Marketing Mix Essay Example for Free

Marketing Mix Essay 1.1 Background to the Report Strategic management refers to analysing the important initiatives which are taken by the top management of the company on behalf of the owners. It successfully keeps a track of day- to- day activities which are going into an organization to organise the resources and plan a strategy which the organization should follow in order to get benefit in the business. It provides a direction to the organization and is closely related to the field of organizational structure. (Hambrick, 2007) In this report, strategic management of Singapore Airlines is critically evaluated on the basis of several strategies used by them. This not only helped the company in achieving the results but also enabled SIA to expand itself in the global market as well as establish a new base in the new expanding countries. 1.2 Aims of the research are – To develop a good understanding about what involves in Strategic management. To develop knowledge about constituents of strategic management process. Critical assessment of strategies of a selected organization. To throw some light on the internal and external environment of selected organization. Gap analysis for Singapore Airlines – 2. Analysis of internal framework of Singapore Airlines – Capability to restore competency in order to attain similarity with the change in business environment are termed as dynamic capabilities. This is done by reconfiguring, mixing and adjusting external and internal resources, skills and abilities (Teece et al., 1997). 2.1 Resources – Connecting strategic resources and core strategies is defined as ‘configuration’ by Hamel where core competencies and assets, process and assets are organized and combined in order to maintain strategies (Hamel, 2002). Resources are divided into two categories, tangible and intangible resources of Singapore Airlines. They are further divided into sub categories on the basis of which it can be assessed that core strategies and strategic resources were well connected. 2.2 Capabilities – On the basis of broad variety of competency and technological expertise in newly invented planes, Singapore Airlines effectively fascinated more airlines clients to its fleet management industry, securing its place as major fleet management facility providers of the world. It also persists on expanding its potential by means of strategic joint ventures. For instance, a joint venture agreement is signed by SIA with Panasonic Avionic Corporation in order to prepare a facility for maintenance, repair and operation of communication and in-flight entertainment. Facility will be based in Singapore and components will be generated by Panasonic Avionics (Singapore Airlines, 2011). 2.3 Core Competencies – Core competencies of Singapore Airlines consist of the interpersonal talents of its flight assistants and ability of its top level management in planning strategies for marketing. They endeavour to make flights as relaxing as possible (Singapore Airlines, 2011). 3. Analysis of external framework of Singapore Airlines – PESTEL Analysis FactorsSingapore Airlines PoliticalUnpredictable, SIA reject Air India offer EconomicSIA offer created trouble in Hong Kong SocialSIA Airplane crash in Taiwan TechnologicalQuick technology implementation EnvironmentalLaunch of A380 Air career LegalPassengers safety 4. Five forces of porter – Porter’s five forces model deliver a well-liked external analysis framework for Singapore Airlines. After analysing the internal and external framework of Singapore Airlines, S.W.O.T analysis is performed in order to assess SIA’s capabilities, followed by the critical analysis of corporate and business level strategies. 5. S.W.O.T. Analysis – Strengths – Singapore Airlines has an expanded geographical reach. They operate in a number of reasons like US, West Asia, Europe, Africa, South west Pacific and East Asia. They run flights to 63 cities globally, whereas its division Silk Air is offering flights in 12 countries with 39 cities. Considerable amount of revenue is generated by SIA group with its airline operations around the globe. Equally spread and diversified revenue base guarantees that group is not dependent on single geographic market for most of its profits, by which business risk decreases significantly. Though, SIA is basically a passenger airline, but the group is also offering various specialized services like engineering services, airline operations, cargo operations, etc. which are providing them stability by diversifying business threats. Additionally, SIA group has a policy of maintaining young aircraft fleets, which emit lower carbon emissions and have less burning of fuel per kilometres. This is also strength of SIA group as this factor helps in keeping maintenance costs less, along with reducing performance related security concerns (Heracleous, 2006). Weaknesses – SIA faced extremely competitive market in its initial phases. Many countries restricted air-route access to protect national airlines from other competitions. SIA worked hard to get access rights for many important airports (eg. Heathrow, Manchester) (Reddy, 2004). Various competitive authorities keep on investigating about Singapore airlines and its subsidiaries. For example, South