Research Articles Base: Virgin Group Papers

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Introduction In recent years, considerable attention has been devoted to differences across countries in the institutional environments in which corporations operate, and the consequences of these institutional differences for corporate performance. One branch of this literature has been concerned with corporate governance structures. Under the broad heading of corporate governance, different concepts are usually included one is the identity and degree of concentration of ownership, another is the institutional structure by which owners monitor and control managers by means of boards of directors and the like, and lastly the institutional structure for disciplining and replacing managers as, for example, through proxy contests and/or takeovers ( 2003).  A second branch of the literature focuses upon the broader legal environment in which corporations operate. Within this literature would come laws governing a shareholder’s access to various sorts of information about a company, a shareholder’s rights to sue the management for certain actions detrimental to the shareholder’s interests, and so on.    Although corporate governance structures are imbedded within the broader legal system of a country and thus are affected by it, the two sets of institutions are not synonymous, as we shall explain shortly. One distinction drawn within the corporate governance literature is between insider governance systems in which ownership stakes are concentrated and the major stakeholders are directly represented on the boards that monitor managers, and perhaps in management itself, and outsider governance systems in which ownership stakes are dispersed, and owners exercise indirect control on management by electing representatives to the monitoring boards, or perhaps by voting on specific proposals of management ( 2003).   Corporate governance has something to do with the standards of behavior and conduct expected from directors and other senior executives in directing and controlling the affairs of a company. It is the relationship among various participants in determining the direction and performance of corporations. The central concern of governance is to add value to as many organizational stakeholders as is practicable that by having appropriate standards of governance the long-term performance is raised and total shareholder return is enhanced. Some of the more notorious and spectacular examples of defective and damaging corporate governance in recent years in the UK include: the attempted takeover of the CWS; the crash of Barings Bank in 1995; the so-called dirty tricks campaign waged by British Airways against Virgin Airlines during 1993; the failure of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) in 1991; the underwriting irregularities at Lloyds of London; the collapse of Polly Peck in 1991 involving financial irregularities that were not revealed in the company’s accounts; and the loss of employee pension funds at Maxwell Communications Corporation which were only revealed when the company collapsed in 1991. In the US there has been the collapse of Drexel, Burnham, Lambert as a result of insider trading and fraud, the collapse of the savings and loan (S&L) industry and the attempts by Salomon Brothers’ to rig the US Treasury bill market are just a few examples (1999). The paper will discuss about limited liability and its relation to corporate governance. The paper will also discuss about the absence of offensive shareholder intervention as being detrimental to the public interest. The paper will then analyze the general trend of the international corporate governance.   Limited liability Shareholders in companies limited by shares are liable to contribute only a limited amount to its assets. The minimum amount of the contribution is the par value of the shares that is the value ascribed to the shares in the company’s constitution but where shares are issued at a price higher than the par value then the required contribution is par value plus the premium. Limited liability does not follow automatically from the principle of separate legal personality.  If it did, then unlimited companies in which the shareholders are liable to contribute to meet the company’s debts in full could not exist. Corporate personality means that the company, not its shareholders, is the person responsible for the debts of the business. The extent to which the company can require its shareholders to provide the finance to meet the liabilities of the business is a logically distinct issue. People who lend to companies also have limited liability: they, too, are liable to contribute no more than the principal amount that they agreed to lend. The basic distinction between the shareholder and the lender is that, whilst both contribute a fixed amount, only the shareholder hopes for capital gain in respect of the investment. Limited liability encourages entrepreneurial activity because it allows people to limit the risks involved in conducting business. This is the main function of limited liability in quasi-partnership type companies where raising share capital from persons other than the controllers of the business, or their families, is not normally a realistic option ( 1999).   The importance of this aspect of limited liability should not be over-stated because in a real-life situation it is likely to be whittled away by unlimited personal guarantees which some providers of debt finance to the business may demand from its controllers. To the extent that personal guarantees are given, contractual stipulation overrides the limited-liability position established by company law. Yet not all creditors of the business will be in a position to demand personal guarantees. Some will lack the necessary bargaining strength whilst others may have no opportunity to bargain because they are the victim of a tort committed by the company. The controllers can thus still derive some benefit from limited liability.   Limited liability facilitates passive investment or the investment on the basis that the investor will not play a part in management. Provided there is a prospect of an adequate return for the risks involved, an investor may be prepared to allow someone else to run a business using his money where there is a cap on the amount that he stands to lose if management fails. Without such a cap a prudent 90 investor might be disinclined to invest in shares at all or, at least, would expect a very high return to compensate for the risks involved. The investor might also want to monitor more closely the way in which the managers of the business conducted its affairs, and that would lead to additional costs ( 1999).  Corporate governance makes sure that limited liability is implemented by the company and that the level of liability is maintained.     Absence of shareholder intervention and the public interest Complaints are heard that shareholders fail to monitor managers. Managers build empires and pursue bad strategies without shareholder intervention until matters are so out of hand that the ultimate outcome is the violence of the hostile takeover or the bloodshed of a fired CEO or the instability of the leveraged buyout or the waste of a bankruptcy. Many 1980s takeovers targeted firms grown too large, which the takeover entrepreneurs then broke up. In other 1980s takeovers, empire-building firms sought to extend their grasp. Either way, persistent shareholder involvement could have led to intervention before bloodshed ( 1994).   In corporations the absence of offensive shareholder intervention is detrimental to the public interest, therefore it is necessary for the state to monitor and regulate corporation activity. There can be instances wherein shareholders can be uncaring or does not want to intervene in the affairs of the company. When this happens a company loses its guidance and the drive to achieve the goal minimizes. Another thing that can happen when there is no shareholder intervention is public interest detriments. The state should make sure that it will be the one to guide a company and check its every activity so that public interest in will not decrease.   Trends in the international corporate governance In recent years major changes in corporate governance have been underway. Collaboration with stakeholders is now occurring as they gain power and because managers need their support. Institutional investors have become more involved in the management of large corporations, including ‘ethical investors’. Employee participation, often in the form of shareholding, has grown significantly, especially in the USA. Feminist moves are becoming more influential in business, thereby bringing cooperative, community-oriented values into management practice. Other social constituencies have gained influence in recent years: relationship marketing to build trust and commitment with customers in long-term relationships; partnership agreements with suppliers and government; voluntary moves to protect the environment; and so on ( 2001). Corporate governance is becoming more of cooperation between management and the employees wherein both are giving something so that the goal of corporate governance will be achieved. Corporate governance is also becoming group oriented than individual oriented. Managers are starting to realize that they can’t solely manage a firm; they need the assistance of employees and in certain instances the shareholders of the company. Managers need the ideas of other persons so that operation will run smoothly. References Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

Introduction In recent years, considerable attention has been devoted to differences across countries in the institutional environments i...

