Marketing Analysis in Aviation: Emirates Airline - Essay Example

Marketing Analysis in Aviation: Emirates Airline SWOT Analysis Emirates Airline SWOT Analysis Introduction The analysis of the market environment is very essential in the operations of any organization. This is because it provides a clear picture of the conditions that may affect the operations of the organization. It also helps the company to identify the market trends and the concepts that are going on in the market. A proper market analysis is mainly for the purpose of determining the position of the company in relation to the entire market in the sector it operates. During the market analysis, a clear picture of the competitor is determined. The knowledge of the competitors is very important for an organization. This is because it enables the organization to come up with strategies of beating the competitor. Market analysis is also important in terms of ensuring that the company makes improvements in its operations so as to server the customers better (William, 2005). The aviation industry is growing very fast and the industry is quite competitive. The market analysis is thus very important in order to keep up with the market trends. It also provides an organization with the information of the competitors and the methods of making improvements. The paper thus discuses SWOT analysis in relation to Emirates Airline whose headquarters is based in the UAE. SWOT Analysis Strengths Emirates Airline has been registering growth in the recent past. This is mainly attributed to the strengths of the company. The company has been making huge profits over the years which has made it financially stable than most of the competitors (Emirates Airline, 2012). This has increased investments by the company and hence strengthening its position in the market. The company was able to introduce new methods of booking tickets that is easy and reliable. This was made possible through e-commerce and the customers are able to book tickets on-line from any part of the world. This greatly contributed to customer satisfaction and hence an increase in sales for the tickets. The company is thus registering a high growth rate due to the strategy. This strategy used by the company is quite efficient and cost saving and hence profit making. Menon et al, (1999) argues that the brand of the company is also well known in the UAE and most parts of the world. This is due to the good customer experience that the company offers. This popularity has thus enabled it to have an upper hand over the competitors as most customers trust the company. The company has won various awards in the airline industry due to the best customer experience. According to William et al. (2005), the company has branches in most parts of the world although its headquarters is at the UAE. This is beneficial to the organization as the customers are able to access the services of the company from any part of the world. It has greatly contributed to the growth and development of the company. It has also strengthened the capacity of the company to serve a huge number of customers all over the world. For this reason, the company is ranked among the best airline companies in the world. The company also enjoys a lot of support from the government in the UAE. It is due to fact that the government is a shareholder in the company. This is important in terms of security for the company incase of any financial problems. This basically is a major strength for the company and it has contributed positively towards its growth. The company is therefore considered as the most profitable in the airline industry which is also strength for the company. It also plays an important role in the sector as most of the trends are always set by the company. The major strength of the company is thus very important in terms of growth and development and thus increasing the popularity and the profits of the company in the aviation sector (Edvinsson, 2000). Weaknesses The company has made huge investments in Europe in a bid to win more customers. This is however, a weakness for the company as the economic situation in Europe is not stable. The economic situation in Europe has been worsening in the recent past affecting a lot of organizations and individuals. The aviation industry has also been affected by the worsening economic condition in Europe (Chekitan, 2005). Investments of the company may thus face a major blow if the situation does not stabilize. The reputation of the company has been damaged in some parts of the world due to various reasons. One of the reasons is the time take taken by the company to honor refunds. This was a common problem with the on-line booking and it damaged the reputation of the company. The customers who are inconvenienced do not trust the company very much and hence causing intricacies for the company in those regions. Although the company is a multi national, it faces some problems in some regions due to the cultural diversity issues. This affects the operations of the company as the communication with the customers is poor. The diversity issue also affects the growth and development of the company in some of the regions in the world. The company is quite big and has a large number of employees. However, in some countries, the number of employees is limited. According to William et al. (2005) this greatly affects the operations of the company as the employees have to work for long hours in order to satisfy the customers. This has a negative impact on the performance of the company. On the other hand, the employees require a lot of training for the purpose of serving the customers well. This requires a lot of financial resources to fully train the employees on the maters regarding diversity and customer care. The company therefore has to invest heavily on the training and development of the employees every year. This has a negative impact on the revenue of the company. The company requires more customers for the purpose of making profits. This also requires the company to open new branches allover the world. This is very difficult as it has huge financial implications. The airline industry is quite expensive in terms of opening up new branches although it is necessary for the purpose of wining more customers. On the other hand, the company is considered expensive to some customers as the tickets are quite expensive in some countries. This reduces the affordability rate and thus