MANAGEMENT DEVELOPMENT AS PART OF
DEVELOPING THE STRATEGY OF THE
BUSINESS
Introduction
Management development is the practice by which
managers or company administrators gain the
knowledge of improving their proficiency not only to
profit themselves but also for good of the organization
as a whole.
The skills acquired from management development is
the key word here, they determine the life line and
prosperity of any business. For any business to be
successful it needs to have good managers who have
experience and skills that can enable it together with its
employees attain the goals set forth. (Sui-Pheng &
Khoo, 2001 p.105-111)
A Human resource manager has a duty to mobilize the
resources available and identify opportunities available
and invest the available resources thus bring a positive
change to the business.
One is also entitled to identify the threats that are in the
market that can hinder the business from achieving its
goals whereby after noting the opportunities and threat
in the market and the solution to threats, he then puts
the resources available and the capacity into use.
(Brayden, Teppo &Whetten 2010, 1-20)
Linking Corporate and human resource strategies
Management development has a direct impact on the
corporate strategy adopted by an organization to ensure
it gains a competition advantage. In any business,
competition is healthy as it encourages businesses to set
strategies that will enable them survive the race. There
are several things that the management of every
business must put into consideration for its smooth
running in the market. (Drath, 2001, p.144)
The management must always ensure that they have set
their strategies in a manner that will enable them
overcome all the obstacles that they might meet in the
process of doing their daily duties.
As a manager, one must be in a position to think ahead
and see beyond what is happening at that particular
time, meaning that a manager must be able to forecast
and budget. The following model explains how the
management has to plan the running process of a
business and ensure that it’s in a position to stand on its
own, survive the threats and yield profits.
Threats
Figure I: Illustration derived from Herold & Fields
(2004, 91)
A business has several threats, which include political,
technological, and economical issues. State affairs can
interfere with the way business operates through
subsidies, increase or reduction of taxes.
Technology can also affect business especially when
new technologies have come up, which improves
efficiency and increases production but one cannot
change into them automatically hence affecting their
business. We also have economical Change which can
be caused by lack of raw materials and change in
demand. (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2007, p.71-
75)
To overcome the threats a business must have its
strategies which include the following;
• Cutting cost –this involves reducing expenses to
reduce the amount. Spent from the business to
avoid losses this can be due to change of
technology or even political.
• Diversity- a company also decides to work with
a range of products so as to survive the threats.
• Should they expand – to cub the challenges the
business may decide to expand to increase its
profit base hence they are not affected much.
While the company is still debating on basic causes of
action, the vital points one has to consider is to making
business more stable from those threats by recruiting
employees who are qualified, hence one has to select
the team carefully, train them well to ensure they suit
for the positions that they are being recruit for.
They need to organize themselves and be equipped with
crucial information to avoid setbacks. (Hogan &
Kaiser, 2005, p.17-23)
The company also needs to know its strengths and
weaknesses so that incase a problem arises; they will
know how to go about solving the problem and also
make use of available opportunities. Company must
always know its strong holds and work on how to solve
its weakness and in turn it will improve the
organizations performance. (Hyatt, 2010, p.54)
Role and responsibility of management
Management’s roles and responsibilities continue to
evolve over time from personnel management to
human resource hence gaining momentum as human
capital management. There are evolutionary changes
which are driven by multitude of factors both internal
and external of the organization.
Emphases today are on creating values by enhancing
human competences. Since leaders establish visions,
develop strategic intents and imperatives, they need to
be informed, flexible and prepare for challenges ahead.
Management development issues
Management development focuses on basics,
functional skills or specific business issues. It also
involves development of targets at specific business
issues which is increasingly important, what matters is
the speed of response of the management and the ability
to meet business needs.
Recent changes have demanded a more strategic
perspective from those who lead and manage
organizations, placing increased pressure on employees
to be more productive, innovative and change
orientated. This has impulse the look for a more
inclusive approach for man power development.
Forms of management
• Individual or collective: Here, management is
exercised on an individual basis, which means
one cannot consult anyone because they are
working as an individual and is liable to
decisions made within the business but on a
collective basis, they have to discuss and come
up with solutions or suggestions. It has several
people on the management board therefore, they
need to consult each other and come up with the
best solution. (Koontz & Weihrich, 2009, 255-
260).
• Internal or external: This is where management
can be done internally by those involved, this is
where the managers within the business
undertake full decisions without outside
consultation and must work together to solve the
situation at hand but sometimes they can seek
external help when need be hence external
management. In some occasions one can also
find that the business is externally managed.
• Mandatory or voluntary: There can also be a
mandatory management whereby it is there duty
to take full responsibility of day to day running
of the business. Voluntary is where one
volunteers to something though it is not a duty
assigned to him but it is something he/she can do
well.
• Central or devolved: This is where either
management is done at a central place, thus there
is a central place where all decisions are made as
compared to devolved one.
Merits of management
The human resource manager has various roles that he
must undertake which are important to the business,
they include:
Identification of what certain employee is good at. He
has to place every worker in a position that they are
good at in order to promote efficiency, quick production
and a healthy working environment also make work
easier since one does what he is best at hence enjoys
doing it. This is only achieved through offering some
training to the staff to identify their strength and
Weakness.
Ensure that employee’s innovation is taken into
consideration because, businesses needs new Ideas and
those from organization employees can be very
important and can increase organizations profitability
hence a manager should encourage innovation from his
employees.
In managerial position, one has to train their workers
for them to be efficient in their work and also to enable
them adjust to business life-cycle with ease. This also
enables smooth running of the business.
Managing business activities missions and while
ensuring achievement of goals are all duties of a
manager. The vision of the business sets an important
pace at which the business aims at achieving hence
meeting new demands in the market, a business must
always have a mission and a vision.
The learning climate also needs to be set within the
working environment so as to provide opportunities to
employees interested in learning new things which in
turn can help the company in future incase of changes
in the business environment.
The manager also needs to identify the market needs
and demands in order to determine what to produce,
therefore he must have the knowhow of what is needed
most in the market, produce it and make the sales.
The manager should be fully informed by mainly
communicating with people and more so, his
employees to enable him know what happens both
within and outside the business (Jung & Avolio 2000,
32-34).
Drawbacks
Although human management is important to all
businesses, sometimes this might bring problems or
issues that can bring some setbacks:
• It is the administration that provides information
of which one must follow and sometimes one
finds that this information is not very good for
the business but because it is the decision of the
top management it is implemented;
• In some occasions you find that the managers are
only told what to do but they are not involved in
the decision. The top management of the
business may decide to implement something
into the business and you find that you are not
even informed you are only told to implement it;
• Sometimes you also ask for opinions from
elsewhere and get feedback which at times
sounds good but in the long run u regret ever
using it;
• The manager becomes fully involved in the
process and sometimes their decisions may not
be the best. This becomes a problem when you
are not sure if what u want to done and you are
not in a position to ask.
Implication and Importance of management
In organizational development, the effectiveness of
management is one of the determinants of any business
success. Hence, investing in managing function can
have a direct financial impact to the firm because
managers are exposed to learning opportunities whilst
doing their jobs. In-house management development
programs give employees the chance to utilize special
leadership skills that may possess.
Hence, the staff will positively bring an improved
outlook to management as they will be acquainted to
the functioning of the organization in all the activities,
as against the managerial capacity that is tapped in from
the market. This casual learning process if formally
applied then it is known as management development.
Management development has to be an integral part in
developing the strategy of a business, because it
enhances the learner the capacity to manage and
organize the resources available and the staff so as to
achieve it objectives. Basically, management involves
planning, organizing, leading and coordinating
resources.
Most people are promoted to a managerial level
because they are good at their jobs but not necessarily
because they are good managers, therefore to develop a
business and ensure that it prospers a lot of training
needs to be undertaken. (Jung & Avolio 2000, 77)
Budgeting is another important function of a manager,
for one to set up a business and deliver, that is, it can
take care of all the expenses, pay employees and buy
materials necessary for production. A manager must be
in a position to balance all this and still be within the
budget.
Business involves staff members; they are the most
important in prosperity of a business. They need a good
manager who has Skills that can bring them together
and work as a team this in turn enables the business to
run smoothly and goals set are easily achieved. The
manager plays figurehead role.
All managers must undertake some roles of a
ceremonial nature. A manager always has to set an
example as the head that attracts and encourages the
client to want to associate with them. These functions
are essential to the smooth running of a firm.
The leadership roles must also be enacted by the
manager, this is leading directly. For instance the
manager has the responsibility for recruiting and
teaching his own employees. The leadership role covers
mutual engagements with subordinates, including
motivating them to work, encouraging communication
and influencing them positively (Koontz & Weihrich
2009, 216).
The liaison role encompasses the manager making
contacts within and outside the firm with various
partners and affiliates, such as employees, customers,
business affiliates and governmental bodies among
other stakeholders. The connection process is important
because it determines the final outcome of the business,
if well done can promote production and smooth sell of
products.
Managerial communication skills are important since
the manager is the middle figure bridging the top
management and the teams that are under his
supervision. The manager ensures that communication
channels run smoothly and relayed properly to avoid
misunderstandings and maybe conflicts in the
organization.
Hence, it is necessary for a manager to develop his/her
negotiating and client service skills, particularly in
cases where one deals with customers directly. In
addition, manager should be a good planner. For one to
attain long-term objectives and obligate to plans for
significant earnings, there should be clear
communication of the visions of the organization to
various stakeholders.
The manager breaks down and clarifies the goals that
each team should achieve, that involves learning and
planning out ways on how to enhance quality and at the
same time take into consideration of the costs. Setting
objectives and the commands allow for effectual time
management and savings on costs and resources (Jones
2010, 43-45).
