Managing marketing relationships Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3500 words

Managing marketing relationships - Article Example Finally, revenue does not necessarily increase with time for all types of customers (Reinartz & Kumar, 2000). But relationship marketing still has been adopted with aim to: build grater customer loyalty and relation; develop methods of creating longer term relationships; Lead ultimately to increase sales and profits. To build up customer loyalty, three kinds of marketing tools were designed: economic, psychological (creating links) and structural (partnerships) (Berry and Parasumaran, 1991). In order to increase loyalty relationship marketing has came into existence.Relationship marketing has been defined by Gronroos (1990, 1991, 1994) who has consistently argued for the importance of ensuring that relationships with customers should be continuously developed: "Marketing is to establish, maintain and enhance relationships with customers and other partners, at a profit, so that the objectives of the parties involve are met. This is achieved by a Mutual exchange and fulfillment of prom ises." Gronroos argues that all marketing strategies lie on a continuum ranging from transactional to relational marketing where relationship marketing can be judged in terms of measures of customer retention rather than marketing share. RM requires the effective acquisition and retention of customers for the building of a more efficient operation and ultimately, a stronger competitive position. Now being familiar with a bank doing retail banking in the country, and having 500 branches and over 2 million customers. I will try to discuss the relationship marketing strategies for the particular bank. It is an important aspect of retail banking to... The reasoning behind retaining the customer is simple i.e. if we want to be profitable and increase it, hold on to the good customers. To identify the good customers’ bank has divided the customers in several tiers in terms of profitability and that these tiers often have quite different service expectations and needs. According to Valarie Zeithaml, Roland Rust and Katharine Lemony (2001) it’s critical that organizations must understand the needs of customers. Customers within different profitability tiers and adjust their service level accordingly. Bank has developed customers around various levels of contribution, different needs (including sensitivities to such variables as price, comfort and speed) and identifiable personal profiles such as demographics. Bank has stratified its customers according to their requirements. At the top level, customers, who constitute a very small percentage of a bank’s customer’ base. They are heavy users of services and c ontribute a large share of the profits generated in the bank. Typically this segment is relatively less price sensitive but expects highest service levels in return and is likely to willing to invest in and try new services. The next tier forms a larger percentage of customers than the top one’s and contributes less profit to the bank in comparison to top ones. They tend to be slightly more price sensitive and less committed to the firm. The third level of customers provides the bulk of customer base.

Compare and Contrast 2 Movies with Platos Allegory Essay Example for Free

Compare and Contrast 2 Movies with Platos Allegory Essay Humans depend on their five senses to confirm the authenticity of the reality that surrounds them, but how would they react when their comfort zone they call â€Å"the truth† is wrong? In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, Plato answers that question with a series of symbols. The same symbolic meanings can be found in the 1999 film of The Matrix (directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski) where the protagonist Thomas A. Anderson is a man living two lives. Thomas is an average computer programmer by day but hacker Neo by night. Thomas is an obedient citizen; on the other hand, Neo has never been satisfied with the reality that has been spoon fed to him since he was born and has been searching for the truth through computers. When Neo is targeted by the police, Morpheus (a legendary computer hacker) contacts Neo and awakens him to the real world. Because of the obvious similarities, the dimensions present in The Matrix could be compared with Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. In The Matrix, Morpheus makes a perplexing point of â€Å"If real is what you feel, smell, taste and see, then ‘real’ is simply electrical signals interpreted by your brain† (The Matrix) and continues to question â€Å"what is real? † (The Matrix). This argument then leads to Morpheus revealing the real post-apocalyptic world where machines who call themselves the â€Å"Sentinels† rule over humans. Morpheus explains that the Sentinels created a reality stimulator (the â€Å"Matrix†) to control humans. The Matrix is built to feed humans a false world and is manipulated by artificial knowledge. This make-belief