Manchester Airport plc Introduction:Manchester Airport is the UK’s third largest airport and currently handles 20 million passengers a year, offering direct flights to over 180 destinations worldwide by over 90 airlines. (www. manchesterairport. co. uk accessed on 12 March 2005) Fig. 1 SWOT Analysis NEAR EXTERNAL: 1. Suppliers, although appear to be outside the scope of the marketing department, impact closely on the airport. Electricity, water & land are a few direct examples of government utilities.
Without them, the airport cannot function. Bills must be paid to ensure constant flow of supplies, as failure to do so will result in a drastic impact on the airport’s customers, namely the airlines & retailers. 2. Local competitors in the transportation industry affect the airport too. These comprise of other airports, bus services, cabs, trains, cruises, ships etc. A price war is inevitable. It will definitely cost less to travel by land but traveling time is extended greatly. Besides that, not all places are accessible by land.
Excellent service, comfort, safety, security, cheaper air rates, less traveling time etc are some of the pulling factors that the airport must offer and improve on. 3. Local publics mainly consist of the airport’s neighbors. Obtaining the goodwill of the local public will make it much easier to live harmoniously and reduce short-term local difficulties. Noise, air and waste pollution are some of the major concerns of the airport. 4. Customers of the airport are the airlines and retailers. Providing and developing high quality facilities with excellent service will attract more airlines, who in turn will market themselves through the airport.
When the customers of the airlines, namely passengers, purchase more goods or services during their dwell time, the airport charges the airlines less, therefore, resulting in cheaper airfares. Retailers are attracted to a well-organized and established airport, yearning for cheaper rentals and bigger shop space. 5. Shareholders are the ten local authorities of Great Manchester. The breakdown is as follows:The Council of the City of Manchester – 55% The Borough Council of Bolton – 5% The Borough Council of Bury – 5% The Oldham Borough Council – 5%
The Rochdale Borough Council – 5% The Council of the City of Salford – 5% The Metropolitan Borough Council of Stockport – 5% The Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council – 5% The Trafford Borough Council – 5% The Wigan Borough Council – 5%(RF, CS,Appendix 3. 1, P50) Having the largest slice of the pie, the Council of the City of Manchester dominates the entire decision making body. Suggestions come from all, but effectiveness and efficiency of the whole grouping system plays a major role in decision-making altogether. 6.
Financial publics are banks or shareholders who control the airport’s finances and can pressure the airport to behave in particular ways. Annual Company Sales, Financial and Profit & Loss report are required by the bank to determine the amount of loans the airport can take over a certain repayment period. If the airport suffers from a SARS outbreak or terrorist threat, business will be greatly affected. Revenue will decline drastically and the airport may fall into a financial crisis. Banks at this point may not be able to finance much due to economic downturn and having other commitments.
Shareholders on the other hand, may sell off their shares to avoid further cost incurrence. Reserves are a must as it acts as a form of security when such circumstances arise. FAR EXTERNAL: 1. Environmental factors concern the pollution and other health hazards. Constant exposure to loud noises will cause accumulative deafness in one’s ears. Burning of fuel emits a pungent odor, which contaminates the air, leading to asthma or respiratory illnesses. Disposal of waste from the aircraft must be dealt with seriously as waste pollution contains great amounts of harmful bacteria. 2.
Economical factors deal with the management of demand in the economy during the boom or bust cycle. When taxation is increased, consumers will have less money to purchase goods, resulting in a slump in the retailers’ business, eventually posing a threat for the airport, as shops will find difficulty paying rentals. The airport attracts flight into the region, therefore tourism and on-site retailers benefits, leading to company profits, thus supports local and regional economy. 3. Technological factors have affected most areas of life, as technological advances in recent years have been rapid.
Every customer or passenger is seeking the most convenient and quickest method to reach their destination. This can comprise of faster check-ins, less dwell time, quicker baggage collection etc. All these depend very much on technology to provide a smoother transition. Due to the a nationwide computer system disruption in NATS, the public view safety air travel to be dependent on computers as well as pilots with well-organized landing and take-off facilities. 4. Socio-cultural factors involve the shared beliefs and attitudes of the population.
People behave in particular ways as a result of feedback from society. Expectations are also developed about how others should behave. Cultural changes included a change in eating habits due to an increase in tourism and worldwide travel. People from different countries use the airport; therefore, different cuisines should be served at the airport. Consumer expectations are changed gradually. 5. Political factors often impact on business, the company needs to respond to the prevailing political climate, and adjust the marketing policy accordingly. It can be internal or external politics.
Terrorism resulted in the recent Sept 11 onslaught. Countermeasures must be taken to ensure safety of customers. 6. Legal factors follow on from Political factors; in that government often pass laws, which affect businesses. Trade Unions have been very active all the while, especially when labour laws are passed to protect workers and secure them in their jobs. The airport has to maintain excellent ties and ensure compliance of union laws to maintain happy staffs. Human Resource management is a new way of thinking about how people should be managed as employees in the workplace.
