INT BUS ENV WEEK 11

Running head: ANALYZING AVIS COMPANY 1

ANALYZING AVIS COMPANY OGUZ 9

Analyzing Avis Company

Name: Burak Oguz

Date:11/26/2017

Introduction

From the Assignment 1, the company that Alamo Company is proposing to enter a joint venture with is Avis Rent a Car System, Inc. Avis is a car rental company from America and which has its headquarters in Parsippany-Troy Hills in New Jersey. The company has two units of operations under its umbrella called Avis Budget Group. These units are Budget Truck Rental and Budget Rent a Car.

Avis Vision

Leading the industry by defining service excellence as well as creating unmatched customer loyalty

Avis Mission

Ensuring a stress-free car rental experience by offering high-quality services which cater to the individual needs of the customers…always portraying the slogan “We Try Harder” with caring, knowledge as well as passion for excellence.

Avis Values

Integrity

Respect for the individual

Quality team work

Growth and profitability

Community responsibility

Products and Services

The products offered by Avis include TravelTab Adventurer, SiriusXM Satellite Radio, GPS Navigation, and Child Safety Seats. TravelTab Adventurer is a product which gives customers an international calling, unlimited WIFI, as well as navigation. SiriusXM Satellite Radio is a radio product which is fitted in Avis vehicles. This enables the customers to enjoy commercial-free music originating from almost every genre, favorite sports, comedy, news, entertainment, as well as exclusive talks. GPS Navigation is a product which lets the customers to find every destination comfortably and with ease. GPS Navigation enables the customers to look up addresses as well as has attractions at the touch of the button perhaps to give them excellent service. The GPS Navigation also allows the customers to pair destination with their mobile devices via Bluetooth for hands-free calling. On the other hand, Child Safety Seats are product that Avis provides for all ages which follow LATCH, which is a Federal Motor Vehicle Safety compliant standard system.

Services

The services offered by Avis include Affordable One-Way Airport Rates, Pay Now Rates, Avis App, Avis e-Toll, Fuel Plans, Triplt, Long Term Rentals, Avis Preferred Select and Go, as well as Best Rate Guarantee. Affordable One-Way Airport Rates is a tep by step guide on how rent a car in a smart way as well as take advantage of the Avis’ low rates in airport one-way car rental services. Pay Now Rates is a service which allows the customers to get discount for various Avis locations by paying online at the time of reservation. This is just another way that the company allows the customers to save money by booking online. Avis App is a service which allows the customers to book as well as manage Avis Car Rental direct from their phone. The customers are required to download Avis App from the Google Play Store or Apple Apps Store and proceed to use it. Avis e-Toll is a service which allows the customers to find more about special services which are available which they rent a car with Avis. Through extra services such as Avis Preferred and Avis Cares, the company is able to offer an array of extras to its customers. Fuel Plans is a service through which Avis is able to offer a variety of convenient car rental fuel plan options to its customers. I order to enjoy the benefits of Fuel Plans, the customers are required to pay in advance for a full tank of gas and deliver the car back empty or even purchase a full tank prior to returning the car to the required drop-off destination. Avis Preferred Select and Go gives customer the freedom to select vehicle which is perfect for them and their trip at about 50 airport points across the United States and Canada. Best Rate Guarantee is a service which saves customers time to avoid shopping for browing for lower rates.

Main Lines of Business

The main lines of business for Avis include rentals cars for Small and Mid-Sized Business, production and Entertainment Rentals, Meeting and Group Car Rentals, as well as Car Rental Affiliate Program.

Commitments that the Company Must Take

Financial Commitments

Alamo Company needs to ensure that it has adequate financial resources which will enable it meet the requirement for the joint venture with Avis. Alamo may consider ploughing back most of its profits. This will be the convenient and low cost way of raising the required finances for the expansion activities. The ploughed-back profit is the profit which, instead of all of it given to the shareholders as dividends, is preserved for helping the company funds its investment projects. In this case, the ploughed back profit has not interests as compared to loans from financial institutions and hence allows the company to easily fund its activities conveniently without worry.

Further, the company needs to hire competent management team which will spearhead the growth of the company. The competent management team will utilize the resources efficiently and this will help the company save money in most projects. This is part of prudent financial management which the company must commit itself in.

Human Resources Commitments

In order for Alamo to successfully enter in a joint venture or partnership with Avis, it requires to have competent, talented, skilled, and motivated work-force. This is because, in any company, the employees are the most important assets. As such, the company requires ensure that its recruitment process is through so that it gets only the qualified candidates for the job. The training may go a long way in ensuring that the existing employees are given necessary skills to enable them handle the increased workload.

