BugUSA, Inc. †Case Scenario Essay Example for Free

BugUSA, Inc. – Case Scenario Essay This scenario presents the case of BugUSA, Inc.; as a team, we endeavor to address the legal ramifications of each companys activities. BugUSA, Inc. has legal rights to intellectual property protection, and this paper explores the options available within that realm. WIRETAP, Inc. will face civil liability claims if caught in its underhanded measures, and possibly a civil RICO suit; BugUSAs security guard Walter, however, has also created a case against its own interests. When another company owns the rights to a web domain that suits BugUSAs needs, it faces the challenge of how to acquire the domain with as little hassle and as much protection as possible. A robbed vendor may present new tort liabilities for BugUSA, and we explore potential defenses. Finally, an injured police officer may have further claims against BugUSA in light of the companys manufacturing decisions. A. Define the different type(s) of legal protections BUG should have for its intellectual property. Explain why these protections are necessary. A patent would protects BugUSA, Inc. from having other parties copy the design of their electronic devices for 20 years from the date they file with the United States Patent and Trademark Office; a copyright would protect the object codes and source codes of any computer programs created by BugUSA, Inc. or its employees that are used in conjunction with their surveillance equipment; finally, a trademark would protect BugUSAs ladybug logo from being copied by competitors (Mallon, Barnes, Bowers Langvardt, 2004). Trademarks, like patents, must be registered with the United States Patent and Trademark Office registration lasts for 10 years rather than 20, but can be renewed for additional 10-year periods (Mallon et al., 2004). B. Earlier this year, WIRETIME, Inc., a relatively new company trying to compete with BugUSA Inc., sent an employee to BugUSA, Inc. to get a job. BugUSA, Inc., not realizing Steve was an employee of WIRETIME, hired him to work in its research and development department located in Any State, U.S.A. While working at BugUSA Inc., Steve forwarded any BugUSA, Inc. e-mail he received to WIRETIME Inc. This included e-mail between BugUSA, Inc. officers (both domestic and abroad) that Steve intercepted using his hacking ability.  At the end of each week, Steve met with his boss at WIRETIME, Inc. and gave him all the information he obtained about the BugUSA, Inc. product lines. Discuss in detail what type(s), if any, of civil liability Steve and/or WIRETIME Inc. face if caught. Steve and WIRETIME may face several types of civil liability to include patent infringement, misappropriation of a trade secret, and interference with prospective advantage. WIRETIME would be liable for patent infringement if they used any information or sold any product that contained elements of a patented invention, which they might have received information on from Steve. They would also be liable if a recently designed or changed product had similar elements to any product that BugUSA, Inc. had patented, even if the product was different in design. Since Steve assisted WIRETIME in obtaining information, he could also be liable for contributory infringement, if the information he obtained was used to infringe on the patentees rights. Depending on the information received and used by WIRETIME, they might or might not be liable for patent infringement. Though they might not be held liable for patent infringement, they have are at risk of being liable for misappropriation of a trade secret. A trade secret is defined as, any secret formula, pattern, process, program, device, method, technique, or compilation of information used in the owners business, if it gives its owner an advantage over competitors who do not know it or use it (Mallon et al., 2004). If the information that WIRETIME received was considered a secret and of potential value, WIRETIME will most likely be held responsible for misappropriation liability. A misappropriation liability occurs when a secret is acquired by improper means or an individual breached a duty of confidentiality regarding the secret. In Steves case, both were committed. First, WIRETIME committed fraud by sending one of their employees to be hired by BugUSA, Inc. in order to gain inside access to the company. Secondly, Steve intercepted certain emails by using his hacking ability and broke his confidentiality agreement by giving WIRETIME information that was probably confidential. The last civil liability WIRETIME might face is interference with prospective advantage. Since WIRETIME intentionally interfered by stealing certain information, BugUSA, Inc. could argue that they lost an advantage in their industry because of information that was placed into the wrong hands. In order for WIRETIME to be liable, BugUSA, Inc. would have to prove that they had an advantage and that the advantage was lost by the illegal actions of one of their competitors. C. Walter, a security guard for BugUSA, learns that Steve really works for WIRETIME. Walter takes Steve to a small soundproof room where he keeps him for six hours. During this time, Walter continues to ask Steve what he is doing at BugUSA and what information he has given WIRETIME. Walter