Australian airlines case study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   The Australian airlines has better potentials in using the super economy class concepts for such domestic flights as there can be enough marketing ways of providing similar stages of service in lieu to certain super economy class concepts for Australian domestic airlines as there can be growing stance of marketing competition within other airlines and will open a way for the decline of business travellers all over the region as Australian airlines like for instance, the Qantas airlines and British airways as these airline carriers should discover as well as find innovative ways to market services and products in order for the airlines to magnet possible passengers and customers in engaging its airline markets into a super class economy at reasonable fares as there sees growth within the global market. The Australian airlines can be unsure of the super economy class concept as several airline carriers have better responded to the growing market through changing such price value as such airlines have decided to offer economy class on such new travel routes and destinations. Aside, possible travellers who desire for using super economy class, don’t have much choices to make as it can possibly make up like one third of travellers inside the aircraft as there can be people that are squeezing miniature seats within economy section as being subsidize and be able to wing in same location and reach the destination in time but can be little as ten percent of economy group costs.   SITUATION ANALYSIS The organization changes in airline domestic travel attached with some economic woes of airline industry has beginning to challenge one belief of airline executive and makers of aircrafts as it implies the coming of recession and war crisis the air travel in Australia and other region will constantly remain on the groove and its growing indication factors and processes even if the domestic airline markets will use and adopt super economy class concept for its respected business travelers as it can be due to the reality that such travel growth as it can be hard for Australia’s airline carriers to possibly be keen in soaring the airlines on other regional destination as the new concept upon its realization will carry those airlines into innovative point in time as well as increasing the chance for strength of struggle in business. The evidence of success in business travel market for the possible realization of the super economy class will tend to indicate as either business travelers patronizing those carriers such as Qantas and British Airways in order to do business as market changes it is important to attempt to assess the nature of short airlines travel market as there is a need to provide economy class plan in order to protect the uprising of low airlines in the Australian markets as the management of these airlines will need to know and be familiar of possible essential information that will create useful opportunities for the super economy class be a true success suited for business travelers as the airlines will target prospected customers and will position the business in a more stable manner.   There is competition as well as dynamism involved in the airline industry that will relate to whatever management decisions to be created by the Australian airline industry that will cater to the domestic market as the super economy class concept will presumably involve novel entrants of such low cost airlines of engaging into travel discounts and low airline fares as the Australian market for its airline business has been exposed to globalization that has an effect to such economic situations that will trigger risk factors and circumstances as it can involve airlines like Easy jet, Ryan Air and Qantas as there adheres the challenge for affordable prices and cost structure and the decision for the Australian airlines to patronize the emerging super economy class concepts that will include business travelers within the Australian region to have flights for other destinations. The marketing of the new concept as there is the rising of other products and services in the world market such as the increased of oil prices in the Middle East countries as there are also other controversies that affect the airline industry market and from then on, it was just easy for the customers to compare airline fares among those carriers.   Thus, in marketing instances, there can be the adaptation of useful segments like the leisure segmentation as there is the involvement of tourist as well as student travel packages for novel means and the growing of bookings through e-tools like the presence of internet ticketing as it is a form of a customer segmentation that is price sensitive as there is a paradigm shift that had happened in the airline business market, as there was cost cutting as cost and price value can be serious to business travelers as there are changes in travel policies and the switching from first to business class travels among big time customers as such several managers were already aware of economy class flights as the airlines tries their best shot to keep loyal customers and usual flyers and there is also airport lounge access from within. Henceforth, there is also launching of super economy class in airlines as it can be a new product line that the Australian domestic airlines can use for their business travels and ordinary flights.   The organization decision to realize the new concept of super economy that will position the airline business on a positive assumption as the central target for such market segmentation would be the business travelers like the changes made by Air Canada and introduced middle ranges in air fares and uses the super economy class as other airlines is also up to the challenge in adopting the new product concept for the airline business like for instance, British Airways considers it as a travelers plus and that, Scandinavian Airlines label it as economy extra as the concept for prices and cost is visibly lower as compared to business class accommodations and services but not all airlines has agreed to the new concept one proof for the situation is American Airlines as the airline terminated its super economy class last 2005  and replaces it to regular economy class while, the United Airlines is only using the super economy class concept in its fleet and believes that the new service concept has added brand image and is pursuing a new market strategy to its business competitors by involving cost cutting of airfares and services reduction.   Furthermore, the Australian airline market id quite small as compared to the American airline market as there is involvement of few key players like the Virgin blue Airlines, Jetstar as well as Qantas as market share of the latter comprised to eighty percent of its domestic fleets and the share of thirty six percent from the Australian bound markets as of 2004 and the shifting mode of shares in the market as Qantas have low cost subsidiaries and also the Jetstar airways and the continuing success of Virgin Blue as owned by Richard Branson as there was an increase of thirty percent in its respected shares in the airline market in Australia as there are better segments offered to the customers and travelers for only small fees like the extended leg room as Qantas offers business and economy class for most of their fleets as some airlines will not use the new concept on its star class but only on domestic fleets. There was also the rise of new aircraft that has flights to Sydney and Melbourne. In general, there is no airline still in the Australian region that applies the super economy class concept for its domestic services even though there can be market segments that focuses on cost aware business travelers and that there can be chances and better possibilities that such business travelers in Australia will be interested in using the new product that is more affordable and cheaper fares as compared to other airline carriers and probably, there is a need for Qantas Airways to use and adopt to the new super economy concept desired for the domestic fleets respectively.   