The Objectives of Thomas Cook Plc - Essay Example

?Analysing Tourism and Hospitality Organisation Table of Contents The Objectives of Thomas Cook Plc and the Methods Used To Accomplish Those Objectives 3 2. External Environmental Analysis 7 3. Roles of Various Internal and External Stakeholders of Thomas Cook Group Plc 13 4. Process and Importance of Marketing Audit 16 5. Resources of the Organisation 19 Conclusion 24 References 25 1. The Objectives of Thomas Cook Plc and the Methods Used To Accomplish Those Objectives Tourism is determined to be one of the chief industries worldwide. It is also considered to be one of the major divers towards the development of economic conditions and employment opportunities for both developing and developed countries in today’s modern day context. In UK, tourism and hospitality industry is regarded as a major business sector assisting towards the development of the economic conditions (Kapiki, 2012). Forecasting the advantages of rapidly growth demand in this particular sector, Thomas Cook Group Plc commenced its business operations in the year 1841. The company is one of the renowned and oldest British companies offering services in relation to leisure travel to the global customers. The company is observed to be serving around 23 million customers on an annual basis. The company is mainly focused on the process of transforming its business activities with the objective of offering customers with more innovative and superior quality services or innovative products. The major objective of the company is therefore confined to attract customers or tourists to have a better tourism experience. The company seeks that its customers are offered with innovative and quality services. The ultimate aim of the company is to meet as well as provide services or products beyond the expectations of its targeted customers. The company with effective management of business operations has planned to improve profitability and reduce operational costs [1] (Thomas Cook, 2012). In this regard, Thomas Cook has planned and implemented various strategies with the intention of accomplishing the determined objectives or aims successfully. The company has developed strategies in relation to hotel concepts, ‘products and service innovation’, ‘single customer gateway’ and ‘execution supported by brand and technology’ which are being elaborated below. International Hotel Concept Thomas Cook has undertaken this strategy with the intention of expanding and developing its business operations in the international market segments. Moreover, the company has adopted this strategy in order to collaborate with various international hotels. This strategy is expected to assist the company in offering better quality services and room facilities to customers. The company possesses various hotel concepts in continental as well as Northern European regions which include Sunwing, Smartline and Sentido. Furthermore, these hotels’ concepts are planned to be expanded in order to provide better accommodation services to customers [2] (Thomas Cook, 2013). Product and Service Innovation Thomas Cook has devised plans as well as strategies with the objective of offering better trusted and innovative products and/or services to its customers. The company, with the assistance of this strategy, aims at providing better packaged holiday programs for travellers along with better accommodation and travelling services. The customers are also offered with ‘high tech services’ to assist its customers in developing community relationships, where customers can share their experiences and investigate about the services delivered by the company. In this context, the company expects that customers will be able to identify the best services offered and will subsequently, motivate customers to make repeat purchases; thus, retaining the loyal buyers [2] (Thomas Cook, 2013). Single Customer Gateway Thomas Cook has formulated and adopted the strategy of Single Customer Gateway with the intention of facilitating customers to have access to a varied range of products as well as services. The main aim of the company is to be one of the leading operators as an on-line tour service provider. Additionally, the company has planned to reduce its online websites as well as services in order to invest more on offline advertisements. This strategy is also believed to facilitate customers to book their holiday packages with ease and at a cost-convenient manner deriving greater customer satisfaction [2] (Thomas Cook, 2013). Execution Supported by Brand and Technology As was mentioned above, the main objective of Thomas Cook has been concentrated towards offering customers with superior quality of products and/or services. The company with superior quality products and/or services has planned to improve its brand image in the global periphery. The company is identified to be one of the leading brands in leisure travel. The company has adopted latest Information Technology (IT) initiatives with the intention of assisting customers to book tour packages efficiently in all market segments. The company, with the assistance of this technology, has also developed a multi-channel interaction system where the customers can book their tour packages via mobile, on-line stores and websites. The IT system of the company has also facilitated customers to interact with each other. Moreover, the company has been able to determine the preferences and feedbacks of the customers [2] (Thomas Cook, 2013). Apart from these strategies, the company is also seemed to adopt other methods with the objective of improving the performance of the company. The management of the company seeks that the skills of the employees or team members are developed continually and are focussed on the objectives and performances of the company. The employees are promoted on the basis of their performances