affecting the profits of the company (William et al., 2005). Opportunities The company has a lot of opportunities it can still exploit and enhance its capacity over its competitors. New markets in the aviation industry still exist and have not been exploited. Since the company has the financial capabilities, it can exploit the new markets in Africa that has very little competitors. Africa also offers a lot of opportunities in the aviation industry as opposed to the other continents. The economic situation in Africa is also improving as the other continents are experiencing a lot of instability (Menon, 2005). The new markets in Africa will greatly benefit the company and it will increase its prospects. The company also has the opportunity to enter into alliances with other companies in areas that it do not perform well. This will be an important step towards having an upper hand over competitors as well as building the image of the company. Joint ventures and strategic alliances are very important and will greatly benefit the company. This opportunity is available for the company as it is well known due to its profitability and capabilities. This will make it easy for the company to make an alliance with any company as most companies prefer working with well known and established companies. This opportunity is available allover the world and it could increase the prospects of the company. The use of the new technology also offers a great opportunity for the company. Although the company has ventured into e-comers in terms of booking and paying for its flights, the use of modern technology is an important consideration in other departments. The use of modern technology can be used to automate most of the services that are carried out manually. This will greatly reduce the operations cost of the company as it relies on many employees to carry out the services. On the other hand, the company can strengthen the internal market s it has opportunities in some regions. Due to the stability of the company it can completely conquer the internal market and also form alliances with other internal companies. The development of new services by the company within the sector is within its reach. This is a great opportunity that will surprise the competitors and hence gaining more profits from the venture. Since the company is leading in the industry and it has been on the fore front in setting new trends in the market it is capable of making new innovations. The innovative means is an advantage to the company and hence an increase in popularity and profits (Emirates Airline, 2012). Threats Despite the strengths and opportunities that the company has, it also has several other threats which could affect the operations of the company. One of the major threat the company faces is the legislation and taxation rules in some of the countries it operates. Chekitan (2005), argues that the taxation in some countries favor the internal companies hence giving the competitors some advantage over the company. This greatly affects the company in terms of revenue generation and competition in such countries. On the other hand, the weakening of the dollar and the Euro is a real threat to the company in Europe and America. This affects the revenue that the company collects. The worsening situation in the economy of Europe is also a threat to the company as it has huge investments in the continent. The company thus faces major threats in its operations and it could impact negatively on the company and the future development goals. These threats are very serious as it affects the operations of the company as well as the revenue collection by the company. The competitors stand to benefit from these threats and may affect the ranking of the company in terms of performance and goals (Chekitan, 2005). The company relies heavily on fuel for its operations and it cannot operate without it. The prices of the commodity have been on the increase in the recent past and there are no signs of any reduction. This is a threat to the company the cost of operation keeps on increasing and thus affecting the profit margins. This has forced the company to increase the cost of flight for the passengers and it has impacted them negatively. This is therefore a negative impact on the company and it is threatening its profit margins. The company also faces threats from other emerging companies in some parts of the world like in America. The companies are quite aggressive and are gaining a lot of support and hence threatening the operations of the company. These threats are very harmful to the future goals of the company and may lead to profit reduction in some parts of the world. The political unrest in some parts of the Arab countries also threatens the operations of the company. The political situation creates a poor condition for doing business and hence affecting the returns of the company. This is because most of the flights of the company are based in the Arab world. Poor political situation is thus harmful to the company (Edvinsson, 2000). Conclusion In conclusion, the SWOT analysis is important in determining the position of the Emirates Airline Company within the aviation industry. It is evident that the company has several strengths which are advantageous over the competitors. However, the weaknesses and the threats that the company is facing are quite harmful to the company. This is because it leads to the loss of revenue as well as poor performance by the company. The threats could also see the operations of the company being grounded in some regions. However, the opportunities that exist are a reprieve to the company. If the company exploits the existing opportunities then it will benefit a lot and counter the threats and weaknesses. References William, S, et al, 2005, Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage: Concepts, Pearson Education, Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, 07458. Chekitan, S, 2005, In the Mix: A Customer-Focused Approach Can Bring the Current Marketing Mix into the 21st Century, Marketing Management 14 (1). Menon, A, et al, 1999, Antecedents and Consequences of Marketing Strategy Making. Journal of Marketing (American Marketing Association) 63 (2): 18–40. Emirates Airline, 2012, Retrieved on 21 September 2012 from, . Edvinsson, L, 2000, Crystallizing knowledge of historical company performance into interactive, query-able 3D Landscapes, Retrieved on 16 September 2012 from . Read More