tells Steve that he will hurt him if he does not tell him everything. Steve finally tells Walter what he wants to know. Walter then lets Steve go home. Has Walter committed any torts? If so, explain. Discuss any liability BugUSA may have for Walters actions. Walter has committed at least two torts. The first one is false imprisonment and the second is assault. The definition of false imprisonment is the intentional confinement of another person for an appreciable time without his consent (Mallor et al., 2004, p. 173). Walter took Steve to a soundproof room and kept him there for six hours, questioning him about what information Steve has given to WIRETIME. When Walter tells Steve that he will hurt Steve if he does not tell him everything, Walter has committed the tort of assault. Assault is a tort which merely requires the threat of unwanted touching of the victim, while battery requires an actual unwanted touching (Mallor et al., 2004, p. 175). According to this definition assault was committed, however since Walter apparently did not actually hurt Steve, Walter did not commit battery. D. BugUSA has come to you for advice regarding interstate and international e-commerce. BugUSA wants to sell its products through the Internet. BugUSA is concerned about privacy, security, infringement issues, email contract validity, and various other things. BugUSA is also concerned because a  company that buys famous and/or company name domain names seems to own the rights to BugUSA.com. The company is willing to sell the domain name for a high price. Advise BugUSA on all e-commerce issues that could possibly affect them. Be detailed in your response. When dealing with business in the United States, copyright, US patent and trademark laws can help BugUSA in selling products through the internet. When dealing with overseas businesses, BugUSA may turn to the Tariff Act of 1930, the Lanham Act, and patent statute, and the Copyright Act (Mallor et al., 2004). If goods are counterfeited, BugUSA can use the Trademark Counterfeitng Act of 1984 to pursue both civil and criminal actions against the perpetrators. This act allows the company to recover three times the actual damages caused by such acts. When using the domain name, BugUSA should become a member of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers, This registration would aid in any disputes that might arise. Also, members of the corporation agree to be bound by arbitration would is usually a faster way to resolve disputes than using the Courts. Therefore, BugUSA should use all protections afforded to the company. Becoming a member of different organizations will aid in protections for the company. E. Shady Town, U.S.A. has been plagued with a recent crime wave. The BugUSA plant in Shady Town has experienced vandalized vehicles in its parking lot and some second shift employees have been robbed as they walked to their cars at night. BugUSA receives shipments of parts and other items from vendors at its receiving/shipping dock located at the rear of each plant. The parking lot and dock areas are well lit; however, some lights are now out. While waiting for the dock manager to return from lunch, a vendor was attacked and robbed of his wallet and electronic chips he was delivering. Discuss what, if any, tort liability BugUSA may have to the vendor and to the BugUSA employees that were attacked. What defenses may be available to BugUSA? Explain your answers. Both the employees and vendor are considered invitees. An invitee is someone  who is on the premises to conduct business, directly or indirectly. As such, the possessor or owner of the premises owes a duty to protect both the employees and vendor from harm arising out of a condition on the premises. Two criteria exist:1.The risk from the harm is unreasonable; and2.The owner of the property knew about the risk. BugUSA knew both conditions existed. BugUSA knew that the crime in the area had risen. BugUSA knew that crime had reached the premises of BugUSA because employees had already been robbed. Furthermore, BugUSA was responsible for replacing the lights in the parking lot and had not done so. Defenses available to BugUSA would be that no vendor had been robbed before this time. BugUSA could also say that one step taken to aid in the security of the area was that it was well lit. F. The attorneys for BugUSA have completed their investigation of WIRETIME and its employee, Steve. If they want to bring a successful action against WIRETIME for civil RICO, what do they need to prove? What type(s) of damages could BugUSA receive?To qualify for civil RICO action, BugUSA will face two challenges. The first is demonstrating that WIRETIME is guilty of two or more violations of RICO anti-racketeering provisions within the previous 10 years without predicate criminal offenses that constitute the necessary pattern of racketeering activity (Mallor et al., 2004, p. 157), long-term racketeering activity will be improvable. Further, the company must show that it was damaged by the activities it alleges to be RICO violations; given the Supreme Court decisions that individuals are inherently separate from business entities (Mallor et al., 2004), it is likely that it would not face difficulty in establishing that a person committed the offense. Should BugUSA present a