Category: Emirates Airlines

Introduction

Background

Emirates Airlines was established in 1985 in the United Arabs Emirates (UAE) and it has become the largest airline companies in the Middle East. The firm is wholly owned by the UAE government through the Dubai Investment Corporation and it has established its presence in different markets across the world. The firm operates in over 76 countries and over 3,400 flights per week (Sambidge 2013). In a bid to satisfy the market, the firm operates both cargo and passenger carriers.

The Emirates SkyCargo division is responsible for handling cargo. In 2012, the airline ranked fourth with regard to the total number of international passengers carried. Additionally, Emirates Airlines ranks as the longest non-stop commercial carrier in the world. The airline is focused on delivering a high level of customer satisfaction.

One of the areas of emphasis relates to the provision of excellent level of service. The airline operates a mixed fleet, which is comprised of Boeings and Airbuses. Its effectiveness in delivering high quality services has not only enabled it to develop a strong brand name, but also in becoming a market leader.

Emirate Airlines is cognisant of the significance of developing a strong level of customer loyalty by providing customers with high quality services. Subsequently, the firm has adopted flight catering as one of its customer service tools in its business model. Jones (2004) contends that flight catering is a large industry. Furthermore, the industry is characterised by a high degree of complexity. Despite this aspect, airline companies are increasingly using flight catering as a marketing tool (Jones 2004).

Optimal operations management is vital in an airlines efforts to stimulate its productivity. Therefore, operations managers should understand the link between various management aspects such as capacity management and organisational performance. Such an understanding equips managers with sufficient knowledge on how to deal with issues that emerge.

Slack, Chambers, and Johnson (2010, p.2) define capacity management as the set of work processes associated with the provisioning and management of IT infrastructure resources, such as servers, printers, and telecommunication devices, used to support business processes in a cost effective manner.

Barnhart and Fearing (2012) further postulate that capacity management in the service industries such as the airline industry is challenging due to the unique nature of the services provided. One of the challenges relates to management of demand and supply, and hence the companies capability to sustain their quality standards. Capacity management issues hinder firms ability to attain their productivity target.

Problem statement

Emirates Airlines is facing diverse challenges, which might affect its competitiveness in the Gulf and the Middle East regions. One of the main sources of challenge relates to intense competition. The airlines competitors such as Air France/KLM, Delta Airlines, and SkyTeam are evaluating their competitive strategies in an effort to counter the Emirates market dominance (Mahadevan 2009). Demand for commercial aviation has grown at a high rate over the past few decades.

The growth has arisen from a number of factors such as the adoption of open-sky agreement s and increased deregulation of the airline industry by governments.

Increase in the consumers disposable income across the world coupled with the high rate of globalisation has also contributed to the industrys growth as individuals explore new opportunities in other countries. In 2009, the UAE was selected to host the 2020 World Expo in Dubai. The event, which will take 6 months, is expected to attract over 25 million visitors (The Emirates Group 2014)

The level of consumer confidence towards the airline industry has grown remarkably. Most consumers consider air travel transport as a safe mode of transport. Wald (2011) asserts that demand for air travel will continue to grow. Emirates Airlines plans to fly over 70 million passengers across the six continents by 2020 (Sambidge 2013).

The transformations in the domestic and the international air travel industry present a major opportunity for Emirates Airlines to improve its competitive advantage. However, this aspect will depend on the companys commitment to engage in capacity management and flight catering. The firm has to ensure that its catering department offers customers with high quality food and beverage products.

Scope of the study

The study will analyse all the capacity management for all Emirates flights. Furthermore, the study will also forecast the airlines future capacity with regard to seasons, years, and new flights.

Rationale of the study

The global air transport industry is facing a mixture of challenges and opportunities originating from the external business environment. One of the challenges relates to the volatility of fuel prices. Furthermore, travellers are becoming sophisticated by demanding high value for their money.

This phenomenon has arisen from the desire to gain a new and unique experience. Therefore, airline companies are not only faced by the challenge of satisfying the market demand, but also meeting the customers level of satisfaction. There is a high likelihood of Dubai attracting a large number of visitors during the 2020 World Expo event. Emirates Airlines should perceive this aspect as an opportunity to augment its competitive edge.

The intensity of competition in the UAE airline industry has increased remarkably. Industry players are adopting diverse business models in an effort to improve their competitive edge. An example of such model includes the low-cost model, which is designed to increase the number of passengers carried.

It is important for Emirates Airlines to develop an understanding on how it can improve the capacity of its flight catering in order to supply the existing and new flights without compromising the quality of its products or services. This move will enable the firm to exploit the business opportunity successfully.

Objective of the study

This study intends to identify the gap within capacity management of flight catering at Emirates Airlines considering the expanding capacity of aircraft and other services over the few years. The study also intends to recommend the best capacity operations to be implemented.

Limitations of the study

The study mainly relied on secondary data from reports and other publications derived from online sources. However, only credible sources such as peer reviewed journals, articles from credible databases, and books were used, thus assuring the credibility of the information collected.

The study did not utilise primary results, which limited the ability of the researcher to expound the issues under investigation. However, it is assumed that the information gathered from the literature review and the case study is sufficient to illustrate the concept of capacity management in flight catering.

Literature review

Capacity management practices in flight catering

Firms in different industries are experiencing challenges in their pursuit to attain long-term survival. The high rate at which change is occurring in the business opportunity poses a threat to the firms operation. Changes in the service sector are the major precursors for firms to adjust their operations.

The industry players should focus on two main aspects, which entail revenue maximisation and optimal capacity utilisation. Ingold (2005) argues that the need for capacity management in the contemporary service sector cannot be underrated.

Yield management

One of the most effective strategies that airline companies should focus on in their quest to adopt capacity management in their flight catering is yield management. Jones (2004) contends that yield management is one of the most widely used capacity management strategies in the airline industry.

According to Withiam (2014), the concept of yield management entails the different strategies used by service firms to assist them in realising their desired level of revenue from operations. Withiam (2014, p.2) defines yield management as the process of allocating the right capacity or inventory unit to the right customer at the right price and at the right time to maximise revenue or yield. Yield management strategy is mainly concerned with three main capacity management issues, which include

1. Inventory control
2. Control of availability
3. Pricing strategy

Inventory control component is concerned with ensuring that the necessary resources such as employees and aircrafts are availed. On the other hand, control of availability is concerned with managing the number of seats in the aircrafts, while pricing strategy entails setting the price of the service at an acceptable margin.

The pricing strategy in yield management also entails integrating different prices for different products. For example, airline companies may design their catering services to meet the diverse categories of classes such as economy, business, and first class travellers.

Capacity forecasting planning

The integration of an optimal capacity forecasting technique is critical in the airlines effort to promote their future success. Capacity forecasting entails modelling an organisations future capacity requirement in order to meet the prevailing market demand. The forecasting process entails assessing an organisations IT services, the existing facilities and infrastructures, and the quality of the workforce. Hernon and Altman (2010) assert that the level of service provided by airline firms affects the demand for air travel.

Jones (2004) further asserts that flight catering is a complex operations management aspect. The flight catering production unit may be comprised of more than 800 employees and producing over 25,000 meals every day. The catering process is further complicated by the number of flights from the main hubs especially in large airlines companies such as Emirates Airlines. In a bid to perform flight catering successfully, it is imperative for airline companies to understand the approximate number of passengers and their respective needs.

Therefore, airline companies should conduct continuous market research in order to understand the passengers behaviour. Understanding the passengers needs plays a critical role in the companies efforts to produce and develop products that meet the customers specific needs. For example, the airline company can forecast the possible type of customer within a particular route, thus giving the airline insight on the type of drinks, food, and equipments to incorporate in specific routes.

Bon and Veen (2009) contend that capacity-forecasting planning is essential in flight catering in a number of ways. First, it forms the basis through which an organisation can plan for its short-term and long-term projects in order to balance the demand and the supply sides.