A manager needs to be a good appraiser. One should
have the ability to ascertain and study a strategy or a
plan and make a decision on the best alternative aiming
to achieve a certain result. So the appraiser looks at the
significance, quality and worth before settling the most
viable choice.
One also needs to follow the progress of all the
subordinates’ activities and efficiency, evaluate them
and give response and advice wherever there is need;
this will always increase efficiency since one can tell
what one is good in hence assign each employee duties
according to what they do best (enhance specialization
and division of labor).
The manager should be able to provide satisfaction to
his employees. Employees are happy when they are
given with the essential production means and
resources and feel more secure if the management
emphasizes on their physical condition, protection,
hygiene and providing a conducive working
environment.
This increases the efficiency of the workers because
they are more comfortable and happy at work and serve
the clients better by providing quality services and
paying attention to their demands.
Management development is a “subject commanding
intense interest from organizations serious about the
personal development of their staff, and the ways,
which they can maximize their potential. If one is
informed of new research and in-company practice, one
are better placed to make appropriate decisions about
the introduction of new techniques in your own
organization” (Hyatt 2010, 241).
The decisions made in a business can either destroy or
make the business so whoever makes them must be
well informed and must have done some research and
is sure of the outcome before putting it into practice.
Management development is a necessary process for
any business with immediate returns on the company.
It involves establishment of a strong team of person
who are obligated to the development and improvement
of the business, however, the team needs inspiration
from the managers.
In the long-run, this leads to enhanced competence and
productivity as the managerial capacity in the
organization becomes stronger because of good team
building by the management. Management
development involves nurturing of skills such as
strategizing, putting things in order, managing and
mobilizing resources. Also all the employees should be
able to organize their work and direct their career paths.
Satisfied and self-driven employees can acquire
experience and other gains for their organization by
putting in place sound management development
programs. Management development is important in
any organization and organizations should be
encouraged to implement it.
References
Brayden, K. G., Teppo, F. and Whetten D. A., 2010.
“Perspective—Finding the Organization in
Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the
Organization as a Social Actor.” Journal of
organization science volume 21, issue 1, 1-20.
Drath, W. H., 2001. The deep blue sea: Rethinking the
source of leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Herold, D. M. and Fields, D. L. 2004. “Making sense
of subordinate feedback for leadership development.
Confounding effects of job role and organizational
rewards.” Group & Organization Management, 29(6),
686-703.
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. H, and Johnson, D. E.,
2007. Management of Organizational Behavior:
Leading Human Resources. New York, NY: Prentice
Hall.
Hogan, R., and Kaiser, R. B., 2005. “What we know
about leadership.” Review of General Psychology, 9(2),
169-180.
Hyatt, K., 2010.” The influence of the leadership
practice “challenging the process” on perceived
organizational support.” Proceedings of ASBBS 17(1),
351-361.
Jones, G., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and
change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Jung, D. I. and Avolio, B. J., 2000. “Opening the black
box: an experimental investigation of the mediating
effects of trust and value congruence on
transformational and transactional leadership.” Journal
of Organizational Behavior, 21(8), 949-964.
Koontz, H. & Weihrich, H., 2009. Essence of
Management an International Perspective. New Delhi:
Tata McGraw Hill.
Sui-Pheng, L. and Khoo, S.D. 2001. “Team
performance management: enhancement through
Japanese 5-S principles.” Team Performance
Management: An International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 7-8,
pp. 105-11.
Strategy and Structure in Business
Dynamic Environment
Organizations operate in a dynamically changing
environment. The changes can be organized or chaotic.
Kurkato (2007) argues that an organic structure works
with an emphasis on the integration and coordination of
organizational entities to achieve an organization’s
goals and objectives in a turbulent or dynamic
environment.
Simple and complex organizations fall into
decentralized organic and centralized organic
structures. Coordination of activities includes “direct
supervision, standardization of work processes,
standardization of outputs, standardization of skills and
mutual adjustment” (Clayton, Fisher, Bateman, Brown
&Harris 2005).
Therefore a structural approach in aligning an
organization strategy to an evolving and unstable or
turbulent environment remains a key component, as
identified in the Abernathy/Utterback model.
While previous organizations remained static and had
no innovative strategies to operate in such
environments, organic organizations were
characterized by decentralized approaches to
organizational structures and management with
identifiable and distinct levels of complexity.
Organizational strategy was projected on controls and
formalization of tasks. However, measures were put in
place to ensure organizations did not become wholly
mechanistic, a trend that could evolve as organizations
evolved.
Clayton, Fisher, Bateman, Brown and Harris (2005)
identify various elements in the change and evolution
process within an organization. According to Kurkato
(2007), organic organizations rely upon employee
initiatives and innovation in task performance.
Kurkato (2007) argues that in an organic organization,
employee tasks are not well defined and problem
solutions are a prerequisite of an individual. This also
depends on a variety of structures with different
characteristics. These include simple structures,
functional structures, divisional structures, professional
bureaucracies, innovative organizations, and matrix
structures.
According to Kurkato (2007), the Abernathy/Utterback
Model characterizes the change process in organic
organizations where the first phase, also referred to as
the fluid phase, is marked with a turbulent market,
characterized with product innovation to fit the
changing trends in a changing market.
Innovation and change in a dynamic environment place
emphasis on individual skills and abilities in task
execution. According to the model employees in an
organic organization identify available opportunities
and execute them according to their abilities and skills.
The fluid phase of the organization is marked with a
lack of standards, procedures, and well-defined policies
in aligning an organization to changing market and
product trends. The operational environment is
characterized by fluid and flexible approaches to
product innovation, while competition remains low
with little or no direct competition.
Change in Technology
According to the Abernathy/Utterback Model changes
in technology and approaches to organizational
evolutions rely on managers as change agents.
However, approaches to organizational change vary
depending on the type of organization and stage of
evolution.
Entrepreneurial organizations are characterized by
centralized management and lack of standardized task
execution. However, such organizational structures are
more suited for small industries and organizations.
Leadership solves problems on a one on one basis.
Overcoming Mechanistic Drift
According to the Abernathy/Utterback Model the
transition stage for an industry is characterized by
architectural approaches to product innovation.
Products are mass produced.
The strategy at this stage is to gain a competitive edge
on competitors and market dominance. Kuratko, D.J.
(2007), this stage is characterised by a formal
organizational structure with mechanistic and rigid
processes. Kuratko (2007) argues that organizations at
this stage are characterized by task specification, and
specialization and an inherent mechanistic
characteristic drift.
A company starts to gain a broader market base while
product innovation, with the objective of dominating
the market, remains the key strategy and dominant
factor. At this stage tests are done on an organization’s
design to ensure alignments to its strategy. These tests
include fit tests which examines issues of a marketing
strategy, corporate-level activities, organizational
responsibilities, and constraints.
These ensure an organization remains in track and
keeps it from drifting into a mechanistic organization.
In addition to that, these tests are valuable measure in
preventing organizations from mechanizing
themselves. Organizational executives continuously
apply other tests such as good design tests which help
align it to its culture, flexibility and efficient
communication.
Organizational executives continuously design and
introduce new changes appropriate with new trends in
the operating environment. At this stage, industries do
not introduce new products, but maintain original
products but with characteristics and features which
apparently remain the same across a company’s similar
product range. Kuratko, D.J. (2007) argues that
Abernathy/Utterback model emphasizes on dominance
where monopoly and intellectual property rights act as
sources of revenue for an organization.
While standards are not rigid, product development
focuses on product enhancements and market
domination. An Industry like Microsoft used its
dominant position in the market to competitively stay
and gain a strong position in the market when it
introduced operating systems with graphical user
interfaces that were user-friendly and which were
tailored to dominantly address user needs.
Decision making in an entrepreneurial organization
follows structures that are not formal but which are
highly dependent on interactive approaches with a
critical emphasis on the available opportunities and
competitive threats. Asserts that “as environments
become more dynamic, threatening and complex,
organizations find competitive survival forces them to
become more entrepreneurial” (Kuratko 2007)
As organizations continue to evolve, organizational
executives continuously create standards against which
they apply tests of compliance for their organizations
(Elsevier 2010). The ability of an organization to design
products and services to meet people’s needs are a vital
aspect in identifying and determining whether a
product meets and reflects the people’s strengths in
terms of supporting them.
In addition to that, other tests include feasibility tests
which are designed to identify bottlenecks that impede
an organization in meeting people’s needs. Other tests
include specialized culture tests, redundancy hierarchy
tests and the accountability tests.
The Abernathy/Utterback model organizations evolve
and reach a specific phase with an emphasis on product
performance and cost-benefit analysis. At this phase,
the company specializes on standardized products.
Incremental integration of quality and value addition
are important elements at this stage. Competition
remains oligopolistic, while threats from competitors
continually disrupt product innovations.
Other Models
Deducing from the above models and illustrations,
other models tend to concur on the observed change in
organizational structure. One of the comparisons is
based on the Westbrook Stevens model, which
constitutes three phases of organizational evolution.
The model identifies distinctive features in an
organization’s structure before a change is introduced,
during a change, and after a change. A critical analysis
identifies all changes in the Abernathy/Utterback
model as inherent in the Westbrook Stevens Model.
These elements include dynamism, organizational
hierarchies, the environment, and product innovation.
The above model illustrates the different phases
through which an organization evolves and offers a
comparative analysis to the Abernathy/Utterback
model.
References
Clayton, B. Fisher, T. Bateman, A. Brown, M. & Roger
Harris, R. (2005). Organizational Culture and
Structure. Web.