world befits Plato’s representation of the ignorant world â€Å"the cave†. In Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, the cave is to symbolize the warped world that the everyday people would perceive as the one and only â€Å"reality†. Not forgetting the ultimate truth, Plato symbolizes it with the â€Å"world above the cave†. In The Matrix, the dark, machine-ruled world is The Matrix[’s] rendition of the world above the cave. Wanting to share the truth, Morpheus opens the door of the ultimate truth to Neo by giving him the choice between the blue and the red pill. If Neo was to choose the blue pill, it was a choice to continue living in the Matrix’s blissful ignorant illusion whereas if he chose the red pill, he will be able to embrace the hidden truth. Morpheus’ red pill is a portrayal of â€Å"the tunnel† in Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. The red pill and â€Å"the tunnel† are to symbolize the path to more information and to become more open-minded. After choosing the red pill, this path awakens Neo to the new world and Morpheus trains and teaches Neos mind to be strong enough to comprehend and differentiate the truth from the Matrix. Neo’s training of the truth is a depiction of Socrates the freed prisoner being pulled to the light because both dimensions are to symbolize the education the one has to go through to further understand the world and its surroundings. In Plato’s allegory, Socrates journey suggests that without the assistance of education and with the little knowledge one has, one is incapable of comprehending new information which makes the â€Å"tunnel† essential for enlightenment. After learning the ultimate truth through Morpheus’ education process, Neo realizes that the spoon that fed him information his whole life was a lie and that â€Å"there is no spoon† (The Matrix). Eventually Neo reacts to the world’s reality with acceptance and he believes that he lives in â€Å"a world where anything is possible† (The Matrix). Neo acknowledges and stomachs the actuality of the Matrix; however, Cypher (another â€Å"disciple of the truth† Morpheus had trained) loathes the truth and would much rather revert back to an ignorant Matrix citizen. As a portrayal of Plato’s allegory’s â€Å"rejection of the truth†, Cypher teams up with Agent Smith (the antagonist of the film) to catch Morpheus and prevent the spread of knowledge. The reasoning behind Agent Smith rejection of the truth and role to silence Morpheus is because the Sentinels (the robots that rule earth) believe that if the humans realize the false world that surrounds them, the humans might revolt which will inevitably lead to the dethroning of the Sentinels. Agent Smith’s role is The Matrix[’s] representation of Plato’s â€Å"guards†, because â€Å"the guards† are responsible for keeping the ignorant prisoners (which, in The Matrix[’s] terms, are the humans) from learning about the real world. Agent Smith’s hatred towards the real world is evident when he says â€Å"I hate this place, this zoo, this prison, this reality†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (The Matrix). Both Agent Smith’s and Cypher’s â€Å"rejection of the truth† leads to Cypher’s betrayal to Morpheus’ trust and consequently leads to several valued â€Å"disciples of the truth† deaths. Cypher’s double-crossing unfaithfulness progresses the plot and the flow of The Matrix[’s] and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave[’s] story leads to the â€Å"execution of Socrates† (ie. Neo’s death). The â€Å"execution of Socrates† is Plato’s metaphor of the information censorship when the ultimate truth is not accepted by the general public. Although Neo is revived in The Matrix, his death is essential because it is the a representation of the general public’s rejection to the one and only hope to understanding the ultimate truth and it also shows the consequences of the general public’s lack of better judgment. Neo was not revived until Trinity and the other â€Å"disciples of the truth† portrayed their hope and acceptance for Neo. When Neo was revived, Neo was able to defeat Agent Smith (â€Å"the guard†) and is now able to spread the legitimacy of the Matrix. Even though Plato ended his allegory with the â€Å"execution of Socrates† to better convince his audience that any information censorship will lead to no progression, The Matrix revived Neo to depict what could of happened to Socrates if the truth was accepted (which eventually be the general public’s acceptance of the truth). After analyzing and comparing The Matrix and Plato’s Allegory of the Cave, one can see that the two are very similar and are trying to get the same messages across. Through character development, themes, and symbolism both allegories were able to demonstrate the path to knowledge is often concealed by the faulty ideology the complacent majority desperately cling unto. Without the willingness to evolve and buildup of what we, as humans, know to further understand the misinterpreted world (ie. The reality), no positive progression will occur.