According to Hellermann (2006), forecasting the demand in flight catering is important in determining whether a particular airline has the capacity to address the needs of the targeted market segment. Capacity forecasting planning in flight catering minimises the likelihood of dependency on outsourcing some services from external flight catering providers.

One of the ways through which this goal is achievable is via assisting the airline companies in identifying the prevailing business opportunities and underused capacities, hence the need to consolidate the two issues. Therefore, the airline company can minimise the cost that it would have incurred by hiring external flight catering services.

Food safety and quality system

Ensuring a high-level safety and providing high quality products is a critical element in capacity management. Safety and quality should not be ignored in the airlines effort to manage capacity in their flight catering processes. Klassen and Rohleder (2002) argue that food-borne diseases account for a significant proportion of the total number of mortality cases recorded in the general population. Airline companies serve a large number of travellers from different countries.

Based on the growth in demand for air travel across the UAE, which arises from the 2020 World Expo in Dubai coupled with the Emirates Airlines intention to establish new routes, the firm will be faced with the challenge of ensuring that the travellers are catered for adequately. Therefore, airline companies have an obligation to ensure that passengers are not exposed to food-borne diseases. Emirates Airlines intention to serve over 70 million customers by 2020 will require the firm to improve its food safety and quality processes.

In a bid to meet this requirement, airline companies should establish a strong relationship with a broad spectrum of stakeholders such as food suppliers, airline companies, and caterers. Airline companies should also integrate food safety experts throughout the food production process.

Furthermore, the flight catering system should adhere to the principles advocated by the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP). The principles advocate for a flight caterers to undertake a comprehensive hazard analysis, establish the critical control points, and the monitoring system. Airline companies should also institute a mechanism to confirm the effectiveness of the HACCP (Taneja 2004).

Theoretical and conceptual framework

The business environment is undergoing a high rate of revolution arising from different factors. For example, customer needs are changing at a remarkable rate (Graham, Papatheodorou, & Forsyth 2010). The air travel and leisure industries have been affected. Previously, the industry was relatively small and flights were mainly short-haul.

The literature review section shows that a high likelihood of Emirates Airlines achieving its growth and market leadership objectives in the global airline industry due to the prevailing market trends.

The aviation industry is experiencing a high rate of growth arising from increment in the consumers disposable income, high rate of globalisation, and liberalisation of the airline industry in both developed and developing countries. Matching demand and supply improves service firms ability to deliver the desired level of services. Subsequently, the firms can achieve their productivity targets.

Adopting the coping strategy is one of the strategies that firms in the service sector such as airline companies can integrate to improve their capacity management practices.

Huo, Moynihan, and Ingraham (2003) assert that the coping strategy is most appropriate in situations characterised by dynamic market changes such as being slack or being busy. The coping strategy entails adjusting the change and the level of operational strategies. One of the ways through which organisations can integrate the coping strategy is by improving their forecasting and capacity planning capabilities.

Airline companies should establish clear resource productivity targets. Furthermore, it is also imperative for organisational leaders to integrate clear service quality targets by integrating the concepts of benchmarking. One of the areas that airline companies should focus on relates to customer satisfaction.

Subsequently, a firm can set the benchmark based on quality of services provided. Benchmarking increases the likelihood of an organisation to attain performance excellence. Hernon and Altman (2010, p.49) argue that should resources decline, the approach is to look for ways to do the right things smarter, rather than to continue the routine processes that contribute little to service quality or customer satisfaction.

In addition to the above aspects, it is critical for an organisations operations manager to understand the potential bottlenecks its quest to deliver optimal services. The coping strategy advocates for operations managers to identify and understand potential failure points in their organisations service delivery process. Currently, Emirates Airlines does not have adequate flight catering ability to address the prevailing market changes. Subsequently, it is imperative for the airlines operations manager to adjust its flight catering capacity.

Case study analysis; Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines appreciates the importance of integrating effective capacity management in its flight catering processes. The firm has established a flight-catering department in its quest to improve the customers level of satisfaction. The firms commitment towards improving its competitive edge is illustrated by a number of aspects as illustrated herein.

State-of-the-art flight catering facility

Emirates Airlines has implemented a fully-fledged state-of-the-art flight catering facility. The EKFC department provides meals to passengers travelling on the airline. The food production facility is a 607,778 square foot facility, which ranks as the most sophisticated and modern catering facility globally (The Emirates Group 2014). In 2013, the facility was considered the largest in the world with regard to volume throughput.

The facility does not only serve Emirates Airlines passengers but also other airlines such as Air France, Virgin Atlantic, Swiss, and Singapore Airlines (Oracle 2014). The integration of the state-of-the-art facility was stimulated by the need to improve the airlines flight catering processes. Emirates Airlines aircrafts have turnaround duration of less than 30 minutes. Subsequently, the flight-catering department has to ensure that the cleaning of the plane and replenishing the necessary inventories such as food and beverages.

In a bid to meet this requirement, the airline has integrated an automated system to aid in the entire process by adopting an integrated application known as The JD Edward EnterpriseOne, which is Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software (The Emirates Group 2014).

The software has played a critical role in improving the airlines ability to deliver value to customers by minimising the cost of flight catering. The application is multi-dimensional as it provides customers with a wide range of database choices hence enabling the firm to meet the diverse customer needs.

The ERP software has played a remarkable role in improving the effectiveness with which Emirates Airlines serves its customers. For example, the airline serves over 125,000 meals daily to over 340 flights. The firm recently upgraded the JD Edward EnterpriseOne 8.10 to 9.0 in an effort to achieve system stability (The Emirates Group 2014). This move improved the airlines flight catering efficiency beyond the industry average requirement.

For example, the firm ensured that the meals were ready 4 hours before the flight. Furthermore, the monthly food cost variance was reduced significantly to $100,000 from $500,000. Subsequently, the firm attained a profit of $4.8 million (Oracle 2014).

In addition to the food production facility, Emirates Airlines has also implemented a modern laundry facility known as Linencraft (The Emirates Group 2014). The facility has the capability of cleaning over 80 tons of laundry daily. The integration of these facilities has remarkably enabled the company in its quest to enhance a high level of health and safety on both its clients and employees.

Human capital

Emirates Airlines undertakes over 300 different flights daily to various parts of the world. Furthermore, the airline intends to increase its destinations by entering new and emerging markets across the world. The Dubai World Expo further increases the potential for future growth. The Emirates Group (2014) posits that the expo is expected to attract over 25 million visitors, which presents a high number of travellers into the UAE within the six months duration of the Expo.

In a bid to exploit this opportunity for growth, Emirates Airlines should consider the most effective strategy to adopt in order to provide optimal flight catering services. Currently, the airlines flight catering department employs over 6,500 employees who are charged with the responsibility of producing over 125,000 to 150,000 meals daily (The Emirates Group 2014).

This figure represents a remarkable growth from 1975 when the department was established. At its inception, the Emirates Flight Catering department produced an average of 2,000 to 2,500 means daily (The Emirates Group 2014).

In line with the firms commitment to deliver a unique in-flight experience to customers, the airline ensures that its flight caterers are experts coupled with customising its in-flight catering employee recruitment program. For example, caterers such as chefs are selected by taking into account their cooking techniques and the flight destination.

This selection method has played a critical role in improving the effectiveness with which the in-flight catering department meets the customers tastes. For example, Japanese chefs enable Emirates Airlines to meet the Japanese travellers needs by producing a range of sushi for the diverse Japanese routes. Similarly, chefs from other nationalities also advise caterers on how to meet their respective customer needs (The Emirates Group 2014).

Conclusion

The global airline industry faces a myriad of opportunities and challenges arising from the external and internal business environment. On the other hand, one source of opportunity that the industry players should consider relates to the rising demand for air travel. This report identifies capacity management as one of the most important elements that airline companies should consider in order to attain long-term survival.

Some of the factors that explain the prevailing market changes in the airline industry include high rate of globalisation, increased liberalisation of the airline industry, increase in the consumers disposable income, and growth in the level of consumer confidence towards the airline industry.