Korea, Canada, Australia, South Africa and European Union investigated about SIA group in order to determine whether the rates, surcharges, and other characteristics of cargo service were determined lawfully or not. In financial year 2012, SIA paid administrative penalty to South African competition commission (2.8millionUSD) as settlement. Legal expenses connected with the inquiry and court case and time spent on this issue left an impact on SIA’s business and operations. Opportunities – Singapore Airlines with its well-built base of operations and proficiency, is well placed to reap advantages from the worldwide boom in tourism industry. This would help SIA Group to produce extra profits. Also, group is focusing on joint ventures and strategic operational alliances to add opportunities for growth and sales. SIA entered into partnerships (jetblue Airways) and code-sharing agreements (Virgin Australia/ Virgin America) in order to increase growth opportunities. For instance, SIA signed code share agreement with Virgin America in December 2012 (SIA, Virgin America reach code-sharing agreement, 2012). SIA will add its ‘SQ’ airline code to flights of virgin which are America-operated serving Washington DC, Las Vegas, Seattle, Chicago, etc Furthermore, SIA group has launched ‘Scoot’ which is a low cost carrier in order to grow its existence in low cost flight market. This step will enable SIA group to attract more groups of customers which will in crease its growth and revenues. Threats – Competition is very high in the airline industry. Reputation, safety records, customers service, flight schedules, fares, code-sharing relations are few parameters of competitions. SIA faces straight competition with other carriers on its route. Cathay Pacific, Japan airlines, United Continental,  AMR are few of its competitors. Extreme competition on the basis of price matching, promotions, discounting, capacity, etc. affects operating margins of SIA. Also, Natural disasters can have affect on SIA’s operations effecting the cash flows and financial state. Moreover, hike in the prices of jet fuel can increase operating costs, which can affect the profitability (Heracleous, 2006). 6. Strategies used by Singapore Airlines – 6.1 Corporate level Strategies – Diversification – Companies tend to grow their full potential in economies which are developing, with the help of strategic diversification. Strategy of diversification is followed by SIA at the corporate level. SIA group has number of primary companies with key companies being SIA Cargo, SIA Engineering Company and Silk AIR. They also have number of associated companies. Its Airlines divisions which consist of 49% ownership of Virgin Atlantic, 32 % of Tiger Airways and entire ownership of local carrier Silk Air cover basic segments of customer in the industry. This was a long-term strategy (Singapore Airlines, 2008). Benefits of using diversification by Singapore Airlines is to enable passing of learning and control quality and side by side reaping cost synergies. Subsidiaries serve as sources of learning; and also as progress arena for skills of management and corporate rather than divisional viewpoint through job rotation. Profit margins are better in related operations (like aircraft maintenance and catering) on comparison with airline business itself as structure of industry in those sectors is more favourable. (Singapore Airlines, 2008). Strategic Alliances – In April 2000, SIA joined Star Alliance as a step of its internationalization strategy. In the three main airline alliances, Star alliance hold its place  with Oneworld and Skyteam. Also, In India and China, SIA Group were investing through planned deals during this time. Deals were done with local services like engineering services, cargo85 divisions, catering and airport services. SIA is also under a code share contract with Malaysian Airlines. These airlines are offering up to 14 flights in a day between Kuala Lumpur and Singapore (Doganis, 2006). For the expansion of the company, strategic alliances are becoming more common tool. SIA used strategic alliances for increasing competitiveness in the global and domestic markets. This helped SIA in developing new business opportunities with the help of new services and products. This resulted in the expansion and growth of company globally. An alliance is a business-to-business relationship (Jeffrey, 2004). 6.2 Business level strategies – Differentiation strategy – Premium services were successfully delivered by Singapore Airlines to those customers who are very demanding and this can be termed as achieving differentiation strategy. This helped Singapore Airlines in identifying that different customers are broadly scattered, with varied needs and sufficient spending power. If an organization is unique in something which is valuable to its customers at the same time, it differentiates itself in the marketplace (Chamberline Robinson, 1996). If an offer is valuable for the customers, they tend to be less sensitive to characteristics of competing suggestions where cost may not be one among these characteristics. This accomplishment of SIA challenges viewpoint of Porter that cost leadership and differentiation strategies are equally exclusive strategies (Porter, 1985). Differentiation strategy allowed Singapore