Analysis Of The Ryanair Business Strategy Business Essay

Analysis Of The Ryanair Business Strategy Business Essay Business strategy is an essential component to a firms business model and is a vital player in aiding the firm drive itself to achieve its mission. Through a clear business strategy a firm can derive its position in the long term and create a competitive advantage in the market for itself. In this essay we explore the business model of Ryanair and assess their strategy. Ryanair is an Irish low cost airline headquartered in Dublin founded in 1985. It operates 181 aircrafts over 729 routes across Europe and North Africa from 31 bases. Ryanair has seen large success over the recent years due to its low-cost business model and has become the worlds largest airline in terms of international passenger numbers. Taking Porters generic business strategies into consideration, Ryanair operates a cost-leadership strategy to drive itself into achieving its mission of being the leading European low-cost carrier (LCC). Throughout this essay the business strategy of Ryanair will be analysed and the sustainability of their model evaluated. Ryanairs objective is to firmly establish itself as Europes leading low-fares scheduled passenger airline through continued improvements and expanded offerings of its low-fares service (Ryanair). Considering their objectives and mission, Ryanairs decision on their cost-leadership strategy was based on a few main factors which are discussed below. A major influence was the deregulation of the airline industry in 1978 which removed government intervention within the European continent. Under the new rules, routes and fare decisions were made by individual airlines which meant that they could compete on other factors besides food, cabin crew and frequency. As a result of deregulation, a large number of new airline start-ups emerged within the EU and competition among airlines increased dramatically resulting in downward price pressures. Ryanair was established to take full advantage of these market conditions. By offering low prices, Ryanair entered a huge and virtually unlimited market. Having seen the major success of the low cost carrier Southwest in the United States, Ryanair decided to follow in their footsteps by establishing a LCC for the European continent that targeted fare conscious leisure travellers and regular low cost business travellers. By doing this Ryanair became the first low-fare airline in Europe. However, they took the Southwest model further by offering no drinks and snacks at all and abolishing the frequent flyer program which Southwest up to this day offers its customers (Boesch 2007). The evaluation of Porters five forces influenced Ryanairs choice of a cost-leadership strategy, as the threat presented by new entrants and the threat of substitutes could hinder their success. The threat of new entrants is high within the aviation industry which meant that low fares would help drive away any further competition. The threat of substitutes to Ryanair had to also be carefully examined. Their primary market, Europe, had the availability of high speed trains and car holidays. For Ryanair to be successful, prices had to be low to attract the public, and resist strong competition from substitutes like Eurostar. As Europes largest low fare airline, Ryanairs competitive advantage remains in their ability to continue as cost leaders; providing the cheapest fares to its customers. This dictates that the company must minimise its own costs to ensure that they are able to offer customers the service at a price below their direct competitors. This leads us to consider some key functional strategies which directly help Ryanair towards their ultimate goal to be Europes leading low fares airline (Ryanair). The marketing strategy is perhaps the most obvious and significant functional strategy of Ryanair. Low fares are designed to stimulate demand, attracting fare-conscious travellers, those who may have used alternative forms of transportation or even those who may have not travelled at all. Penetration pricing as it is called helps gain market share and simply, more customers equals more revenue (Wheelen Hunger 2006). Tickets are almost solely sold on their website www.ryanair.com which very importantly keeps sales costs to a minimum since very few phone operators are employed and computers are able to cheaply handle all functions of sales. With ever increasing accessibility of the internet globally anybody with internet access can buy airline tickets from Ryanair, so distribution practically takes care of itself through this medium. Ryan Air relies on low cost promotions and in recent times has concentrated on their One million seats at one pound which is usually advertised through t heir internet site, national press and bulletin boards. It is the simplicity of this promotion which helps keep costs low since expensive advertising agencies can be entirely avoided and advertising can be dealt with in house. Ryanairs operations strateg1y determines how the airline will deploy its resources and the policies it will operate by. To keep costs low they operate a no frills service onboard aircraft. This means the fare only includes the flight. There are however a number of other measures directly related to a no frills service. These include ticketless boarding, unallocated seats, one class of travel, costs for check-in baggage, no refund policy, basic seats (to increase aircraft capacity) and charging for any additional service. All this significantly reduces costs to Ryanair. The Achilles heel of Ryanair is their greater aircraft utilisation through super quick turnaround times. Essentially this means the aircraft spends very little time on the ground, they achieve this through their human resource policies and by having none or very little cargo in the baggage hold to speed up loading and unloading of the aircraft. Logistics strategy deals with the flow of products into and out of Ryanair. Again there is heavy emphasis on cost saving and reducing measures. Ryanair fly to secondary airports which are potentially much further from the City centre but accessible enough by other forms of ground transportation. At these airports Ryanair are able to negotiate extremely aggressively and demand the lowest landing and handling fees. Additionally Ryanair is usually able to gain financial assistance with marketing and promotional campaigns at these airports. As cost leader Ryanair strives to undercut all its rivals but this means very low income per fare and requires maximum utilisation of its resources. Fortunately their financial policy ensures they are able to still profit handsomely from rock bottom fares. The aim is to breakeven on fares but to make their profits out of ancillary charges and commissions from their partners. Ryanair has a number of affiliates such as Hertz car rental, Acumus insurance and booking.com all of whom are advertised readily on the Ryanair website. Since the website has high website traffic its partners are able to reach out to Ryanairs huge client base and are prepared to pay good commissions to the firm for this privilege (IdeaWorks). Ryanair also generate income from advertising on board the aircraft. Ancillary revenue is generated from many of the services that traditional airlines wouldnt charge for, such as large baggage into the cargo hold, allocated seating, snacks and drinks. Ryanairs strategy when purchasing aircraft is to buy new, uniform aircraft. This is beneficial for a number of reasons all of which directly help cost saving measures. Firstly, by being able to order same aircraft in bulk they are able to negotiate a better price per aircraft. Secondly, uniform aircraft mean that there are potential savings in staff training; air stewards being more familiar with all aircraft and maintenance will be simpler. Finally by buying new, the company has safer, more fuel efficient planes with lower maintenance costs. Safer aircraft also means greater consumer confidence, equating to more fare sales. Furthermore Ryanair aggressively hedge and fix as many of their costs as possible, such as oil and aircraft prices so they are not subject to future price fluctuations which could adversely affect profitability (Stone 2008). The human resource policy is again directly related to reducing costs. Employees are expected to pay for their own uniform and equipment. Training given is the required minimum and staff utilisation is among the highest in the airline industry. Many staff are employed on performance contracts and those who do not meet their expectations are readily replaced. Staff are also expected to take on a number of roles, cabin staff will also clean the aircraft prior to the next service, check in staff assist in boarding the aircraft etc. Ryanair has successfully experienced years of growth both in the number of its aircrafts and passengers since its launch.   