These changes are likely to increase the volume of air traffic. The Expo scheduled to happen in Dubai in 2020 is expected to attract over 25 million visitors from different parts of the world, which presents an enormous opportunity for Emirates Airlines to achieve its profit maximisation objective.

This report cites a number of elements that airline companies should consider in the quest to undertake capacity management. One of these elements includes yield management, which emphasises the significance of adopting effective revenue maximisation and ensuring optimal capacity utilisation.

Additionally, airline companies should undertake capacity-forecasting planning in order to understand the extent to which they can cope with the market changes. Ensuring a high level of food safety and quality is also cited as a major element that airline companies should integrate in their capacity management in order to improve their competitive advantage with regard to flight catering.

Considering the anticipated change in the UAE airline industry, it is imperative for industry players to adjust their capacity management techniques. The report identifies coping strategy as one of the most effective capacity management strategies that airline companies can adopt as it improves the effectiveness with which companies can better their ability to address the prevailing market changes.

Recommendation

Emirates Airlines has adopted flight catering as one of its operational aspects in the pursuit of competitive advantage. In order to improve its competitiveness, it is imperative for Emirates Airline to improve its capacity management in flight catering. The airline should consider the following issues:

1. New product and service development  this study highlights a high probability of increment in the degree of complexity amongst airline passengers. This situation may arise from the high rate of globalisation, the airlines entry into new markets, and increase in demand for air travel. Such complexities are likely to present a challenge in the Emirates Airlines flight catering processes. In order to deal with this challenge, Emirates Airlines should integrate the concept of new product and service development. The products and services developed should be customised to meet the customers needs.
2. Integration of information technologies: Emirates Airlines should invest in continuous improvement of its flight catering facilities and technologies. One of the areas in which the airline should improve relates to Enterprise Resource Planning systems. The ERP software will improve the effectiveness with which the airline undertakes capacity-forecasting planning. Emirates Airlines should also improve the level of satisfaction amongst its customers. The airline can attain this goal by integrating Customer Relationship Management software. The software will assist in understanding the customers needs and the prevailing trends. Furthermore, the CRM software will enable the Emirates Airline to identify gaps in its flight catering processes by understanding the passengers sentiments with regard to its flight catering processes.
3. Flight catering training program- in a bid to achieve its customer satisfaction objective in its flight catering processes, Emirates Airlines should integrate a comprehensive employee-training program. The program should focus on equipping its caterers with sufficient knowledge and skills on how to deal with various aspects that affect the passengers directly and indirectly. For example, the airline should train its caterers on how to prepare meals that exceed the customers expectations.
4. Supply chain management- to cope with the rising demand for air travel, Emirates Airlines should focus on improving its supply chain to enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of its food production unit by integrating a high level of collaboration with suppliers.

Future research

Changing passenger needs is one of the major challenges that airline companies should take into account in their operations management. In a bid to address this challenge, it is vital for airlines to evaluate the most effective capacity management strategies. However, one of the issues that operations managers should take into account is uncertainty. Airline firms should consider how to factor in the element of uncertainty in their capacity planning processes in order to improve their flight catering ability.

Reference List

Barnhart, C. & Fearing, D. 2012, Demand and capacity management in air transportation, European Journal of Transport Logistics, vol. 1 no.1, pp. 135-155.

Bon, J. & Veen, A. 2009, Capacity management; a practitioner guide, Van Haren Publishers, Zaltbommel.

Graham, A., Papatheodorou, A. & Forsyth, P. 2010, Aviation and tourism; implications for leisure travel, Ashgate, Farnham, England.

Hellermann, R. 2006, Capacity options for revenue management; theory and application in the air cargo industry, Springer, New York.

Hernon, P. & Altman, E. 2010, Assessing service quality; satisfying the expectations of library customers, American Library Association, Chicago.

Huo, Y., Moynihan, D. & Ingraham, P. 2003, Capacity management, American Review of Public Administration, vol. 33 no. 3, pp. 295-315.

Ingold, A. 2005, Yield management; strategies for the service industries, Thompson Learning, London.

Jones, P. 2004, Flight catering, Routledge, New York.

Klassen, K. & Rohleder, T. 2002, Demand and capacity management decisions in services; how they impact on one another, International Journal of Operations & Production Management, vol. 22 no. 5, pp. 527-548.

Mahadevan, B. 2009, Operations management; theory and practice, Pearson Education Publishers, New Delhi.

Oracle: Emirates flight catering reduces yearly food cost variances by $ 12.8 million with ERP upgrade 2013. Web.

Sambidge, A. 2013, Emirates sets out plan to fly 70 million passengers in 2020. Web.

Slack, N., Chambers, S. & Johnson, R. 2010, Operation management, Financial Times, New York.

Taneja, A. 2004, Simplifying; optimising the airline business model, Ashgate, Aldershot.

The Emirates Group: Emirates flight catering 2014. Web.

Wald, A. 2011, Introduction to aviation management, LIT, Berlin.

Withiam, G. 2014, Yield management. Web.

Introduction

What are the social lives of Emirates Airlines crew in Dubai? Do they socialize mostly with people of similar nationalities to them? By focusing on the social lives of Emirates Airlines crew, these questions have raised concern on social and cultural issues in the UAE. Social life basically refers to the moments we spend outside our own lives, particularly with other people around our worlds. Social interactions are an integral part of human life, since they play a significant role in helping us develop in a number of ways. This in turn contributes to our happiness and wellbeing in life. For the purpose of resolving the subject matter, five important sections have been used in this paper, and these would include introduction, literature review, research design, data, analysis and interpretation, and the conclusion.

Literature review

Little has been studied about the social lives of Emirates Airlines crew and the type of people they tend to socialize with. However, there are various similar studies from different societies and cultures that have been conducted on the subject, which could be of use here, since social science is comparative in the whole world. Other people may tend to see flight crew members as people with a glamorous life, but air cabin crew members have a different story to tell about their job (Rhoden, Ralston and Ineson, 2008). Even though this is a well-paying job, it is tiring and frustrating, since it calls for much time and commitment. The rare moments of social life for cabin crew is usually spend in clubs and other leisure zones near airports in events that would range from partying to gymnasium.

Airline cabin crews rarely have time for social life, owing to the nature of their job. Working as a cabin crew attendant could be fun, since it gives one the opportunity to traverse many regions in the world. However, this is arguably one of the hardest jobs in the world, for it limits a person’s freedom to interact with other people apart from the ones they serve and their colleagues whom they spend much time with. Even though cabin crew attendants can sometimes participate in setting their schedules, depending on their status and the companies they work for, many a times are those they operate on a set schedule (Rogers, 2006). In most cases, these schedules tend to affect their social life. In this regard, these people rarely get time to interact with people out of work.

Research Design

This research was carried out using three data collection techniques which include survey, interview, and observation. These were the most appropriate methods to apply here, based on the nature of the environment under which the study subjects operate. Each of these methods played a crucial role in enabling us come up with reliable data for analysis of the subjects in regard with the study question. The survey approach entailed preparing survey questions that would be distributed to cabin crew members through the assistance of a third party. This first step didn’t bring enough feedback as far as this method was concerned, and therefore, we used someone from the inside to get the surveys to the crew members through email.

Interview was the second technique that was used here, and even though this had proved to be the most appropriate approach for this kind of study, it was also fraught by a number of challenges. One of the biggest challenges with the approach was that existing work place regulations restricted the cabin crew from taking questions from outsiders. Again, we had to rely on the help of someone from the inside, to be able to access the cabin crew and interview them. In this case, a total of four individuals were picked randomly for interviews that would be conducted at an arranged time and venue, away from the working premises. Interviews involving colleagues and friends of the selected persons were also conducted for credibility purposes. Observation was the last approach here, and it involved making a follow up of the actions of the study subjects with colleagues at work and with friends out of work.