Elsevier, B. V. (2010). Journal of Economic Behavior
& Organization. Volumes 74.
Kuratko, D. F. (2007) Structuring the Company for
entrepreneurship. Web.
Axel Springer SE: Corporate Strategy and Business
Environment
Introduction
Business organizations thrive in the challenging
markets using different business strategies. The
environment in which a business operates often
contributes to the strategies that a business organization
adopts. This analysis is a case of the Axel Springer, a
longtime German multimedia corporation that used
various strategies and operational techniques to survive
moments of high dilemmas entailing corporate
responsibility. Using the case of the Axel Springer, this
essay analyses the issues of corporate directional
strategy, generic business strategy, and elements of
functional strategy, while also providing
recommendations on its business environment. The
paper will use two business models: the Abella business
framework and the VRIO model.
Description of the Business Nature of the Axel
Springer
Abella’s business framework for corporate
development and corporate management identifies a
business through its corporate directional strategy, its
generic business strategy, and its functional strategy. A
directional strategy is a form of an investment strategy
where a company designs strategies for net short or net
long market position plans. Based on the historical
development and continued progress of the Axel
Company, the directional business strategy for Axel
seems to be the market neutral strategies that involve
balancing present business situations with certain
business changes, since it balanced paper-based media
with digital media.
The Porter’s generic strategies contain four major
dimensions that a business organization can incorporate
to ensure a continued survival in a challenging
environment. In terms of its generic business strategy,
Axel utilized the differentiation strategic plan that
involved creating various digital media communication
systems that boosted easy access to news and easy
access to knowledge sharing digital utilities. Functional
strategy involves selecting specific decision rules that
suit specific functional area of an operating business.
For the Axel Company, the dominant functional
strategies of the firm depended on financial stability,
proper marketing of its digital migration plans, and
proper scheming of the management.
SWOT and the Competitive Strategy
To understand the success of the Axel Springer, it is
important to consider an assessment of its business
environment using the SWOT business model, which
entails an analysis of the Strengths,
Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats of the
firm. The Strengths- the notable strengths that
contributed to the survival of the Springer Company in
Europe include its longtime market reputation, its
effective marketing techniques of the paper and digital
media, and its powerful management system that
effected innovative business strategies. A positive
reputation made enhanced trust among its consumers,
who willingly shifted from the paper-based media to
the digital media due to the established trust and
reputation.
In terms of Weaknesses, the company internally lacked
frameworks that could support the effective reduction,
reusing, and recycling of the hotly contested paper
material. Additionally, the company lacked policies
that would control the spread of digital content within
the company, even as the issue of digital content theft
prevailed. Such internal weaknesses made the
organization susceptible to external pressures that
targeted them primarily on issues of corporate
responsibility. In terms of the prevailing opportunities,
the digital media platform offered varied opportunities
where corporate irresponsibility deems uneasy to
expose. Moreover, the German consumers and other
European consumers remained enthusiastic about their
digital migration.
For the threats that presented themselves in the market,
Axel Springer was surviving in a hotly debated
business paradigm. Concerning the prevailing threats,
Axel Springer Company could not influence the
operations of the mobile phone producers, could not
afford an alternative material suitable for the paper
media, and could not influence the anti deforestation
campaigns that directly affected their market survival.
Additionally, since social responsibility of the digital
content primarily rested upon the authors, the threat
that Axel Company still had to counter was the growing
concern about the unethical content spread over their
platforms.
Competitive Analysis, Strategic Groups, & the
Perceptual Map
Apart from the quandaries associated with digital
media, Axel Springer was facing some imminent
competition from other digital publishing firms.
Among the leading competitors in the digital media and
communication realm, include the Hurbert Burda
Media Company, the Bauer Media Group, the
Bertelsmann Newspaper Publication Company, and the
Holtzbrinck Newspaper Company. These major
competitors are constantly providing business
challenges to the Axel Company in terms of the modern
newspaper business and in the development and
distribution of the digital content. The diagram below
is a perceptional framework concerning the above
competitive analysis.
Competitive Analysis.
Conclusion
Keeping track of the rising changes and setting up the
required strategies to adopt changes in a business
environment is what enabled the Axel Springer to
maintain its competitive advantage for several years.
Despite the growing challenges of ensuring that the
company observes the fundamentals of corporate
responsibility, the company has marveled through
ensuring that each arising issue receives an effective
plan. To recommend, Axel Springer ought to air the
issues of Congo environmental and ethics problems in
a bid to safeguard nature and ensure that other partners
in the mobile technology, who contribute to their
success, uphold corporate responsibility.
Analyzing Emirates Airlines’ Business Excellence
and Quality Management Strategy
Introduction
The government of Dubai set up The Emirates Airline
Company in 1985 by the Dubai government. German
Airline, its founder, supported the company (“The
Emirates Story” 1).The company has been recognized
in several ways. For instance, in 2007, it was noted to
be the number eight company in size within the world
market in regard with the international passengers
transported.
It is also recognized as the number five company within
the airline industry in terms of “the scheduled
international passenger-kilometers flown”
(“Leadership analysis: Emirates Airlines” 1). The
company is also recognized for being among the five
airline companies, which carry out their operations in
the whole “wide-body aircraft feel” (“Leadership
analysis: Emirates Airlines” 1). Beginning from the
time the Emirates began operating, they have been in a
position of gaining a competitive advantage within the
market.
The current leaders in this company are regarded as
being very influential and important people in the
organization and this is for the reason that they are the
people who ensure objectives are realized in the
company. Moreover, this company’s success is
attributed to their business as well as marketing
strategies that enable the company to stay ahead of the
competition in the industry (“Leadership analysis:
Emirates Airlines” 1).
In the present day, every business organization is
making an effort to employ strategies, which would
boost or sustain their competitive advantage within the
market and Emirate is one of them.
In this regard, a company’s management as well as its
corporate strategies give description of leading and
directing operations in the organization by “exhausting
their available resources extensively in order to attain
the organizational objectives” (“Leadership analysis:
Emirates Airlines” 1). The key competitors for this
company include British Airways, Qatar Airways, Gulf
Air Company, Deutsche Lufthansa, and Air France-
KLM S.A.
These companies are a big threat to Emirates Airline
(Safi 21). This paper is going to analyze Emirates
Airline’s business excellence and quality management
strategy. The aviation industry is also going to be
looked at and in addition, the paper is going to consider
competencies and potential sources of competitive
advantage for Emirates Airline. The last section is
going to present a summary of the discussion and
recommendations.
The Aviation Industry
The world aviation industry experienced calamities in
the course of the financial crises, with “more than a
score of airline bankruptcies, shrinkage in airline
networks and service levels and IATA adjusted its
estimates for 2009 net losses from US$11 billion” (Safi
7). Within the entire aviation sector, airlines underwent
contraction, serious price cuts; lose of employment by
workers in the sector.
As on one hand oil prices had been found to control the
initial half of the year 2008; on the other hand, the
second half of the same year was marked with recession
and it brought in a bleak depiction for the financial year
2009/2010 planners. The decreasing demand,
devastated consumer confidence and revenues of the
airlines reduced.
A reduction of fifteen percent within the world market
witnessed altered business patterns and this in turn
implied that there was cutting down of the travelling
budgets. Basing on the information provided by
Emirates Airline; the world aviation industry,
confronted with the need to carry out an investment of
about one trillion dollars in “new, fuel-efficient aircraft,
was confronted with a baking industry reluctant to lend
after the new collapse of the finance sector” (Safi 7).
Emirates Airline’s Key Capabilities and Resources,
its Competencies and Potential Sources of
Competitive Advantage
Emirates Airline undertakes its operations of a business
model of its own kind, marked by flexibility. Following
this, this company has been able to engage in bringing
reasonably priced pioneering products to the market
that are exceptional. Flexibility in the company’s
operations has made it possible for the management of
the organization to come up with the means of dealing
with the economic crisis.
Emirates’ business model “supports long haul flights
and the firm aims at connecting two points of the globe
via its twenty four hours Dubai terminal” (“The
Emirates Airline” 1). The model does not boost costly
short haul that usually reduces the companies’ earnings.
In relative terms, the “long haul” flights are less
expensive and this is because of the fewer stopovers,
which aircrafts make on their destinations. In addition,
the “long haul flights” have been bringing in more
profits to the company (“The Emirates Airline” 1).
The rate of recurrence of the long haul flights has
caused the company to turn out to gain more and
following this, the company has seen it to be pointless
to raise the level of fares. In whatever company, pricing
defines the competitive advantage of that company.
This implies that the success attained by Emirates
Airline results from low cost flights.
Moreover, the company has a large number of advisors
and innovative and creative managers who undertake
their activities “for the best interest of the airline” (“The
Emirates Airline” 1). The greatly inventive managers as
well assist in producing competitive products, which
mostly compete in a successful way with those offered
by the rival companies.
The company has also adopted the newest technology,
which they use in booking of flights. This has enabled
them to increase the level of customer service. The
level of client contentment has increased and this is a
result of bringing in internet booking as well as
improved communication with their clients before they
take up flights. A large number of the clients have been
in a position of moving from other airline companies
such as Singapore Airlines to the now well-known
Emirates Airline.
The Emirates Airline Company has as well been fitted
with “top-of-the-range flat screens to give the
passengers an exotic feel whilst flying aboard the
Emirates Airline” (“The Emirates Airline” 1).
Advanced technology has been utilized greatly in all
aircrafts that Emirate Airlines operates.
