialists, for instance, in orthopaedics and ophthalmology. In these two specialists, there are had been far-reaching benefits in terms of patient satisfaction, cost, and quality and the market share have been higher. The Benefits of Working Collaboratively With Other Members of the Multidisciplinary Team With the increased number of people seeking health care, there is a need for the different partners in the health care to collaborate and work in tandem for the achievement of a common objective, that is, the provision of better health care services. According to NHS Partners Network, the independent sectors do have a smaller share in the provision of primary care.

Week 4 Assignment 5 Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Week 4 Assignment 5 - Essay Example The student should be motivated to use self-statements to control anger. The statements can be like â€Å"I can manage this situation†, â€Å"I will count to ten† etc. Multicultural infusion- In this lesson plan knowledge about the varied culture and background people’s knowledge will be imparted so that the student can mingle and adapt to a wide group, thus accepting the individual differences. The student is able to feel calmness in mind by learning to play music and appreciating art by either directly getting involved in it or just by looking at it. The student when gets anger is able to vent out his anger by sketching. The student will show the ability to laugh by poking fun at a situation (by not harming others sentiments) or is able to cool down his anger by telling a joke. Laughter is one of the best medicines for controlling anger. The student is able to discuss his problems with his family; teacher and friends regarding his cause of anger as sharing problems and feelings makes oneself feel better and at peace with mind. Solutions are also expected by sharing of