EVALUATION OF DECISIONS There is a need for Australian airlines such as Qantas to strengthen whatever opportunity that can be found in airline industry through engaging into established process of valuing its marketing strategies and a detailed planning structure helping promote better strategic moves and be able to provide good customer services to the customers like by having discounted flights and value promotion to keep the competitive advantage at a stable mode within its competitors and will need to focus more on the core competencies that allow those low cost airlines to practically and wisely design suitable airline operations within the bracket of their marketing network services in a market standard-based perspective. These airlines should amicably need to be goal oriented and must not stop to rejuvenate and change marketing plan strategies timely in order to re-invent the performance process upon the upgrading of rules and regulations of airlines and should adhere to liberalization in the market along with the impact of super economy class packages of air travel that can lead to a long-term decline in sales and profits.    Thus, Qantas for example and other Australian airlines will possibly need to segment customers using value-based and needs-based approaches. These airlines must be proactive in pursuing initiatives that respond to the needs of their customers and also provide a high rate of return. Qantas airlines and others will amicably need to pursue an organizational design that imbues employees with a service mentality and provides them with a clear understanding of their role and a complete view of the customer and by allowing value-based segmentation upon the presence of super economy class airlines that enable to understand the profitability of every business travellers and valued customers as the new concept will allow certain identification of high-valued business travellers as loyal customers to the airline carriers in terms of  awarding higher market segments as the Australian airlines will possibly desire and wanted to provide best quality flights to its loyal air travellers and respected customers in offering reasonable and justifiable reasons to spent money implying to the new status of super economy class in the air carriers in lieu of travel frequency and safety. Then, the rising of budget airlines have stirred up the domestic airfare market significantly as there is cheaper airfares being offered to business travellers that has benefited in terms of steady competition among other airline carriers.   For evaluation of such managerial decisions to be made, there is now factual data that such business class packages for domestic fleets are now downgrading and is beating up the Australian airlines as it urges the company to reduce and cut down its prices like for example, Ryan Air Airlines suffered downfall of approximately fifth in first class as well as the business class reservations as the situation was similar to the dented profits of British Airways and that domestic airlines has tendencies in closing the aircraft’s first class section for the reason of no charge paying the passenger to place to the desired class. As the reasonable paying feature matters as some of the business passengers sitting in business class have to take certain travel privileges and that the super economy class can possibly obtain upgrade due to complete fare nation tickets as it can be considered as VIPs that can be people in the government as there can be unique promotions to gain business upgrading of the Australian airlines such as of Qantas and there is the receiving of huge fare discounts respectively. Moreover, those airlines are sticking for possible hope that if business economy will recover then, the concept for super economy class will be positive and acceptable within the Australian market and also, there is the presence of such crucial disparity as the airline pricing cannot be maintain and sustain for such reasons:   FINAL RECOMMENDATION   Furthermore, Australian airlines wanted to create flying environment friendlier than people as the Australia had develop into and set amusing back into the wing and in views of the history regarding the Australian carrier market and can be hard and astounding that travellers will choose to wing with Qantas on such flight as well as with Virgin Blue for money value is important factor taken into reflection for choosing Australian airlines over others. For Qantas Airlines, there is room for improvement as the airlines delights the economy group travellers with ample respect while industry group receives pampering by airline staff as there can be travel industry for employment and the uses of super economy will have standardized services as it can be that the Qantas airlines do not fully appreciate the culture of the Australian region as to the reality that there is not just business class as well as economy group of travellers that will depend on every travellers needs as there were concern about certain low value of food that the airline is serving as it has been changed and now there is dinner being served.     Moreover, business travellers can choose to use the economy class in their travel destination as there is the creation of seamless relationship as it can be positive marketing strategy that Australian airlines can use in upgrading common passengers without forfeiting super economy class over upper class seats and the fact that, Qantas Airways will have to offer the super economy as well as business class seats within Pacific region such as in Kuala Lumpur also in Shanghai as well as Seoul in South Korea as to which Qantas has struggled to put up stable profit and sales earlier as the new service concept has stated last August of 2002 as there using new airplane and have low price stand as well as the use of e-ticketing in reducing air fare cost value. The growing competition make it hard to accuse trade travellers of elevated prices due to a superior way in for a discounted fares like for example, when air fares are less and such competition is intense then, there is a chance for super economy class to boom as certain passengers will be using the discounted tickets of quite more than half of the total air fare as such, travellers will make such journey for industry as the travellers will account for almost half of passengers along such planned in presenting certain Australian airlines marketing areas of engaging in huge confrontation that implies better glance of super economy class advertisement and promotion strategies enough in demonstrating that such Australian domestic aircraft recognizes just how to put in market the wealthy travellers and not to everybody.   Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

Australian airlines case study

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Australian airlines has better potentials in using the super economy class concepts for such domestic flights...