How Perception Affects Tourism In Thailand Tourism Essay

How Perception Affects Tourism In Thailand Tourism Essay This chapter is aiming to give an overview of related theories and perceptions those affect to tourism industry. The review also includes the concept of beneficial image, the image of Thailand and heritage tourism and also provide concept which previously has been developed by different researchers who undertaking the research study in similar approach. How Perception Affect Tourism The term perception of the tourism industry is, generally, can be viewed in two aspects. The first one is the mental image created by marketing and media. Another aspect of image can be developed by the consumers. In general, the destination will market itself as much as possible in order to persuade the traveller to buy a trip there (Tuohino, 2002 cited from Henkel et al, 2006). Travellers go to the destination in order to consume the products, services and experiencing to those offering at the destination. Travellers will form their perceptions related to their expectation which are based on their former experience, friends, the internet, marketing and travel agent information (Kotkew, Bowen Markens, 2006). Thus, if products or services in particular destination exceed traveller expectation, which means they are satisfied. On the other hand, travellers are dissatisfied when their expectations are not met (Mcdowall, 2010). According to Crompton (1979), people travel for four different reasons: personal business travel; corporate business travel; visiting relatives and friends; and for pleasure vacation. Therefore, tourists have stereotypical image of different perception and travel locations, so it is important for tourism marketers to promote the destination image to increase the number of tourists (Sirgy Su, 2000). Moreover, the individuals cultural belonging and heritage does not only affect the way people experience and interpret the products and services supplied to them, but it also influence their decision making in regard to choices of vacations and destinations. Furthermore, customers have different perception and individual needs, which hold different values to a destination. The collection of customer information is a way to discover the customer needs and their values. Thus, customers benefit the destination in the way of customers tastes and preferences which can directly contribute to ma rketing new product and services in tourism industry (Reportforu, 2010). Fakeye and Crompton (1991), has outlined the tourists image formation process (see Figure 1). It can be explained from this Figure that the consumers organic images and the induced image of tourist destination can be obtained from elsewhere, i.e. literature, friends or relatives. These messages play a significant role and influence the evaluation of alternative travel destinations and finally in making a decision about the destination they will visit (cited from Henkel et al, 2006). Hu Ritchi (1993) stated that the more tourists think that the destination will satisfy their vacation desires, the more likely the visitors will choose the destinations. Figure 1: Faye and Cromptons Tourists Image Formation Process (Tuohino,2002). Conceptualisation of beneficial image It was described by the previous study on destination image that a destinations image could contribute to the destination-making process. During this process, travelers build a destination image based on the informative and persuasive information such as friends, news and travel agency (Rittichainuwat, 2001). Thus, an effective destination image strategy will be very important in order to make the particular destination differentiation from other countries. Cromton (1979) states that not all images can be influenced to traveler decision making process. The research examines the relationships between the attribute of a destination and decision-making process of tourists. Therefore, understanding the evaluative of destination characteristic image related to destination choice is needed in tourism marketing. Moreover, Kotler and Barich (1991) states that consumer will form an image based on benefit or value that they expect to get from those products or services. Sheth, Newman, and Gross (1991) suggested that marketing choice behavior is a multidimensional phenomenon involving multiple values: functional, social, emotional, epistemic, and conditional (see Appendix 1). The study also states that these seven important factors are influencing market choice behaviour. Based on the theory and marketing image concept, the beneficial image model was developed by Tappachai and Waryszak is shown as below. Figure 2: Beneficial image model (Tapachai Waryszak, 2000) Figure 2 shows traveller consumption values which are in the beneficial image model. These five consumption values including functional characteristic of the destinations, Social perception about the destination, emotional of traveller through the destination, epistemic of the destination which traveller can gain new experience from the destination and conditional such as accessibility to other countries that will help visitor to decide about their destinations. (Tapachai Waryzak, 2000, cited from Henkel et al, 2006). By using Thailand as an example to describe the model above, Thailands functional values are fascinating bargain shopping, variety of food and beautiful scenery site. The social consumption will be a destination that suitable for all ages of people. The emotional value is about a place of to relax and calm. An epistemic value is a beautiful culture in Thailand and finally the conditional value is mainly about the location which traveller can easily access to other coun tries. According to Echtner Ritchie (1993), the destination image refers to attributes base or holistic (imagery), with each component containing functional (tangible) or psychological (intangible or abstract) characteristic ( Echtner Ritchie, 1993). The attributes perspectives are including tourists perceptions through the characteristics of the vacation destination such as beautiful architecture and buildings, numerous cultural, historical attractions and psychological characteristic like safe place to visit and also friendly people. Moreover, the holistic perspective of the destination relates