However, with the global financial system recently suffering its greatest crisis in more than 70 years, existing business models of many aviation firms are coming under great strain. As this economic downturn bankrupts LCCs like XL and Zoom with more expected to follow, the question is whether Ryanairs cost-leadership strategy is sustainable or not as it continues to offer lower fares in the face of high costs. Although Ryanair has posted losses along with other aviation firms for the latest quarter, it is expected to emerge from this downturn with fewer competitors because its à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬1.8 billon balance sheet is one of the strongest in the industry. Additionally, as the credit crunch takes its toll, traditional airlines are not in a position to cut fares and the threat of new LCCs is virtually eliminated due to the lack of financing. Although Ryanair f aces competition from substitutes like Eurostar, it is at an advantage because of Eurostars limited destinations.   Ryanair is sticking to its mantra, when the going gets tough, sell more seats for almost nothing (Symonds 2008). By offering low fares, Ryanair expects passengers to trade down to the low cost airlines rather than stop flying completely. This trend appears accurate so far based on passenger numbers as recession forces millions of passengers to focus on price (Waterman 2009). Additionally, the latest statistics from The European Low Fares Airline Association members show a 15.7% year-on-year growth in the number of passengers for 2008, indicating that the LCC model is robust, even in times of crisis (Latest 2009). Consequently, there is no doubt that Ryanair looks poised for substantial profits and passenger growth in the coming years. However, in order to compete with other LCCs and maintain its continued market share growth in the future, Ryanair needs to improve its poor customer relations. The sustainability of Ryanairs cost leadership strategy also depends largely on the price of oil and how effective the firm is in cutting costs in order to continue offering low fares. According to the firms latest financial report, Ryanair will enjoy significantly lower oil costs thanks to their recent hedging programme, when most of their competitors are already hedged at much higher prices. These lower prices will drive Ryanairs traffic growth, maintain high load factors and capture market share from higher cost fuel surcharging competitors (3rd Quarter Results 2009). In order to cut costs, Ryanair plans to close all its airport check-in desks by the end of 2009 and have passengers check-in online instead. Other cost saving methods not yet implemented include charging customers for using toilets on airplanes (Lalor 2009). These cost cutting ideas are not very popular among consumers and it means that Ryanair needs to improve its already tarnished brand image in the future which it had attained through negative press reporting and misleading advertisements. The current strategy at Ryanair is expected to work so well that despite the recession Ryanairs CEO has underlined the firms commitment to expansion. The firm is expected to grow at 20 percent a year because of a 180 aircrafts on order from Boeing. These expansion plans for the future will require the company to increase its landing slots at airports and recruit more employees. Currently Ryanair has limited access to landing slots in major airports and the secondary airports are long distances away from city centres which could make it less attractive in the future.   However, a remarkable cut in flights by other European airline carriers due to recession is creating enormous opportunities for Ryanair, as many major airports compete to reduce charges in order to attract Ryanairs growth (3rd Quarter Results 2009). Availability of skilled personnel shouldnt be a problem for Ryanair due to recent high unemployment levels. However, Ryanair needs to improve its current low level of empa thy for employees if it is to retain them in the future. Even though Ryanairs cost leadership strategy is robust and it looks set to serve them well in the future, there are some key areas within the business that can be improved on to enhance the firms profitability and brand image. Ryanair has always been criticised for many aspects of its poor customer relations. According to The Economist, Ryanairs cavalier treatment of passengers had given Ryanair a deserved reputation for nastiness and that the airline has become a byword for appalling customer service   and jeering rudeness towards anyone or anything that gets in its way (Aviation 2007). If Ryanair is to maintain its large customer base, it needs to ensure that it acknowledges its customers concerns and maintains a service focused attitude at all costs. Ryanair needs to invest in servicing customers better by providing a non-premium contact number, improving its non user friendly website, and simplifying the terms and conditions of the flight service. Ryanair should also create a frequent flyer program to establish a fixed customer base and encourage customer loyalty. Ryanair is notorious for its high staff turnover which negatively affects its reputation as an employer. Over utilization of employees, poor remuneration package, and minimal training are a few other critical items to be considered by Ryanair if it is to retain employees in the future. Ryanair needs to understand that although it is currently possible to replace outgoing employees, but with time Ryanairs overall image will be tarnished. Resultantly, attracting new employees could become impossible and this will hinder their expansion plans. Ryanair should incorporate a flexible benefits package solely designed to improve employee morale such as flexible working hours and extra holidays. To improve its image amongst employees, training at all employee levels must include exposure to similar techniques and methods that help promote the development of a uniform company identity. Following huge success in Europe, Ryanair should consider introducing low cost transatlantic flights to support its expansion plans and attain a larger customer base. With a high demand for certain routes like London-New York and room for negotiation in airplane prices and airport slots mainly due to the current financial climate, it is an ideal time to further reap the rewards of the cost leadership strategy that has served Ryanair so well over the years. Ryanairs model looks set to survive the current industrial downturn through its lower costs and substantial cash balances. No airline is better placed in Europe than Ryanair to trade through this downturn. It will therefore continue to grow, by lowering fares, taking market share from competitors, and expanding in markets where competitors either withdraw capacity or go bust (Monaghan 2008). By taking the recommended improvements into consideration, it looks like Ryanairs cost leadership strategy seems ideal for the future. Word Count: 2,493