with due significance that better management practices are cultivated amid employees in order to eliminate silos. The company is also focused on controlling operating costs and improving profit generation with the intention of stabilising business activities for enhanced performances. The business operations of the company are also restructured for offering customers with better services and/or products [1] (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2013). Thomas Cook, with the implementation of these strategies or methods, has been observed to be competent enough in enhancing its performance to a great extent. For instance, the transformation of the UK business was reported to have improved the profitability level of the organization substantially. It was also forecasted that subjected to the continuation of the positive economic transformation in its home country, the company will generate a profit of around ?140m by the year 2014. Contextually, in the aftermath of the recession of 2008, the company has been taking aggressive retrenchment and cost control measures which has led to the discontinuation of more than 100 stores. The company has also eliminated its silo culture with the intention of enhancing its operational efficiencies. Additionally, the company has implemented advanced IT systems in its business activities with the aim of reducing paper usage for its various operations as a drive towards environmental sustenance. The adoption of advanced technology i.e. IT in its operation have assisted the company developing better relationship with customers through online social communities. In this respect, the company has also developed its brand image. The customers are able to access various services and/or products through the websites of the company. The company in the North American market segments has aligned with WestJet with the aim of offering more competent and comfortable travel services to customers in those segments in a flexible manner. In the Russian and French markets, restructuring process was adopted by the company with the intention of changing its management structure and thereon, to ensure greater customer satisfaction through enhanced service delivery processes [1] (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2012). The EBIT of the company has also increased by ?58.7m within six months ended 2013. The gross margin is observed to have improved by around 20.7% rise within the six months ended 2013 as compared to the previous year [2] (PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, 2013). Thus, it can be observed that the company with the adoption of the aforementioned strategies has been able to enhance its performance to a certain extent. 2. External Environmental Analysis Porter’s Five Forces Model Five Forces That Shape Industry Competition (Harvard Business School Publishing, n.d.) Bargaining Power of the Buyers Demand in package holiday business is extremely elastic. Customers in this particular industry also have better access to adequate information sources, which offers them with greater control on price of the services as they are able to compare and decide upon the most convenient service at a lower cost (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). Hence, it can be affirmed that bargaining power of buyers is high in the global as well as British tourism and travel industry which is the principle target market for Thomas Cook. This particular aspect can also be observed to raise the challenge for Thomas Cook to attract customers in a competent manner. Bargaining Power of the Suppliers The suppliers of Thomas Cook comprise the global providers of goods and services for the tourism and travel industry. These goods and services range from accommodation facilities, fooding amenities, cultural activities and excursion along with transport activities among others. However, strong brand awareness, geographical diversification and wide spread scale of Thomas Cook and other big brands in the industry, confines the number of potential suppliers in the industry (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). This further indicates that the bargaining power of the suppliers persist at a lower degree in the global tourism and travel industry, rewarding a scope for competitive advantages to Thomas Cook. Threat of the New Entrants There are no major threats of new entrants to Thomas Cook owing to its leadership presence in the industry. Also, due to continually intensifying competition in the market and need for differentiation, small brands are observed to decide otherwise than penetrating the industry. However, threat of new entrants can be observed in terms of horizontal integration of large brands in the global context (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). Threat of the Substitutes Lack of the disposable income and the result of coalition government spending cuts are likely to alter consumer spending behaviour in the British tourism and travel industry, which in turn may impose strong effects on the competencies of Thomas Cook. As a result with a major shift in demand from luxury goods to inferior goods that are much affordable, consumers are likely to shift to local and cheaper service providers (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). This exhibits that threat of substitutes prevail at a greater degree in the tourism and travel industry, increasing the challenge for the company to a large extent. Rivalry among Competitors The travel and tourism industry occupies a large segment of the business marketplace and thus provides a lot of opportunities for tour operators. However, the competitive structure of the industry is observed to intensify on a continuous rate. Under such circumstances, a package holiday company requires discovering the finest fit between their individual skills, competencies and various