Data

The study was conducted on nine cabin crew members of different national identities as follows: – Lebanon, Russia, Brazil, Portugal, U.K., Canada, UAE, and US. Two of these came from Lebanon, while the others came from the other nations. The research subjects comprised of 3 males and 6 females. Each of these cabin crew members was taken through the necessary interventions using the given research approaches, and below are some of the findings observed at the end of the study.

On whether working as cabin crew members has affected their social life, 3 of these crew members gave a Yes while the rest offered a No as answer.

On whether their out of work social group interactions consisted mostly of their colleagues, 7 said Yes while 2 said No.

Partying, clubbing, gym, and dining were some of the events given by the subjects when asked about what they do in the course of the weekends. However, weekday events as given by the majority included sleeping, swimming, dining, and visiting gymnasiums.

When asked whether they have time to make plans, a good number of the subjects would assert that, it all went with the flow, since set schedules were an inherent part of the job.

Following are some extracts from interviews on some of the questions highlighted above.

Does your work affect your social life?

First answer: Yes, because it’s not easy to hang up with my friends since I don’t have a life rather than work.

Second answer: Yes, because am constantly travelling.

Third answer: Yes, because I don’t have time for out of work interactions, I spend most of my time on the air and so my colleagues are my friends.

Analysis and interpretation

A number of findings have been observed out of this research in regard with the study question. First of all, it is apparent that Emirates Airlines crew comprises of a rich cultural diversity as many countries in the world are represented in the workforce. This varied nationality comes with immense benefits to both the employees and researchers. For instance, it places the employees on a better position to understand other cultures in the world. On the part of the researchers, this provides a good environment to carry out social studies such as this one.

The social life of Emirates Airlines crew members is largely affected by their work. This is because they run on busy schedules that have been set by their schedulers, thus hindering them from making special plans about social life out of work. Based on the observations of this study, the free times they get are normally short, and are sometimes interrupted by impromptu summons to fill positions that have been vacated by personnel calling in sick or ones facing serious situations which happens to interrupt their normal duties at work.

Even if they happen to get some time out of work, it could not be enough for everything they would like to do before they go back to work, considering the fact that the events list is too long, but the time provided is very short. In this regard, the Airlines crew would have little or no time for social life. Moreover, the cabin crew members are usually exhausted after long flight trips on the skies, and this makes them inactive for other affairs in their life, especially when they have a short time to take rest before the next flight journey.

It is also clear from the observations of this study that the social group interactions of Emirates Airlines crew mainly consists of colleagues, since there is less time to hang out with friends out of work. In their normal busy schedules, cabin crew members tend to interact with their colleagues at work more than anybody else. These interactions usually take place inside crew rooms, in hotels and clubs around airports, and inside the flights.

As it has been revealed in this study, the common things which the crew members tend to go for during the weekends would include, but are not limited to, partying, clubbing, dining with colleagues and friends, and attending gymnasiums for body building activities. However, weekdays are observed to have their own round of events and these would include activities such as swimming, sleeping, and going for dinner with lovers, friends, and colleagues.

It is also apparent from these observations that the life of an Emirate Airline Crew, just like that of any other Airline crew member, is organized around tight schedules, and for that reason, it would not be easy for one to make plans regarding their own personal life. In this respect, allocation of time for social life and other personal issues will have to go with the flow of events at work. However, the cabin crew members can always find some time to plan what they want before they going back to work, but this depends on the amount of time they have on their side before the next flight which has been allocated them.

Conclusion

As it is evident from this study, the most common social lives of Emirates Airlines crew in Dubai include partying, clubbing, dining, and gymnasium activities. The cabin crew comprises of people of different national identities. Moreover, it is also evident from this study that the only people whom the cabin crew members tend to socialize with away from work would be the people they meet in clubs and other social hubs in the course of their work. This, however, is a clear indication that the cabin crew members socialize mostly with people of different nationalities. Out of this study, I have learned that air crew job is basically for those who know that leisure and work don’t go hand in hand. Even though this study has provided justifiable answers to the study question, there is need for future studies on the subject to involve the families of the subjects in the research for better, credible answers.

References

Rhoden, S., Ralston, R., & Ineson, E. (2008). Cabin crew training to control disruptive airline passenger behavior: A cause for tourism concern? Tourism Management, 29(3), 538-547.

Rogers, C. (2006). The Complete Cabin Crew Interview Manual: The Ultimate Guide to Being Successful at a Flight Attendant Interview. Lincoln, NE: CE Publishing.

Introduction

This project aims at the exploration of Emirates Airlines’ company and the problems associated with it. In particular, the core goal of the project is to analyze the mentioned company in the framework of project management. At this point, the following objectives may be identified: to specify the company’s organizational structure, issues related to the reservation system and analyze them, and deliver a certain decision to resolve these problems. It is necessary to note that the analysis will be conducted from the point of a project manager.

Project Description

It seems necessary to conduct a SWOT analysis, justifying the goal of the project. Among the strengths of the organization, there is support from the UAE government, nationwide coverage, significant workforce, and so on. The mentioned aspects lead the company and help to meet the customers’ satisfaction. Also, focus on social responsibility in the form of special environmental programs complements the list of strengths. Currently, Emirates Airlines lacks some technological improvements, thus conceding in fierce competition with other airlines. This is likely to lead to the limited market share increase and considerable costs on adhering to modern requirements. The opportunities involve the development of a strong technological base. Another potential opportunity is the expansion to China market the growing economy of which needs a new inflow of transpiration partners. As for threats, one might state that ever-increasing fuel costs, strengthening of competition, and failure to implement global technology development might significantly reduce the company’s productivity.

The project will begin with the description of Emirates Airlines to provide necessary information related to the company. In particular, a range of services offered by the company will be pointed out. In the course of this project, the reservation system will be accurately assessed and subsequently analyzed from the perspective of a project manager. After that, various project management tools and techniques will be employed to provide relevant findings that will contribute to the possibility of coming up with the business solution. The project will also include the implementations of such strategies as the adoption of planning, budgeting, and scheduling. Finally, several recommendations will be identified and evaluated from the perspective of their feasibility. Finally, the conclusion part will provide the key points of the project, list the main consequences, and assume the theme of the potential perspective research.

Organization structure of Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines is one of the biggest networks that is famous all over the world. The company plays an essential role in the international aviation industry, connecting people, and promoting economic growth. The mission of the company relates to the management of resource consumption that is associated with the reduction of global ecologic problems. At the same time, it promotes continuous growth to connect even more countries and cities. The organizational structure of Emirates Airlines is headed by CEO and Chairman His Highness Sheikh Ahmed bin Saeed Al Maktoum (Emirates Airlines). In his turn, President Sir Tim Clark performs transformational ideas and manages the following departments: service and data, human resources, flight operations, facilities/project management, and so on. Each of the mentioned departments is led by the executive vice presidents.

There are various services offered by Emirates Airlines both onboard and outside. Along with the guaranteed superior care, the passengers may order additional services, depending on a certain route and cabin class (Graham, Papatheodorou, and Forsyth 48). For example, the first-class passengers may enjoy onboard shower spas or lounges. The basic set of services involves baggage delivery, e-booking system, duty-free, advanced seat reservations, etc. This project will focus on the airline reservation system (ARS) that provides such opportunities as e-booking, in particular, the reservation of flights, hotels, and airport transfer. For example, it is possible to make the reservation and pay within 72 hours that ensures the customers’ convenience.

Problems Facing Service It Provides

Emirates Airlines ARS causes some difficulties associated with booking, data security, and other similar issues. Considering that the modern digitalized world sets new challenges and opportunities in the field of reservation, these problems become even more important. To understand the core of the issue, it is necessary to briefly identify the essence of the reservation system. According to the information presented on the company’s website, it is simple to plan a flight and reserve the necessary option (Emirates Airlines). To make a booking, it is necessary to select departure and arrival airports, dates, and class types. After that, the search engine will provide a customer with a list of available flights. Confirming the selection, a customer will be redirected to the next page with flight details, including itinerary peculiarities, benefits, and terms and conditions. As soon as the flight booking is verified, it is possible to make a seat reservation.