Internet Scams Essay -- Computer Fraud Fraudulent

Internet Scams From the comfort of an internet user’s own home they truly have the world at their finger tips. They have access to a Global Market place through the internet. Cyberspace offers unlimited options for quick and easy ways to shop, find investment opportunities, communicate, and much more. Unfortunately however, in today’s world fraudsters also find the internet to be a quick and easy way to fool and rob unsuspecting surfers with false advertising and false promises. The fraudsters target those who do not know how to determine the validity of online offers and sales. According to the National Fraud Information Center (NFC) there were 36,802 complaints of internet fraud in 2002, and the complaints increased to 37,183 in 2003 (Internet Scams). This growing problem affects internet users everywhere, who can lose hundreds of dollars to these cunning, ruthless scam artists. According to the NFC undelivered or misrepresented goods or services from auction websites made up 89% of scam complaints in 2003 (Internet Scams). In his article entitled â€Å"Sleaze Bay,† David Freedman explains why auction websites are so appealing for fraudsters: â€Å"As is true of much of the Web, the characteristics that make auction sites so appealing—anonymity, speed, low overhead, access to millions of people, lack of outside regulation, an ability to interact from a great distance—are the very same characteristics that make rip-offs so easy† (1). According to Freedman, sites such as E-bay may be subject to shill bidding; a practice against E-bay rules that is often illegal. Shill bidding involves a seller, their friends, family, or other sellers bidding to entice other bidders to join and raise their profits. This is based on the idea that â€Å"†¦bi... ...ainst internet fraud. Works Cited Fleitas, Amy. Internet Spam Spawns Scams. Bankrate, Inc. 22, Apr. 2004 http://www.bankrate.com/brm/news/advice/20021025b.asp Freedman, David. â€Å"Sleaze Bay.† Forbes. (2000) : 5 pgs. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.forbes.com/asap/2000/1127/134.html FTC Names Its Dirty Dozen. Federal Trade Commission. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/alerts/doznalrt.htm Hendersen, Les. Pyramid Schemes. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.crimes-of-persuasion.com/Crimes/Delivered/pyramids.htm Internet Scams. National Fraud Information Center. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.fraud.org/2003internetscams.pdf Lanford, Jim and Audri. Internet ScamBusters. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.scambusters.org/index.html Online Shopping. Office of Fair Trading. 22 Apr. 2004 http://www.oft.gov.uk/Consumer/Your+Rights+When+Shopping+From+Home/Online+shopping.htm