resources and external market features to sustain in the industry for a long term. It is in this context that facilitating brand strength and appreciation has become too significant in determining the success of a tourism company against its main competitors (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). Apart from the above mentioned influencing factors, various other external environmental factors tend to influence the operations of Thomas Cook which can be analysed with the application of a PESTEL framework. PESTEL Analysis Political The UK travel & tourism industry has been growing at a rapid pace, which has currently emerged as a major success driver towards economic stability and thereon has influenced the Government of UK to reconsider the tourism tax proposals presently being considered with the Lyons Inquiry into the local government. Specific concerns, in this regard, comprise the proposed bed tax, which the industry worries will price in terms of reducing numbers of foreign and domestic guests in the UK (Lyons, 2007). Thus, it is quite likely that with the stable and favourable political conditions of the UK, Thomas Cook will be able to obtain greater cost benefits in executing its various tourism operations. Economic Economic factors seem to be the main concern for many industries related to travel and tourism, as they may influence profits, demands, prices and costs of the services being rendered to the global customers. Package holidays are an income elastic business; as income decreases or rises; it can have a significant effect on the demand. Consequently, looking ahead, most probable public sector cuts are likely to have a major consequence on the travel and tourism industry (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). Social With the gradual betterment of the customers’ purchasing power in the UK and a positive outlook towards Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), the social environment of travel and tourism industry in this particular region can be expected to witness a flow of both national and international tourism customers. Even in the global context, the rise of customer purchase capacity and lifestyle changes in emerging market all around the globe, is quite likely to influence the rising numbers of tourism customers in the preceding years (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). Technological Technology has swiftly become one of travel agents’ main weapons in the battle to stay ahead of the competition. Some technology advancement initiatives, often adapted by the tourism industries in the UK can be observed as the introduction of online check in for hotels, dynamic packing and new self-service check-in kiosks acquainted with user-friendly technology gadgets (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). For example, the free service delivered by the Thomas Cook is named as Thomas Travel Buddy which aims to deliver resort details and travel advices along with the football scores, news and weather reports to its customers. These free service centres are also utilised to build a direct connection with the customers in case they face any confusion regarding the services offered [2] (Thomas Cook, 2013). Environmental The travel and tourism business continues to be scrutinised for the environmental or ecological damages it has been causing. In response, the industry is structuring policies that will moderate the environmental impacts of tourism, although it has admitted that there is still a lot more to be done. Additionally, climate change effects because of global warming could have a crash on many UK holiday destinations imposing significant negative effects on the sustainable operations of the industry (Ministry of Tourism, 2011). Legal At the moment, UK holidaymakers who buy a package holiday through a package tour operator need to operate under the Package Travel Regulations, which ensure that if any of the firms, providing an element of the package, fail to deliver what they have promised to the customers, the organiser must make suitable alternative arrangements or provide a refund. In the case of packages including a flight, the organiser must have an Air Travel Organiser’s Licence (ATOL) administered by the Civil Aviation Authority. This scheme ensures that traveller’s get their cash back if the tour operator goes ruined (Penrose, 2011). Thus, rigid norms are followed in the UK concerning customer protection which can apparently have a significant influence on the company’s operations. 3. Roles of Various Internal and External Stakeholders of Thomas Cook Group Plc The tourism industry comprises a complex network of stakeholders and groups that have an interest in the development, management and marketing of tourism by a particular organisation. Notably, the industry partners of Thomas Cook, as internal stakeholders, tend to provide assistance in the form of consistent framework and advanced management tools for the company to stimulate developmental growth across its supply chain. As a part of its internal stakeholders’ group, employees are regarded to be the prime success drivers of the company. Their role can be identified as focussing customer service excellence, demonstrating real strength, passion and resilience for Thomas Cook along with ensuring fair and transparent execution of the strategies developed. Employees are also observed to help the organisation by the application of their expertise knowledge. On the other hand, government of the respective country, as an external stakeholder, plays an important role by introducing lower air fares and tourism friendly policies such as reduction in the rates of taxes and tariffs. Through their feedback concerning the services provided by the company, customers, another group of external stakeholders, tend to help the organisation to achieve its proposed goals with