Toward an Innovative Capabilities Audit Framework - Assignment Example

Marketing Management Contents Contents 2 Introduction 3 Discussion 4 Resources Audit 4 Capabilities Audit 6 Marketing Audit 7 Internal environment 7 Micro environment 9 Macro environment 16 Conclusion 19 Opinion 20 References 22 Introduction Gulf Air was founded way back in 1950. It is one of the renowned national carriers in the kingdom of Bahrain. Gulf Air has become of the most famous aviation company in the global aviation industry. It has more than sixty years of experience and also has got lot of expertise in flying aircrafts to different countries. It has grown over the years to become on the most powerful brand across the world and has grown at a fast pace. The most important aim of the company is to connect Bahrain to other countries in the Middle East and also to the rest of the world. It not only has non-stop aircrafts to other Middle-East countries but also has huge number of connecting flights to other countries across the globe. The network of connection by the company stretches from Europe to Asia with its presence in 29 countries and connecting more than 45 cities with a total of 34 fleets of aircrafts. Along with country’s vision of “Vision 2030”, Gulf Air also has its vision lined on the same line. The company’s strategy is to build a commercially sustainable, efficient airline which effectively serves to the people of Bahrain and also helps in the growth of the economy of the country representing its good image in the global world. Based on its strong strategy of growing at a fast pace the company has its main focus on three core areas which are providing a superior and more consistent product to the customer, a well-targeted and good expansion in the international network and third to become a modern and more efficient aviation company that will provide good value for money to the customers and also will look to optimize value. Having a constant growth in the business operation the company has moved forward in a big way and in 2012 the company was been awarded with Silver Effie for building an effective and innovative brand in Bahrain. Though being in the global market from so many years the goal of the company has remained unchanged and its commitment towards bringing the latest technology in aviation industry is very well known, and its brand image has also increased by its hallmark Aviation hospitality. The company’s strong strategies to provide the best service have become the flagship for the company and the company is well known in the global market because of its high level of service and hospitality. In this report it can be seen how the company has utilised all its resources and capabilities in the best possible way to grow at such a fast rate and also the marketing strategies that are been used by the company is been analysed using various theories and concepts. Discussion Resources Audit Gulf Air is one of the oldest aviation companies in Bahrain and also in world. It has grown at a fast rate and also has a good service system for the customers. The company has its service present in different countries across the globe. It has a big aim of connecting Bahrain with other Middle-East countries and also to other countries in the world so that the economic condition of the company keeps growing (Pride and Ferrell, 2011, pp. 234-242). The company has huge resources in various forms for its overall service which are been spread to different offices across the country and also to other parts. The company has a total of 42 aircrafts, in which 12 are Airbus 320, 4 Airbus 320, 16 Airbus A320neo, 6- Airbus A321-200, 6- Airbus A330-200, 16- Boeing 787-8 and 10-Bombardier CS100. These are all good quality aircrafts of various sizes that are been used by the company for all its fleet across to different countries connecting Bahrain. The average fleet age of each aircraft being 4.3 years during this time the aircrafts can be used to its best and the service obtained from these aircrafts is also very high. Gulf Air uses all its aircraft in the most optimum way by creating a good network to all the locations and also allocating all its aircrafts to various locations in a good way so that they are been used in a proper way and the waiting time of each aircraft is been reduced (Kotler and Keller, 2006, pp. 113-118). The utilisation of each aircraft being cargo or passenger planes are been done based on the amount of usage that the aircraft can be used on daily basis that is they are been used till their threshold level is been reached. The company also makes attempts to utilise the space in the aircrafts in a proper way taking into consideration that each aircraft is been fully occupied by the customers with no seats been left vacant (Cunningham and Harney, 2012, pp. 78-85). The company’s has got a total seating occupancy of 82% by 2013 and is also working efficiently towards increasing this percentage to 100%. Gulf Air had around 6 million passengers in 2013 moving to various places and availing the service from the company. It looks to optimally schedule all its fleets in such a way that all the passengers get the best facility and also the resources other than the aircraft like fuel, food and beverages etc. are also been utilised in the best possible way without any wastage. The company has approximately 4000 employees working in various departments. All he employees work towards the common goal and have a common objective. The company plans the working hours of the employees