successful action against WIRETIME, it could receive triple the amount of damages claimed; WIRETIME could also see its assets frozen and the individuals involved would face substantial fines and imprisonment for up to 20 years (Mallor et al., 2004, p. 157).G. Sally DoGood, a police officer in Shady Town, was sitting in a police van monitoring wiretaps placed in the Crime Boss hideout. The equipment she was  using, which was an older model purchased from BugUSA, short-circuited and injured Sally. An insulator that could have prevented the possibility of shorts was not included in the original design because of its effect on production costs. The newer models, not yet purchased by the Shady Town Police, have the insulator installed. Sally may have a successful case against BugUSA for what tort(s)? Explain your answer(s). Sally may have a successful against BugUSA for negligence. In order to prove negligence a plaintiff must show that the defendant owed a duty of care to the plaintiff; that the defendant committed a breach of this duty; and that this breach was the actual and proximate cause of injury experienced by the plaintiff (Mallor et al., 2004, p. 202).When the police purchased the equipment from BugUSA they did so with a reasonable expectation that the equipment was safe to use. BugUSA committed a breach of this duty when they decided to not install the insulator in the equipment even though BugUSA knew there was a possibility of shorts without the use of the insulator. When the equipment short-circuited and injured Sally, BugUSA became liable for personal injury to Sally. Because BugUSA knew the insulator was needed on the equipment used by Sally, when Sally became injured, she would have been eligible for punitive damages as well because BugUSA made a conscious or reckless disregard for the safety of those likely to be affected by the goods (Mallor et al., 2004, p. 506) when they decided to save money and not install the insulator. Strict liability would apply in this case because the company, as a whole, knowingly sold a defective product. A defective product is defined as one with a defect in the design that would have a foreseeable risk of harm. In this case this happened because of the decision to not install the insulator. References Mallor, J. P., Barnes, A.J., Bowers, T., Langvardt, A. W. (2004). Business law: The ethical, global, and e-commerce environment. (13th edition). The McGraw Hill Companies.

Strategic Plan :: essays research papers

Partnerships Because public and private interests in downtown are so inextricably entwined, it is essential that all interested parties work cooperatively to identify and achieve shared objectives. Both public and private investments shape the character of the downtown environment – in terms of how it looks and how it functions. Only if these investments are coordinated can maximum benefits be obtained. When the Center City Commission initiated a strategic plan in 1999, it was responding to the recognized need for a collaborative planning process that both articulated long-range directions for Downtown Memphis and identified short-range action steps to help reach those goals. Two years later, the results of that effort are impressive. In addition to millions of dollars in private and public investment for capital projects, Downtown Memphis has managed to retain†¦ Also significant is the steady improvement in public perceptions of Downtown as measured in the survey conducted by the Center City Commission. While the progress has been considerable, challenges remain, and new trends and influences pose both opportunities and threats to continued prosperity for Downtown Memphis. In light of this, the 2002 Strategic Plan Update planning process was initiated for the purpose of re-examining the issues and priorities established in 1999 Strategic Plan and developing an action plan for the next five to seven years. The process of preparing the Revised Strategic Plan and fulfilling the aforementioned goals was heavily staff driven; but a number of groups were involved in the refinement of the work product and the adoption of the recommendations. Public Meetings throughout the City were held to give downtown stakeholders (property owners, business owners, developers, residents) the opportunity to share their visions and to review the proposed goals of the Center City Commission. In addition to the input from the public meetings, many interested citizens wrote letters to the Center City Commission and completed a survey that was placed on our website, www.downtownmemphis.com. Survey results---- The long-term goals for the development of the Central Business Improvement District reflect the public’s value of some very basic items, such as safety, transportation, usability, and appearance. The goals also reinforce the public’s appreciation of several major anchors within Downtown – the Riverfront, the Main Street Mall, center city neighborhoods, and cultural attractions—that make Memphis unique. A Thriving Central Business District Background on Economic Conditions†¦.(information off of our Fact Sheets) Housing Office Retail Quality of Life Tourism Sustaining Main Street Mall The single most important element in any downtown is its â€Å"Main Street,† the street where retail activity should be concentrated.