Airlines to insulate itself partially from rivalry competitors of same industry. Customers of differentiated services were less sensitive to prices and they started preferring SIA over other airlines, that is, SIA succeeded in gaining customer loyalty (Hitt et al., 2007). SIA carefully applied this strategy and played safe by delivering premium services appropriately without over-proliferating them. leadership strategy – Singapore Airlines has considerably greater effectiveness than its peer group, which is a crucial aspect of an effective leadership strategy. They have young fleets which have lower maintenance costs; they are fuel efficient and have effective hedging of fuel. Labor cost of SIA is comparatively low (16.6%) than average of all prime airlines (20.1%) (Singapore Airlines, 2008). Singapore Airlines have youngest fleets in the airline industry, which is worth considering. Their fleets have average age of 75 months, and average age of half of airline industry fleets is 163 months. SIA’s fleets are much efficient. Younger planes are quiet, comfortable and fuel efficient. They have low repair, service and maintenance costs which are all part of its leadership strategy. 7. Recommendations – Keeping in mind the weaknesses discussed above, some recommendations for Singapore Airlines come into light like keeping company information confidential. SIA paid huge fine as various companies successfully investigated about SIAs internal facts and figures. Also, they need to keep a close eye on its competitors who try to gain lead in the competition on the basis of price matching, promotions, discounting and capacity. 8. Conclusion – A variety of strategies were executed by Singapore Airlines by which the company is successful for a considerable time. By keeping a track on industrial environment and the macro environment, Singapore Airlines can uplift its capabilities to secure future success. However, as there are uncertainties in the environment and market keeps on altering quickly, it is crucial to monitor and carefully consider all the strategies before implementation. Singapore Airline’s potential to become accustomed to change will positively help the company..to..strive..on..with..competitors..in..the..future. 9. References – Chamberline. E, Robinson, J. (1996). â€Å"Theory of Monopolistic Competition, What is Perfect Competition ? † Quarterly Journal of Economics, Vol. II, no. 4, 431- 433 Doganis, R. (2006). Outlook, The Airline business ed. 2, Routledge, Abingdon. Hambrick, D. C., (2007). What is strategic management really? Hamel, G. (2002). Leading the Revolution: How to Thrive in Turbulent Times by Making Innovation a Way of Life. New York: Plume Books. Heracleous, L. (2006). Flying high in competitive industry: Cost effective service at SIA. Mc Graw hill. Hitt, M., Hoskisson, R., Ireland, R. (2007) Management of Strategy: Concepts and Cases.7th ed., Thomson South-Western, USA Jeffrey, R., (2004). Strategic alliances: Theory and evidence, Oxford university press, US, 2004. Porter, M.E.(1985). Competitive Advantage. New York: Free Press, 6-22. Reddy, A. (1994). Total quality marketing: the key to regaining market shares. Westport, CT: Quorum Books. SIA, Virgin America reach code-sharing agreement (2012, December 15, Saturday). Business pg30..Retrieved..from http://imcmsimages.mediacorp.sg/CMSFileserver/documents/006/PDF/20121215/1512BZC032.pdf SIA (2012). Virgin America reaches code-sharing agreement, December 15, 2012. Singapore Airlines, (2008). Annual Report, Singapore. Singapore Airlines, (2011). Annual Report, Singapore. Teece, D., Pisano, G., and Shuen, A.(1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management, Strategic Management Journal , 18, 509-533. reaches code-sharing agreement (2012, December 15, Saturday)

Microscope Lab Report Essay -- Microscopes

Lab Work Not Included The purpose for completing this lab was to observe how microscopes function. The invention & evolution of the microscope has been an ongoing process since the Middle Ages, when the first convex magnifying lenses were introduced. In 1590, the Jansen Brothers invented the first compound microscope (two or more lenses).However, Antony van Leevenwenhoek created the first â€Å"true† microscope, in 1665, with 300x magnification & unbelievable resolution. During the late 1700’s, the microscope was reinvented with 1500x magnification. The most recent advancement in microscopes is the electron microscope, which was invented in 1930. This particular model uses an electron beam, instead of light & 4,000,000x magnifications with incredible resolution. There are many different parts of a microscope and each one has its own unique purpose. The compound microscope has 13 main parts. The base & arm are used to carry the microscope. The lamp or mirror is the source of light, the body tube lets light through, & the diaphragm controls the amount of light. There are also three dif... Microscope Lab Report Essay -- Microscopes Lab Work Not Included The purpose for completing this lab was to observe how microscopes function. The invention & evolution of the microscope has been an ongoing process since the Middle Ages, when the first convex magnifying lenses were introduced. In 1590, the Jansen Brothers invented the first compound microscope (two or more lenses).However, Antony van Leevenwenhoek created the first â€Å"true† microscope, in 1665, with 300x magnification & unbelievable resolution. During the late 1700’s, the microscope was reinvented with 1500x magnification. The most recent advancement in microscopes is the electron microscope, which was invented in 1930. This particular model uses an electron beam, instead of light & 4,000,000x magnifications with incredible resolution. There are many different parts of a microscope and each one has its own unique purpose. The compound microscope has 13 main parts. The base & arm are used to carry the microscope. The lamp or mirror is the source of light, the body tube lets light through, & the diaphragm controls the amount of light. There are also three dif...