It is categorized into 2 types, namely Hard HRM that is focused on managing and controlling employees so as to achieve organization’s strategic goals and, Soft HRM, which gives more recognition to the needs of employees and the importance of their commitment to the organization. Socio-cultural -Educational levels have been improved over the years. Employment standards have risen from the effect of higher qualifications with higher pay and designation. Younger generations are entering the market in managerial positions but with insufficient experience.
Technological -As we get more dependent on computerized management system, loads of important data are stored in the computer. When a breakdown occurs, most information cannot be given offhand immediately or rather take a very much longer time to deliver, especially paychecks. Economical -If the economy is good, more people apply for a change of better jobs. Having a greater choice of applicants, the HRM team is able to shortlist applicants at a higher level. Political -Rules and regulations may be adjusted to suit current political climate.
A different strategy or set of rules may be emplaced when the government suggests the usage of ex-convicts in recycling activities around the airport. Environmental -There could be thwarted career development, lack of job security, boring or meaningless work due to stress. Legal -New laws are passed every now and then; HRM have to ensure compliance and readjustment towards new laws may result in inability to adapt to new work practices. Information Technology or IT is known as applied computer systems in both hardware and software, often including networking and telecommunications, usually in a business or other enterprise.
Socio-cultural -People tend to seek the easiest and most convenient method of input to maximize output. Having such tendency often boost productivity. Technological -As technology gets more advanced, more information can be stored and processed in the data files. System upgrade is obtainable to provide a more efficient job done with little or no downtime. Economical -In order to compete with market trends, more research is done on IT to further develop or enhance or improve on work systems. Political -Political trends bring about immense impact on IT. Privatization of businesses has led to the significant changes in the business functions.
Information has become more secured, valued and crucial in its survival. Environmental -Paper recycling imposed on all areas of management will save costs and at the same time, render more support from the local public on the airport being environmental friendly. Legal -Computer hackers are pretty common nowadays. Information though protected by laws, may be stolen or misused. Security codes are required to log in to company’s database. Violators of the law are penalized and subjected to punishment. Finance like Accounting exists to help decision makers and is concerned with the way in which funds for a business are raised or invested.
It also ensures that funds are properly managed and invested in a way that will provide the business with a worthwhile return. Socio-cultural -Traveling has always attracted most people of all ages. Different levels of wealth prefer certain modes of travel. Profits are made to facilitate investments. Technological -Accounts or financial reports are normally generated through computer systems. When breakdown occurs, everything comes to a standstill. In a fast paced society, information should be at one’s fingertips. Advanced technology aids more efficient delivery of reports.
Economical -Raising and investing funds are important decision-making areas. Large amounts of money are involved with relatively long-term commitments. As the economy permits, the risk is oblivion. Political -Political issues may lead to financial reconsiderations of perhaps, an investment. Environmental -Paper recycling imposed on all areas of management will save costs and at the same time, render more support from the local public on the airport being environmental friendly. Legal -Financial information are highly confidential as any leakage may result in adverse effect on the business.
Operations management is concerned with managing the resources that directly produce the organization’s service or product. The resources consist of people, materials, technology, information etc that are brought together by a series of processes so that they are utilized to deliver the primary service or product of the organization. Socio-cultural -As life expectancy increases, employment is extended for those with competence to aid in the training of new manpower. Technological -Reliability of electricity supplies is crucial to the entire business.
Every business function will cease to perform and deliver on time. Economical -As there may be an increased demand of certain retailers or goods and services, operations will be affected. Political -Local government policies, reflecting on trade unions may cause an up stir, resulting in stoppages of work or for eg maximum weekly working hour of 48 hours per employee by European Union recently. Environmental -Paper recycling imposed on all areas of management will save costs and at the same time, render more support from the local public on the airport being environmental friendly.
Legal -Legislation on pollution and noise control as well as procurement policies will have implications on operations activities. Conclusion: In order to influence these environmental issues, Manchester Airport has to enforce extensive trainings for older employees to keep up, encourage them to take up private courses on their own to upgrade their skills and perhaps provide some form of subsidy in educational aid. Having done so, older employees will feel less threatened by newcomers, in addition to that, they will also feel appreciated by the company’s effort to retain and retrain them.
The public will view Manchester Airport in a different light. Back up drives are crucial to the company’s operations. Computer breakdowns are inevitable and unpredictable. Whenever that happens, the airport still has to function. Back up drives prevent information from being deleted away. Political issues like the government’s idea for ex-convicts in recycling activities is a great way of supporting the government and incurring less costs to hire cheap labour. Having on-site recycling activities promotes environmental friendliness.