The option of seat reservations may be especially significant for passengers with children, older adults, and other customers with additional requirements. Nonetheless, the company provides this opportunity for all the passengers, thus striving to meet their expectations and ensure a comfortable flight. It is essential to emphasize that advanced seat reservations may cause different problems regarding refunds, charges, reward systems, and seat changes (Graham, Papatheodorou, and Forsyth 65). The first issue relates to the fact that sometimes reservation leads to overbooking. To compensate for the customers’ cancellations, the seating capacity is sometimes enlarged. In its turn, this may cause misunderstanding between the company and a customer as reservation seat charges are primarily non-refundable. The second issue is associated with the difficulty of accessing online reservations. In particular, there are no integrated reservations that, for example, embrace mobile services and ticketing. Another problem of reservations concerns delays caused by system failure. Even though the company makes every effort to prevent them, there are still some occasional system fails.

Analyses of Delays or Problems of Project

From the observations that were provided below, it becomes evident that the company’s reservation system needs to be improved and updated according to the current requirements. Considering the problems that were enumerated earlier in this paper, it is necessary to properly analyze them, using the tools and techniques of project management. However, certain delays and problems may occur in the course of the project. For example, it is possible to suggest that the required data that is important to initiate the analysis will not be founded on time. Another potential delay is software problems. Despite the above points, the project will be completed and submitted promptly according to the instructions.

To identify risks that may occur in the course of the project, it seems appropriate to conduct a risk analysis. First of all, it is necessary to identify potential threats. Using qualitative methods of analysis, human, operational, financial, or market risks may be taken into account. For example, the risk of exceeding the cost of production when the production costs are higher than the planned ones may occur, thereby reducing the profits of the project. In this regard, a cost analysis of the project is to be performed. The market risks may arise for the following reasons: incorrect choice of product markets, improper identification of market operation strategies, inaccurate calculation of market size and production capacity, or delay in entering the market. The mentioned risks can deteriorate the effectiveness of the project and even delay its implementation deadlines. Speaking of operational and technical risks, one might point out that they can be caused by design errors, shortcomings of the technology, wrong choice of equipment, erroneous determination of priorities, and lack of effective management.

Some conditions of the project may also change. For example, it may be discovered that reservation system improvement exceeds the capacity of its execution, and, therefore, it is appropriate to postpone the start of works. This can lead to changes in the budgeting plan or to the fact that necessary for the project staff can be employed in other jobs. Also, the tax laws may change that is likely to impact the economic feasibility of the project. At the stage of optimization, some changes in the plan may be necessary to address the mentioned criteria. These changes may make it necessary to return to the previous planning phases. As a result of one or multiple iterations, the project schedule that is close to the optimal may be obtained.

The measures to reduce the enumerated risks may comprise the involvement of government and partners with extensive experience in conducting design, execution, and operation in the development and implementation of the project. The careful design and preparation of management strategies on the interaction of the parties that are directly involved in the project may assist in addressing the potential risks. Besides, the development of adverse situation scenarios seems to be useful, too.

Implications of Project Management Tools and Techniques

To enhance the current situation, a project manager is to employ a range of tools and techniques accepted in the context of project management. A project manager must ensure reliability, accuracy, and communication. At the same time, cancellations are to be properly investigated to reduce their impact on onboarding capacity. First of all, it is of great importance to state that project management implies the distinction of certain phases that are as follows: initiation, planning, execution, and evaluation (Gido and Clements 23). Each of the mentioned phases has its own set of techniques. Thus, the first phase focuses on the project initiation plan, defining the activities required to establish an appropriate environment, and communication with staff. The second phase involves the composition of tasks along with preliminary budgeting and scheduling techniques. Monitoring the project execution and managing changes can be related to the third phase. Ultimately, the last phase focuses on the post-project review.

The most obvious way to implement the project is to break it into phases and separate tasks as it was described above. In other words, this reminds a receipt when one purchase the ingredients, mixes them in the proper order, cooks, and serves. However, as a project manager has to control several processes simultaneously, there is a need to apply some tools, helping to keep track of time spent on each of the elements and time when they should be completed. For example, a Gantt chart that illustrates the project schedule based on completion dates and achievement of tasks can be used (Gido and Clements 25). This tool can track tasks, their duration, and relations between them, calculating the critical path – the longest chain of interrelated tasks that defines the life span of the project. The implementation of this tool seems to be a rather important decision as the exhibition of accurate forecasts contributes to effective project management.

PERT (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) is another essential tool the use of which allows a project manager to know exactly what should be done at any given time and who should do it, as well as the likelihood of timely completion of certain operations. PERT leads the methods of planning and controlling of the project by dividing it into several sub-tasks where each of them has estimated time needed for its implementation and the assigned execution priority (Gido and Clements 28). Employing PERT, a project manager can evaluate the tasks that are involved in the implementation of the project, especially the time frames needed to complete each task. This method is principally designed to facilitate planning and scheduling processes. Through this tool, it becomes possible to control the execution of the project, using a presentation in the form of a chart that takes into account all the tasks necessary to complete the project.

The following PERT chart is developed to illustrate the critical path method, assessing intervals that are required to implement the proposed project.

The above PERT chart supported by the explanation table represents a set of points (activities) with the interconnecting circles (duration). Every activity implies some process that is necessary for the implementation of the project as well as the attributed quantified characteristics. In particular, the required resources – expected duration can be clearly understood from the chart. Every activity is interpreted as the completion of a certain process and, at the same time, as the beginning of the other one, proceeding from there. Thus, it becomes evident that none of the processes can be started until previous ones are not carried out according to the course of the project. Meanwhile, it is essential to stress that the flow of the chart is consistent and accurate. The sequence of activities is treated as a path from the starting to the final vertex, and the sum of the lengths of the activities is attributed to the project implementation life span. As can be observed from the chart, the beginning and end of the project are connected through the two ways, which are different in length and number of activities. This means that some processes may go in line with others, for example, product model and sales brochure. Therefore, the critical path is the total duration of the project, in particular, 24 weeks.

Adoption of Planning, Budgeting, and Scheduling by the Project Manager

Taking into account the significance of implementation techniques, it seems critical to consider them in detail. Planning in one form or another is carried out throughout the life cycle of the project that is usually developed at the beginning of the project by a preliminary plan – an idea of ​​what is required to be performed as a result of the project. The formal and detailed project planning starts after the decision on its implementation and involves the following stages: definition of the main points (milestones) of the project and formulation of tasks along with their interdependence. It is this stage at which a project manager may use the development kit that comprises construction tools, network diagrams, Gantt charts, and histograms of the destination resource utilization. As a rule, the project plan does not remain unchanged as the project is subjected to constant adjustment in the light of the current situation.

Scheduling is the formulation and process verification routine procedure that is to be used in budgeting. This process takes place when the conditions of the project are specified. It is a complex structure that, in contrast to other project management processes such as process execution, control, and planning, relies on the process of planning and documentation. A project manager needs to repeatedly refer to the scheduling process until the completion of the project as the projects are unique and create a product that previously never existed. Thus, scheduling is crucial to all areas of project management and takes into account budget, a program of action, potential risk, personnel, equipment, and so on.

As it was stated earlier in this paper, the PERT chart identified the duration of this project that is expected to be 24 weeks. At this point, five weeks are given to develop the product design that was identified as the improvement of the reservation system. Market research that is of great importance to specify market tendencies along with competitors’ strong points is to be conducted within one week. This activity is likely to help to make the potential improvements relevant and accurate. The production analysis and product model design will take the five weeks, resulting in the succeeding testing process that, in turn, will require four weeks of effective work. Cost estimate and pricing are to take three and one weeks correspondingly and followed by a thorough review within one week. The mentioned project scheduling seems to be sufficient to achieve the stated goal and meet the global standards related to technology implementation and enhancement.