INNOVATION

OBJECTIVES As a person with knowledge of innovations, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of strategy formation regarding the analysis of this issue and at times fails to understand the reasons or logic behind certain strategic implementations imposed on it. By delving into this project paper, the author intends to have better insights into how innovations are thought up, formulated and then imparted down into the subsidiaries of the company or organization. The author hopes to have an in-depth understanding as to how the innovations of companies enable them to compete effectively and profitably in this era of internationalization where competition is extremely intense. In order to reinforce the learning objectives, two key focal issues were focussed upon i.e. innovation and diversity. Innovation was discussed with regard to organizational renewal and change where it was renowned for its developmental capabilities to constantly innovate. Diversity came under strategic thinking and formation as the author considered the diverse culture, political climate, economic surroundings, social environment, technological settings, government policies and legal systems in order to better understand the issues being discussed.      EXECUTIVE BRIEF This essay utilized Virgin Airways as the model airline companies to review their present innovations and how they dealt with critical situations. From the analysis, key trends in the innovations were then identified, how they worked and their effectiveness in dealing with critical situations was ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess these innovative strategies with regard to their suitability to critical situations, during which the internal capabilities of these innovations in relation to the strategy being followed by the airline companies was determined also. An overall analysis of the performance and effectiveness of the innovations of both companies was also conducted to assess and compare the capabilities of these innovative strategies with those of others. Gaps in the innovations and environment were then identified. Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the innovations of Virgin Airways as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well.         SECTION 1 A. Innovation Defined Innovations can be defined as the creative policies and tasks that lead to the efficient and effective functioning of the organization or company. Innovations are necessary to satisfy a firm’s customers, employees, and management. Typically, innovations focus on the careful management of the processes involved in the production and distribution of products and services (, 2001). More often than not, small companies and organizations don’t really have the capabilities to implement innovations. Instead, these companies engage in activities that various schools of management typically associate with innovations. These activities include the development of creative products, production and distribution. However, innovations deal with all operations done within companies and organizations. Activities such as the management of purchases, the control of inventories, logistics and evaluations are often related with innovations. A great deal of emphasis lies on the efficiency and effectiveness of processes. Therefore, innovations include the analysis and management of internal processes. Virgin Airways will be the model business entities that will be used in this research based on its history in innovations. B. Review of Related Literature In lieu of the present developments in society, there have been significant visions of innovations that evolved. A majority of these learning visions are based on the idea that innovation is a social process where knowledge is denied instead of being acquired passively. The pursuit of innovation, then, transforms into an interactive process. The pursuit of innovation is being verified through the help of the participants in the process such as the management and the workforce. In this framework, high quality of innovation would mean the continued guidance and support of the active learning process of the public consumers. Obviously, this would call for an intensive and phased guiding strategy. When in the active pursuit of innovation, the interaction of the management with the public consumers forms an integral part towards its success. Collaborative learning as a method is gradually being used by companies and organizations nowadays. Through this approach, the general public can learn from the innovations of companies and organizations through the imitation of their techniques in the socialization processes. In the process, the general public is able to obtain the chance to see their own ideas in a different aspect and therefore be able to take alternatives into consideration. The relative effectiveness of this approach is determined with the capability of the public to continuously challenge their pre-acquired knowledge by trying to adapt to the interpretations of the companies and organizations. Aside from the public and the management, the different resources of innovations belong to a third category of factors of a learning environment. Moreover, innovations have shown signs of significant growth over the past years. Consequently, obtaining knowledge becomes more complicated. This is because the transformation of all this information into knowledge requires the public to possess the appropriate reference frameworks. But media can certainly help the public transform information into valuable knowledge. Innovations are critical in helping the management of a company in analyzing their present status in order to cut costs, increase profits, spot market trends faster, and communicate more effectively with customers. However, in order to achieve these goals, the innovations need to be relevant, accurate, complete and timely. Innovations play a crucial role in the proper functioning of information systems and technologies. Through the efficient innovations, the effective sharing of information is thus made possible. This in turn contributes to the improvement of the overall operating efficiency of the company coupled with an increase in productivity. For many years innovations were the domain of companies and organizations, especially since they these innovations were able to guarantee that any changes to the organization would be completed. This worked well for most companies, and they could all even run on top of a database with a single client-server. However, in recent years innovations have also become more difficult to maintain. As the number of innovations grew in response to various technologies and services, a single innovation proved to be very inefficient. Also, most innovations consist of a whole suite of programs operating together, as opposed to a strict model where the single innovation could handle the transaction processing. Nevertheless, innovations will significantly bolster the business operations of companies and organizations when successfully implemented. C. The Innovations of Virgin Airways Virgin Airways aims for sustainable growth as a broad market leader in the airline industry as well as for segment leadership. In both cases, the services of Virgin Airways will play a crucial part. The company is able to establish its broad leadership usually by acquiring other strong airline companies and their services, which are then combined into a new, larger company (. 1989).  