Power and Knowledge Essay

Poststructuralism as one of the contemporary political philosophy gain its popularity because of its radical assumptions that veered away from the traditional structuralist thinking. The project of the renaissance scholars to control everything including nature through the used of knowledge particularly scientific knowledge did not gain much fame in this late century. Structuralism although it offers much in looking how institutions served as parts of a social system tend to believe that society could control the individual with the aid of science. However, the ideas of Jean Lyotard, Michel Foucault and Jean-Luc Nancy proved otherwise. The dream of grand theorists to integrate knowledge and create a unified social system is the very idea that most contemporary theorists avoid. Prior to the development of poststructuralism, discussion on power and knowledge is always a feature seen within the structures and not something that emanates from the individual, this structure-agency pendulum continues to fascinate theorists. Structural functionalists believed that social structures such as religion, culture, and government have strong hold over the individual particularly in their socialization process. Talcott Parsons (1951) for instance, look society as the social system divided by subsystems that have specific functions. Each part of society functions and creates mutual interdependence thus maintaining the dynamism of whole social system(Parsons: 1951). The Contemporary political philosophy opens a lot of venues in analyzing society with proposing meta narratives. Much of the themes of contemporary thinkers would be on the consequences of modernity, globalization among others. Topics on power and knowledge are just two of the basic issues that philosophers continuously are gaining interest. It provides a picture on how the development of knowledge transformed power relations in contemporary society. Contemporary political philosophy as it is advanced by the writings of three philosophers mentioned in the previous paragraph, look at power and knowledge in a different light. Before, the scholars would think that the development of knowledge is in a continuum and that power is exerted by institutions to the individual as if power has a center or a fixed point. In Contemporary political philosophy one can view that the source of power comes from various agencies,and the struggling character of power is in every discourse. Power is not only evident on political apparatus, on the religious order or on the intellectual community but power is seen on all arrays of everyday existence. Our day to day social relations are power relations. One of the contemporary thinkers who would employ much time in discussing power is Foucault. Some thinkers considered him as a poststrcuturalist or a postmodern thinker, because of the fluidity of his ideas. Moreover, there are critics who accused him of relativism because of his theory favors, intersubjectivity, the discursive method, discourse among others. Foucault (2002) did not suggests a central power or a solid one that one can see for instance in an authoritarian society, rather in looking at society, one could see ‘pockets’ of power or a decentralized one coming from various discourses. On the other hand, in his theory of knowledge one can see its deviation from Descartes’ Cogito. Reason as the underlying principle of the enlightenment period, did not escaped the gaze of Foucault. In his Madness and Civilization (1965) he examined that through history, madness became an invention that would serve as the opposite of reason. With the definition on madness as â€Å"non-rational† or irrational, it justifies the power of reason during the enlightenment period. Only through its binary opposition which is madness can reason hold its power. The control of the patient with the development of psychiatry in Madness and Civilization (1965) also served as a critique that looks at how modern society manifests the same features as that one can find in the discipline of psychiatry. There are various means by which society controls the individual. Foucault discussed that in the modern era, exercising power need not necessarily be brute and obvious. One example is his idea of punishment as a result of deviating from the norm. Foucault in Discipline an Punish (1977), discussed in what way torture as a form of punishment in the 18th century was transformed by discipline. With the birth of the prison, instead of attacking the physical body