to destination image in terms of physical characteristic such as beaches, mountain, likewise the psychological are the destinations atmosphere or mood (Echtner Ritchie, 1993 cited from Henkel et al). Rod Davies (2003) explained that every destination have its own brand image. Also, the factors like cost and convenience play an important role in decision-making of the destination. However, the strongest influence and motivator is the image of the tourism destination (Davies, 2003). Therefore, images are the brand identity which tourist can be perceived. In addition, images can be both increase and decrease the selection of the destination by traveller (Henkel et al). However, Bigne et al. (2001) argued that image is not only influences the destination choice, but also has an influence on the evaluation of the destination after the vacation. It can be explained that whether or not traveller will return to the destination (Bigne et al, 2001 cited from Henkel et al). Moreover, a high positive image of particular destination is more likely to be chosen by tourist in the process of decision-making (Echtner Ritchie, 1993). In conclusion, image play an important role for tourist satisfa ction and the preconceive image of destination will influence tourist decision on their vacation destination. The image of Thailand Destination image can be both positive and negative image, if two destinations have almost offering the same characteristics for traveller perception. Therefore, the more positive image of a destination place, the more likely that traveler will go there (Rittichainuwat, 2001). Thailand is not only positioning as a land of smile as a result of friendly people and a safe place destination, but also considerable as cultural, natural and historical attractions. Due to the study of Yau and Chan on the image of Southeast Asian, Thailand has been perceived as a reasonable price, beautiful beaches and various attractions (Rittichainuwat, 2001). In addition, Tapachai Waryszak conduct a study about benefit image characteristic of Thailand and grouped the results of research showed that the functional attributes of cheap shopping, variety of food, friendly people and historical sites as well as the epistemic attribute of experiencing rich culture in Thailand (Henkel et al, 2006). Furthermore, the research between Tourism Authority in Thailand (TAT) and Siam University showed the result that there was a positive image as a natural and historical travel destination (Henkel et al., 2006). This positive image can be reflected by the award winning destination from differ ent countries, for example, International Tourisms Bourse Berlin (ITB), awarded the four go Asia Awards honouring best service provides for travel to Asia in 2010, the Swedish grand travel award has ranked Thailand as the World Best Tourist Country However, Thailand has also suffered from a negative image because of prostitution, pollution which led to the decline of tourist attractions (Rittichainuwat et al., 2001). Prideaux et al. (2004) has also stated that the image of Thailand is an erotic destination. In addition, the image of Thailand also related to international news coverage by saying that Thailand is a place of prostitution. These negative images can, obviously, affect visitors and might make them do not want to visit Thailand. This also leads to the cause of some health and moral issues in Thailand (Henkel et al., 2001). However, the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) never promotes Thailand as a sex tourism destination (Prideaux et al., 2004). Suwanmolis study about international media coverage of prostitution in Thailand, the result found that foreign reporters usually report the negative side such AIDS and prostitution because this kind of news very easily get attention from publics. Moreover, Suwanmoli explaine d that there are a high number of as many as 2.8 million prostitutes working in Thailand (Rittichainuwat, 2001). Therefore, the government should be concerned of this issue in order to minimize the pandemic deceases and prostitution. Alternatively, Thai government must actively seek to reduce the images of negative such as sex tourism through positive image marketing of other tourism products and trying to decrease the illegal activities such as prostitution within the country (Henkel et al, 2006). Finally, Thailands image has suffered from a declination of tourist attractions, pollution, traffic jam, lack of new tourist attractions and the image of sex tourism. Additionally, Ahmed states that once a negative image is established in the minds of potential travelers, even a full range of marketing activities cannot entirely reverse it. Thus, Marketers only able to do little to eliminate the negative image. In contrast, marketer can offset the negative perception by creating positive images through promotional strategies, including advertising, arranging the events, and hosting international conventions and exhibitions (Rittichainuwat, 2001). Heritage Tourism The vast majority of literature on heritage, apart from the philosophical and intellectual, has concerned itself with heritage tourism, a sector that has grown globally and also created the revenue and employment for undeveloped countries (Misiura, 2006). According to The World Tourism Organisation (1992) defines heritage tourism as an immersion in the natural history, human heritage, arts, philosophy and intuitions of another region or country (Laws Pan, 2004). Moreover, Rowan and Baram (2004) describe heritage tourism as a consumerist phenomenon and hence marketing of this phenomenon is bound to be driven by capitalist tendencies. (cited from Chabra, 2009). Thus, the core of heritage marketing is to find out what the customer want and deliver it. Particularly, in relation to built environment, i.e., the marketing activity should be design to stimulate demand and satisfy the customer but not to the detriment of that which needs to preserves for future generation (Misiura, 2006, p.2 ). Yale (1991), explains that the heritage tourism is a centred on what we inherited from historic buildings, to art works, to beautiful scenery. Ashworths (2000) defined the comodification and the past in heritage tourism which is based on the commoditized, building, memories and experiences of the past (cited