The travelers are satisfied with this and are ready to
travel in the aircrafts of this company because they will
have to enjoy the interesting experience while they are
travelling. Furthermore, the company utilizes the U.S.
dollar as the regular legal tender. The dollar’s
steadiness against other foreign currencies makes sure
that this company retains increased gains. In addition,
the United States dollar is suitable for all the travelers
not considering the nations they come from (“The
Emirates Airline” 1).
The company has also various types of airlines, which
it operates. This offers its clients an advantage because
they make a choice easily about which airline to travel
in. Every year, Emirates Airline buys new aircrafts and
this makes their airlines “to be relatively new and able
to meet the requirements by the Air safety bodies”
(“The Emirates Airline” 1).
The company’s aircrafts have not been involved in
accidents recently. This contributes greatly towards
restoring the passengers’ confidence in the company
and this makes the passengers to continue preferring
this airlines (“The Emirates Airline” 1).
Considering environmental concerns, Emirates Airline
has set up efficiency engines in all of its aircrafts and
this ensures that minimal amounts of carbon oxides are
released into the atmosphere. This move makes the
company’s flights to be environmental friendly. The
aircrafts that this company operates can move for one
hundred kilometers on just four liters and this makes
them to be considered as great fuel savers (“The
Emirates Airline” 1).
Emirates Airline’s Business Excellence and Quality
Management Strategy
Emirates Airline, as a great organization, “are spanning
a portfolio of more than 50 brands and employing over
50,000 employees for over 150 countries”(Safi 13).
The commitment that the company has to non-stop
improvement in the product is accomplished by the
continuing compulsion to undertake implementation of
higher efficiencies in all the technical areas.
Efficiencies transform into “cost savings” and
operations that are more environmental friendly
indicates the company’s business excellence (Safi 13).
It is reported that to support the increasing Emirates
fleet, the company made plans in 2010 to open “a
Technical Facility for maintenance” costing more than
five hundred and forty five million dollars (Safi 13).
It was also planned that a paint shop be set up in order
to be utilized in repainting the aircraft by applying the
latest technology paints which are able to reduce “in-
flight drag” (Safi 13). Fresh indicator received was
witnessed in the course of the year in, “1000th GE90
engine for Boeing 777 fleet, and 6000th Airbus
production aircraft in A 380” (Safi 1313).
Such support makes Emirate to the podium of their own
for “securing their future in an efficient way from
partnerships such as Boeing, Airbus, and Rolls Royce,
it describes the key excellence of the company for the
coming challenges” (Safi 13). Moreover, the fresh plan
that was put in place to open terminal 3 within the third
quarter of the year 2012 for the Dubai International
Airport proves to be another fresh level of business
excellence (Safi 13).
Safi reports that each year and each month, Emirates
have astonishing news regarding their fleet but the
company continues setting up this remarkable asset and
they put it in track (Safi 8). In the course of the financial
year 2009/2010, Emirates “took delivery of eleven
Boeing 777s and four Airbus A380s” (Safi 8). This
move made their fleet to increase to one hundred and
fifty two and one hundred and ninety four “aircraft on
order” (Safi 8). The company planned to “take delivery
of new aircraft at an average of one per month” (Safi
8).
The company also goes on negotiating with aircraft
producers to have more aircrafts. The Airbus A380 is
the final symbol of this company’s pioneering character
they refer to as ‘superjumbo’. The A380 goes on being
the banner on any fresh airport across the globe and
these include “Jeddah, Bangkok, Seoul, Toronto, and
Paris” (Safi 8). There was addition of these regions to
the A380 network, which already encompassed
Heathrow, Auckland, and Sydney (Safi 8).
It is also clear that the initiative taken by Emirates,
based on “the Oracle E-Business Suite, has integrated
the accounting, human resources, procurement, and
order management functions across the entire group”
(“Emirates Airline set to soar with Oracle” 1).This has
made it possible for over nine thousand employees to
have access to the main business applications as well as
information through the internet.
The company anticipates many measurable business
gains from the e-business project it has set up, within
and for its “client-and-partnership” departments
(“Emirates Airline set to soar with Oracle” 1). All the
company’s important information is currently
centralized in a single location. This has enabled the
company to deal with cross-sectional issues concerning
business. The management of the Emirates will have
one and full view of the whole company. This will
enable the process of making decisions to be fact-based
and timely.
Centralization and higher efficiency in the company’s
basic business functions is expected to bring about
reduced costs of operation leading to higher
profitability. Moreover, the new business processes that
are streamlined basing on the “Oracle E-Business
Suite” are anticipated to bring about higher levels of
efficiencies in the entire organization (“Emirates
Airline set to soar with Oracle”).
It is pointed out that “the optimization of customer
focus, reliability, and efficiency are three of the
overarching objectives in the diverse businesses of
Emirates Group” (“Emirates Airline set to soar with
Oracle” 1). To realize these objectives while managing
the company’s fast growth of profitability, the company
needed strong technological bases, which are supplied
by “Oracle E-Business Suite” in a unique way.
The travel as well as aviation industries are among
industries that are most competitive across the globe,
and the Emirates Airline has depended for a long time
on the greatly advanced technology to assist in
operating at the highest service levels (“Emirates
Airline set to soar with Oracle” 1).
Among the very important elements in the project was
to make sure that the entire company’s Information
Technology systems as well as applications would
bring and operate together “right out of the box”
(“Emirates Airline set to soar with Oracle” 1).
With the fresh e-business infrastructure, this company
has the most current and all-inclusive view of several
components including the logistical, financial and
human components of a variety of its functional units.
The information makes it possible for the company to
make a response to the fresh opportunities and
challenges promptly, and came up with the fresh and
improved ways to serve its clients and partners.
Conclusion and Recommendations
The Emirates Airline is a very successful company in
the industry. Its success is attributed to the effective
strategies that the company has put in place. The
company has been effectively capitalizing on available
opportunities to with the competition. The company has
very high business excellence.
Emirates Airline undertakes its operation of business
model of its own kind, marked by flexibility. Following
this, this company has been able engage in bringing
reasonably priced innovative products to the market,
which are exceptional. It has put in place an effective
quality management strategy. Although the company is
relatively young within the industry as compared to the
competitors, its innovative power and good leadership,
it has released high growth since its inception.
Since competition in the market is increasing with each
coming minute, there is need to keep up with changes
and challenges that are continuously occurring in the
market. Emirates Airlines need to continue capitalizing
on the innovative power it has and also to reach new
markets. This will enable it to remain ahead of the
competition. The company needs to improve on its total
quality management strategy.
So far, the company has done well but it needs to do
more. The company needs to put in place very strong
technological bases. This will assist the company to
realize optimal customer focus, increased
dependability, and efficiency of information within the
organization. This will eventually lead to a greater
competitive advantage for the company.
Works Cited
Emirates Airline set to soar with Oracle E-Business
Suite, 2012. Web.
Leadership analysis: Emirates Airlines, 2007. Web.
Safi, Abedelazez. Analysis of luxury airlines Emirates
Airways and Competitors, 2011. Web.
The Emirates Airline, 2012. Web.
The Emirates Story, 2012. Web.
Vodafone: Strategy, Business Information and
analysis
Introduction
Vodafone is a United Kingdom based company
founded in the year 1984. It has invested in many
telecommunication companies, in different parts of the
world. This means that its services are used in many
countries in the world. It specializes in the provision of
telecommunication services such as the voice calls and
the messaging system services.
Currently, the company is ranked as the largest in the
world in terms of revenue. This is mainly attributed to
the idea that it has invested in other telecommunication
service providers in the world that have over the years
been making huge profits.
However, in terms of subscribers, Vodafone is ranked
second in the world after the China Mobile. As at 2010
it was estimated that the China Mobile Company had
over three hundred million subscribers.
The objectives of the paper
This paper will try to look at the Prahalad and Hamel’s
core competence issues and ideas. That is, the issues
that have been raised by the two people in regard to
strategic management in corporate companies and
organizations. The paper will further look at how
Vodafone has made use of these ideas to remain ahead
of its rivals in the United Kingdom and the world at
large.
Vodafone has been chosen as a case study for this paper
because it is the leading telecommunication company
in the world in terms of revenue and subscribers. In the
last section of the paper, the contributions made by
Prahalad and Hamel in the field of strategic
management shall be addressed.
This will involve looking at some of the available
theories so that the points can be well illustrated. In the
end, a conclusion of the points raised will be given so
that a common ground regarding this topic can be
achieved.
Prahalad and Hamel’s core competencies
According to these two people the company should
have a clear outline of what it wishes s to achieve in a
given duration of time. They say that this is very
important because it can be used to gauge the growth of
the company over time.
They have given examples of two companies, GTE and
NEC, which were the greatest rivals in the 1980s and
early 1990s. They say that NEC was a smaller company
compared to GEC in the early 1980s. However, due to
proper planning and organization, they have observed
by the late 1980s NEC had out done GEC in terms of
sales.
On the other hand, they argue that in order to remain
competitive in the market, a company needs to
diversify and improve on its products. Such a move
they argue may go a very long way in making sure that
the company remains relevant in this competitive
world.
For instance, we find that the NEC top management
decided to make semi conductors as its main core
product. As a result, the company had to make sure that
it makes the best semi conductor at a very low cost.
This went a long way in making its presence felt in the
market in spite of the existence of other players.
In order to have a competitive advantage over their
rivals, the companies should integrate multiple streams
of technologies and have in place a team that is able to
coordinate the production of goods in the company.
Moreover, they have claimed that production of smaller
items able to perform similar tasks makes the company
remain at a competitive edge than its rivals.