Operations Commitment

The main operations that the company requires to engage in are in the area of supply chain management. Alamo requires to establish strategic relationships with the suppliers in order to ensure that it has the products to the customers on time. It requires to manage the players in supply chain by ensuring that they have effective communication.

Marketing Commitments

Alamo must engage in thorough marketing activities in order to ensure it realizes the true benefits of the joint venture. The marketing activities will ensure that the company reminds the existing customers of the products and services it offers as well trying to reach new markets. Conducting market research will help the company be able to track the changing nature of the customer needs and wants and be able to respond accordingly to satisfy the customers. The company may consider utilizing social media in order to ensure that it reaches more customers. The current consumers are empowered mainly through online and social channels and have almost limitless alternatives on their path to purchase. Today, it is very common to find consumers explore through the aisles of “brick and mortar stores”, and then proceed to discuss their options with their peers via social media networks and finally look for best price online. It is my opinion that internet is a disruptive innovation that has build a consumer base that is most informed, socially engaged, and demanding. The is an industry that is so maturing that the consumer power is influencing the course of unlike before where the manufacturers would hold the consumers captives.

Product development is another marketing activity that Alamo may engage in. Usually, organizations will engage in a variety of methods to develop the product along its life cycle to ensure that it remains relevant in the market. It should be noted that the value that a given product gives to a certain product or service is what makes the customers to continue buying it (Schein, 2009). For this reason, organizations will try to develop their products or services so that they can appeal to the hearts of the customers.

In order to meet the marketing commitments, the strategy that the organization will take it to adapt through market research. Market research will allow the organization to ensure that it tracks the needs and wants of the customers and hence be able to meet them accordingly. The market research requires to be carried by the organization regularly as the needs and wants of the customers keep on changing. This is very important in ensuring that the organization has the necessary insights which will enable it to come up with necessary products and services that will enable it to earn competitive edge in the industry. This is because meeting the needs and wants of the customers is the most important thing in ensuring that the organization beats the competition.

Minimizing Foreign Exchange Risk

Foreign exchange risk relates to risk associated with how the domestic currency exchanges with foreign currency. The best option for Alamo to use in order to minimize foreign exchange risk is hedging. Hedging is situation where an organization buys options and futures since these investments have regular returns. This means that the organization will be protected when there is a foreign exchange risk.

Leveraging on Politics and Laws

The company may leverage on risks and laws through lobbying with law makers and complying with existing laws. Complying with existing laws will preserve the reputation of the company. Going forward, the company requires to lobby with the law makers or government to ensure that the policies and laws that will be made favors the business environment in the country.

Approaches in Dealing with Proposed Deal

Alamo may consider the negotiation approaches to ensure that it gets the best deal with Avis Company in the joint venture. In negotiation, one party may have interests that are selfish in nature. In other words, one part may want always to push the other party to a corner. For this reason, negotiation has to be a win-win situation to both parties and this is a challenge. This is because the parties have to compromise their interests in order to ensure that they have a win-win situation. Communication is another challenge in this exercise (Windschitl, 2002). It is important that there is effective communication between the parties negotiating. However, in most case, one party may want to be seen to dominate the arguments. This will make the other party to feel not engaged (Rubin & Brown, 2013). As such, this will lead into the ineffective communication.

Negotiation refers to a process two party’s bargain over something like a contract ((Windschitl, 2002). This mostly happens in a commercial setting where a business activity is being undertaken, and there is a need for the two parties to come with an agreement. In order for one to become a good negotiator, there are a several key steps one should understand, these factors are discussed as follows in these paper. To start with, one should plan for the negotiation with open questions model. This model requires for more information from the opponent. This model gives the host an added advantage, as such, the opponent finds it hard to evade question asked and thus situation is controlled by the host. For this reason both parties should therefore prepare adequately in advance, as this facilitate them with information required, and also the assumption to make concerning other party and its activities.

References

Rubin, J. Z., & Brown, B. R. (2013). The social psychology of bargaining and negotiation. Elsevier.

Schein, H. (2009).Organizational Culture and Leadership.(3rd Ed,). San Francisco, Jossey-Bass: Wiley.

Windschitl, M. (2002). Framing constructivism in practice as the negotiation of dilemmas: An analysis of the conceptual, pedagogical, cultural, and political challenges facing teachers. Review of educational research, 72(2), 131-175.