from Grace Yan et al). From the demand aspect, the heritage tourism is about finding something which is linking between the present and the past and traveller emotional experiences (Richards 1997 and Prentice 1993). However, Poria et al. (2001) argued that the relationship of heritage tourism should be based on the individual and the heritage presented rather than on specific site attributes. In addition, they described heritage tourism as a subgroup of tourism, in which the main motivation for visiting a site is based on the places heritage characteristics according to tourists perception of their own heritage (Poria et al., 2001, p. 1048). Also, in order to combined both supply and demand by explaining that heritage tourism relies on the strength of both the push and pull factors of the resources located in area in order to appeal to the potential tourists (Apostolakis (2003, p. 800) Cited from Grace Yan et al). Heritage visitor, try to find the different benefits from trips.. Poria et al. (2004) pointed out that the reasons for visiting heritage sites for travellers can be grouped places in to three categories which are under the headings of heritage experience, learning. These explain that there are people with a strong interest in emotionally involved with a sense of belonging to the site. In contrast, for some tourists, heritage tourism is more than an educational or recreational experience. This further suggested by Martin et al. (2004, p.131), determining the potential of heritage tourism and the possible impact and the marketing direction needed to attract these visitors will be less speculative if the nature of the tourist is better understood World Heritage is the programme administered by the UNESCO, the programme aims to catalogue, name, and conserve sites of outstanding cultural or natural importance to the common heritage of humanity and to raise awareness of how to maintain the sites to last for future generations of humanity (Thaiwh, 2010). In Thailand, there are World Heritage sites of Ayutthaya, Sukhothai, Si Satchanalai and Kamphaengphet provinces. There are rich heritage and magnificent architecture that make them as The World Heritage sites which are listed in 1991 by UNESCO (UNESCO, 1992). Therefore, the marketing of heritage, especially heritage tourism will contribute the benefit in order to serve the products and services to customers relate to those World heritage sites in Thailand. It can be seen that strategic planning has been used within many organizations. The successful travel and tourism must not only understand who the customers are but also know how to market them in order to satisfy the needs of their customers. In addition, tourism organisations should identify group of customers with homogeneous characteristics and behaviors and try to adapt their offer to the unique needs and desires of the segment members. Heritage marketing, therefore, is both management philosophy and as set of business techniques. It is very important to recognise that the management of tourism will be ineffective without an understanding of the way tourists consumers make decisions and act in relation to the consumption of tourism products. This research not only provides an oppor tunity for people to fulfill their individual needs, but exceeding their expectations and ensuring that it benefits greatly toward the World Heritage sites in Thailand (Reportforu, 2010). Conclusion The literature reviewed has provided general information about the perception of the tourists through the image of Thailand and Thailands image dimensions. However, the review has also identified both positive and negative image which affected to tourists destination choice. It is worth noting that the concepts described in previous articles, journals and text book, are pertaining and believed to have a direct effect on to the research model which is proposed in the current investigation. Therefore, the proposed research model and hypotheses formulation will be discussed in following chapter.

Michael Fays Conviction in Singapore :: essays research papers

In this article, a young American boy, Michael Fay, who lived in Singapore, was convicted of vandalism and was sentenced to a flogging. The author of this article, Mike Royko, was American, and was on Fay’s side, he thinks that a flogging is wrong. Royko defines what Fay did as â€Å"mischief†. Giving someone a rubber pencil when they ask to borrow a real pencil is mischief, spray painting, egging, switching license plates and tearing down street signs is vandalism, which is more serious than mischief. I think that Royko was trying to downplay what Fay did, to prove his point that flogging is much too harsh for vandals. President Clinton became involved in the case because as the President of the United States he has to protect his citizens, whether they are one mile away from him in the United States, or if they are on the other side of the world. He might not have wanted to intervene, he might not have cared at all about Michael Fay, but the public did, and it would not look good if he said he did not care. When President Clinton asked the governor of Singapore to ease up on the punishment, he told Clinton to mind his own business. The government does have the right to punish its citizens in the way they see fit. In a city as densely populated as Singapore, they cannot have people running around doing whatever they feel like, and then getting off with a small fine and some community service. Clinton could ask them, but they do not have to comply. Clinton was also on precarious territory, because there is a big trade industry between Singapore and the U.S., and losing that, would mean losing billions of dollars. Like most Americans, the author of this article strongly opposed the flogging, which is not surprising. It is not surprising because since he is an American, and because he is, he is used to the customs here, but also because Fay was an American just like Royko. They had something in common, and people like people who are like them. Even though that was practically the only thing he knew about Fay, it was something they shared. They had shared the rights and freedoms of being an American, while living there. If it had been someone from any other country, Mike Royko, would not have cared nearly as much.