The company’s ability to establish an effective
communication is another way of establishing
competence. According to them, the company should
be able to know the needs of its clients. This can only
be possible if it has created an effective line of
communication with clients. Moreover, they have
observed that it is important for the concerned
companies to establish subsidiaries in different parts of
the world.
They argue that such a move will increase revenue
because there will be no tax levied on such goods. As a
result, the products will be cheap and hence accessible
to many. They have also noted that it is very critical to
establish a research and development center.
This according to them will help the company address
the needs of the people effectively. The research and
development centers are meant to help the company
develop goods and services that are easily accepted in
the market.
The employees who are the main players in the success
of the company should not be ignored. In fact, in order
to increase their input in the company they need to be
paid better wages than the rival companies. This will
reduce the chances of another company poaching the
experienced staff. Besides monetary issues, employees
should be given a good working environment.
Many companies have often blamed their employees of
laxity while it is the one that fails to provide the
necessary environment for them to work under. These
are some of the issues that some companies have
ignored. As a result, their company does not record any
significant growth as others who have adopted the
above strategy.
According to them, the core competencies are
characterized by a number of factors. Firstly, the
company must be prepared to provide a wide variety of
markets for goods and services. That is, by way of
diversifying products and services the company stands
a better chance of conquering the markets than its rivals
with a single product.
Secondly, the core competence of the company should
ensure that customers have a positive perception of
goods and services. The value of the products must
perceived by the customers just as designed in the
company. They should see the benefits of the designed
products. This means that the clients who buy such
products should enjoy the benefits that come with
purchasing such other than regret buying it.
Lastly, they have argued that core competencies should
be difficult to be imitated by other organizations.
According to them, a company cannot claim to have
core competencies if other companies can easily copy
and imitate what they claim to be their core
competencies.
They acknowledge that although the rival company
may copy some features, it should not be possible for
such company to get the inner details of such core
competencies.
The application of Prahalad and Hamel’s core
competencies in Vodafone
Based on what Prahalad and Hamel have said as the
core competencies of an organization, Vodafone has
adopted most of them, and this can be explain why the
company has remained as one of the major players in
the telecommunication industry. According to Scholz
(2008), the company has an every- year plan where its
growth is evaluated based on its performance in the
previous years.
He has observed that, the company’s top brass has to
make sure the goals set are realized by allocating each
department its own goals. The head of the department
further delegates the set goals to each person within his
or her department. This means that every person within
the company has set goals that have to be realized at the
end of the year.
As a result, each department is held responsible if has
not achieved the set goals. He argues that reports are
usually produced at the group level although the senior
managers can access them before other members. He
has noted that it is the duty of the senior managers to
call the departmental heads to enquire why the
established targets have not been met.
According to him, the company has recently introduced
a policy where its members of staff are paid bonuses at
the end of the year based on their performance in the
entire period. Therefore, there is increased competition
amongst staff as each tries to achieve the set
benchmark. This he says explains why the company has
continued to record significant growth year in, year out
in terms of revenue and customers base.
In addition, Vodafone has diversified its mode of
operations. This is according to Gruber (2005) who has
stated that mobile phone companies are known for
providing calling and messaging services. However,
Vodafone has moved a notch higher and has introduced
a number of services to its clients, not only in United
Kingdom but to the rest of the world where it operates.
For instance, he has observed that the company
introduced internet services to its customers with
internet enabled mobile phones. He argues that this is a
major milestone to the company because there will be
an increase in revenue from the internet besides the one
from voice calls and the messaging system.
In addition, he has stated that, the company has
introduced the fixed data internet service. This entails
providing internet services for use in the computers.
This according to him has not only forced the other
providers to lower their internet charges but also
increase their penetration in the market.
The company in the year 2007 introduced an exclusive
service to its clients operating under the Safaricom
brand in Kenya; it was the MPesa service where people
were able to send and receive money using their mobile
handsets. According to Amason (2011), this service
was designed by Vodafone in the United Kingdom but
was tested in Kenya where it has revolutionized the
mode of sending and receiving money.
This he says earned the company much respect all over
the world. He says that the company has continued to
be honored by many organizations for such an
achievement. The idea of diversifying the products and
services offered to the customers has been well
illustrated by Prahalad and Hamel.
According to Amason (2011), Vodafone has heeded to
the advice given by Prahalad and Hamel. He has
observed that the company has moved a step further
and introduced numerous tariffs to cater for the
different classes of people in the society. He notes that
this is a strategic move to capture the poor and the rich
in the society.
As a result, he has claimed that the company has
continued to record an increase in the number of
subscribers all the years it has been in operation. Its
rivals have been forced back to the drawing board to
look for modalities on how to counter the move by the
Vodafone Company. Therefore, he argues that having a
proper guideline on how the company should be
operated and run is very important.
Vodafone has created a good working environment for
its employees. This is according to Dodd (2002) who
argues that the company has a policy of rewarding its
top performing staff. He says that this is a positive
move aimed at improving the performance of the
employees. Moreover, the company has allowed its
employees who wish to further their studies to do so.
He says that the company has a policy of providing
financial assistance to such staff and consequently
promoting them once they are through with their
studies. This he says has enabled a good number of its
staff devotes all their energy to the company as a sign
of appreciation to what it has done to them. This has
gone a long way in propelling the company to greater
heights of success.
In order to meet and address the needs of its clients fast
and effectively, Vodafone has introduced a customer
care number where its customers can call and share the
issues and the problems they may be having. As
Prahalad and Hamel argue, it is very important to have
a communication line between the company and its
clients.
As Hitt (2009) notes, the company records all the
queries from its customers so that the problems raised
can be addressed immediately. This gives Vodafone a
competitive advantage because the problems raised by
one customer are addressed so that they do not recur in
future. As a result, subscribers will always be satisfied
with the kinds of services being offered to them by the
company and hence remain within the network.
This will prevent such subscribers from contemplating
any attempts of moving away from the network
because, the other networks may not be providing
quality services as the one being provided by the
Vodafone Company.
The company has also introduced a reward system for
its subscribers. This is according to Hitt (2009) who
says that the subscribers earns points depending on the
amount of airtime they spend calling within or outside
the network. He says that the company policy is to give
back to its customers.
He argues that after a subscriber has accumulated a
certain number of points he or she is allowed to redeem
them to earn talk time, free data or even free messages
across all networks within the United Kingdom. He
argues that all these services are offered so that the
company can retain and add in its customer base. He
argues that this service has been spread to all the
countries where Vodafone operates or its subsidiaries.
In addition, Amason (2011) has argued that the
company has also gone a notch higher and introduced a
service for its client to borrow credit in case they run
out of the one they have. This service has been
welcomed by many people because they do not have to
worry of running out of credit along the road. He says
that a person is required to dial a specific number to
select the amount he or she want credited to the mobile
handset.
However, he notes that this is not a free service because
one has to repay the advanced credit within a stipulated
time. An interest of ten percent is charged on every
credit advanced. This has made Vodafone make
millions of money from these advances.
As a result, it has continued to grow in terms of revenue
and has been ranked as the leading telecommunication
company in the world. We can say that Vodafone
Company has fully utilized the points given by
Prahalad and Hamel in the Core Competence of the
Corporation.
Evaluation of Prahalad and Hamel’s wider
contribution to the field of strategic management
Prahalad and Hamel have been regarded as the pioneers
of strategic management. This is because most of their
writings in the early 1990s have inspired many
companies to adopt their way of thinking.
Strategic management refers to the plans laid down by
the senior management team as a path to follow in order
to achieve the desired goals. This according to Hitt
(2009) entails the utilization of readily available
resources so that what the company intends to achieve
is realized. He says that an organization needs to have
its vision and objectives from the day it began its
operations.
Woods (2001) argues that Prahalad and Hamel have
brought about some ideas that are very useful in the
field of strategic management. According to him, the
management team should have a vision of how they
want the company to be after a number of years. For
instance ten years. He says that this is paramount
because it helps such people to have proper planning as
they intend to achieve such a goal.
This is also another way of ensuring that the company
stays ahead of its competitors because of prior
planning. Furthermore, Prahalad and Hamel have
brought about the issue of influence within the industry.
According to Gruber (2005), a company that wants to
remain ahead of its competitors should invent policies
that will affect the other players in the market to follow
the same trend.
That is it should redefine new ways of conducting
business. In his remarks, he has said that Prahalad and
Hamel see a successful business as a rule maker for the
others other than the rule taker. They say that this gives
the company a more bargaining power compared to
others in any kind of business competition.
The other contribution by Prahalad and Hamel in the
field of strategic management has been the issue of
dangers posed by the upcoming competitors. According
to Harrison (2010), the company has to keep on
improving the services it offers to its client in order to
retain them.
He has noted that the new players in the market are
offering their services at a cheaper rate in order to
poach customers from the already established
companies. To counter this effect, Prahalad and Hamel
had recommended that, the company needs to introduce
other services that will be exclusive for their clients
alone. This they said would go along the way in
ensuring that customers do not move to other
competitors.
Another point given by Prahalad and Hamel in regard
to strategic management has been the issue of
downsizing. They have noted that some companies
spend a lot of money in salaries. Owing to the
improvement in technology, he says that these
companies need to embrace technology which is would
help the company cut down its expenses.
Strategic intent
This is used to refer the objectives of the company as
continues with its operation in a given area. According
to Harrison (2010), the company ought to have a
guideline that will help in the day to day running.
Prahalad and Hamel argued that strategic intent
involves an active management process that zeroes in
on the organization’s attention on the essence of
winning, motivating the members of the public by way
of informing them the importance of their target. In
addition, they have said that it is very important for the
company to set up a chasm between the ambitions and
the resources.