A Feminist Perspective

Ice-Candy-Man: A Feminist Perspective * Summary In Ice-Candy-Man the women characters cannot be easily subjugated. Lenny, her Ayah Shanta, her mother and Godmother are capable of new roles and responsibilities. It is the second novel by a woman writer dealing with the theme of Partition of India. It is likely to be a more neutral on account of the traumatic event of Partition which caused divisiveness, disharmony, mutual suspicion, hardening. Writer depicts the events overtaking the Partition in their naked cruelty and ruthlessness.She choose a theme which is different from the traditional issues—the issues of romantic involvements and the sentimental stuff. In Pakistan the measure of freedom for women is considerably less than it exists in India. In this novel feminine psyche and experiences are presented with a unique freshness. Bapsi Sidhwa uses the structural device and turns the female protagonists into the moral centre, while most of the male characters either remain apa thetic or indulge in destructive violence. In patriarchal social set up masculinity means superiority while femininity means inferiority.Masculinity implies strength, action, self-assertion and domination, femininity implies weakness, passivity, docility, obedience and self-negation. Through narrator Lenny the Bapsi Sidhwa lends weight and validity to the feminine perspective on the nature of surrounding reality. In a feminist text woman performs and controls and promotes the action by her active involvement and concern and in the process it is she who acquires the attributes of heroism and glory. In Ice-Candy-Man, Lenny’s relationship with her cousin upholds the principle of equality Ayah is a flame of sensuousness and female vitality.Lenny's mother and Lenny's aunt play the humanitarian and heroic role of fighting for the lives and property of Hindus. These two women undertake the risky job of saving lives in danger. Godmother’s sense of humor, her deer-like agility, in spite of her old age, and her power to mould, modify and order not only individuals but even the system, when she so desires, earn her respect and admiration of people around her. But besides these qualities she is endowed with profound understanding of human existence and her wisdom is revealed when she consoles the Ayah, in the aftermath of what has been done to her.Godmother concentrates in her character what the feminists feel is very important for a woman to realize her individuality the feeling of self-worth. Khushwant Singh's Train to Pakistan is manifestly a male discourse the focus is on the hero, Juggut Singh though he is portrayed as a devil, the writer's sympathy and admiration are obviously for him his jauntiness, his physical stature and for his moral stature. Ice-Candy-Man becomes a feminist text in the true sense of the term, successfully attempting to bring to the centre-stage the female protagonists who come alive on account of their realistic presentation.As L iterature is a powerful tool with the help of which creative writer modulate and change the society. Sidhwa depict the theme in which he discusses those determined women for whom the traditional role is inadequate, women who wish to affirm their independence and autonomy and are perfectly capable of assuming new roles and responsibilities. Writers always wish to build a world which is free of dominance and hierarchy, a world that rests on the principles of justice and equality and is truly human.

Lythronax - Facts and Figures

Lythronax - Facts and Figures Name Lythronax (Greek for gore king); pronounced LITH-roe-nax Habitat Woodlands of North America Historical Period Late Cretaceous (80 million years ago) Size and Weight About 24 feet long and 2-3 tons Diet Meat Distinguishing Characteristics Moderate size; long skull; foreshortened arms About Lythronax Despite what you may have read in the press, the newly announced Lythronax (gore king) isnt the oldest tyrannosaur in the fossil record; that honor goes to pint-sized Asian genera like Guanlong that lived tens of millions of years earlier. Lythronax does, however, represent a crucial missing link in tyrannosaur evolution, since its bones were unearthed from a region of Utah that corresponds to the southern portion of the island of Laramidia, which straddled North Americas shallow Western Interior Sea during the late Cretaceous period. (The northern part of Laramidia, by contrast, corresponds to the modern-day states of Montana, Wyoming, and North and South Dakota, as well as parts of Canada.) What the discovery of Lythronax implies is that the evolutionary split leading to tyrannosaurid tyrannosaurs like T. Rex (to which this dinosaur was closely related, and which appeared on the scene over 10 million years later) occurred a few million years earlier than was once believed. Long story short: Lythronax was closely related to other tyrannosaurid tyrannosaurs of southern Laramidia (most notably Teratophoneus and Bistahieversor, in addition to T. Rex), which now appear to have evolved separately from their neighbors in the northmeaning there may be many more tyrannosaurs lurking in the fossil record than previously believed.

