Competitive Advantage and Customer Equity - Term Paper Example

 Abstract Science and technology has enabled integration of people and phenomenon in the society such that every activity has a scientific approach and analysis which has in many ways improved the workability of this phenomenon. Businesses have adopted new technological measures in all their departments in a bid to improve on efficiency, minimize costs and promote their customer outreach which in turn guarantees them revenue from sales and profitability from reduced costs of operations due to adoption of technology and innovations. Traditionally, firms depended on management and market forces to streamline their strategies but currently they have found the need to be abreast with innovations which in most cases have been necessitated by advances in technology and the unpredictable consumer tastes and preferences. This has led to a continuous process of integration by people around the globe brought about by increased interdependence due to the need to exchange information, ideas, opinions, goods and services and the cultural aspects. The unpredictability of consumer tastes and preferences have influenced the manner in which firms approach business opportunities and influenced by the rapid inventions in science and technology and innovations in business policies and mechanisms, firms have been competing to stay relevant in the market over their rivals. Aviation industry on the other hand has been putting so much emphasis on technology from their carriers to innovations that enhance smooth delivery of their services to the large and growing customer base and competition. This include construction of planes that offer cargo and passenger services which are later mechanized or customized to incorporate features that distinguish a certain firm from the other for competitive advantage. This is further coupled with onboard and off board services to the passengers and other marketing strategies that ensure the firm stays relevant in the industry by acquiring a substantial market share in form of client base while it manages the incorporation of these innovations with the market returns. These technological advancements comes with barriers with which firms need to evaluate first to ascertain the overall cost and the general impact of the strategy to the firm’s position in the industry and its long and short term objectives. This has in the long run helped management to devise integration measures between the technological innovations and the existing labor force within these firms maintaining profitability and continuity of these firms. By adopting science and technology in the service delivery within the aviation industry has streamlined contractual aspect of transacting partners more so in the cargo section by providing timely response to both parties which has helped reduce legal tussles and in turn improving on the convenience and reliability aspects. Furthermore, innovations have brought solutions to many problems within the aviation industry right from marketing, client and portfolio management, human capital and firms’ organization. For instance, applying technological innovations within management section and in the research and development sections of any given firm ensures timely response to the arising matters more so in the service industry such as aviation which promotes real time course of action. Introduction Jet Blue is an airline company that has undergone several transmissions in a bid to strengthen its management and improve on service delivery to its growing client base by merging and partnering with supplementary and complementary firms. The firm has had a strong organization culture from management to employees which has seen the firm accomplish long term and short term goals concurrently, improving on the customer attraction and retention and the overall service delivery by the airline. The firm has incorporated science and technology in almost all of its operations for convenience, reliability and outreach so as to improve its service delivery and ensure revenue inflow and competitive advantage over its rival firms. This has taken form of improving on space in their airbuses for comfort and luxurious travel of its different classes of customers and improving on the speed of the airbuses necessitating convenience and reliability. In addition, the firm has automated its operations such as ticketing and bookings which coupled with effective marketing and promotional strategies, a product of partnership with other complementary and supplementary firms, has seen the firm expand and diversify its operations globally (jetblue.com). Technologically, the firm has moved a milestone in ensuring it is up-to-date with the market requirements but by perfecting technology in customer sensitive areas such as flight and accommodations, ticketing, booking and consumer satisfaction analysis will go further in in improving its competitive advantage over the rivals which in the long run will enhance growth and expansion prospects. Literature Review Studies have shown that firms in service industry need to strengthen on their innovative aspects within the business approach to capture the ever changing customer needs, tastes and preferences and to be in line with the technological consumerism in the global aspect (Pitt, Berthon & C.U.T, 2009). Firms which have incorporated science and technology in their operations have had a higher chance of accomplishing long term and short term goals such as marketing and promotion of their products and they experience an improved customer relationship management which in turn guarantees profitability (Al-Shammari, 2009). In the service industry, majority of these innovations are customer centered since they, customers, form the basis of supply and by taming or understanding the consumerism and taking necessary measures helps timely solution on sensitive issues of changing tastes and preference. Effective interaction of firms and its clients helps the research and development departments in designing products and services that comprehensively meet the clients’ requirements promoting customer satisfaction and clients’ loyalty to the product and the firm. Ideologically, technological innovations help in improving efficiency in service delivery by breaking down the tedious practices of manual and hierarchical/ bureaucratic procedures through centralizing operations to a few units to enhance faster clearance and implementation of procedures and policies (International Conference on Technology and Management & Kim, 2012). This consolidation or integration of procedures helps in monitoring the effectiveness