According to them if a company wants to achieve a
long term success, it is important for it to remain
consistent by sharing the intent within the organization.
They say this is a good way of driving a company to
greater heights of success.
Strategy as related to stretch and leverage in the
business environment
Prahalad and Hamel have argued that proper planning
within an organization can make it the rule maker other
than the rule taker. They say that some of the best
performing companies in the world today have had big
ambitions that they have managed to accomplish. They
say that these companies have found a less intensive
way to meeting their targets.
It is at this point that they say that leverage
complements the strategic allocation of resources. They
claim that this is only possible if the resources are
concentrated around the strategic goals, making sure
that the resources are accumulated in an efficient way.
In addition, this can happen through complementing
some resources with others, as well as taking care of
resources whenever possible. According to them, this
can happen through the recovery of resources from the
market place as fast as they can.
Theories
A number of theories have been brought forward to
explain the strategic management debate. Some of them
include the quantitative approach, the system
perspective, and the human resource approach.
According to Amason (2011), the human resource
approach theory emphasizes that people should be
managed by way of looking and understanding their
psychological make up and needs.
This means that the company should not provide
services or goods that are not of any interest to the
people. In the Quantitative approach theory, he argues
that the management perceives making decisions based
on the opinions of the senior managers.
This is a very efficient way because it allows ventilation
by all people concerned. The systems theory views an
organization as made of inter related parts that have to
be involved in every step of decision making by the
company. This is because failing to involve one part of
the system may result in a negative impact on the
company.
Conclusion
Management of a business corporation requires people
with thorough knowledge on how it should be run. We
have found that Vodafone has become the world
leading Telecommunication Company because of
proper planning by its senior management team.
It would, therefore, be necessary for other companies
involved in this kind of business to try and get some
concepts on how well they can run their businesses.
Such a move would go along the way in making sure
that they improve on their performance in the future.
Reference List
Amason, A., 2011.Strategic Management: From
Theory to Practice. New York: Routledge.
Dodd, A., 2002.The essential guide to
telecommunications. New Jersey: Prentice- Hall, Inc.
Gruber, H., 2005.The economics of mobile
telecommunications. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.
Harrison, J., 2010. Foundations in Strategic
Management. Mason: Cengage Learning
Hitt, M., 2009. Strategic management: competitiveness
and globalization: cases. Mason: Cengage Learning.
Scholz, C., 2008. Human Resource Management in
Europe. Oxon: Routledge.
Woods, A., 2001. Strategic management: a fresh
approach to developing skills, knowledge and
creativity. London: Kogan Page Limited.
Management development as part of developing the
strategy of the business
Introduction
Management development is the practice by which
managers or company administrators gain the
knowledge of improving their proficiency not only to
profit themselves but also for good of the organization
as a whole.
The skills acquired from management development is
the key word here, they determine the life line and
prosperity of any business. For any business to be
successful it needs to have good managers who have
experience and skills that can enable it together with its
employees attain the goals set forth. (Sui-Pheng &
Khoo, 2001 p.105-111)
A Human resource manager has a duty to mobilize the
resources available and identify opportunities available
and invest the available resources thus bring a positive
change to the business.
One is also entitled to identify the threats that are in the
market that can hinder the business from achieving its
goals whereby after noting the opportunities and threat
in the market and the solution to threats, he then puts
the resources available and the capacity into use.
(Brayden, Teppo &Whetten 2010, 1-20)
Linking Corporate and human resource strategies
Management development has a direct impact on the
corporate strategy adopted by an organization to ensure
it gains a competition advantage. In any business,
competition is healthy as it encourages businesses to set
strategies that will enable them survive the race. There
are several things that the management of every
business must put into consideration for its smooth
running in the market. (Drath, 2001, p.144)
The management must always ensure that they have set
their strategies in a manner that will enable them
overcome all the obstacles that they might meet in the
process of doing their daily duties.
As a manager, one must be in a position to think ahead
and see beyond what is happening at that particular
time, meaning that a manager must be able to forecast
and budget. The following model explains how the
management has to plan the running process of a
business and ensure that it’s in a position to stand on its
own, survive the threats and yield profits.
Threats
Figure I: Illustration derived from Herold & Fields
(2004, 91)
A business has several threats, which include political,
technological, and economical issues. State affairs can
interfere with the way business operates through
subsidies, increase or reduction of taxes.
Technology can also affect business especially when
new technologies have come up, which improves
efficiency and increases production but one cannot
change into them automatically hence affecting their
business. We also have economical Change which can
be caused by lack of raw materials and change in
demand. (Hersey, Blanchard, & Johnson, 2007, p.71-
75)
To overcome the threats a business must have its
strategies which include the following;
• Cutting cost –this involves reducing expenses to
reduce the amount. Spent from the business to
avoid losses this can be due to change of
technology or even political.
• Diversity- a company also decides to work with
a range of products so as to survive the threats.
• Should they expand – to cub the challenges the
business may decide to expand to increase its
profit base hence they are not affected much.
While the company is still debating on basic causes of
action, the vital points one has to consider is to making
business more stable from those threats by recruiting
employees who are qualified, hence one has to select
the team carefully, train them well to ensure they suit
for the positions that they are being recruit for.
They need to organize themselves and be equipped with
crucial information to avoid setbacks. (Hogan &
Kaiser, 2005, p.17-23)
The company also needs to know its strengths and
weaknesses so that incase a problem arises; they will
know how to go about solving the problem and also
make use of available opportunities. Company must
always know its strong holds and work on how to solve
its weakness and in turn it will improve the
organizations performance. (Hyatt, 2010, p.54)
Role and responsibility of management
Management’s roles and responsibilities continue to
evolve over time from personnel management to
human resource hence gaining momentum as human
capital management. There are evolutionary changes
which are driven by multitude of factors both internal
and external of the organization.
Emphases today are on creating values by enhancing
human competences. Since leaders establish visions,
develop strategic intents and imperatives, they need to
be informed, flexible and prepare for challenges ahead.
Management development issues
Management development focuses on basics,
functional skills or specific business issues. It also
involves development of targets at specific business
issues which is increasingly important, what matters is
the speed of response of the management and the ability
to meet business needs.
Recent changes have demanded a more strategic
perspective from those who lead and manage
organizations, placing increased pressure on employees
to be more productive, innovative and change
orientated. This has impulse the look for a more
inclusive approach for man power development.
Forms of management
• Individual or collective: Here, management is
exercised on an individual basis, which means
one cannot consult anyone because they are
working as an individual and is liable to
decisions made within the business but on a
collective basis, they have to discuss and come
up with solutions or suggestions. It has several
people on the management board therefore, they
need to consult each other and come up with the
best solution. (Koontz & Weihrich, 2009, 255-
260).
• Internal or external: This is where management
can be done internally by those involved, this is
where the managers within the business
undertake full decisions without outside
consultation and must work together to solve the
situation at hand but sometimes they can seek
external help when need be hence external
management. In some occasions one can also
find that the business is externally managed.
• Mandatory or voluntary: There can also be a
mandatory management whereby it is there duty
to take full responsibility of day to day running
of the business. Voluntary is where one
volunteers to something though it is not a duty
assigned to him but it is something he/she can do
well.
• Central or devolved: This is where either
management is done at a central place, thus there
is a central place where all decisions are made as
compared to devolved one.
Merits of management
The human resource manager has various roles that he
must undertake which are important to the business,
they include:
Identification of what certain employee is good at. He
has to place every worker in a position that they are
good at in order to promote efficiency, quick production
and a healthy working environment also make work
easier since one does what he is best at hence enjoys
doing it. This is only achieved through offering some
training to the staff to identify their strength and
Weakness.
Ensure that employee’s innovation is taken into
consideration because, businesses needs new Ideas and
those from organization employees can be very
important and can increase organizations profitability
hence a manager should encourage innovation from his
employees.
In managerial position, one has to train their workers
for them to be efficient in their work and also to enable
them adjust to business life-cycle with ease. This also
enables smooth running of the business.
Managing business activities missions and while
ensuring achievement of goals are all duties of a
manager. The vision of the business sets an important
pace at which the business aims at achieving hence
meeting new demands in the market, a business must
always have a mission and a vision.
The learning climate also needs to be set within the
working environment so as to provide opportunities to
employees interested in learning new things which in
turn can help the company in future incase of changes
in the business environment.
The manager also needs to identify the market needs
and demands in order to determine what to produce,
therefore he must have the knowhow of what is needed
most in the market, produce it and make the sales.
The manager should be fully informed by mainly
communicating with people and more so, his
employees to enable him know what happens both
within and outside the business (Jung & Avolio 2000,
32-34).
Drawbacks
Although human management is important to all
businesses, sometimes this might bring problems or
issues that can bring some setbacks:
• It is the administration that provides information
of which one must follow and sometimes one
finds that this information is not very good for
the business but because it is the decision of the
top management it is implemented;
• In some occasions you find that the managers are
only told what to do but they are not involved in
the decision. The top management of the
business may decide to implement something
into the business and you find that you are not
even informed you are only told to implement it;
• Sometimes you also ask for opinions from
elsewhere and get feedback which at times
sounds good but in the long run u regret ever
using it;
• The manager becomes fully involved in the
process and sometimes their decisions may not
be the best. This becomes a problem when you
are not sure if what u want to done and you are
not in a position to ask.
Implication and Importance of management
In organizational development, the effectiveness of
management is one of the determinants of any business
success. Hence, investing in managing function can
have a direct financial impact to the firm because
managers are exposed to learning opportunities whilst
doing their jobs. In-house management development
programs give employees the chance to utilize special
leadership skills that may possess.