Ryanair Case Study

Nova School of Business and Economics 2012/2013 DOGFIGHT OVER EUROPE: RYANAIR Case Study This set of questions refers to Version (A): 1. Which kind of customers was Ryanair trying to attract when, in 1999, Michael O’Leary took charge of the firm? Those with a low price elasticity of demand or those with a high price elasticity of demand? Explain.Considering that we are talking about the same product, in an industry with many firms, where producers and consumers know all quoted prices and where the consumers can identify the product as homogeneous, it is fair to say that we are talking about a scenario close to perfect competition, thus demand for the product is very elastic. So, Ryanair is trying to attract high price elasticity customers.Accordingly to the article: Ryanair marketed itself as â€Å"the low fares airline†; before open new routes, the company cared about low landing fees, low turnaround costs in order to be able to charge low fares to customers; it made a greements with secondary airports, where they did not pays fees (in fact those airports paid to Ryanair to use their locales); it tried that 70% of the available seats in the two lowest fare categories; it made fewer restrictions on its tickets (important for who had extra bags, or who wants to change the flights in order to pay less); it observe competitors, so it would be able to apply a lower fare; its customers were a mix of leisure travelers (70-75%) and business travelers, mostly from small and mid-sized businesses (25-30%). ifferences in airfares could persuade some leisure travelers to visit one destination rather than another; it has chosen the cost leadership so it seeks to be the lowest cost producer in Europe by selling standardized, mass products and Ryanair’s profit maximization was through lower fares in order to attract more customers contrarily to competitors where they maximize their profits through find opportunities to increase fares without losing custome rs. So accordingly to the customers with a high PED (price elasticity demand) following the formula (Q/P) x (P/Q): a little negative variation in prices (decrease in fares), will originate a big positive variation in the amount sold. 2. Why was cost cutting so essential for the strategy chosen? First of all it is important to refer that in 1991, Ryanair was facing a bankruptcy.In response, ‘the company removed all frills from its service, cut its costs to the bone, and dropped its fares to levels unheard of in Europe’. It became priority, to connect all the efforts to preserve and generate cash. Company’s main concern was charge lower fares in order to attract high elasticity price demand customers, with this new strategy, the company became low-cost or low-fare airlines and to maintain it within these measures the firm needed to adapt its strategy to new restrictions, which means, cost cutting. The flag airline faced a really competitive market (in 1999), and to keep competitive the firm had to keep its strategy, and for that was necessary cost cutting. Cost cutting, if it is efficiently done, brings more profits.Besides, using the model used in classes, â€Å"Bertrand – Asymmetric Model† where it says that if certain firm charges ‘P1’ for its product, and other firm charges ‘P1-e’ (because it is able to reduce its marginal cost), so the second firm will get all the demand. Well, Ryanair did not get all the demand, but is observable in ‘Exhibit 4’ that the company carried approximately 60% (353/575) and 56% (180/321) of the passengers on the route ‘Dublin-Manchester’ and the route ‘Dublin-Glasgow’ respectively. 3. Ryanair uses a performance-based pay scheme to compensate its flight attendants. Why? A performance-based payment scheme combines the interests of both flight attendants and the company. This happens because obviously, the flag airline will gain more i f the attendants are working efficiently (making an effort to sell the snacks, drinks, or whatever they have on board; being nice with the passengers, and help them as much they can), then if they are lazy during work. If a salesperson receives a fixed wage, no matter how much it sells, then he or she will not have any incentive to sell more than the expected. But, of course, if they receive an extra commission for each sale, then the salesperson will do the effort that it maximizes its utility. By having a higher effort, the workers have a higher payoff which maximizes its utility.A sector payment or an in-flight sales commission allowed flight attendants to earn 10% more than those from competitors and allowed the firm to fly to 50% more sectors than its rivals. Consequently, a higher number of flights increase the profits of Ryanair. The company’s rapid growth permitted job mobility, for instance, a flight attendant could take a job at the yield operations management on th e headquarters; job mobility was a solution for the company to avoid coordination problems. 4. Why wasn’t this performance scheme also offered to maintenance personnel? The majority of European airlines pay their employees based on the length of their tenure with the company. However, Ryanair only applied this to their maintenance and engineering personnel.As a company obsessed with cash, the most important part of the business was the operational part, the one which actually gave money to the company: flights and duty-free revenues. So, this was the only personnel where it was justifiable to apply a performance-based pay scheme. Engineering and maintenance were paid based on their formal qualifications: more qualified personnel would do the job more accurately. Maintenance personnel only represented 9,34% of the total employees as of March 31, 1999. Besides the company concerns about security: let’s say that if they receive a fee for each plane that is ‘fixedâ⠂¬â„¢, they will want to fix the maximum planes, as fast as possible, and that may not be the best for the passenger’s security.It’s more important to seek personal with higher qualification, and pay them a reasonable (but fixed) salary, because this is kind of business where mistakes cannot happen, and so, the personnel has to be focus in its work, and not in the ‘extra money’. 