Virgin Blue

VIRGIN BLUE UNDERSTANDING EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT 1. Attractiveness of the Industry 1a. Identify the industry, product segments and value chain The industry is the Australian airline industry (global). Core activities cover providing travel services to leisure travellers in Australia and overseas, including flights, travel insurance, holiday packaged deals, and freight business. Products segments including ? Business travel? 57. 1% of industry revenue ? full-fare ? business & government travellers ? growth of video conference (-) impact on growth unit value of sale/pax double leisure travel fare ? Leisure travel? 29. 4% of industry revenue ? low-fare ? leisure travellers ? price is an important factor and strong driver for growth ? high cost incurred for flight changes ? Freight and other? 13. 5% of industry revenue ? freight transport, time sensitive & high value to weight item & charges on excess baggages, late fee,etc†¦ 1b. What is the current life cycle of the industry? The Aus tralian airline industry is at the mature stage of its life cycle.This is demonstrated by the low average growth rate of the production, and the low airline operating margins around 2 percent over the last five years. Declining fares in the leisure travel segment due to strong competition have combined with increasing costs to lower profitability over this period. Yield management is critical to profitability due to high fixed costs involved in operating a flight, that is, the marginal cost of passenger on a flight is very low, so having a plane full, with as many full-fare passengers as possible, is important to maximise profitability.Over recent years, there has been consolidation, brand transformation in the industry and more services been introduced to attract higher yield customers. This is evidence of a low growth environment, wherein the industry is at the mature stage of its life cycle, the organisation focus is on efficiency, cost control, and market segment. 1c. What have been the key issues affecting historical industry growth? What was their impact? Key issues influencing historical industry growth using TEMPLES model FactorIssuesNature of Impact ————————————————- +/ =/ -) Technology? The growth of video conference- Negative has had a slightly negative impact on growth in this segmenting recent ————————————————- years Economy? Threat of the uncertainties of the global financial- Negative crisis, changing interest rate and fierce competition ————————————————- from low-cost carriers in its domestic market Market? the low density of population and the size of Aus+ Positive Air travel in Australia is somewhat of necessary ? Declining fair in the leisure travel segment due to- NegativeStrong competition have combined with increasing costs to lower profitability over this period; fierce competition from low-cost carriers in its domestic ————————————————- markets Politics? Being restricted in the ability to expand overseas due – Negative to Singapore Airline’s right to veto the use of the Virgin ————————————————- Blue name internationally. SIA had the power to block ————————————————- Virgin Australis’s brand due to 49% stake in Virgin Atlantic ————————————— Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- hat SIA acquired in 1999 Law ————————————————- Environment? With a launch of the first real low-cost arline in+ Positive Australia, one class of ticket and minimal on-board, complementary service, there had been strong growth in the 2000s in market for travel for leisure, encourage ————————————————- Australians to take more holidays and air travels Society? low density of population and size of Australia+ Positive ————————————————- Air travel is somewhat necessaryOverall+ Positive 1d. What are the key issues that will affect future industry growth? What are their likely impact and the overall assessment of the industry’s future growth? Future growth for the overall industry is assessed as positive (although it will be at a lower rate than historically growth) Key issues influencing future industry growth FactorIssuesNature of impactAssessment of (+/ =/ -)impact on future Industry growth ————————————————- (Low/Med/High) Technology? The growth of video conferenceNegativeLow as had a slightly negative impact on growth in this segmenting recent ————————————————- years Economy? Threat of the uncertainties of the global Negative Low Financial crisis, changing interest rate and fierce competition from low-cost carriers in ————————————————- its domestic market Markets? Threat of new entrances present theNegativeLow Possibility the firms will enter industry And diminish the industry return by passing along value to buyers in form of lower price and raising cost of competition the alliance with SIA was one of thePositiveMedium several that Virgin had formed in building ————————————————- its international network Politic? the alliance with SIA was one of PositiveMedium several that Virgin had formed in building its international network, allow Virgin to offer global flight coverge, epscially South-east asia and China, attractive to International business and leisure ————————————————- travellers Legal ————————————————- Environment?Alon g with alliance with SIA, there have beenPositiveMedium forged alliances with other international airlines such as Etihad, Air NZ, and US giant Delta Air Line to give business travellers an attractive overseas ————————————————- and flequent flyer network Society? the airline developed and preserved its PositiveMedium culture by spending a lot of resources on recruiting the right people to serve its leisure customers and providing a culture and conditions that retain good ————————————————- people Overall ImpactPositiveMediumIn conclusion, the future industry growth is assessed as Low to Medium 1e. What have been the key issues affecting historical profitability? What was their impact? Industry revenue was estimated to be $14. 