ease [2] (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). In the similar context, capital expenditure is a pre requisite condition for the success of any organisation. Thus, from this point of view, investors can also be regarded as vital internal stakeholders of the organisation. In addition, suppliers, who constitute another group of internal stakeholders for Thomas Cook, play the vital role to deliver the supporting services with quality assurance, in alliance with the vision of the company. Thomas Cook mainly operates in the travel intermediary section, made up of global travel agents and tour operators that accounted for ?94bn (26%) of travel spend in the year of 2011. In the travel market of the company, there are different segments such as travel intermediaries and direct suppliers. Direct suppliers are basically the hotels, airlines and cruise companies which sell directly to the customers. As much as the board construction of Thomas Cook is concerned, it has a major significant role in the development of the company. The company’s board is committed to continuously increase its risk management abilities. Working closely with the company’s top management team, the department of Enterprise Risk and Audit in Thomas Cook tends to make sure that the management of risk is further entrenched in the operational and strategic processes of the organisation. On the other hand, the internal audit system followed in Thomas Cook tends to contribute towards a comprehensive risk based combined assurance plan and frequently counsel the Board to ensure the efficiency of the operations and design of the control mechanisms executed within the organisation. The company is also dedicated towards promoting customs in which people will explicitly communicate risk to suitable levels within the Group and in which information on risks and the actions occupied to manage risks can be shared openly through an efficient communication process within its internal stakeholders primarily and external stakeholders under specific circumstances [2] (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). 4. Process and Importance of Marketing Audit Comprehensively, the marketing audit can be observed as a process for comprehensive assessment of the efficiency of marketing operations executed by an organization, from various perspectives. This particular process needs methodical evaluation of tactics, objectives, strategies, actions and organizational constitutions as well as the involvement of marketing professionals (Loya, 2011). Marketing Audit Process (Vana & Cerna, 2012) The above figure provides a flow of information from all external macro and micro environments as well as internal sources to the marketing audit function for processing. In this function, the marketing audit suggested to Thomas Cook, will maintain progressive, cumulative, and cost-effective information gathering process. The purpose of marketing audit can be identified to have a central or fundamental intelligence movement responsible for the collection, synthesis, analysis, interpretation and development of recommendations on all main marketing decisions taken by the company (Vana & Cerna, 2012). At the onset, judging the current market scenario, there is a requirement of assembling an overview of the company, its objectives and goals along with the recent challenges and growth opportunities identified as linked with the company performances. The critical ascertainment of the current customers is also mandatory to obtain adequate understanding of the customers’ preferences and buying behaviour trends. The company specific products and/or services along with the past marketing and business encounters of Thomas Cook also needs to be discussed in accordance with the customer buying trends to identify the gap and take requisite measures for the betterment of its marketing strategies. After the above progression, the major competitors of Thomas Cook should to be identified (Business Marketing Association of New Jersey, 2011). Marketing audit in Thomas Cook can be performed in two ways i.e. external audit and internal audit. Following an external audit process, external factors influencing the operations of the company can be broadly divided into three groups, the economic environment, the competitive environment and self-market environment of Thomas Cook. Such distinctions can assist the company in aligning its strategies more efficiently with the external market changes. In the internal audit system, Thomas Cook’s market shares, sales, profit margins, costs, marketing information research and effective marketing mixes can be evaluated from a critical point of view to rectify the underlying limitations of these strategies and confirm the ultimate accomplishment of the objectives determined (The Chartered Institute of Marketing, 2013). Marketing Audit Tools to Analyse Customers Profitability There are various marketing tools that are available for analysing the customers’ profitability. However, the most commonly used marketing audit techniques and tools, by global companies, throughout the marketing planning process to assess the marketing performances of a tourism and hospitality organisation include Customer Profitability Measurement (CPM) models are used. Two of the mostly applied CPM models or tools is the Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) framework as well as Customer Pyramid [refer to the diagram below], which tend to directly relate the company’s life cycle phase with the customers’ buying behaviour (Holm, 2012). Customer Satisfaction Pyramid (Besednjak, n.d.) With reference to the findings obtained from the above conducted PESTEL and Porter’s five forces analyses, it can be apparently observed that Thomas Cook is striving significantly to yield customer trust which signifies the initial phase of the customer pyramid. Over its past