5. Can you suggest means of rewarding maintenance personnel that would induce high productivity without hindering Ryanair’s strategy? Ryanair’s strategy is keep low fares so it will be able to keep â€Å"fiercely competitive† and â€Å"ferociously cost conscious†, which implies, minimize costs (everywhere where it is possible), so increase their salaries would hurt the company’s strategy. Given this, it would be a good idea to search for some ‘non-monetary’ alternatives.First of all give them some lectures about how important is to do a good maintenance of the aircraft, aware them that a single mistake can be fatal for hundreds of people (unless they are murderers or mentally sick people they will get alert! ). They can make promises to them in the long-run like if there are no mistakes, Ryanair’s credibility increases, and that will attract more passengers, which means more revenues, which means they can increase wages (and keep the same profit). Monitoring them is a good way of keep the high productivity, this measure leads to an increase in veracity of the employee's reports, in other words, if an employee knows that he or she is being watched, then it will for sure do a better job.The creation of bureaucracy that implies the creation of rules in order to limit the employee’s actions, these rules can be benefit for the maintenance workers, for example, the creation of a rule that says it is mandatory to do a 15 minutes break, every two hours. 6. What are the likely consequences for Ryanair of a steep decrease in the price of jet fuel brought about by a significant decline in the price of oil? Consider both the direct and the strategic effect. All the airline companies are strategic complements, which mean that if one firm takes one action, the others will respond with aggressively actions (upward sloping). And they exhibit tough commitment, in other words, is a commitment that is going to have an adverse effect on the competitors.In Bertrand (this case), the company makes a tough commitment, no matter how much its rival changes the price, the firm’s price will be lower than it would have been if there were no commitment. The companies make tough commitment to avoid that new entrants increase the price competition. Given this, we built the following graph: The red line stands for direct effect and the blue line stands for substitution effect. The direct effect is the commitment’s impact on the present value of the firm’s profits, assuming that the compe titors’ behavior does not change. Applying to the case is basically the profits that all the others airline companies would earn if Ryanair would not decrease its prices as well (point 1 to point 2).The substitution effect takes into account the competitive side effects of the commitment, this means, how much does the tactical decisions of the rivals change, under the commitment conditions. Basically is the adjustment made by Ryanair after the competitors decrease their prices (point 2 to point 3). Decline in the price of oil, brings a decrease in the price of jet fuel. With this shock, all the airline companies will decrease their prices, P1*’. As it was said before, Ryanair always observes its competitors, and then make its move, so they will decrease their tickets’ prices even more, P2*’(one of the principals of tough commitment). As it says in exhibit 2, ‘fuel ; oil’ constitutes approximately 16% of its costs (6. 0/37. ), so despite it is not visible on the graph (due to lack of data related to prices), the prices of the flight’s tickets will decrease considerable, because (repeat) this is a really competitive market, and the airline companies find themselves in a tough commitment, that it will originate a decline even bigger that the one it would happen without though commitment. It is important to refer that the company’s product has a low-level of horizontal differentiation because the difference between the products of each one of the companies is based on the quality in the in-flight zone. And there are tons of people who simply do not care about that.For those ones, their only concern is to get to their destination. 7. What are the most serious threats that Ryanair faces? Explain your perspective. Europe Union’s measure â€Å"Under the package, carriers were given full freedom to set fares. Any company was allowed to start an airline provided that it had majority European ownership, adequ ate financial backing, and the ability to meet safety requirements. The package permitted any European airline to fly any route between two EU countries and, starting in 1997, any intra-country route between two European cities. † This measure means no patents’ system, which means that as long as there is positive profit, other companies will enter in the market.Without proper cautions this may lead to perfect competition, where the companies will lower their prices until it equals the marginal cost, which implies that the profit will be zero. Even worse than that is if Ryanair adheres to a new technology (in order to decrease its marginal cost), and if we are in a situation where the other companies can copy and use the technology discovered by Ryanair, the company will have negative profits. Contrarily if the competitors are able to decrease its marginal cost, and the antitrust agencies that may lead to monopoly (if there is a patented system that says that is illegal to copy and use technology of others firms). Possible merges by competitors, which would increase their market share. For example, in 2002, easyJet purchased Go for ? 374m.Ryanair may face laws taken by the antitrust agencies that may limit its actions, for example the use of ‘dumping’ strategy (‘monopolistic strategy’ where the firm sells its products below their production cost in order to eliminate competition, and when it occurs, the firm increase its prices again). Ryanair has faced aggressive marketing campaigns and charity efforts by Virgin Express, subcontracts and reliability on third parties (lower costs), total direct selling and a very informal environment by easyJet, predatory pricing by British Airways’ Go and in-flight entertainment and comfort by Debonair. The last one went bankrupt but all the others provide serious competition to Ryanair despite not achieving the profitable results desired.