Budgeting refers to the determination of cost values ​​that are to be carried out by the project realization. In other words, it is the process of budget outlining that contains the set of allocation of costs by type of activity, cost items, centers, or structure. The structure of the budget is determined by the cost accounting plan of a certain project. A project manager may form the project budget as a part of the traditional accounting chart of accounts or by using a specially developed plan of management accounts. The research shows that in most cases the accounting chart is not sufficient to initiate budgeting as every project requires the consideration of specific features from cost management (Gido and Clements 41). In this regard, a project manager needs to base budgeting on the established indicators of accounting management. The budget can be prepared in the form of calendar cost schedules, cost allocation matrix, bar charts, etc.

The cost of the proposed project can be evaluated through the budgeting process. The development of budgeting refers to the process of structuring and analysis of costs obtained in the budgeting section. Structuring and systematization of data on costs are carried out by the points of expenses that were approved within the organization of the project. This implies the list of project costs derived from the scope of the project, required resources, and prices. Traditionally, there are direct costs (expenses), overheads (indirect) costs, and general and administrative overhead. Direct costs are those that are directly associated with the production of goods or activities of the project. They usually are directly related to the work package and include the following aspects:

• labor costs that were estimated at $ 40,000;
• costs of materials and equipment- $ 80, 000;
• other expenses related to the performance of work – $ 5, 000.

A project manager and a team may directly affect the mentioned type of costs while the impact of the project team on other expenses is limited.

Overhead indirect costs are costs that accompany the main production yet not directly related and not included in the cost of labor and materials. Overhead costs cannot be tied to any particular operation or concrete results. Applying to the whole project, they involve:

• operation and maintenance of fixed assets – $ 15, 000;
• management, organization, and production services $ 12, 000;
• business trips and meetings – $ 20, 000;
• training of employees – $ 5, 000.

General and administrative overhead (fixed costs) are costs that are not related to any specific project. They belong to the company’s costs but are also relevant to the project. The general and administrative costs generally include the maintenance management or support of various units such as accounting, secretarial, security, etc.

Recourse Allocation, Monitoring, Controlling, and Evaluating Techniques

To influence the achievement of the project results, goals, quality, time, and cost, it is important to select certain technologies, composition, characteristics, and assigning resources to perform management operations. Thus, the technologies and resources of the project can be attributed to the main levers of project management. In addition to these, there are auxiliary control levers, allowing them to attract the right resources at the right time. Besides, to manage resources, it is necessary to ensure the efficient organization of work. It concerns the project management structure and organization of information interaction between the project participants. It should be stressed that the basic resources such as project management or key executives are assigned in the early stages of the project while the specific ones are identified and appointed at the later stages.

To monitor the progress of the project, a manager needs to employ special documentation, systematizing resources, and strategies. The normative and regulatory documents determine the basic project management processes. For example, according to the regulation established by ISO 21500:2012 guidance on project management, program and project portfolios are to be documented in detail to organize the performance of a company. Among the most important documents that can be used in this project, one may note project charter, status reports, statement of work, risk register, and so on.

Controlling implies the evaluation of the execution of the project and the analysis of its consistency. If a project manager detects some differences, the corrective actions are to be taken to ensure that the project is carried out according to the plan. This may require additional changes in the planning and review of the main goals of the project. The core management processes of controlling include performance reporting – collection and distribution of information on the execution of the project; and overall change control – definition, coordination, approval, and acceptance to perform corrective actions and coordinating changes across the project.

Thus, the execution of the project should be regularly measured and analyzed to identify any deviations from the scheduled plan to identify and assess their impact on the project. The continuous assessment of the project parameters and identification of the emerging deviations promotes its timely implementation. The mentioned process is also should be considered to assess the condition and prognosis of the successful execution of the project according to the criteria and limitations that were set out at the planning stage. For most projects, among the major constraints criteria, there are targets, deadlines, quality, and cost of the project. The analysis of any decision on the continuation implies either the planned execution of the previous planning or determination of the need for the corrective action. The main processes of the analysis of the project execution are the processes that are directly related to the project objectives and indicate the success of the project execution:

• timing analysis – definition of conformity of actual and expected timing of the project execution operations, either directive or planned;
• cost analysis – identification of conformity of actual and forecast cost of operations and decision-making;
• quality analysis – monitoring of the results with a view to their checking on compliance with applicable quality standards and defining ways to address causes of undesirable results of quality;
• confirmation of goals – formal acceptance process of the outcomes.

If the performance of the project is by the agreed plan, management comes down to execution, in particular, communication of the project targets and monitoring of their implementation. These processes are included in the execution of processes. In case the implementation detected any deviations, and the analysis showed that it is necessary to introduce the corrective actions, it is required to find the optimal corrective action, adjust the plan of remaining work, and agree on the pending changes with all the participants of the project.

Executing can be referred to as a set of processes of the project implementation. The execution processes can be divided into major and minor. The basic execution processes can be attributed to the project plan execution itself while the sub-processes involve the following ones:

• information distribution – preparation and distribution of the necessary information for the project participants with the required frequency;
• quality assurance – regular evaluation of the project implementation to confirm compliance with the accepted standards of quality;
• solicitation – preparation of proposals, recommendations, comments, suggestions, etc.;
• source selection – evaluation of proposals, selection of suppliers and contractors, and contracting;
• contract administration – control of the execution of contracts to suppliers and contractors;
• team development – the development of the project team.

Resources are components that ensure the project activities, including performers, time, materials, equipment, etc. Accordingly, each activity function can be associated with resource requirements. Each time estimate is based on the use of a certain permissible amount of resources, and, therefore, by estimating the project duration, one can calculate the use of resources in advance. The main levers of project management that are to be used on resources level include:

• logistics – preparation for the work based on separate tasks: purchase, installation, and commissioning of controls provided by the project;
• human resources – necessary staff. This refers to hiring, training, motivation, reward system, design of work tasks, organization of work, and all other activities that are crucial for the management of human resources.
• intelligence – information systems development experience, special skills, abilities, and knowledge;
• financial resources;
• organizational aspects – distribution of responsibilities among the team members, the interaction between them.
• Information – a resource that can be used either in the form in the initial form or after conversion into an operational process. The introduction of information technology (IT) significantly increased the possibility of the use of information in both ways.

Paying attention to the specifics of this project, the project manager can be regarded as a specialist who is responsible for the successful implementation of the project within a specified time frame, with a fixed budget and required quality, and corresponding limited resources. The project manager is responsible for quality control, deadlines, budgets, and risks. In other words, his or her key task is to implement the project with the existing project resources that include qualified staff, equipment, services, consumables, and budget involved for the execution of the project. It seems necessary to emphasize that among the resources that are available to the project manager, there are people, equipment, materials, and supplies.

In this case, the project manager should act as a connector between the various departments of the organization that are involved in the project. For example, production plans or deadlines often require the collaboration of several departments. Therefore, one of the main tasks of the project manager is to ensure the coordinated work of the participants. This requires the maintenance of a large volume of both internal and external communications. The project manager is the formal leader of the project team, leading and controlling the entire workflow. For this purpose, it is essential to organize meetings with the project team members, monitor the implementation of the work plan, both for the project as a whole and for each team member.

Business Solution

Seeing the implication of tools and techniques that are presented above, it seems important to suggest some relevant business solutions. As a project manager, it is possible to note that the core strategy to employ is a flexible solution, embracing all the identified reservation issues. At this point, the key goal is to enhance customer satisfaction that can be achieved by delivering accessibility and improving productivity. The integration of reservation system with mobile apps and customer care service is one of the possible solutions. This means that a project manager should utilize his or her knowledge and skills to plan, budget, and schedule the necessary changes to implement the suggested decision. Particularly, such techniques as initiation, planning, execution, and evaluation are to be used. Also, all the techniques enumerated earlier in this paper are to be properly implemented.