performances, the company has been able to draw attention from a large number of loyal customers which exhibits that a considerable amount of trust and reliability is possessed by the global customers concerning Thomas Cook’s services. With its promotional strategies and also with its stakeholder engagement initiatives, the company has been rendering due significance towards keeping the customers informed regarding the services offered along with the other socially responsible tasks taken by the company in a timely manner. Thomas Travel Buddy can be illustrated as the best example in this context. The company has also been quite effective in deciphering adequate care and concern towards the interests and preferences of the customers which can be apparently observed with reference to its initiatives in aligning its strategies with the market changes on a continuous basis. The marketing strategies of Thomas Cook also tend to address the emotional aspects of customer satisfaction making the experience as comfortable and convenient as possible for its customers in the worldwide. 5. Resources of the Organisation Thomas Cook aims at offering superior quality and innovative services to its customers possessing varied demands and buying behaviour traits. It has been owing to these market variances that the products and/or services of the company have been developed in accordance with the requirements of the targeted customers. In compliance to the variances observed in the customers’ preferences, the company offers a variety of innovative products and/or quality services. Moreover, the company, with superior quality products and/or services, aims at attracting a larger base of customers in the global periphery. The diverse product line has also been assisting the company in offering flexibility as well as vivid choices with regard to tourism services to its customers [3] (Thomas Cook, 2013). The ‘Unique Selling Proposition’ (USP) of the company is identified from its brand image and business model on the basis of which, operations are executed. The company is recognised as one of the leading brands in tourism industry on a global context. The major aim of the company has been to improve its business operations with better profitability margin and to grow in international markets with the assistance of its innovative and quality assured tourism services. To be noted, in order to have a better control on its resources, the worldwide operations of the company and its franchises are managed from headquarter in a centralized form, although communication flows from both the ends, i.e. top-bottom and bottom-top. The company seeks that business operations are executed in accordance with a framework in am uniform manner. There are four elements in the framework of the business model which include people, community, environment and marketplace. Therefore, the company intends to assure that its strategies are well-aligned with the external market changes and with its organizational vision as well as mission. When concerning effective resource allocation strategies, the company also tends to ensure that the employees of the company are provided with adequate training assistance in order to improve their skills so that they are able to execute their tasks effectively. Various policies as well as procedures are also devised by the company following its frequent market audit processes with the intention of ensuring that the strategies are executed in an ethical manner with due regards to environmental and social responsibilities. Moreover, the company aspires to develop and preserve a better relationship and trust with its suppliers with the intention of enhancing its business operations worldwide in a sustainable manner. Employee engagement in its decision making process and community engagement initiatives are also considered as a vital aspect in Thomas Cook’s leadership approach [3] (Thomas Cook, 2013). The company currently employs around 31,000 employees in almost 21 countries. In order to improve the performance and competitiveness of the company, employees are identified to be playing a leading role in Thomas Cook. The objectives of the company therefore are transparently conveyed to the employees so that they are able to execute their operations accordingly by aligning their individual objectives with that determined by the company. Additionally, the company’s growth process also attempts to empower employees on the basis of fair performance appraisal systems. Moreover, the company management executes a two way communication method where employees are free to convey their concerns and development ideas regarding organisational progress to the management team. Additionally, a 360 degree appraisal system is followed in Thomas Cook in order to have a continuous audit of the managerial strategies applied by the company. Accordingly, the employees are praised on the basis of their performances with various rewards including bonus allowances and promotional pay hikes as well as other form of empowerment among others. The employees perform their activities with trust in order to ensure that the operations of the company are executed ethically. The major objective of the employees is to execute tasks in accordance with the objectives of the company [2] (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). Thomas Cook conceives that diversity is vital inside organisation for the success of business operations and performances. The aim of the company has therefore been concentrated to meet the requirements of diverse cultures in order to effectively execute its operations amid 21 countries. The employees as well as suppliers of the company comprise a diverse culture. The management of the company thus attempts to ensure that discrimination practices are avoided on the basis of gender, race and nationality among others. Contextually, the