5 billion in 2012, with its main busin ess being the transportation of passengers and freight on scheduled routes within Australia. Approximately 86% of the industry revenue is generated from airline ticket sales. The business travel segment is accounted for 57. 1% of industry revenue in 2012, while leisure travel segment is 29. 4% and freight and other are 13. 5%.Airline operating margins are relatively low, averaging around 2% over the last five years. Declining fares in the leisure travel segment due to strong competition have combined with increasing costs to lower profitability over the period. Using Porter’s five forces model, we can review the factors affecting historical profitability, it can be concluded that industry’s rivalry has increased. This is the result of many factors including: ? Threat of new entrance is low due the barrier of entry high. Capital requirements required to enter the airline industry. High fixed cost in operating the fly. The power of suppliers has been high due to limited number of service options available in business travellers segments such as proving access to hundreds of destination and business lounges around the world, offering high quality catering and other on-board service like newspapers & magazine in premium class cabins, car hire and hotel reservation services. ? The increasing power of buyers’ buyers due to the price sensitivity of consumers (low price) and the search for best deal available, as well as air travel in Australia is somewhat of a necessity, given the size of Autralian and the low density of population. The increasing impact of substitutes such as alternative services like video conference maintaining low-cost services ? Industry rivalry is high: Jetstar, QAL’s low cost airline, was introduced in 2004 in response to Virgin Blue’s success in the industry and the loss of market share away from Qantas's full-fare service to the low-fare carrier; Jetstar is a low-cost carrier targeting low-fare leisure trav ellers; The airline industry growth is average and as it is easy for buyers to switch between the airline companies, depending on price. Thus rivalry is increased.Furthermore, the high fixed cost create opportunity for the airline companies to have price wars to compete each other, the great market share of Qantas will kill Virgin Australia at last. Porter’s competitive model Airline industry Potential New entrants Airline club loungesForeign carriers Priority ticketingRegional carriers Priority check-in High quality catering Newspaper ; magazine Hire car ; hotel reservationIndustry Rivalry Bargaining power of buyers Bargaining power of suppliers Qantas Jetstar Alternative services Business travellers Subsitute products ; services Video conferenceLeisure travellersFreight ; other, tour packages 1f. What are the key issues that will affect future industry profitability? What is their likely impact and the overall assessment of the industry’s future profitability? Attrac ting higher yielding corporate and government customers has been a key driver of improving the industry profitability. Yield management is critical to profitability due to high fixed costs involved in operating a flight – that is, the marginal cost of a passenger on a flight is very low, so having a plane full, with as many full-fare passengers as possible, is important to maximise profitability.Also, in order to improve profitability, the major competitors in the industry (Jetstar, Qantas, Virgin) have become vertically integrated. Strategic airline alliance been introduced. Qantas and Malaysia airline negotiated an agreement for access markets in Asia and code-sharing. SIA and Virgin formed an alliance, allowed SIA customers access to Virgin Australia’ s domestic airline airport’s lounges. This partnership, along with Virgins’ other alliance, would allow Virgin to offer global flight coverage, attractive to international business and leisure travellers. The key factors influencing the future profitability of the industry can be summarised as follows: ? Positive factors include ? Forming alliance has allowed Virgin to offer global flight coverage, attract more international business and leisure travellers ? introducing a premium – valued service ? develop new lounge – product enhancement ? introduce new uniform and new menu – product enhancement ? Negative factors include ? Strong competition in the industry between major companies as growth slow and more emphasis is placed on maintaining or increasing market share with price becoming a key factor. Potential entrance of other new low-cost carriers. The future profitability of the industry will continue to be medium. 1g. Who are the industry’s key competitors? What are their strengths and weaknesses? In 2012, the industry is dominated by two airlines, Qantas Airways Ltd and Virgin —————————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- CompetitorValueStrengthWeaknessRelative ————————————————- Propositionproposition Qantas Airways Ltd? Fully integrated? Highest market? Less focus on? Strong ? Accounting for 65%shareleisure travellers share of industry? Dominates business evenue in 2012segment ? More services offered such as full service, ————————————————- low cost, regional Virgin ? Fully integrated? Second highest? No coverage? Strong ? Accounting for 17. 