of a given policy since data can be easily retrieved and analysis quickly done to enhance effective course of action which is largely influenced by the sensitivity of the policy to the wellbeing of the firm and its impact to the clients. In addition, being abreast in adopting the currency of technological innovations, firms stand out largely in promoting their outreach to the existing and new clients since the globe is technology reliant; necessitating wise decisions by the clients which depending with the industry that the firm is in (Grint & Wooglar, 2013), appreciation and preference of its products is guaranteed. Furthermore, rationality of consumers is pegged on their knowledge and understanding of market conditions; price, quantity supplied and delivery/ distribution which is in great aspects influenced by their purchasing power (Avery & Beatty, 2010), and this can be achieved by marketing with which applying modern technology is easier and convenient. Discussion Being in a service industry, Jet Blue needs to strengthen its technological approach in meeting the demands of its growing client base considering its several partnerships with supplementary and complementary firms. For instance, partnering with Via Sat 21st Century for inflight broadband connectivity in 2010, has increased the airlines demand for high- class and business travels which are profitable to the airline considering the its returns in relation to other ordinary flights. Currently, the booking procedures of the firm are automated but they at times suffer technical hitches due to incoming traffic during holiday seasons and for convenience purposes it will be wise if they consider outsourcing their automation and internet management in their website. For example, considering the busy schedule of majority of the clients, it would be illogical to expect a client to wait for hours to book a flight when he/she has an immediate business trip to attend which would necessitate him/her to divert attention to other service providers. In terms of space and speed, the firm has improved on convenience by incorporating new airbuses in their fleet that caters for different travelling classes but more need to be done on speed and short distance connections which is proving to be fruitful considering the firm’s partnerships with international companies such as Israel Airlines and Qatar Airways. This will go further in ensuring the firm has an international touch expanding its popularity thus reducing the firm’s marketing costs and will ease the operations of the firm more so in passengers and cargo delivery over short distance routes. Technologically, the firm needs to further customize its website to incorporate the advances of science and technology so as to capture the interests of the growing smartphones and their applications which should be accompanied by effective infrastructure to cater for network congestions. For instance, by adopting the mobility aspects of the majority of the clients’ gadgets will ensure real time interaction with the clients in that they can access the website for new products and services such as ticketing or booking. This would increase the firm’s traffic which accompanied by high end technology and uniqueness of their products would lure the clients to pacing order or booking at their convenient time and for the best product that fits them economically and socially (Southerton, 2011). Consumer satisfaction in terms of products and services is essential for every firm so as to monitor effectiveness of their product in the market and to forecast consumption trends so as to maximize satisfaction and optimal resource allocation. Currently, the firm uses social media as the capital outreach through sites such as Facebook, Twitter and You Tube and So Fly trademarks. This is an effective strategy to gather timely response and attend to customer queries but personalized contact by the firm with the client would give accurate and precise feedback which can be critically analyzed for effective course of action. For instance, clients complains on the quality or satisfaction level of a given flight would be well answered by the customer through a personalized means such as emailed questionnaire or other means in which he/she can respond privately without the public onset. Digitalizing ticketing procedure is an effective strategy to ensuring clients can access this service conveniently with which with the existence of modern online security and privacy infringements, the firm should ensure maximum security of the potential clients by introducing special and unique features that cannot be accessed by malicious individuals. This will go further to ensure and promote clients’ confidence in purchasing tickets online and this would further lead to increased loyalty of the firms products and services which in the long run helps as a marketing tool through referrals. Conclusion If I were the boss, I would concentrate in technological approach by enabling access of the firm’s website with the simplest internet enabled device to incorporate the interests of diverse internet orientations globally. This would rule out the notion that the airline products and services can only be accessed via a computer or modern gadgets which would lock out potential clients who do not own smartphones or other high end gadgets. This would be prudent considering the rationality of the clients in comparing the prices of products and services of different providers; considering the innovations I would impact on the products and improved customer satisfaction analysis the strategy would be a success as I would be customer sensitive to ensure comprehensive satisfaction. References Al-Shammari, M. (2009). Customer knowledge management: People, processes, and technology. Hershey, PA: Information Science Reference. Avery, J., & Beatty, S. (2010). Consumer behavior: Human pursuit of happiness in the world of goods. Cincinnati, OH: Open Mentis. Grint, K., & Woolgar, S. (2013). The Machine at Work: Technology, Work and Organization. Hoboken: Wiley. International Conference on Technology and Management, & Kim, H. (2012). Advances in technology and management: Proceedings of the 2012 International Conference on Technology and Management (ICTAM 2012), International Convention Center Jeju, Jeju-Island, Korea. Berlin: Springer. Southerton, D. (2011). Encyclopedia of consumer culture. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE Reference. Pitt, L., Berthon, P., & Curtin University of Technology. (2009). Competitive rationality, competitive advantage and customer equity: An integration. Perth, W.A: School of Marketing, Curtin University. Read More