in a way that there is no wastage of time for the employees and also they are been utilised in the best possible way. It has looked to allocate the employees to different departments like ground staff, office work, ticket counters, help desks; airhostess and pilots based on the requirement of the particular department and takes care of the fact that there is not even a single employee left behind without being engaged to any particular work. This proper utilisation of the resources in the best possible way and also reducing the wastes by a great extent has helped the company to grow in such a fast rate and also enabled the company to provide the best of service to the customers across to different parts of the world. The company has been able to reduce its waste and operating cost as it has continuously utilised its resources in the best possible way and also in the most optimum way without any wastage which can increase the operating cost by a huge margin. Capabilities Audit Having such huge resource in the bank for the company is a big asset for the company. It becomes a huge task for the company to see that the capabilities of the resources are been well utilised and it makes a huge impact in the growth of the company and also increasing the efficiency of the company. The company has evolved over the years by making number of innovations and also has come up with new creative marketing strategies which have helped the company to grow in the global market and spread it service across to different countries. The employees in the company are been provided with regular training process to enhance their skills and also adapt themselves to the changes that are been brought in the technology to increase the productivity of the company. The company over the years has now got a good capital to run its business operation in various parts of the world successfully. It does use its capital in proper way such that it can continuously expand and also bring new innovations in the process to provide better service to the customers. Gulf Air has become a very well renowned aviation company in the world and also has got a good brand reputation among the targeted customers across the world; it uses its good brand reputation to increase its market share and also increases its revenue in a huge way. The good brand image and reputation in the world market as one of the best service provider in aviation industry the company has been able to increase its rate of fleets and also has enabled the company to bring more innovative ideas through which it can reach more customers and also expand its business in a huge way. It also owns a lounge in Bahrain airport for the customer which is one of the innovative ideas to attract more customers by providing good service (Marr and Gray, 2012, pp. 67-74.). The company has also evolved itself in the e-commerce segment where it is able to promote its various services through its website and also make it very much comfortable for the customers to get the information about the flight timings and also the available value added services that are been provided to the customers. The company follows a strong culture in the organization where it follows a flat structure where all the employees are given the chance to give their innovative idea at any point for the improvement of the process and making it more efficiently. This helps the company to utilise the capability of each employee in a very effective way. The employees are been motivated highly by providing certain rewards or appreciations based on their performance from time to time which makes the employees more involved with the company’s policies and practices thus they tend to work more effectively which does increase the efficiency and also the productivity of the company by a huge way increasing its profit margin by a good percentage (Burgelman, Kosnik and Poel, 1985, pp. 87-96). Thus even after having so many resources in the company the company needs to utilise the capabilities of the available resources in the best way so that they can have a continuous innovation and also the skills are been enhanced. These will help the company to grow at a fast rate and also provide a good market share in the global market with good performance and also help in creating a better brand image. Marketing Audit Internal environment Strategy Gulf Air being in the aviation industry over more than 60 years has a common goal from the time it started and the strategies that the company has implemented are focused on the achievement of the common goal of the company. The company’s biggest strategy is to grow and expand its business in the global world on a continuous basis. The company has looked to provide the best of service to the customers across different countries and also has looked to expand its market by using the strategy of market development wherein the company has looked to explore the new market across the world in the same aviation business but with new innovative way and also by providing best of service to the customers (Keller, 1998, pp. 67-73). Organisation As an organization the company has huge number of resources and also has looked to grow over the years utilising its resources in the most optimum way. The system used by the company is very effective and innovative as they have implemented cloud computing system in their operations and also are looking forwards to implement green IT system which will help them in their corporate social responsibility activities also. Adapting the green