Features of Bill Clintons Obituary

Features of Bill Clintons Obituary Obituaries are statements of information that follows a person’s death. They offer a brief biography of an individual for public knowledge. This paper seeks to offer a feature obituary of Bill Clinton. The paper will rely on existing published information about the subject for comprehensive review of his biography.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Features of Bill Clinton’s Obituary specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Bill Clinton’s feature obituary It is with deep sorrow and humility that we announce the death of William Jefferson Bill Clinton. The former president of the United States passed away today at six hours local time. Though the exact cause of his death has not been confirmed, Bill is suspected to have succumbed to a heart failure. This is because he was previously diagnosed with a number of cardio vascular complications and has always been on medication. Career achievements Bill Clinton , as he was popularly known in the political field, made his achievements as a politician and a leader. He will also be remembered as a dedicated â€Å"scholar, teacher, politician, and a reformer† (Metz, p. 13). These features particularly contributed to Bill’s success as the governor for Arkansas. During this period, Bill Clinton instituted measures to ensure that education was highly prioritized in his state and the entire nation. His success as a governor is an indicator to his political achievements that followed (Metz, p. 13). Clinton’s highest career achievement was later realized in the year 1993 when he was elected as the United States president. In his capacity as the president, Jefferson succeeded in leading the nation through a political transition from cold war that had been a milestone to the United States history. Though his presidency was marred with media reports of failed leadership, he was a successful leader and was highly regarded by public opinion ratings. His career as a leader was as well felt after his presidency. He continually involved in the global fight against HIV and in initiatives to promote peace in conflict inflicted areas (Mobilereference, n.p.; Genovese, p. 99). Life history William Clinton was born to Jefferson Blyth and Virginia Dell on 19 August in the year 1964. His father, who was a resident of Hope, was a businessperson and was in constant travelling encounters. Blyth died in a road accident before Bill Clinton was born.Advertising Looking for article on communications media? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More His mother later got married to Roger Clinton and Bill was enrolled in â€Å"St. John’s Catholic Elementary School, Ramble Elementary School, and Hot Springs high school† all in his locality of Hope in Arkansas. He was actively involved in leadership and rugby (Mobilereference, n.p.). It was however in the year 196 3 that Bill derived his inspiration and will, to be actively involved in politics. This decision was influenced by his visit to the white house where he met the then president, J. F. Kennedy, and Martin Luther’s speech of ‘I have a dream’ that was delivered in the same year and popularized by the then media. He later joined Georgetown University and graduated in the year 1968 with a science degree in foreign services. He got married to Rodman in the year 1972 with whom he had one daughter, Chelsea and began his active political career in the year 1978 when he was elected to govern the state of Arkansas. Though Bill contemplated contesting for presidency in the year 1988, he withdrew his candidature and was later to win the seat in 1992 for two consecutive terms. He had a brother and his career life included legal practice (Mobilereference, n.p.). Conclusion Bill Clinton will be remembered for his leadership abilities that he demonstrated even in difficult times o f negative public criticism. Genovese, Michael. Encyclopedia of the American presidency. New tork, NY: Infobase Publishing, 2010. Print. Metz, Allan. Bill Clinton: a bibliography. New York, NY: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2002. Print.Advertising We will write a custom article sample on Features of Bill Clinton’s Obituary specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Mobilereference. Calendar of Historical Events, Births, Holidays and Observances. Boston, MA: MobileReference, 2007. Print.