The enhancement of website functionality is another possible business solution to the specified problems. The factor of the user-friendly reservations can significantly reduce the level of their dissatisfaction by simplifying the very procedure of reservation and the related terms. To this end, it should be specified how to combine the projects and programs carried out within an organization and use the subsequent project implementation experience for the development and promotion of strategic objectives. Most of today’s business issues involve the complexity of the decisions that need to be addressed to achieve the effective execution of a company. To accomplish this mission, the project solution is to be formulated and implemented strategically. The organization of project activities should be provided based on project management methodologies, processes, and phases. These standards provide a concentration of best practices in project management, form the basis for the interaction between the project team members, and make it possible to systematize knowledge in the corresponding area.

Providing cost breakdown, it is possible to use a cost breakdown structure (CBS) that consists of operation, planned maintenance, and corrective maintenance. Project cost management proposed in this paper is associated with the three major elements such as cost, timing, and resources. The main objective of cost breakdown is to complete it within the approved budget. The forecast of economic indicators of the project is based on an assessment of the market prospects on technology implementation that underlie the project and is designed to determine the financial viability of the project. The latter is the company’s ability to meet its financial obligations, arising from the implementation of the project timely and fully, and, at the same time, to achieve the initial goal of reservation system improvement. If the first of these factors requires compliance with a positive balance of cash receipts and payments during the realization period, then the second assumes a positive assessment of the economic efficiency of the project.

Here is a list of costs along with the required resources:

• people: employee + experts + consultants + contracts with other organizations;
• remuneration: salary + cost of contract services + tax + inflation rates;
• travel and transport: tickets + Daily Subsistence Allowances (DSA) + price of housing in hotels;
• equipment: maintenance of existing + purchase of new;
• dispatch and communications: postage costs + telephone + e-mail.

As it was reflected above, the company plans a budget of $ 177, 000. This total investment is expected to be released after the end of the project as the bulk of financial resources is invested in fixed assets, which would be fully amortized over the five years. At this point, 100 percent of the investment needs are to be financed by the company’s capital, thus avoiding any loans. The company expects to get a return on its financial resources invested by 28 percent within the period that coincides with the duration of the project. According to cost breakdown, the company’s net profit before depreciation, interest payments, and income taxes would compose $ 49, 560 per year. More importantly, Emirates Airlines is likely to reach its design capacity by the end of the project and will maintain the planned amount of profit after it. It is also important to point out the fact that the project’s successful execution is expressed in the gained objectives that are, in their turn, to be evaluated by comparing primary data and resources with the progress that was ultimately achieved. In this connection, a project manager is responsible for the assessment of the level of deviation and the resolution of contradictory issues, if required.

Analysis of Findings and Recommendations

A project manager is responsible for the three aspects of the project: time frame, costs, and quality of results. By the principles of project management, it is considered that the effective management of scheduling is the key to the success of all the mentioned indicators. Time limits of the project are often the most critical ones as if the terms of the project are seriously delayed, the likelihood of cost overruns and insufficient quality of service increase. Therefore, it is of great importance to focus on scheduling and monitoring timetable compliance. Meanwhile, one more recommendation is to coordinate all types of available resources throughout the project life cycle by employing project management tools and techniques that will lead to the desired outcome.

The presented business analysis involves a set of ambiguous data, global environment, and the apparent lack of proper solutions and rigid time constraints that are necessary for adequate decision-making. Therefore, a manager is encouraged to develop a comprehensive solution to the problem by taking advantage of data collected from the case. Thus, the business case immerses a manager in the atmosphere of the actual situation and allows him or her to gain experience in solving complicated problems. Because the analysis revealed various feasible approaches to the given issue, it is possible to select the correct decision.

Among other benefits, a new reservation system will provide the opportunity to implement several special services associated with mobile apps. For instance, SMS informing about transactions made by cash or creation of a section that will contain the possibility of additional booking in an online mode (e.g., rental cars, delivery tickets, etc.). The benefits of using the service of creating an online ticket reservation systems involve the creation of the following aspect of a uniform customer base, the possibility to quickly produce reports based on existing indicators, storage of information about customer transactions, automation of workflow, and provision of simple non-stop access to the reservation system.

Conclusion

In conclusion, it is important to emphasize that the presented project specified key issues of Emirates Airlines reservation system, including insufficient integration, overbooking, and subsequent delays. In the course of the project, it was revealed that a project manager may utilize a range of tools and techniques such as PERT analysis and Gantt chart. At the same time, the company’s reservations were accurately considered appropriately so that a project manager may plan, schedule, and control the execution of all the tasks required to complete the project. It was stated that planning, budgeting, scheduling along with resource allocation, monitoring, controlling, and evaluating techniques are to be used to achieve the desired outcomes. The implications of this project concern the fact that several recommendations were suggested to enhance the current situation regarding Emirates Airlines’ reservation from the perspective of a project manager. Ultimately, it seems important to point that that this project may be interesting both for an average reader and an expert. The findings that were made in the course of the project present essential grounds for prospective studies in the field of airline project management.

Works Cited

Emirates Airlines. Emirates Airlines, 2017, Web.

Gido, Jack, and James P. Clements. Successful Project Management. Cengage Learning, 2015.

Graham, Anne, Andreas Papatheodorou, and Peter Forsyth. Aviation and Tourism: Implications for Leisure Travel. Routledge, 2016.

Cover Letter

Introduction of Sponsor (Emirates Airline) and Rights Holder (National Football League – NFL)

Founded in 1920, the National Football League (NFL) was initially known as the American Professional Football Federation. However, after merging with the American Football Federation, it adopted its current name – NFL (Klein, 2014). Today, the league is one of America’s most celebrated sporting events. It is comprised of 32 teams, which play for two leagues: the National Football Conference and the American Football Conference (Creamer, 2018).

The NFL often undertakes a regular sporting league that spreads across 17 weeks of play (McAtee, 2018). About 16 games are played within this period and the first four teams from the National Football and American Football Conferences make it to the playoffs. These winners take part in a single-elimination game, which culminates in one of the most iconic football events in America – the Super Bowl (Bonsor, 2019). The first Super Bowl was held in 1966 and it has attracted huge national and global audiences since then (Bonsor, 2019).

Emirates Airline is one of the Middle East’s most successful airlines. Based in Dubai, the company is owned by the UAE government (Emirates Media Center, 2019). Emirates Airline is the largest and most successful Middle East Carrier. It operates about 3,600 flights per week (The Emirates Group, 2017) and travels to more than 40 destinations around the world (Center for Aviation, 2019). Like other airlines in its category, Emirates offers its customers an array of services that include cabin catering, in-flight entertainment, ground services, lounges, and chauffeur services (Emirates Media Center, 2019). As part of a strategic plan to improve the profile of the NFL for businesses and customers, this strategic plan is designed to allow Emirates Airline to make cost-effective campaigns during the 2020 Super Bowl event.

Identification of Strategic Objectives and Fit

Emirates Airlines and the NFL are two separate organizations, with different goals and visions. Emirates Airline strives to increase its service networks across several markets in the world (Emirates Media Center, 2019), while the NFL aims to unite people and inspire communities through American football. The sponsorship opening with the NFL presents an opportunity for Emirates Airline to advance its corporate goals by expanding the company’s outreach to a broader global audience because the Super Bowl has a wide outreach that cuts across several countries around the world (Page, 2014). Therefore, the 2020 Super Bowl sponsorship opening creates an opportunity for the airline to increase its brand awareness in foreign markets.

The NFL’s sponsorship for Emirates Airline is also an important part of the company’s marketing strategy because it provides a platform to connect with existing passengers and create a rapport with potential clients. Such opportunities would also aid in sharing and supporting the interests of the airline’s passengers and build a close relationship with them. Football is also an inherently strong part of Emirates brand portfolio, as seen through the company’s past sponsorships programs with European Football Clubs (The Emirates Group, 2019). Therefore, through the acquisition of sponsorship rights from some of the most prominent European-based football clubs in the world, Emirates Airline has been synonymously associated with sports (The Emirates Group, 2019).