Offering training to its employees, improving the company operations, and the introduction of new technologies then reinforces the positions of the various services of Virgin Airways. This practically results in economies of scale that is able to create a distribution network for both the local and international terminals of the company. If a market is already in the control of other airline companies, Virgin Airways devotes its attention towards the development of a premium segment with its various airline services (, 1995).             The mission of Virgin Airways is to secure the growth of the business in a sustainable manner, while at the same time constantly improving the company’s profitability. The strategy to achieve this involves four elements: <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Striving in order to reach a leading position in attractive markets </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Focusing on securing a competitive share of the airline market segments. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Working in order to improve the company’s efficiency and cut costs in operations. </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Continuous growth through selective acquisitions for as long as they are able to create shareholder value. </li> Virgin Airways has four main objectives: A)   Remain one of the top companies in the airline industry. Being on top of its industry enables Virgin Airways to command the respect and confidence of its clients. Thus, the company is able to expand its operations through the acquisition of other airline companies. B)   Gain more profit than other international airline companies. The raw materials that are being laid down in the airline services used by Virgin Airways are able to meet high quality standards. As a result, the company is able to earn more profit as against other airline companies (, 2002). C)   Build the best airline portfolio, with Virgin Airways as the international brand of flagship; and D)   Maintaining its independence. Being an independent company allows Virgin Airways to continue its tradition of excellence in both its products and services by setting new trends and standards. In order to achieve these objectives, Virgin Airways implements a strategy of promoting a combination of local and international airline services, but maintaining Virgin Airways as the flagship brand. The company also aims for broader positions as well as either the top or secondary positions in any airline market. Any of these positions would be enough for Virgin Airways to deliver a high level in terms of production, marketing and distribution. Moreover, these positions create a platform from which the company can promote their premium airline services and other specialties. And with a continued focus on the structures of the costs, the above mentioned objectives should undoubtedly be reached (, 2002). D. Impacts of Innovations on Virgin Airways Competencies <ul type="disc" style="margin-bottom: 0in"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Virgin Airways has airline services that boast of a very powerful retail. This includes a reputation for value of money, convenience and a wide variety of airline services.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Virgin Airways has grown significantly over the years, and has experienced global expansion.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Virgin Airways’ main competence lies on the use of information technology (IT) to fully support its international logistics system. Therefore, the company can see how their individual airline services perform within the United Kingdom, or even at other countries at a glance. IT also supports the company’s efficient procurement (, 1997).</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Virgin Airways is able to deliver good customer care, as the limited amount of work would mean plenty of time to devote to customers.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Virgin Airways’ lead consultants have established a strong reputation within the market.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Virgin Airways can afford to change direction quickly if its management finds that the company’s innovations are not effective.</li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color: #333333; text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Virgin Airways has little deficits and overheads. Therefore the company can offer good value to customers on a consistent basis.</li> </ul> E. Profits / Competitive Advantages Because of Virgin Airways’ successful implementation of its innovations, the following profits and benefits were achieved over the years: ·         Financial Stability Financial stability is crucial especially in the pursuit of research and development activities. In the airline industry, it is important to remain updated with the latest technological developments to be able to stay competitive in the market. ·         Excellent Service Performance and Price The designing of the best airline services comes as a result of well-funded research and development activities. The strong performance of airline services in the market could also be linked to their cost-effectiveness. However, Virgin Airways has to be aware of the positioning in terms of process so as to maintain satisfactory profits margin and remain competitive in the market. ·         Effective Distribution of Airline Services High airline service awareness among the buyers has created the need for aggressive marketing, and access to strong distribution channels is critical for the introduction of new airline services (, 2001). Because of Virgin Airways’ successful implementation of its innovations, the following profits and benefits were achieved over the years: ·         Economies of Scale and Scope in manufacturing and research and development arising from its numerous facilities situated in the United Kingdom and other countries worldwide. ·         Unique Quality Airline Technology Virgin Airways’ commitment to research & development activities has always been one of its top strategies to remain competitive in the market.     ·         Differentiated Airline Services Through the production and marketing of differentiated airline services originating from their research and development activities, Virgin Airways is able to create its own firm-specific advantages. The continuous pursuit of research and development processes enables Virgin Airways to produce a steady stream of originally differentiated products which makes it difficult for competitors to find substitutes. Because of this differentiated approach, Virgin Airways is able to market their airline services worldwide, which enables them in turn to maximize the returns on research and development expenditures (, 2002). SECTION 2: A. Overview of Palm, Inc. In general, Palm, Inc. is dynamic and complex organization because of its proven best quality services and being dedicated in serving the world with its management values that has kept them to be one of the best and most renowned in the computer industry business in relation to Palm, Inc.