main objective of the company is to ensure that employees are served in a fair and justifiable way. In this respect, by fostering better culture within the company, the company aims to ensure that better management practices are maintained. Thus, the company, with effective business principle, is able to manage risks as well as opportunities proficiently. In this context, the management of the company can make effective decisions which will assist it in accomplishing its determined objectives successfully, which can be observed as much concentrated on preserving its sustainability in the aftermath of the recessionary period in the global as well as in the European region, rather than aiming at expansion. It is in this context that with the identification of risks as well as opportunities, the company has been able to formulate appropriate policies and strategies through the assistance of which it has been able to accomplish the preferences and demands of its customers worldwide. A better cultural business environment hence shall facilitate in improving the communication system or process within Thomas Cook. With effective communication, appropriate information in relation to opportunities as well as threats can be communicated to the appropriate authority within a shorter time span rendering greater control to the management in ensuring that the strategic execution processes are effective and transparent enough. On the basis of this information, the management can make plans for a sustainable development of the company, both in national as well as international market segments [2] (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). The Board members of the company further seeks that risks are managed efficiently in order to improve the overall organizational performance in the global context. Risk management is identified as an important process in the management practice of the company. With effective management of risks associated with its business operations, the company is likely to mitigate the challenges in a more competent manner, ensuring enhanced performance and profit generation through effective resource allocation. The company is also observed to undertake transformation processes in its business activities with the objective of improving its operational efficiencies in accordance with the external environmental changes. The company with the assistance of transformation process has planned to mitigate silos culture and enhance its profitability margin which further requires tactful and effective change management approaches within the company [2] (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). The company is also identified to be devising policies as well as strategies with the intention of sustaining a better environmental condition which in turn can yield the recognition of a socially responsible corporate citizen to the company and thus, enhance its brand value as well as sustainability. The company has been observed as invest in acquiring better fuel efficient aircrafts in order to reduce carbon emission. Furthermore, the company has also adopted policies to minimise wastage of resources by using recycle elements. In this context, the company has used paperless resources such as e-documentation in order to reduce printed brochures and paper materials. Furthermore, the company has adopted various strategies in its operation with the intention to develop its targeted marketplaces and communities on the whole [2] (Thomas Cook Group plc, 2012). Conclusion Thomas Cook is one of the top travel service providing companies operating in the global context. The objectives of the company have been concentrated towards offering superior quality services to its customers with the expectation to improve the performance and its profitability margin thereon. However, in the current market scenario, the company has been focused towards its goal of sustainability rather than emphasising its expansion on a priority basis. In order to accomplish these objectives, the company has adopted various strategies or plans which include transforming business activities, reducing operating cost and improving cash liquidity among others. With the assistance of these strategies, the company has achieved its goals of sustainability to a certain extent wherein it expects to achieve its target by 2014 completely. The strategies developed and implemented by Thomas Cook can be apparently observed as formulated on the basis of industry fluctuations and business situations along with its vision and mission. Through the above analysis, it has been ascertained that the business conditions is becoming gradually favourable for the company which however, requires continuous monitoring and effective managerial interventions. One of its major strategies in ensuring sustainability has been its due focus on stakeholder engagement as Thomas Cook envisions that the stakeholders of the company play a significant role towards effective management and performance of business operations. References Besednjak, F., No Date. “The Customer Satisfaction Pyramid”. The Training Source. [Online] Available at: http://www.acca.org/Files/?id=807 [Accessed June 23, 2013]. Business Marketing Association of New Jersey, 2011. 8 Steps for Conducting a Marketing Audit. Home. [Online] Available at: http://www.bma-nj.org/blog/8-steps-for-conducting-a-marketing-audit/ [Accessed June 23, 2013]. Harvard Business School Publishing, No Date. The Five Forces That Shape Industry Competition. Resources. 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[Online] Available at: http://www.thomascookgroup.com/developing-a-group-wide-vision-and-strategy-along-with-some-ambitious-aims-for-2020/?from=2 [Accessed June 24, 2013]. Vana, K. & Cerna, L., 2012. The Marketing Audit as a Method of the Evaluation of the Marketing Plan. Research Papers, pp .131-136. Read More