the institution inculcate discipline as a form of punishment. This feature of the prison, and even the birth of the clinic shows how slowly modern society is becoming more authoritarian and all of these are possible because of the different knowledge that people believe as true and moral during their times. Foucault in his Archeology of Knowledge (2002) look at historical development not in a continuum because he did not believed in a unified discourse as proposed by grand narratives such as that of the Parsonian theory. What one can see through history are various realities, are what he called discontinuities. Much of his theory of power and knowledge could also be seen in the History of Sexuality (1990) wherein he is not interested in sexuality per se, but in looking at the underlying struggle within the discourse of sexuality. While in the earlier periods, society repress one’s sexuality, this kind of discourse even propagates it. The more that society for instance repressed homosexuality, the more that people become interested in exploring the topic. In the History of Sexuality (1990)), he sees the reciprocal relation of power and knowledge. One example is the different meanings that society give on sexual relations such as relations out of marriage and the one allowed by the community. These definitions creates divisions in society, thus exercising power over the individual through social norms. By propagating a certain kind of knowledge, this could lead to a power relation between groups. The one who is in control of knowledge will therefore exercise power to the other group. However, it must be clear that the reciprocal relation of power and knowledge is not fixed rather it transform through every discourse. Apart from Foucault, Jean Lyotard also contributes to the debate on the relationship of power and knowledge. In his book, the Postmodern Condition (1979) Lyotard mentioned that the transformation of society into industrialized and complex system leads into the redefinition of the nature of knowledge. In Modern societies, the power of the capitalists to open the market leads to the question that, what kind of knowledge is acceptable or is legitimate provided that there are a lot of choices. Lyotard(1979) sees the complexities in modern times because when one looks at it, it is in no longer a question of simple legitimacy of knowledge but a question of who has the power to decide what is acceptable or legitimate. In addressing the uncertainties of knowledge, Lyotard suggests that one should employ the value of speaking the same language game. How can people speak the same language provided that there are various ways of learning things? Lyotard believes that one must contextualize, and in this part he adopts Wittgensteins’ language game. ’ By contextualizing, the person should be aware of the rules before making considerable actions. Lyotard believes that to be able to analyze knowledge in contemporary society, one must consider what kind of society it is situated. The split between Parsonian theory and that of Marxism will definitely help in looking at the problem of knowledge. Initially one will decide whether to maintain the status quo or radically change it. Because of the ability of language to bind society through communication, Lyotard favors this framework in addressing the issue of knowledge in the postmodern era. Greatly influenced by Heidegger on the other hand, Jean -Luc Nancy (1991) believed that we are thrown into the world therefore we should not rely on God for our existence. Contemporary society according to him is becoming more chaotic in the sense that the harmonious relation in traditional society is transformed into a complex society where there are a lot of uncertainties. Uncertainties are brought by the unintended consequences of modernity. With the advent of globalization, the closed and neatly tied community is transformed into a complex one. While some thinkers consider the development of society into industrialized one as beneficial, still there are paradoxes to this rationality. Nancy in his concept of community critique the grand project of some societies to create a well-planned system such in the case of the socialist state where it only leads to violence. Much of the discussions of contemporary political philosophy dwells on how you can locate the discourse on power as a consequence of the accumulation of knowledge. The Unintended consequences of man’s search for knowledge and the transformation of knowledge into its many forms leads to different power relations. These power relations are seen on every realm of life, on every discourse in society. It is crucial to note that in the analysis of power, power lies to those who have control over knowledge, and in this age of information technology where there is an easy access to all forms of knowledge, it is only logical to think that power is distributed therefore decentralized. While the contemporary era provide a lot of alternatives,undeniably there are consequences that not even scientific knowledge can calculate. Yet the quest for further knowledge continues because beneath those ideas there you can always find power. Various forms of power operates on every realm of life. These are the fascinations of philosophers of the twentieth century.