Trends for the Millennium essays

Trends for the Millennium essays Trends for the Millennium Companies of today must respond to change to survive the future. Change is inevitable-growth is optional. Change forces all business owners to adapt, adjust and be energetic in building their businesses. After all, there are only three things a company can do with change: ignore it, adapt to it or embrace it. By focusing on new ways of doing things, a company can revitalize their business. In particular, marketing in new ways and with different strategies not only simulates new business, but also gives a company a new vision on productivity. Companies will need to use their resources wisely as technologies and quick markets will leave companies trying to find their way to the door. Spending millions of dollars to make a product unique is a thing of the past with technology and the ever changing buying patterns and competition companies will have to use those dollars to emphasize their company values not specifically their product. Additionally education will play an important role as markets and technology is rapidly changing. Companies should develop a culture that encourages and fosters new ways of looking at things. They constantly should strive to create, develop, test and refine ideas. Organizations and associations are resources and committed to offering ideas, information, data, conferences, publications and more. In addition, local college continuing education classes, public workshops and even the library are resources that can be utilized. Learning about new ways to hire, train and motivate employees, for example, can be critical to success-especially because the labor market is so tight. Keeping abreast of trends in marketing (i.e. electronic communication, direct mail and response, telemarketing) also is important. As an independent business person I have used educational means to stay adept to new technologies as well as ...

Human Resource Coursework Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Human Resource - Coursework Example The world has become a social platform, everyone is communicating with everyone on the ground of internet and mobile phones, the entire world is not connected at all times. Humans go out and they socialize with people on different occasions. This interaction with people then further develop into relationships, they find some to be beneficial and other to be not. During our interaction with other we find certain similarities and certain difference, and finally, we develop our relationship with those we feel comfortable. This all starts with communication at personal and professional level. At home, school, offices, social gathering and other related platforms. In our paper, we would look how the theories have been applied by us on our daily basis and how they have affected and impacted us. Theories The two theories under review are the symbolic interaction theory and social penetration theory. The two theory are the different perspective of how the societies interact with each other and how they make sense of the world around. The first of the two theories Symbolic Interaction Theory takes society as a product of the everyday social interaction of individuals. It also studies how people use symbols to create deeper meanings. The theory was formulated by Blumer in 1969 and the inspiration of the theory was further developed in 1981 by Dewey, this scientist believed that human beings are best understood if studied practically in an interactive environment (Sparknotes, 2014).

What are the advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual Essay

What are the advantages and disadvantages of asexual and sexual reproduction in animals - Essay Example Division of the zygote takes place repeatedly resulting to the growth of an embryo. This embryo grows inside the female or outside in other animals into multi cellular organism. As a result of the shared genetic information in sexual reproduction by the gametes, the off spring produced contains variety. This constitutes part of the advantages of sexual reproduction since the genetic variation gives the species an advantageous element of survival. Furthermore, genetic variation results to evolution of species which form better organisms (Kent, 2000). This species have better surviving traits in the unstable environments. Species which reproduce sexually have low extinction rates. This is beneficial as it ensures continuity of population. Sexual reproduction has several disadvantages. To this end, the need to have both male and female mate for reproduction is some time inconveniencing since both may not be willing (Rinkevich & Matranga, 2009). It also consumes excessive time and energy to look for a suitable partner. Moreover, there is no assurance after fertilization that the nucleus cell of male will fuse with the female cell. .Furthermore, counter-productive genetic combination conditions should be stable. Asexual reproduction involves one organism producing an offspring identical to it genetically. It requires one parent to reproduce. In single celled organisms the parent cells are split into two cells’ with equal content by binary fission. Multi-cellular organisms use a process known as mitosis to split cells into cells with equal number of chromosomes. Asexual reproduction has several advantages. One, it is very beneficial to the types of animals that stay in one area or not able to look for mates to reproduce. The fact that asexual reproduction does not need mating of female and male gives is advantageous to these animals as they are able to reproduce as they are. Another advantage, since no need to find a mate many off springs are produces