‘s climb in terms of market leadership which is the outcome of a consistent focus on delivering the best possible customer experience by means of standard based products and services in engaging the global market per se. The external environment of a company consists of outside conditions that affect a firm’s performance. An analysis of this external environment allows a firm to identify key conditions that are beyond its direct control and those elements on which it can have an affect. Analyzing these areas of the external environment help Palm, Inc. identify the opportunities and threats in the computer industry. There are a lot of factors affecting Palm, Inc.’s business from the external environment. Palm, Inc. has tight competency with other big computer sellers like Compaq and HP. Thus, social factors also affect the business environment of Palm, Inc. Computer companies have to acknowledge that in various cultures, people are still unsure about credit card sales because of the huge expense of computers. Companies, then have to invest in door-to-door or face-to-face operations to gain consumers’ faith and consumers trust in the company and its product. B. How the Literature fits the Organization (Palm, Inc.)           The literature fits the selected organization because of the simple fact that Palm, Inc. has used these innovations in order to propel them towards a high level of success. Palm, Inc. truly introduces original innovations that have been always supported by their loyal clients over the years. The innovations of Palm, Inc. focus more on the management and access of information rather the creation of irrelevant services. For this reason, Palm, Inc. has developed a unique set of guiding principles – simplicity, cost-efficiency and effectiveness. Total commitment to these principles makes the services of Palm, Inc. very user-friendly to its customers (. 2001). Palm, Inc. was able to achieve a broad market leadership through various acquisition deals over the years. The company also exerts efforts to communicate with their customers in every local culture about their airline services and their impressions. And this is no easy thing because their regular clients and customers have different tastes in terms of airline service preferences. This critical information gathered by Palm, Inc. paves the way for them to make the right decision regarding the appropriate innovations to pursue. C. Evidences of Innovations in Palm, Inc. 1) Environmental / Internal Innovations Beginning in 1995, Palm, Inc. started including smart-phones and handheld computers into the list of their services. These were equipped with a Personal Information Management (PIM) software and other note-taking applications (. 2001).  A range of additional features including high resolution colored screens and wireless capabilities ensured that there’s a mobile product designed to meet the needs of clients anywhere in the world. On the part of Palm, Inc., segmentation is a key factor especially in markets where a broad leadership position has yet to be fully developed (, 1994). In these markets Palm, Inc. strives for strong positions especially in the import and specialty segments.           Good examples here include Palm, Inc.’s leading position in the mobile computing industry in the US as well as the recently established markets within the capital city of Washington.  In both examples, Palm, Inc. shows its desire to establish autonomous growth through expansion through the distribution networks as well as growth through acquisitions. 2) Nature of Innovation The innovations of Palm, Inc. are focused mainly on driving the growth of its services and improving the company’s financial performance. These innovations have also helped secure significant acquisitions and partnerships. And more importantly, these innovations have led to the release of the potentials of the company’s employees, thus building a quality performance- based culture. The innovations of Palm, Inc. are practically reinforced by the local employees themselves. These moves certainly allow the company to improve even more without the costs of introducing new technologies. These efforts have resulted in increased financial gains for the company and have allowed the establishment of distribution networks for its services. On the other hand, Palm, Inc.’s innovations in the mobile computing industry changed for the better at the start of the new millennium and began pursuing airline service differentiation. True enough, the differentiated products and services of Palm, Inc. were able to satisfy the needs of customers through a sustainable competitive advantage. This allowed to desensitize the prices of their services and instead focused on the values that generated not only a comparatively higher price but also a better margin (. 1997). D. Problems Encountered The aftermath of the implementation of innovations in Palm, Inc. led to a resistance to change among the employees. Because of the adjustments to the newly implemented innovations that the Palm employees would have to endure, it was not surprising that at first they felt negative about it. However, as time went by the workforce and the innovations got to jive with each other. Along with this was the changing of leadership type from autocratic to a democratic type. This way, the participation of all key stakeholders especially the workers was more encouraged. If they felt something was right or wrong regarding the innovations, or if they wanted to tell something important to the management, they were now be free do so without any worries. Also, a democratic leadership approach allowed the management to have a feedback regarding the innovations being implemented. They immediately knew if there was any tension going on between or among the stakeholders involved. Thus, immediate action were planned and implemented by the management to keep matters from getting worse.     SECTION THREE RECOMMENDATIONS A tie-up or merger with various local mobile computing companies offers tremendous benefits in terms of access to the company’s innovative strategies, infrastructure and even its resources. However, Palm, Inc. must not lose sight of their core competencies while pursuing these tie-ups. Otherwise, the image of both companies might be put in jeopardy. Meanwhile, the collaboration of Palm, Inc. with their major competitors can be seen as a ridiculous move at first.  However, upon close examination, this move could pave the way for both companies to increase even more their market shares and revenues and improve their innovations (, 1993). The bottom line is both sides would be able significantly gain financially and strategically in such an alliance. Their strengths in airline service development combined with the financial capabilities and innovations of their competitors can transform them suddenly into an unbeatable force to reckon with. One possible setback, however, is the differences in the cultures of the mobile computing companies involved. Another possible setback could be whether any of Palm, Inc.’s competitors has the need to form alliances. In terms of appropriateness, all three options are able to directly address the current issues mentioned. However, the question remains whether Palm, Inc. could be able to implement any of these options, and whether these options can be acceptable to the key stakeholders. Any merger or alliances may also involve the sharing of expertise. Palm, Inc. has traditionally relied on the inside-out approach. It is important to note that any merger transactions would have many implications on the company’s values and culture as well as the resources (, 1997). The key stakeholders definitely would be concerned with such options and need to be convinced of the positive aspects. Somehow, Palm, Inc. will be able to overcome this barrier in managing strategic changes in the process of implementing any of the above mentioned strategic options. REFERENCES Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

INNOVATION

OBJECTIVES As a person with knowledge of innovations, the author has always brought up to his superiors the viability of strategy format...