2 %? Strong presencein regional share of industryin leisure market revenue in 2012? Offer services in full service and low ————————————————- cost service Others? Accounting for 17 . 8%? private charter ? group of small? Weak share of industrypassenger flights orcompanies revenue in 2012freight operation UNDERSTANDING EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT 2.Summarise the strategic position of Virgin Blue 2a. Who are Virgin Blue’s key stakeholders, what are their objectives and are their objectives aligned with Virgin Blue’s strategic goals? As stated in the section on â€Å"Game change program- a new strategic direction for Virgin in Australia†, Virgin regard itself as number one position in the leisure segment and maintaining its low-cost focus. Its state strategic goals are as follows: ? Growing its share of the Australian business travel segment from 10% to 20% ? Establishing a ‘virtual’ global network through strategic airline alliances ?Ensuring capacity was closely aligned to profitability ? Maintaining a strong presence in the leisure market ? Enhancing its brand in Australia and overseas markets There are numerous stakeholders (individ uals/groups that have interest in the business or corporate strategy of the organisation) in relation to Virgin Blue. An analysis of the objectives of each of these stakeholders and the alignment of these objectives with Virgin’s strategic goals as follow ————————————————- Who are theWhat do they seek to receive fromIs Virgin Blue delivering against their stakeholders? he organisation? expectation? John Borghetti? Launching â€Å"Game Change† program? Yes, the transformation of Virgin (CEO)with the vision to be the airline of has been well on the way and choice for Australian business and attract numbers of business & leisure travellersleisure travelles ? Reinvent the company as a full-service? No, still not yet take over Qantas brand by altering its low-cost, no-frillsbusiness market model to take market share from Qantas ————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- in the higher-margin, business market Board including: Roger Linderman? new management team, formed to?Yes, its chase growth in business (General manager)take on Qantas, particularly in thesegment, but not yet take over Jane McKeoncompetition for business travellerQantas (running government’s relation team) Hope Antzoutlatos (head of domestic ; International network Operations) Will Owens (Heads of yield Management) Hans Hulsbosch? develop the airline’s economy ;? Yes, have been attractive to (Creative director)business class cabins to attract numbers of business travellers ————————————————- Business traveller segment Employees? Secure employment prospect? Yes, as its chase growth in the family based, teamwork,business segment, it has to ensure ——â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€- respect and funlow turnover and maintain culture Singapore Airline? SIA and Virgon form an airline? yes, the agreement between SIA alliance, allow the use of Virgin Ausand Virgin has allowed SIA customer Band overseas. Virgin able to build to use Virgin’s domestic network its international network, and alsowith just one ticket & allow two allows SIA customer access to Virginairline gold member to access to Australia’s domestic networkVirgin’s domestic airline’s airport ————————————————- ounge 2b. What business strategy is Virgin Blue supposed to have been pursuing and has this in fact been the case? The five questions (5Qs) approach is used to understand Virgin Blue’s stated business strategy Business strategy usingExamples of how V irgin has been pursuing this stated ————————————————- 5Qs approachbusiness strategy ? Does Virgin Blue want to growthVirgin blue wants to grow. We can see from their new vision profitability? â€Å"to be the airline choice for Australian business and leisure Travellers†. And its targeting to grow the share in business travel segment from 10% – 20%.The airline alliance strategy to establish it built its international alliance network in Asia as it is a critical market for Virgin ? What products/services will Virginleisure travel segment maintaing its low-cost; Virgin Blue Blue provide? began offering a premium economy fare, reinvent itself as a full service brand by altering its low-cost, no-frills model to take market share from Qantas in the higher margin, business market; developed its passenger lounges, introduced a loyalty reward scheme, ‘Velocity R ewards’, and offered the first Web check-in service in Australia. In what market will Virgin BlueGeographic market – Australia domestic airline, global flight operate? coverage after Virgin formed alloances with Singapre Airlines Customer market – business traveller, leisure traveller, freight and other include travel insurance, and formed a new venture with ZUJI, an online travel company. ? What generic strategy will VirginGeneric strategy – low cost leadership (no-frills models) adopt? -;Differentiation: take market share from Qantas in the igher margin, business market (full-service model). ? what is the position in the insutryVirgin Blue had grown through expanding its leisure travel does Virgin Blue plan to hold? segment, and growing low-fare passenger numbers to hold the number one position in