Homelessness Among Mentally Ill People - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 2 Words: 726 Downloads: 4 Date added: 2019/03/26 Category Society Essay Level High school Tags: Homelessness Essay Did you like this example? Homelessness is a persistent problem in urban communities. Homelessness can affect a large variety of people, one of those groups being individuals who struggle with mental health problems. Studies of the homeless population have reported that one-fourth to one-third of the homeless population has been diagnosed with some form of mental health problem. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Homelessness Among Mentally Ill People" essay for you Create order (Prevalence). The majority of these mental health issues being, bipolar disorder, depression and schizophrenia (Prevalence). These disorders can seriously hinder the daily activities of living for individuals with mental health issues. Many of those who struggle with mental illness have difficulties maintaining self-care and stable relationships (National Coalition for the Homeless). This often causes family, friends and caretakers to distant themselves from those with mental health issues National Coalition for the Homeless). The absence of care and support ultimately, leads to those who struggle with mental illness to either go to a psychiatric hospital or to the streets (National Coalition for the Homeless). Homelessness of the mentally ill emerged as an issue due to the deinstitutionalization of psychiatric patients. Until the 1960s the majority of people with mental illness were treated at public psychiatric hospitals (psychiatric). In the 1960s, 563,000 beds were in the United States psychiatric hospitals (psychiatric). By the 1990s this the number of beds then, dropped to 98,000(psychiatric). Reasons for this sudden decline in hospital beds were, the production and use of psychiatric medications become widely popular (psychiatric). These medications made the most severe mental illness manageable. Therefore, the demand for patients to be admitted to the hospitals decreased. Another reason for the decline in hospitals beds is the dramatic change in the policies for those institutionalized(psychiatric). Before, a patient could be admitted to an institution involuntary by a family member (psychiatric). The policy shifted to stricter requirements for involuntary admission to a psychiatric institution(psychiatric). Following the decline, significant defunding and budget cuts of mental health services were implemented (psychiatric). These reasons lead to thousands of psychiatric patients being discharged from state hospitals and then let back into their community (psychiatric). Without the safety net of the hospital giving regular care and support of family, many individuals with mental health issues had no choice but to turn to the streets to live. This resulted in an increased number of homelessness (psychiatric). As well as an increase in the number of arrests in this population. The unmanageable or troublesome behavior that some people with mental health issues face often cause them to be arrested. The high number of the mental ill homeless that has been arrested has prompted the criminalization of homelessness particularly that of, the mentally ill homeless population (psychiatric). Characteristics of the mentally ill often are erratic or disturbing behaviors. With limited treatment options for the mentally ill the criminal justice system is left with no option but to arrest the mentally ill (psychiatric). One study showed that individuals that struggled with mental health problems were more likely to be suspected of a crime than their counterparts (psychiatric). Another reason why homelessness is criminalized because of the correlation between mental illness and violent (psychiatric). A sample taken from a jail showed that up to 20% of inmates met the criteria to be diagnosed with a severe mental disorder (psychiatric). Through this, connection can be made between the homeless mentally ill and high numbers of incarceration (psychiatric). Despite the criminalization the mentally ill homeless individuals, the population for the mentally ill experience a high number of victimization. Life living on the streets and in homeless shelters can expose the homeless population to physical violent and abuse. Several studies examining victimization among the homeless population, found that homeless individuals with a mental illness experience high level of victimization, compared to those housed individuals (roy). One study found that prevalence of violent among the mentally ill homeless between 4.3% and 35% (roy). For non-violent victimization between 7.7% to 28% (roy). These rates are especially high for women, particularly that of women who have a history of trauma (roy). Due to the high number of victimization, many homeless individuals have to develop coping skills to survive such as hypersensitivity to their surroundings and paranoia (Front Desk). Constantly using these coping mechanisms can result triggering or furthering mental health issues (Front desk). This could possibly be a cause to mental illness among the homeless population. Ultimately, the quality of life of mentally ill homeless individual is considerably low.