MANAGING PHYSICAL RESOURCES

Resource Plan in British Virgin Islands Health Sector   Introduction Resources come in many forms. “The money resource refers to what an organization has plus what it can receive through grants, donations, entitlements, credit financing or long term borrowing. The equipment resource can vary from a basic computer to an MRI; it enables the organization to perform certain tasks. In addition, the organization also needs methods or policy and procedures, which are its “how-to” systems. The organization must also take account of time, the question being whether we have time on our side or whether the task must be performed now. Time, of course, is the one resource that can never be recaptured. Finally, the organization must take account of space; this involves the location decision which is sometimes referred to as site control, and concerns the physical geography or environment that is needed to perform or provide services.” (, 1992) The critical resource management decision problem is that of allocating scarce resources amongst competing activities under the restrictions of a variety of constraints, both physical and administrative in character. Scarce resources may be workforce, capital, raw materials, energy, machine capacities, space, and by-products.   The provision of quality health care is increasingly demanding on physical resources such as buildings, equipment, and supply systems. Appropriate building and equipment are the major motivation factor for health workers.   The following are the physical resources to be considered to best support program goals and objectives of health care services. <ul style="margin-top: 0in; margin-bottom: 0in" type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Environment (space), structure </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Utilities, services, such as oxygen, suction </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Office equipment and supplies </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Ward equipment and supplies </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Medical equipment and supplies </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Safety, security, emergency policies, procedures </li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; line-height: 200%"> Medications, therapeutics </li> </ul>   The paper attempts to provide a resource plan for physical resources needed in the health care sector in British Virgin Islands.               Managing Resources   Health Care Physical Resource Analysis in British Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands provides district clinics or private doctors to provide prenatal care to pregnant women in which appraise hemoglobin levels, treat anemia, perform VDRL tests, and administer tetanus toxoid. District clinics provide a full range of child health services, including growth and nutritional monitoring, development assessment, treatment of common illnesses, counseling, school health, vision and hearing screening, and screening for anemia, including sickle cell anemia. In addition, there is a 12-slot facility, Fort Charlotte School, in which cater with the special needs of children run by the Department of Education. Special attention is given to children with Down’s syndrome, cerebral palsy, physical disability, autism, and attention deficit disorder. There is also a community mental health center in Road Town in which provides most of the ambulatory care for the territory. Its approach emphasizes treating individuals in their community, including monitoring and administering medication, providing family counseling, and promoting self-care.  In addition, there is a medical ward in Peebles Hospital for psychiatric patients. There are only two secured rooms on the medical ward and non-disruptive patients are admitted on the general medical ward. There are no psychiatric nurses on staff and quarters are cramped. In 1995, a drug rehabilitation facility was opened within walking distance of the community mental health center. Road Town Health Center and Peebles Hospital support district clinics. Catchments populations for district clinics range from 141 persons at the Jost van Dyke Clinic to 9,106 persons at the Road Town Health Center on Tortola, numbers augmented by tourists and temporary residents, such as yacht dwellers. The Road Town Health Center serves as a referral point for the district clinics and includes a family planning service. Other primary care facilities available include a drug-treatment center, a community mental health center, and a dental unit, all of which provide services that are not routinely available at district clinics. The drug-treatment center and mental health center are based in Road Town. Moreover, in Tortola, there is a 50-bed Peebles Hospital which is the main provider of secondary care and is administered by the Government. It offers surgical, obstetric, medical, pediatric, and psychiatric care on an inpatient basis. All service areas are covered by local doctors, except for psychiatry, which is served by a part-time consultant psychiatrist based in Barbados. Clinical support includes physiotherapy, x-ray, and laboratory services. The Community Mental Health Center also provides psychiatric service on an outpatient basis. In Road Town, there is a three-chair dental unit. There is one dental chair in Virgin Gorda and one in Anegada, where services are provided one day per week and one day per month, respectively. Government oral health services mainly treat children; the dental officer treats adults in private clinics part-time on a split-fee basis with the Ministry. Furthermore, there is an active and well-established private health sector. An eight-bed clinic performs reconstructive, general, and hand surgery, and had an annual average of 354 patients during the review period. There are two private dental clinics in Road Town. In addition, there are several private medical practices; the two largest are located in Road Town, and one has a branch in Virgin Gorda. Both centers have a pharmacy and mammography, ultrasound, and x-ray diagnostic equipment.   