Hence, the staff will positively bring an improved
outlook to management as they will be acquainted to
the functioning of the organization in all the activities,
as against the managerial capacity that is tapped in from
the market. This casual learning process if formally
applied then it is known as management development.
Management development has to be an integral part in
developing the strategy of a business, because it
enhances the learner the capacity to manage and
organize the resources available and the staff so as to
achieve it objectives. Basically, management involves
planning, organizing, leading and coordinating
resources.
Most people are promoted to a managerial level
because they are good at their jobs but not necessarily
because they are good managers, therefore to develop a
business and ensure that it prospers a lot of training
needs to be undertaken. (Jung & Avolio 2000, 77)
Budgeting is another important function of a manager,
for one to set up a business and deliver, that is, it can
take care of all the expenses, pay employees and buy
materials necessary for production. A manager must be
in a position to balance all this and still be within the
budget.
Business involves staff members; they are the most
important in prosperity of a business. They need a good
manager who has Skills that can bring them together
and work as a team this in turn enables the business to
run smoothly and goals set are easily achieved. The
manager plays figurehead role.
All managers must undertake some roles of a
ceremonial nature. A manager always has to set an
example as the head that attracts and encourages the
client to want to associate with them. These functions
are essential to the smooth running of a firm.
The leadership roles must also be enacted by the
manager, this is leading directly. For instance the
manager has the responsibility for recruiting and
teaching his own employees. The leadership role covers
mutual engagements with subordinates, including
motivating them to work, encouraging communication
and influencing them positively (Koontz & Weihrich
2009, 216).
The liaison role encompasses the manager making
contacts within and outside the firm with various
partners and affiliates, such as employees, customers,
business affiliates and governmental bodies among
other stakeholders. The connection process is important
because it determines the final outcome of the business,
if well done can promote production and smooth sell of
products.
Managerial communication skills are important since
the manager is the middle figure bridging the top
management and the teams that are under his
supervision. The manager ensures that communication
channels run smoothly and relayed properly to avoid
misunderstandings and maybe conflicts in the
organization.
Hence, it is necessary for a manager to develop his/her
negotiating and client service skills, particularly in
cases where one deals with customers directly. In
addition, manager should be a good planner. For one to
attain long-term objectives and obligate to plans for
significant earnings, there should be clear
communication of the visions of the organization to
various stakeholders.
The manager breaks down and clarifies the goals that
each team should achieve, that involves learning and
planning out ways on how to enhance quality and at the
same time take into consideration of the costs. Setting
objectives and the commands allow for effectual time
management and savings on costs and resources (Jones
2010, 43-45).
A manager needs to be a good appraiser. One should
have the ability to ascertain and study a strategy or a
plan and make a decision on the best alternative aiming
to achieve a certain result. So the appraiser looks at the
significance, quality and worth before settling the most
viable choice.
One also needs to follow the progress of all the
subordinates’ activities and efficiency, evaluate them
and give response and advice wherever there is need;
this will always increase efficiency since one can tell
what one is good in hence assign each employee duties
according to what they do best (enhance specialization
and division of labor).
The manager should be able to provide satisfaction to
his employees. Employees are happy when they are
given with the essential production means and
resources and feel more secure if the management
emphasizes on their physical condition, protection,
hygiene and providing a conducive working
environment.
This increases the efficiency of the workers because
they are more comfortable and happy at work and serve
the clients better by providing quality services and
paying attention to their demands.
Management development is a “subject commanding
intense interest from organizations serious about the
personal development of their staff, and the ways,
which they can maximize their potential. If one is
informed of new research and in-company practice, one
are better placed to make appropriate decisions about
the introduction of new techniques in your own
organization” (Hyatt 2010, 241).
The decisions made in a business can either destroy or
make the business so whoever makes them must be
well informed and must have done some research and
is sure of the outcome before putting it into practice.
Management development is a necessary process for
any business with immediate returns on the company.
It involves establishment of a strong team of person
who are obligated to the development and improvement
of the business, however, the team needs inspiration
from the managers.
In the long-run, this leads to enhanced competence and
productivity as the managerial capacity in the
organization becomes stronger because of good team
building by the management. Management
development involves nurturing of skills such as
strategizing, putting things in order, managing and
mobilizing resources. Also all the employees should be
able to organize their work and direct their career paths.
Satisfied and self-driven employees can acquire
experience and other gains for their organization by
putting in place sound management development
programs. Management development is important in
any organization and organizations should be
encouraged to implement it.
References
Brayden, K. G., Teppo, F. and Whetten D. A., 2010.
“Perspective—Finding the Organization in
Organizational Theory: A Meta-Theory of the
Organization as a Social Actor.” Journal of
organization science volume 21, issue 1, 1-20.
Drath, W. H., 2001. The deep blue sea: Rethinking the
source of leadership. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Herold, D. M. and Fields, D. L. 2004. “Making sense
of subordinate feedback for leadership development.
Confounding effects of job role and organizational
rewards.” Group & Organization Management, 29(6),
686-703.
Hersey, P., Blanchard, K. H, and Johnson, D. E.,
2007. Management of Organizational Behavior:
Leading Human Resources. New York, NY: Prentice
Hall.
Hogan, R., and Kaiser, R. B., 2005. “What we know
about leadership.” Review of General Psychology, 9(2),
169-180.
Hyatt, K., 2010.” The influence of the leadership
practice “challenging the process” on perceived
organizational support.” Proceedings of ASBBS 17(1),
351-361.
Jones, G., 2010. Organizational theory, design, and
change. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Jung, D. I. and Avolio, B. J., 2000. “Opening the black
box: an experimental investigation of the mediating
effects of trust and value congruence on
transformational and transactional leadership.” Journal
of Organizational Behavior, 21(8), 949-964.
Koontz, H. & Weihrich, H., 2009. Essence of
Management an International Perspective. New Delhi:
Tata McGraw Hill.
Sui-Pheng, L. and Khoo, S.D. 2001. “Team
performance management: enhancement through
Japanese 5-S principles.” Team Performance
Management: An International Journal, Vol. 7 No. 7-8,
pp. 105-11.
Business and Strategy Manager Job Descriptive
Abstract
Linking the right employee with the right job is always
a problem that faces most companies. Selecting the
appropriate employee for a certain job is not only
important to the employer but it also ensures that the
employee perform the required duties effectively. The
process of selecting the right employee will start from
the information given out by the company in the job
description and requirements.
This essay will therefore focus at a management job
position in BP Company. The paper will proceed to give
the job description for this position and the
requirements for the right candidate. The paper will
then make an analysis basing on this information as to
whether the company will recruit the right person from
the given details.
Business and Strategy Manager Job
Getting the right employee for a given job has always
been a major concern to companies. It is always a desire
of every company to get the right employee as much as
it is a desire of every employee to link with the right
job and this situation is therefore a double coincidence
of wants.
The consequences of hiring the wrong person for a
specific job can be very costly for a company. In such
a case, the company will not only need to hire another
employee for the same job but its business activities
and credibility will be highly affected. In order to find
a solution to this problem most if not all companies
have gone to the extent of having a human resource
manager.
His main duties are to ensure that the company gets the
required candidates for the required positions and also
ensure that the company maintains and develop its
workforce through training other human resource
development strategies. In order for the managers to
hire or recommend the right candidates then they have
to do their work perfectly right from the recruitment
level.
The essential elements at this level are the message
passed on to the potential employees, which are in the
form of advertising and include the job description and
the qualifications for the right candidates. This paper
will therefore look at a Business and Strategy Manager
position advertised by BP Company. The paper will
hence explore the job description for this position and
the required qualifications for this position.
Job title: Strategy Manager, Location: united States
Job description:
1. The strategy manager will be a member of the
American commercial team and will be
accountable for the strategic performance unit in
US. The manager will oversee the
implementation of all long term and short term
commercial projects through liaising with the
appropriate parties who will include logistics,
commercial, manufacturing and technology. The
business and strategy manager should also
foresee the implementation of the company’s
business agenda, which is essential in the
optimization of BP’s portfolio.
2. The strategic manager is also responsible for the
delivery of value as an active partner in business
through guidance and influence of the involved
stakeholders for the commercial benefits of the
company. The candidate should therefore have
the ability to work with all the people in the
management board through effective
communication and influencing skills and
technique. This will require effective negotiation
with our customers, suppliers, technology
providers and any other third party involved in
our business activities.
3. The appointed candidate will be required to
report to the director of marketing, sales, and
supply. The candidate will also be involved in a
diverse range of project work in renewable
energy programs, proposal development, and
risk management.
Job requirements:
• The candidate should have a Bachelor of Science
degree in the relevant engineering or commercial
field/ discipline.
• The candidate should have a minimum of 10
years experience in management or any other
field relevant to this job.
• Self-motivated and a good team player.
The BP Company requires to fill the above post and
through the given job description and requirements
they hope to attract the right applicants and from this
pool of applicants, they hope to recruit the strategic
manager they require for the job. It is obvious that this
post became vacant through resignation of the former
manager or the company lay off the manager.
Whichever the case there must have been a problem of
linking the right candidate with the right job and this
may have led either to the former manager leaving the
job intentionally or on the company’s request. In their
second attempt to refill this position they again did not
do it right again. In the end, the company will get
applicants who are not fully qualified for the job or
those who are not willing to have a long-term
commitment with the company.
To begin with, the advertised job is a tough job and to
fill this position the company requires a person who is
capable of managing the company on behalf of all the
stakeholders. This can be through implementation of
plans to ensure that the company achieves its mission
(Hiles, 2011).