solutions in the company system w\ill help the company to increase its productivity by a huge percentage and thus the efficiency of the company will automatically go up (Kotler, 2001, pp. 66-74). Functions & Porter’s Value Chain analysis The company is into various functions like providing flights transportation for passengers, flights for cargo, ticket providing service, help desk, food & beverages etc. All these functions of the company are been performed at a good rate and also very efficiently so that the customers are provided with the best possible service in the whole world (Fitzroy and Herbert, 2007, pp. 23-27). With the increasing competing from the global world the company puts lots of importance to perform its functions efficiently so that it can hold on to its market share and also continue in building a good brand image in the market. The Porters value chain analysis helps the company to categorise its functions into primary and secondary functions. The primary functions of the company Gulf Air include the facilities like the aircrafts including both passenger aircrafts and cargo aircrafts, employees, the technical skills that the company uses that is the technology been used by the company in its process while secondary activities are the other operations, marketing and sales and logistics (Hutt and Speh, 2012, pp. 43-48). The company focuses more over the primary functions than the secondary functions to have the continuous growth in its process. Micro environment Customer Gulf Air is set to expand its customer base by introducing a range of new incentive packages, services and products for their key customer segments. This new initiatives are designed to target their every customer segment named business, family, youth pensioners and the government. Gulf Air had designed various packages tailored made for different types of customers namely weekend shoppers, friends, couples and frequent flyer members (Gulf Air, 2011b, p. 1). For the corporate business segment the airliner has introduced Falcon Corporate Plus which is one of the most innovative and competitive incentive programmes designed especially for corporate travellers. This programme provides a range of various exclusive privileges which are tailor made for them (Gulf Air, 2011c, p. 1). For families, Gulf Air had introduced Family First which is competitively priced packages for their customers who are travelling with their kids, spouses. This programme offers special privileges both in the air and on ground. The children enjoy a range of games and toys while their parents relax and they are being looked after by Sky Nannies. Gulf Air had also focused on small and medium enterprises by creating an incentive programme which is specifically designed to meet the needs of these market segments. For two friends or couples, the airliner has created Half Price offer where a customers who buys one ticket gets 50% discount on second ticket. Similarly for weekend shoppers, Gulf Air offered 25 % discount for travelling to any of the GCC destinations. Gulf Air also launched Falcon Cargo which offers cost effective and innovative services, products and features to their customers. Thus it targets many cargo services company. Competitor Gulf Air helps travellers makes their way into Persian Gulf especially to Bahrain and regions beyond. The main competitors of Gulf Air are Emirates (Dubai), EgyptAir Holding Company, Etihad (Abu Dhabi) and Qatar Airways (Doha). These competitors were ordering new aircrafts while Gulf Air (Bahrain) was reasonable modest with their expansion plans. Gulf Air was originally set up as the national airline of Gulf States, but many of its founding members went off to start their own airlines leaving just Oman and Bahrain as its joint owners. Market In 2012, strong economic growth in emerging economics resulted in growth in passenger traffic, followed by greater aviation connectivity. The asset utilization in aircraft industry reached new heights which were boosted by consolidation and other improvements of structure of industry. New delivered aircraft led to significant improvement in the efficiency. Of the tree largest markets which together constitute 83 % of global traffic, Asia- Pacific airlines delivered the largest profits, highest margins though the profits in 2012 were lower than in 2011 because of the weakness of air freight. Passenger traffic grew by 5.3 % in 2012 though this growth rate outperformed the weak global economy. Inspite of this growth rate, the rate of expansion slowed for second consecutive year. But in the face of such difficult economic conditions air travel was unusually robust. Air travel growth averaged 1.8 times of global GDP growth in the past 20 years. In 2012, air travel grew 2.5 times as fast as global GDP. In 2012, network development developed which resulted in improved connectivity of world’s passengers. Porter’s Five Forces Model Threat of Buyers The threat of power is medium to high. There are considerable options available to the customers like Emirates (Dubai), EgyptAir Holding Company, Etihad (Abu Dhabi) and Qatar Airways (Doha). Most of the airliners are expanding and each has come out with strategies to lure the customers. Thus customers have wide range of choices to choose from. Threat of Suppliers: The main inputs for the airline industry are labour, fuel and airplanes. Presently there are not many large commercial aircraft manufactures. These include airbus, Boeing business jets, bombardier aerospace, Cessna aircraft Company, Dassault