Due to the onslaught of the September 11 terrorist attacks on World Trade Centre blamed on Boston Airport for poor security, Manchester Airport has tighten security measures all round. Although security officers were hard to train, signage has been put up to raise awareness. Photographs were taken and stored in the barcodes on the boarding pass for identification. It was one of the latest security systems implemented. As for luggages, there were two security systems with x-ray to scan thoroughly. Officers are kept vigilant as another terrorist attack cannot be compromised.
To facilitate more convenience in the check-in counter, a Self-service check-in is made available. Long queues are shortened considerably and more time can be allocated for shopping. This is an easy, paper based ticket to be slotted in for system acknowledgement. High quality customer services are delivered through developing facilities, products and services, which meet or exceed the expectations of its users. (Resource File, Case Study, Section 3. 4, P43) To strive for such excellence, staff and passenger surveys are distributed regularly to assess views on the company, service levels and passenger satisfaction.
Aircraft noise will be kept less than it was in 1992, until at least 2011. Airlines will be fined for aircraft that exceed set noise levels. There will be no more than 20 aircraft engine tests at night each year. Aircraft use defined corridors avoiding built up areas where possible and the airport aims to minimize deviations that do not arise from instructions from Air Traffic Control. Waste disposal per passenger will be reduced by 22% by 2015 from 1996 base. On-site recycling will be raised by 22% by 2015 from 1996 base.
As of the most recent measure, a newspaper recycling scheme for aircraft cleaning operations has been introduced. Airport air emissions have been reduced where practicable. Air at and around the airport is monitored 24 hours per day and results were published. Links were also maintained with the Local Health Authorities to address air quality together. For land management, non-essential activities are moved away from the airport thus reducing the need to expand the current site, planting trees, reusing green waste, no use of peat and minimal use of pesticides.
Public Transport is actively promoted, subsidizing for staff, provision of facilities for cyclists, and a car sharing scheme. Energy conservation is met through 50% of electricity through combined heat and power generating plant, using computerized building management systems. As many polluting chemicals are used at the airport for de-icing aircraft and runways, building and vehicle maintenance, fuel etc, water quality is tested before discharging out to the streams. Staff are trained to handle spillages rapidly. Manchester Airport functions as a major asset to the conomy. Should the airport suffer extreme losses, the entire economy will fail and all will be affected. References The following sources were used in preparing this report: Atrill & Mclaney ‘Accounting & Finance for Non-Specialist’, Prentice Hall Edition 3 Galloway Robotham Azhashemi ‘Operations Management in Context’, BH Jim Blythe ‘Essentials of Marketing’, Prentice Hall Edition 2 Pinnington & Edwards ‘Introduction to Human Resource Management’, Oxford Resource File, Case Studies ‘Manchester Airport’, SIM www. manchesterairport. co. k accessed on 12 march 2005 ———————– INTERNAL (The Firm) (Firm controls) Management FAR EXTERNAL (Macro-Environment) (Firm responds) NEAR EXTERNAL (Micro-Environment) (Firm influences) Suppliers Local Competitors Intermediaries Customers Financial Publics Shareholders Local Publics Environmental Economic Technological Socio-Cultural Legal Political Physical Foreign Competitors Citizen Action Publics Media Publics Government Publics Business Graduate Skills Outcome Example of how Block 1 case studies have contributed to my skills development
Self-assessment of current level of skill – High/Medium/Low; any actions to be taken Learning from non-text as well as text-based materials and enhancing your general study skills Demonstrating thinking skills (holistic, integrative, critical) and showing deeper understanding of some technically detailed topics Using examples and analyzing case studies to enhance understanding, support conclusions and illustrate issues concerning business functions in organizational contexts I guess my level of skill at this point is Low. During my TMA1, I have problems citing examples.
Perhaps I have not fully understood the case study and how examples should be brought into the picture. I sincerely need the tutor’s advice and leniency on my report. I will continue to read more, get more examples of reporting in detail, perhaps redo my TMA1 again for the tutor’s comment without marks though. Websites, case studies, various sentences in the text which require further understanding It led me to brainstorm for different type of businesses, characterizing them and my thoughts of it. I will rate myself a Medium. Being new to this course, I need to think further instead of the common sense answers.
I try to put myself in different businesses’ shoes and think about how it has been run and how should it be run better to reap in higher profits. Activities in Block1 such as 3. 1 & 3. 2 Video – Medium Audio – Medium Lecture notes – Medium Textbook – Low Video & audio can be replayed according to my own pace. Lecture notes on the other hand is much simplified and not in depth. Further reading has to be done through the textbooks. As the content is overwhelming, I tend to drift off while reading. I set a time limit to avoid tiredness. Video, audio, lecture notes & case studies from textbooks