The candidate will therefore be concerned with
resource management and ensuring that the company
meets its missions and objectives. In relation to this
issue, the BP Company recently suffered huge losses
resulting from the oil spill at the Mexican gulf. This
loses touched on all aspects of the company, which
include production, marketing, finance and
environmental awareness credibility. The first strategy
of this company is to restore its brand reputation, which
will be an interesting strategy (Pearsons 2011).
The right candidate for this job will bear the
responsibility of ensuring that the company not only
recovers financially but it also restores its credibility in
social and environmental responsibilities. The right
candidate should therefore have a combination of all
this elements in order to perform the job effectively.
However, in the job description the advertisement only
focus on the commercial elements of the job leaving out
all the other necessary and essential requirements. The
strategic manager main duty is to ensure that the
company achieves its mission through implementation
of projects and programs.
It is important to note that this company is a
multinational company and therefore any decision
made at the top managerial level will affect many
people at various places in the world where the
company operates. This company therefore must have
a global mission.
The business and strategic manager of the company
will therefore be involved in ensuring that the company
meets this mission. However, in this job description the
duties and responsibilities defined for the incumbent
does not have a global perspective. For instance, the
company does not have a mission on how to tackle the
global problems resulting from the use of oil.
For example, the company does not describe projects
that aim at finding alternative sources of energy. Even
though the renewable energy sources will be the future
energy solution in order for this company to be relevant
in the future, it should develop the appropriate projects
and programs now.
The job description given in this advertisement may be
the other reason that this company will not receive
application from the right pool of potential staff.
The 10 years experience required has no problem in the
short term but in the long-term the company may find
itself going to recruit another candidate for the same
position and this will affect its performance. A person
who has 10 years experience in a relevant field is
obvious a person who has left employment from
another company intentionally or on request by the
company.
In hiring such a person, it will mean that the same
problems that made this candidate to leave the former
employer will recur. If it was a case of nonperformance
or simply running away from responsibilities then the
problem will still resurface. In addition to this, a
company should retain a person with 10 years
experience to avoid such a person moving around
changing employers.
This means that the applicants for this position have a
habit of changing jobs often. Offering such a person
this position means that the person will serve the
company for a short period and will therefore not
benefit the company since most of the responsibilities
for the job are long-term.
References
Hiles, A. (2011). The definitive handbook of business
community management: West Sussex. John Willey and
Sons, Ltd.
Pearsons, T. (2011) The old Rules of marketing are
dead: 6 new rules to reinvent your brand and reignite
your business. New York, NY. McGraw-Hill
Professional Publishers.
Etihad Airways’ Business Environment and
Strategy
Executive Summary
In the given report, we analyzed Etihad Airways’
business environment. The first step was the review of
the corporate profile: organizational management style,
strategic priorities, mission and vision, achievements,
etc. Then, we proceeded to the evaluation of internal
factors and identification of the organizational
strengths and weaknesses. Afterward, PESTEL
analysis of the external factors was conducted. The
study results helped to develop awareness of the
multifactorial influences on the corporate performance
and strategies. Lastly, we summarized the findings and
gave the relevant recommendations to Etihad’s
management.
Introduction
Etihad Airways is the national UAE airline enterprise
launched in 2003. Throughout the several decades, the
company significantly expanded its operation capacity
and partnerships and became one of the most rapidly
growing airline companies. Nowadays, Etihad Airways
is one of the leading premium airline brands in the
world. The company’s total combined network serves
over 25.000 flights to over 600 destinations in 68
countries per week (Etihad Airways, 2016). It receives
a great number of awards such as ‘World’s Leading
Airline,’ ‘Best First Class,’ ‘Middle East’s Leading
Airline,’ and many others (Etihad Airways, 2016). The
recognition of Etihad Aviation Group’s excellence by
the international community indicates the strong
position of the organization in the industry. To
understand the company’s key success components, in
the given report, we will analyze how the internal and
external factors may affect its performance and
evaluate the strategic moves and methods implemented
by the management.
Internal Factors
Strengths
The major organizational strengths include a product
excellence, well-developed organizational culture,
knowledge management, and employee training. For
example, Etihad established own aviation academy to
ensure a high level of competence among its workforce
members (Aydrose, 2012). Secondly, Etihad Airways
embraces the core excellence values such as leadership,
innovation, social responsibility, and customer focus,
etc. in every business and operational activity. And it is
observed that the inclusion of these principles in the
corporate culture largely defines success in the
achievement of business excellence (Bolboli & Reiche,
2015).
Weaknesses
The major weakness faced by the organization is the
increasing fuel expense. “The growing fuel prices
globally are creating a negative after effects for the total
aviation industry” (Aydrose, 2012, p. 7). Due to the
high costs, Etihad products and services may be
compromised. The given treat provokes the need for
strategy advancement as puts the company at risk of the
competitive position weakening.
PESTEL Analysis: External Factors
The macro environmental factors define the
organizational behavior to a large extent. The six major
types of environmental impacts are outlined in the
following table:
Positive
Negative
Political
Governmental support.
The Middle East conflicts.
Economical
Improving domestic economy;
the existence of trade agreements
with a number of Asian countries.
Close links between the US and domestic
currency;
European Crisis 2017.
Social
International socio-cultural
environment;
workforce Emiratization
initiatives;
Social inequality and discrimination.
a high level of individuals’
prosperity within the UAE.
Technological
The management encourages
innovation.
The need for more sophisticated and
advanced aircrafts.
Ecological
—-
Finance-intensive ecological initiatives;
environmental restrictions.
Legal
Domestic low tax regime.
Difficulties in gaining operational rights
and receiving slots in some European
countries.
Impacts on the Organization
The identified external factors have some positive and
negative impacts on the organizational performance.
For instance, one of the positive political influences
includes the continual support from the government.
The company was founded by Royal (Amiri) Decree
and, since the very moment of its establishment, the
company’s activities were supervised by the
government as the officials recognize the important
role of Etihad Airways in the development of the
national welfare and improvement of sustainability. At
the same time, a negative political factor is the Middle
East region’s instability. For instance, the terrorist
attacks that took place in Turkey significantly affected
one of the major partners of Etihad Airways, Turkish
Airlines, and caused a significant drop in demand
(Sumers, 2016). Since Etihad Airways has the interline
relationships with the organization with a purpose of
carrying international connecting traffic, it could be
indirectly affected by the adverse events as well.
The current European crisis threatens the
organizational sustainability as well. For a significant
time, Etihad strives to enhance its presence in Europe.
For instance, it launched the headquarters in Berlin and
some other large European cities and actively
developed the relationships with the commercial teams
of the local airlines (Etihad Airways, 2013). The
adverse economic situation provoked the need for the
internal organizational restructuring aimed to cut costs
and improve productivity (Dudley, 2016). In the face of
the difficulties, the management cut jobs and changes
the flying routes decreasing the number of destinations.
The employee’s layoffs may lead to decreased
employee morale and, consequently, reduce the overall
productivity (Santonocito, 2013). Therefore,
significant efforts may be required to restore the
positive organizational culture and employees’ trust.
Strategies: Internationalization
Etihad Airways employs the active internalization
strategy through the development of alliances and
codeshare agreements with a large number of
international carriers (Aydrose, 2012). By developing
the partnerships, the company entered the unexplored
markets in a cautious manner. It is possible to assume
that by doing so, the organization avoided significant
financial loss and reduced the costs. Overall, it is
possible to say that the given expansion strategy
benefited the organization in the accumulation of
experience and learning of local customers’
preferences. The cautious approach is a smart strategic
decision helping to dodge the fatal errors and ultimately
consolidate the position in the market in the long run.
The primary purpose of the international expansion of
business is the development of competitiveness. The
entry to the different regions including Europe and Far
East region helped the company to take a portion of the
rival’s profit. Moreover, the investigation of new
regions facilitates the building of new knowledge and
its application for the enhancement of innovativeness
and technologic advancement (Amann & Cantwell,
2012). Therefore, as a result of Etihad’s active
internationalization strategy, new competitive
advantages were developed. Additionally, the strategic
alliances help the company to compensate the financial
risks and increase profitability by attracting new local
customers. For instance, the development of a strategic
alliance with Virgin Airlines alone allowed Etihad to
get US$ 1 million per day (Aydrose, 2012).
Conclusion and Recommendations
Etihad Airways strives to be the leader in the aviation
industry and aims to become the best company in the
international market. Expansion of business operations
is the strategic priority of the enterprise, and it
endeavors to fulfill this goal by developing long-term
partnerships with the most prominent international air
carriers, diversifying product range, and introducing
the innovative and unique offers. However, due to the
close connections to various international markets,
Etihad is exposed to numerous economic threats. To
maintain its competitive advantages, the company may
attempt to increase pricing flexibility. Additionally, it is
possible to say that the success in expansion to the
greater number of destinations will depend on the
corporate capacity to keep up with the pace of
technologic advancement. The use of the latest
equipment and top-notch facilities, as well as the
attraction of talents and development of the skillful
workforce, are essential factors for Etihad Airways’
future success.
Reference List
Amann, E., & Cantwell, J. (2012) Innovative firms in
emerging market countries. Oxford, Oxford University
Press.
Aydrose, A. (2012) A research study on: Etihad
Airway’s Product Offerings, Key Success Factors,
Critical Issues, Mission and Strategy. Web.
Bolboli, S. & Reiche, M. (2015) Introducing a concept
for efficient design of EFQM excellence model. The
TQM Journal. 27(4), 382-396.
Dudley, D. (2016) Etihad Airways to cut jobs,
signalling further trouble for gulf airlines. Forbes.
Web.
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