falcon and Gulfstream Aerospace. Airlines also have to make specific investments which the airlines made in the form of trained mechanics gives the aircraft manufacturers considerable suppler power. Further labours like cabin crew, pilots, gate agents, ground personnel have their union powers and thus possess bargaining power. Prices of Aviation fuel are determined by market forces and geo-political factors. Threat of Substitutes: There are many substitutes to air travel like taking a train, driving, traveling by ship etc. Presence of technology like NetMeeting, WebEx, video-conferencing etc. acts as a good substitute for air travel. Threat of Entry: Threat of Entry is low since it requires huge investment along with agreements with key airports. Further new players need to seek license from the government which takes time. Further price competition seeks to dent into the profitability of new players. Rivalry within Industry: There is intense rivalry among existing airlines. There are a number of airlines which makes the airline industry crowded. The service among different competitors is pretty homogeneous and it is difficult to achieve differentiation. Buyers also have low switching costs and there is little relationship specific investment which travellers make. Further this industry is characterized by high fixed cost and thus airlines get negligible margin per passenger. Value Chain analysis (Source: Rainey, 2010, p. 29) Value Chain analysis describes the primary and secondary activities of an organisation which strengthens the competitive advantage of the company. It is also used to determine the resources which are best utilized by the firm. Air Gulf tires to set up value creating activities for satisfying their customers by undertaking new initiatives like family First, Falcon Corporate Plus, etc. The company is well on track of its restructuring strategy. The company has achieved a 26 per cent reduction in year-on-year costs in 2013. The company has been renegotiating contracts with certain suppliers and vendors and has fine-tuned their network. Further the company has been successful in completing the realignment of its fleet to match the new network requirements. Further they have improved their after sale service where the customers all over the world are provided 24 X 7 support. Growth Share Matrix (Source: Kozami, 2002, p. 253) Gulf Air falls in the Cash Cow category. During the first six months of 2013, the airliner strengthened it’s positioned as a global leader in on-time punctuality and it was the regions’ most punctual full service carrier. In 2013 the number of seats of Gulf Air has grown by 1% which indicates that the worst is over. In early 1990s it was the largest Middle East Carrier but its star shone for a brief moment only. The airliner started losing ground by the middle of the decade because of the competition from new carriers and economic downturn in the oil –producing regions. Thus Gulf Air holds low market share as compared to Emirates and Etihad Airways. But the competitive position of the airliner is high. The airliner has been struggling to cut losses and it faces stiff competition from fast growers like Etihad (Abu Dhabi), Emirates (Dubai) and Qatar Airways. There are many rapidly expanding budget airlines like Air Arabia and flydubai which us giving tough competition to them (CAPA, 2012, p. 1). Alternatives Growth Strategies Gulf Air is trying to re-align their network to benefit customers. It is looking to strengthen its North Africa and Middle East operations so that its core customer base is served more efficiently and effectively and taking measures to reduce losses at the same time. Gulf Air has already closed eight of its commercially unviable routes. The realignment of network will allow the airline to use its resources and fleet in the most effective and efficient way in its markets by concentrating on high-yield and high-demand point-to-point routes and moving away from low-yield transit traffic (Gulf Air, 2011a, p. 1). Gulf Air is looking to simplify and modernised its fleet. The airliner is looking to meet its revised network and flight schedule and thus operate with a mix of narrow and wide body aircraft with one of the youngest fleets (4.3 years) in the entire region. Gulf Air is trying to reposition itself as the region’s most business and family friendly airline (Gulf Air, 2011d, p. 1). Gulf Air is further eyeing right sized workforce. The company is trying to rationalize its cost elements. The airline is trying to align its workforce requirement meet the maintenance, administrative and operational needs of the revised network and fleet. With this simplified structure, the productivity, organisational efficiency will improve and it will align the accountabilities to the success of the organisation. The company is trying to implement right-sizing across all the levels of the organisation and it will depend on performance based review along with individual job assessment against business critical requirements. The priority is focussing on maintaining the key talent though retention of the most productive employees. Another main objective of the airline is to reduce the losses by means of cost-cutting to increase the revenue and yield. Gulf Air is looking to operate by maintaining high standards of corporate governance and is thus committed to transparency. The airline is looking to increase the revenue per available seat kilometre by improving the revenue management and sales, route cancellations and frequency