the leisure segment and maintaining its low cost focus; By 2010, Virgin had about 10 per cent of business travellers and an approximate 30 per cent of all dom estic air travellers; Growing its share of the Australian business travel segment from 10 per cent to 20 per cent.SWOT ANALYSIS Identify the capabilities of the organisation in the context of the competitive environment, using SWOT analysis ? Strength: Virgin Blue had grown through expanding its leisure travel segment, and growing low-fare passenger numbers to hold the number one position in the leisure segment and maintaining its low cost focus. _ Virgin had formed alliances with Singapore Airlines in building its international network _ Borghetti was a former QAL executive who was appointed CEO and MD of Virgin in 2010.He quickly established a new management team capable of taking on Qantas, particularly in the competition for business travellers, by recruiting some highly experienced ex-Qantas staff including: Roger Lindeman as General Manager Service Experience; Jane McKeon, to run Virgin's government relations team; Hope Antzoulatos as head of domestic and international network operations; and Will Owens as head of yield management. ? Weakness: Qantas has 65% of industry revenue in 2012 but Virgin only has 17. % and no regional offered compete with Qantas; Qantas dominates the business segment. _ Unprofitable routes in New Zealand and to destinations including Fiji, Phuket and South Africa, high costs in maintaining its four brands, and confusion in the market between the brands. ? Opportunities: Acquire 20% of market share in market sector _ brand transformation reduce the cost of advertising and less confuse customer _ expand alliance with SIA to enter Asia market, broaden its offering by adding more services to enter the business segment and attract higher yield customers ?Threats: fierce competition from low-cost carries in its domestic market; Jetstar would have in capturing part of the leisure market _ Declining fares in the leisure travel segment due to strong competition have combined with increasing costs to lower profitability over this period. EVALUATION OF STRATEGIC OPTION ? Competitive advantage Benefits:yes, to sustain growth and profitability Valued by customers_ maybe not as people perceived Qantas as leading provider for business segment _ have to be careful not losing loyalty customers External consistency Industry’s life cycle:Fits well – moves to more competituve environment TEMPLESto respond to the external environment particular social cultural factors and economy factors – > fit well to maintain profit Profit well with the changes in external environment where more competitive from low cost Jetstar and profit due to pressure on price, to sustain growth & profitability by capturing more market sharee in business segment ? Internal consistency Revenue & costrevenue increased by capturing more in business segmentCost reduced by consolidating into one brand Not implementmore difficult to complete in the industry because of competition Reputation riskculture issues Loyal customer * Consistent i n term of growth and sustainability But not consistent with the current culture and balance >< low cost leisure and business segment ? Internal consistency Capabilities:experience management team from Qantas Capitalcan be quite costly to reposition itself and do it property Strong culture in family oriented can be quite difficult for business market

Fundamental Decisions and the Nature of Business - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1088 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Business Essay Type Analytical essay Level High school Did you like this example? Abstract One of the most fundamental decisions corporate have to make is the choice on location. This is because choice of an ideal location is vital to a firmà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã¢â€ž ¢s operation capacity in the overall market. The location decision has been given so much attention by businesses and this essay mainly focuses on the factors that spearhead the choices on investing in a particular location. Globally, companies have been influenced by certain factors to invest in different regions not only by just making investments, but, the nature of business has to vary depending on the markets they are targeting. Finally, this study seeks to analyze the factors that foster investment decisions made in regards to investing in certain locations. Keywords: Fundamental decisions, ideal location, nature of business Introduction Location is a comprehensive topic in research since it comprises of many factors. A simple definition of location is a place where one opts to carry out particular operations or activities. The hurdle, however, manifests itself when choosing the ideal location for one to conduct these operations. Most organizations while selecting the appropriate business location tend to do a cost-benefit analysis of different alternatives considered. One of the vital factors to consider is the amount of capital needed to start the operations. For almost all sizable corporations, the evaluation of proposed business site includes a systematic consideration of its cost and benefits relative to the alternatives. This essay seeks to analyze the factors that influence decisions on location. In previous years, scholars were mainly concerned with the location activities of manufacturing businesses. This was because many firms in the first half of the twentieth