Physical Resources Requirement Implicit in the definition of an organizational field is the importance of attending to the environments – local as well as societal – in which organizational populations function. ,  and  (forthcoming) differentiate environmental factors into two analytic categories: those pertaining to the material resource environment, including factors involved in the demand for and supply of medical services as well as the competitive structure of the industry; and those pertaining to the institutional environment, in particular, the identities of organizational and field-level actors, and the logics and governance systems that operate in the field. As defined by  and  (1983: ), a field consists of “those organizations that, in the aggregate, constitute a recognized area of institutional life: key suppliers, resource and product consumers, regulatory agencies, and other organizations that produce similar services or products.” Health economists have analyzed dynamics on the demand side in terms of market segmentation (, , and , 1993). Demand has been shown to reflect differences in demographic characteristics and ability to pay; supply-side differences are evident in physician density and market concentration of organizational providers ( and , 1985; , 1988). Aside from these resource bases, industry structure – the number of buyers and sellers and the ways in which they are related to one another – also greatly affects the flows of resources, their exchange and consumption, within a field. “Between 1992 and 1995 there were 1,208 hospital deliveries, an average of 302 annually. Between 1992 and 1995, an average of 84 deaths were registered annually in the British Virgin Islands. About 6 % of them were coded as ill-defined conditions. Diseases of the circulatory system accounted for 36% and malignant neoplasms for 18% of all deaths. External causes accounted for 7%, conditions originating in the perinatal period for 8%, and communicable diseases for less than 5% of the total.” (, 2007) British Virgin Islands has an estimated population of 23,098 as of July 2006 with an average of 14.89 births per 1,000 population and a growth rate of 1.97 per cent (, 2007). Hospital and clinics requirements increases with the continuous increase in population. Medical care in the British Virgin Islands consists of a small general hospital with an emergency room staffed 24-hrs/day by physicians, several clinics on Tortola, and one clinic in Virgin Gorda.  Both islands are served by ambulances staffed with paramedics.  There are no medical facilities on the other islands.  A volunteer organization, Virgin Islands Search and Rescue (VISAR), responds 24-hrs/day to medical emergencies at sea or on outer islands.  VISAR transports casualties to the nearest point for transfer to ambulance.  To reach VISAR, dial SOS (767) or call on Marine Channel 16.  There is no hyperbaric chamber in the BVI.  Patients requiring treatment for decompression illness are transferred to St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands.  Most sensitive medical cases are transferred to San Juan, Puerto Rico. It has been noted that British Virgin Islands lack the physical resources in order to assess the health care requirements of the population of the country. They lack facilities in order to cater some illness.   The territory has a vigorous private health sector, encompassing both inpatient and ambulatory care. However, many residents also go off-island for health care, mainly to the United States Virgin Islands or Puerto Rico, either through choice or because they require specialized care unavailable locally.   Monitoring The Ministry of Health and Welfare is responsible for providing public health and social services, as well as for monitoring and regulating private sector providers. The Minister in consultation with the Director of Health Services and the Permanent Secretary makes policy decisions. The Director of Health Services is charged with the day-to-day management and planning of health services. The Permanent Secretary is responsible for the administration of the Ministry headquarters and for supporting the Minister in his policy role. The Public Health Department is responsible for managing government health services. The Department is organized into hospital and primary health care services; each is headed by a senior manager who reports to the Director of Health Services. Budgetary responsibility is devolved to the heads of the respective units.   Mandatory Compliance Laws dealing with safety, health, and accessibility for physically impaired persons, and other regulatory issues, are evaluated and proposed projects placed in the compliance strategic facility plan for future consideration and funding. Remodeling and new space also increased safety, health, and with Disabilities Act compliance   Community Involvement Research on motivational factors involved in staffing voluntary community organizations suggests that people participate in these organizations when they perceive social and environmental problems within a community to which they are attached and find organizations that they expect to be successful in mitigating these problems ( & , 1990;  & , 1984). Such studies have found that participation in community groups is significantly related to three types of benefits (personal, social, and purposive) and their corresponding costs (, , , , & , 1990). Moreover, members’ sense of individual and collective self-efficacy, and thus their motivation to participate, is enhanced when these organizations are empowered by successfully influencing actions taken by the community. Thus, encouraging community participation can lead to community commitment which would also lead to effectiveness of the projects and programs.   Managing Financial Resources Funding The Government almost wholly finances public health services. However, there still some organizations that are committed to funds programs for the welfare of the citizens such as the Community Foundation of the Virgin Islands which is committed to using resources from unrestricted sources to fund innovative programs and projects that show promise of developing into longer-term responses to the needs of children and families in the Virgin Islands   Budgeting for Hospital Equipments The table below shows the estimated costs of the equipments for the clinics and hospitals to be constructed in British Virgin Islands.   Table. 1. Estimated Costs for Equipments Type of Equipment Total Cost Facility , 990,000 Technology ,000,000 Capital 0,000,000 Total 6,990,000     References Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com

MANAGING PHYSICAL RESOURCES

Resource Plan in British Virgin Islands Health Sector Introduction Resources come in many forms. “The money resource refers to what ...