adjustments (Times News Service, 2013, p. 1). The Market Attractiveness – Business Position Matrix The GE Matrix provides opportunities for growth through market development in new markets and market penetration in existing markets. Gulf Air is looking for market penetration in Middle East and North Africa and ensures that its core customer base is served efficiently and effectively by taking measures to reduce the losses. The airline will focus its realigned network to continue to operate in destinations like India, Far East, Europe and Middle East which offers multiple and flexible flight options while maintaining strategic links with Indian Subcontinent markets, Far East and European markets. The company is also focusing on domestic routes covering Jeddah, Dammam, and Riyad and into secondary Saudi cities (Oxford Business Group, 2008, p. 29). Gulf Air could also focus on emerging countries like Pakistan, Rome, Uganda and China etc. for expansion. Macro environment PESTEL Analysis Political Factors Political factors bear a great impact on the airline industry. Political changes in the North Africa and Middle East are increasing the challenges of bringing supplies to the market. Further the impact of OPEC cartel is strong over the entire region. In the mid- 2012, the temporary sharp dip in the oil prices resulted in dispute within the OPEC over the target price of a barrel of oil. Though new non-OPEC supplies are developing, the influence of OPEC still remains. Further being a national carrier it is always under the control of the government of Bahrain. Gulf Air operations got affected following local political unrest and the wider repercussions of the Arab Spring in 2011 (IATA, 2013, p. 10). Economic Factors Poorly or bad drafted regulations undermine the ability of an airline to act as a catalyst for economic growth. Economic factors have a significant impact on the operations of Gulf Air. Following the financial and Eurozone crisis, the airline suffered slowdown in the growth of the premium travel segment in the past couple of years. During these periods, world trade growth slowed from 6.3 % in 2011 to 2.9 % in 2012. During the same period there has been a fall in the business confidence level also. These factors have affected business airline travel. Two of the big premium travel markets, Europe and North Atlantic shrank in 2012 which reflected weakness in the developed economies (IATA, 2012, p. 21). Social Factors Gulf Air operates all around the world where it has to cater to different social classes people. Travellers who belong to India will have different social standards as compared to an individual from Bahrain. Thus this airline has to cater to both these passengers and hence they need to train their staff to behave accordingly with these passengers so that they feel comfortable. Technological factors Use of technologies prove boon to Gulf Air. The company uses latest technologies to prevent a significant number of accidents. Gulf Air uses modern aircraft which have systems on board which exploits new technologies like Performance-Based Navigation. By providing navigators with vertical guidance it delivers safety benefits. Infrastructure and technology are vital part of sustainability strategy of aviation. Further Gulf Air is investing billions in the buying aircrafts which are more fuel efficient than their predecessors (Summers, 2007, p. 1). Legal Factors Gulf Air operates in many countries and it needs to abide by rules and regulation pertaining to each of the countries. In Europe, the company has faced a number of legal challenges to determine the boundaries of airline responsibility. The company needs to follow international legal framework for dealing with unruly passengers on board. Gulf Air follows Montreal Convention 1999 (MC99) which is a unification and modernization of several treaty regimes covering airline liability developed haphazardly. This MC99 gives consumer better compensation and protection and helps faster air cargo shipments. During the same time airlines enjoy certainty about the rules which affects their liabilities. This also helps in creating a legal framework for the airlines and helps them to use electronic documentation for shipments thus reducing cost and increasing the efficiency. SWOT Analysis Strength: The restricting process of Gulf Air had helped them in reducing losses and better serving their customers. It provides nonstop services to more destinations across three continents. It provides better service to world’s leading financial markets. It operates with one of the youngest fleets and is world leader in on-time punctuality. Weakness: Gulf Air has been suffering from huge losses due to high costs. It was forced to cut down 15 percent of its employees. There is lack of transparency within the system (Gulf Air, 2009, p. 1). Opportunity: There is huge opportunity in developing countries where air travel is still on the rise. Gulf Air looks to expand and maintain leadership position in the Middle East. It is focusing on high demand, high frequency and high yield point-to-point destinations. The company should look to secure traffic rights to Pakistan which allows their flights to Peshawar, Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore during winter schedule (AFP, 2013, p.1). Threat: The main threat comes from their competitors both international and local. Further threat comes from global economic situation. Product Life Cycle (Source: Grieves, 2006, p. 152) Gulf Air is in Market Maturity Stage. Gulf