century had prioritized production and sales thus firms were able to have a competitive edge by choosing a location where there was low cost of production and high profit maximizatio n. As a result, theorists focused on other factors like access to raw material, cost of transport, costs of labor and market accessibility. Several years down the line, cost has become a fundamental concern for location theorists since a wide range of studies have been conducted to analyze the impact factors such as taxation, financial incentives, civil rights unions, laws on minimum wages and the overall infrastructure have on choice of a location (Kimelberg and Williams, 2013). Throughout the years, trends have radically changed the process of corporate site selection. Some of these tendencies have made site selection process very difficult and compressed its nature temporarily. Other alterations have brought difficultly in provision of the stage of site selection choice support fostered by its growing significance (Rabianski, Delisle and Carn, 2001). The emergence of trends like globalization and consolidation, have fostered this complexity in site selection process. These complexities have been magnified by the surfacing of e-business operation which has influenced the site selection process. The tendency towards consolidation has caused ripples across many firms inclusive of corporate stakeholders and real estate service firms. Consolidation has also brought imbalances on the demand side and inevitable surpluses in the real estate sector. These property surpluses can be bothersome to many firms (Rabianski, Delisle and Carn, 2001). In particular, the important capital rations linked to real estate, the rigid character of many leases and the lack of liquidity in the nature of investments make it hard to deduct capacity in a limited period of time. In spite of this situation, many corporate real estate sections find themselves tied by a strong obligation to reduce costs in a relatively short period of time. This is mostly confirmed where consolidations include competitors of a firm with economies of scale being a key factor behind the choice (Rabian ski, Delisle and Carn, 2001). Globalization is the second factor in the continuing trend that can comparatively relate to consolidation. Globalization has contributed to making site selection decision more difficult and significant to firms. Although not all firms are claimants to the global label, the tendency has been invasive, distressing most sectors, business firms, capital and consumer markets, either in a direct or indirect way. In the case of an influx of a number of companies actively operating in the global arena, the site selection process takes on a rising complexity. For these firms, workplace and other real estate fundamentals ought to be managed in a scope that is broader and has more diversity than in the previous periods. Not only are corporate activities difficult, but also business activities, policies and cultures must be reconciled. In addition, real estate sections must learn to tackle a wide of new laws and regulations that impact on ownership, development process and leasing operations of corporate facilities. In the case of firms that are not actively involved in global commerce, globalization can also affect site selection decisions, as globalization can spearhead change on business activities, consumer market and the balance in the competitive market (Rabianski, Delisle and Carn, 2001). E-Business is considered to be the third trend that has complicated the site selection process. This is a trend that has been fostered by rapid change in technology due to the growth in internet usage. This revolution has spearheaded the e-commerce revolution that focuses on business to consumer transactions. However, this form of business activity has expanded over the years dramatically having an effect on companies operations on how they would relate with their target market (Rabianski, Delisle and Carn, 2001). As for small businesses, for the businesses to success, the owners must have good understanding of the happenings in the business world by translating into profitability and cash flow returns. They should create models that will help to quantify the variability in costs and potentials for the various sites they have considered. This process will allow the business owners to define factors that are significant to their business successes, find those locations that are vital to contributing to their success and compare how the limited variations will relate to their profits and cash returns (Gattis, 2010). In conclusion, the importance of this topic cannot be overlooked since it is highly comprehensive and so many parameters have to be considered. The reasons on selection of a business location vary depending on the nature of business thus extensive research needs to be conducted on different forms of businesses. References Gattis, C. (2010). Retail site selection for small business. Blue Point Strategies. Available at www.Bluepointstrategies.com Kimelberg, M. S., and Williams, E. (2013). Evaluati ng the Importance of Business Location Factors: The Influence of Facility Type. Growth and Change, 44, 92-117 Rabianski,S., Joseph, DeLisle, R., James and Carn, G. Neil (2001). Corporate real-estate site selection: A community specific information framework. Jrer, 22, 1-34. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Fundamental Decisions and the Nature of Business" essay for you Create order