Air has been in operation since 1974. It was market leader in the early 1990s. But it lost ground due to tough competition from new carriers and economic downturn in the oil-producing region. The Airline faced huge losses due to which it had to sack 15 % of the workforce. But to attain profitability, the airline has undertaken restructuring strategy. After doing that the company has been able to reduce its overall losses by more than 50 percent in 2013 and it performed 15 percent ahead of its financial target (Sambidge, 2013, p. 1). Conclusion Gulf Air began its operation in 1950. It has become of the most famous aviation company in the global aviation industry. It has grown over the years to become on the most powerful brand across the world and has grown at a fast pace. The network of connection by the company stretches from Europe to Asia with its presence in 29 countries and connecting more than 45 cities with a total of 34 fleets of aircrafts. It has grown at a fast rate and also has a good service system for the customers. The company has its service present in different countries across the globe. The utilisation of each aircraft being cargo or passenger planes are been done based on the amount of usage that the aircraft can be used on daily basis that is they are been used till their threshold level is been reached. Having such huge resource in the bank for the company is a big asset for the company. It becomes a huge task for the company to see that the capabilities of the resources are been well utilised and it makes a huge impact in the growth of the company and also increasing the efficiency of the company. The good brand image and reputation in the world market as one of the best service provider in aviation industry the company has been able to increase its rate of fleets and also has enabled the company to bring more innovative ideas through which it can reach more customers and also expand its business in a huge way. The Porters value chain analysis helps the company to categorise its functions into primary and secondary functions. The primary functions of the company Gulf Air include the facilities like the aircrafts including both passenger aircrafts and cargo aircrafts, employees, the technical skills that the company uses that is the technology been used by the company in its process while secondary activities are the other operations, marketing and sales and logistics (Hutt and Speh, 2012, pp. 43-48). The company focuses more over the primary functions than the secondary functions to have the continuous growth in its process. Gulf Air needs to take care of both Micro and Macro environmental factors to operate successfully. It faced a lot of problems like high costs resulting in jobs cut. This led to restructuring which improved the profitability of the company. Gulf Air needs to make this on a continuous basis to run business successfully. Opinion The restructuring plan of Gulf Air is the best strategy which it is adopting. So far this strategy is paying off and it is shown in the third-quarter financial report of the company. The national carrier of Bahrain is well on its track of achieving the annual targets. It has been nine months for Gulf Air since it restructured its operation, and it resulted in reduction of annual losses of the company. It is fit for the company to continue on the restructuring plan because it has improved products and services, strengthen the core network and created a commercially sustainable airline which have catered to the needs of people of Bahrain. Due to the restructuring plan the company the financial position of the company has strengthened which is crucial for the long term success of the airline. Thus it is recommended for Gulf Air to be on the path of restructuring. References AFP. 2013. Struggling Gulf Air sacks 15% staff. Available at: http://www.emirates247.com/business/corporate/struggling-gulf-air-sacks-15-staff-2013-03-03-1.497140. 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[Accessed on: 10 April. 2014]. IATA. 2013. 2013 Annual Review. Available at: http://www.iata.org/about/Documents/iata-annual-review-2013-en.pdf. [Accessed on: 10 April. 2014]. Keller, K. L. 1998. Strategic Brand Management: Building, Measuring, and Managing Brand Equity. London: Prentice-Hall. Kotler, P. 2001. Marketing Management. London: Prentice Hall. Kotler, P. and Keller, K. L. 2006. Marketing Management. London: Prentice Hall. Kozami, A. 2002. Business Policy and Strategic Management, 2e. London: McGraw-Hill Education. Marr, B. and Gray, D. 2012. Strategic Performance Management. Routledge; USA. Oxford Business Group. 2008. The Report: Bahrain 2008. London: Oxford Business Group. Pride, W. and Ferrell, O. 2011. Marketing. Stamford: Cengage Learning. Rainey, D.L. 2010. Enterprise-Wide Strategic Management: Achieving Sustainable Success Through Leadership, Strategies, and Value Creation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Sambidge, A. 2013. Bahrains Gulf Air cuts losses by 50% in H1. Available at: http://www.arabianbusiness.com/bahrain-s-gulf-air-cuts-losses-by-50-in-h1-511231.html#.U0Zwk_mSzu8. [Accessed on: 10 April. 2014]. Summers, M. 2007. Gulf Air set to outline new growth strategy. Available at: http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/NewsDetails.aspx?storyid=195504. [Accessed on: 10 April. 2014]. Times News Service. 2013. Performance of Gulf Air 15% ahead of target. Available at: http://www.timesofoman.com/News/Article-21556.aspx. [Accessed on: 10 April. 2014]. Read More