NFL could benefit from the positive brand image that Emirates Airline has built over the years and leverage its potential to make similar agreements that are valuable to the league. The NFL has also established itself as a community-based organization and can leverage Emirate’s sponsorship opportunity to address its audience’s travel problems. Therefore, it will be providing a platform for the advancement of community objectives. This strategy complements its corporate social responsibility goals, which are predicated on using sponsorship opportunities to advance American Football in the US and around the world.

Sponsorship Plan

Overview and Event details

Super Bowl is one of the biggest sporting events in America. It occurs when the champions of the National Football Conference compete with the winners of the American Football Conference (Creamer, 2018) in a televised event that is arguably the most-watched televised game in the US (Biagi, 2014). The event often occurs as a culmination of the American Football League that happens in the summer of every year. The Super Bowl is one of the most popular sporting events in the world because it has one of the highest possible attendances for a mainstream sporting event (Bonsor, 2019). In addition, based on the national and global interests that the Super Bowl has created, its advertisements are among the most lucrative in the world (Statista, 2019).

Event Date and Event Location

Super Bowl is often held in the first week of February (usually Sundays) and it involves the winners of the National and American Football Conferences. In fact, between 1967 and 2003, only one Super Bowl event did not happen in February (Bonsor, 2019). The location of each Super Bowl event often changes every year. However, the choice of the venue is determined years in advance and NFL owners usually make the choice. The 2020 Super Bowl event will happen in the first week of February of the same year in South Florida, Miami.

Profile of the Attendees (Audience)

As highlighted in this document. The Super Bowl is a popular sports event in the US. Its popularity cuts across all genders because both male and female fans love the game (Schauer 2015). Its popularity often peaks in cities where the competing teams come from. There is no specific age limit for NFL fans because people from all age groups enjoy the sport. The popularity of the event has also spread to other parts of the world because foreign audiences also enjoy the sport as much as Americans do (Thornton, 2018). Fans of the Super Bowl also cut across all income brackets. In other words, people from all socioeconomic groups watch the event every year from their homes and the pitch as well (Doeden, 2017).

A typical Super Bowl fan is also unbounded by racial, ethnic, and religious differences because people from different social and religious groups watch the game. These characteristics mean that sponsors could reach a wide sample of people that are not limited by racial, educational, income, gender, or national differences. Therefore, there is tremendous value in booking an advertisement sport for the event.

Purpose of the Event

The Super Bowl is not only an event for die-hard American football fans but also a highly coveted extravaganza for sports enthusiasts and businesses alike. Indeed, the viewership numbers for a typical event could be in hundreds of millions of people (Bonsor, 2019). Few sporting events command this type of audience. Therefore, the Super Bowl provides a good platform for reaching a large population of people. It also has the power to capture the imagination and attention of audiences not only in America but also around the world. This effect is visible in dozens of advertisements, which have been featured in previous events and become viral through online virtual platforms such as YouTube (Bonsor, 2019). In other words, they have provided an opportunity for companies to promote their brand beyond the games.

The Super Bowl’s success as a commercial platform for promoting global brands stems from a three-pronged structure. The first one is the game for which millions of people tune in to watch the match. Its benefits have been outlined in this document. The second part is the half-time show, which attracts millions of people who tune in for the event because of its entertainment value. It is often characterized by lights, beams, and international celebrities. The last part is commercials that not only appeal to the entertainment-seeking audience but also the brands behind commercials that enjoy an opportunity to create awareness to a large audience.

Super Bowl commercials are different from other types of advertisements because they make the audience anticipate what will happen each year, as many people believe their commercials are exceptional (Bonsor, 2019). Therefore, people always anticipate seeing which kind of advertisements will be aired every year. Such commercials, when aired on Super Bowl, are part of the events trifactor outlined above. The importance of this event is further evident in the fact that millions of people do not pay as much attention to other commercials that air on television in other months of the year as they do Super Bowl because the event’s commercials are unique (Creamer, 2018).

Overall, the NFL is not only one of the world’s most recognizable sporting agencies but also the top league for football in the North American continent. Based on the insights outlined above, the purpose of the event is to determine the champion between winners of the National and American Football Conferences (Creamer, 2018). This event will help your organization to create awareness about the Emirates brand across the multiple demographic characteristics of the audience.

Advertisements that will be placed during the Super Bowl will also command a huge viewership away from the games because additional airplay and exposure will be provided during morning shows and newscasts. The televised nature of Super Bowl events will also be beneficial to Emirates Airline because it would allow the brand to be watched in about 88% of US households that own a television set (Creamer, 2018). Additionally, advertising during the Super Bowl event will improve the credibility of Emirates as a global brand because studies have shown that many people assume companies, which advertise during the super bowl, have a high advertisement budget and are credible (Creamer, 2018).

Media

Super Bowl’s popularity is partly informed by the contracts that the NFL has signed with several network television companies. The game is also broadcast across multiple radio networks operated by the NFL (Schauer 2015). In addition, the NFL has relationships with several Spanish-level broadcasters, such as NBC Universo, which expand its access to Spanish-speaking audiences, such as Latin Americans (Bonsor, 2019).

Collectively, through several media arrangements between the NFL and independent media organizations, the Super Bowl is broadcast across dozens of networks around the world. This finding means that the company has market access to several primetime slots on television in multiple countries (Bonsor, 2019). Through such content distribution networks, the Super Bowl has a wide outreach, which averages about 104 million people (Bonsor, 2019). The official numbers for its global audience are contentious but Jackman (2018) says that the international viewership base may reach up to 50 million people.

Sponsorship Packages (Opportunity to Reach Target Market)

Although the Super Bowl is a major sports event, people do not only tune in for football; they also watch the commercials because they are an important source of information, entertainment, and humor. Commercials generate conversation material among several audiences long after the event ends (Bonsor, 2019). This effect is commonly reported because researchers suggest that the greater the public spectacle an event creates, the higher the level of commercial interest it generates (Bonsor, 2019).

Although the general effects of the Super Bowl are well established, the sponsorship deals for the event are designed to appeal to the needs of the sponsors. This goal stems from the NFL’s commitment to align the event’s objectives with those of the sponsors. Relative to this aim, three types of sponsorship packages are available to Emirates: bronze, silver, and gold sponsorship. The table below summarises their characteristics and benefits to your organization.

Table 1. Sponsorship Packages (Source: Developed by author).

Delivering Value (Benefits to Sponsor)

The Super Bowl is unlike any other event in the sporting world because, no matter the interest a person has in the event (whether sports or commercials), it is guaranteed to elicit some commercial value. The NFL also likes to share the same vision as its sponsors by thinking like its partners and comprehending their corporate objectives. This information is useful in assisting sponsors to develop targeted marketing campaigns. In line with this vision, staff from the NFL will be readily available for any consultation that Emirates may need. Through this interaction, both parties could collaborate and create solutions that will drive Emirate’s business objectives through the Super Bowl’s advertisement campaign. In line with this spirit, in return for your investments, the following benefits would be available to you.

1. Your company’s name and logo will be featured on the NFL’s “sponsor’s page.” This platform is dedicated to all sponsors of the NFL and a link to Emirates Airline will be provided for all customers.
2. Emirates Airline will receive up to 10 tickets for employees who may want to attend the pre-season presentation night.
3. Your company will receive increased product and service recognition because the Super Bowl event will make many people aware of the different flight packages offered by the airline
4. The Super Bowl will create a space for targeted connections because the advertisement will be shown to different demographic groups whose buying patterns can be tracked for purposes of target marketing
5. One member of Emirates Airline staff will receive fully paid accommodation at a hotel in the city where the finals will be played
6. Emirate’s company name will be announced during the Super Bowl finals.
7. Emirates will be allowed to use the NFL’s logo on a selected group of merchandises for the company
8. Emirates Airline will be presented with an official acknowledgment receipt of participation

These benefits will help to elevate Emirate’s brand visibility in the American and global markets. Therefore, the Super Bowl presents a unique opportunity for advancing Emirate’s strategic interests.

Sponsor Signature: _______________________ Date: _______________

Event Host Signature: ________________________ Date: _______________

References

Biagi, S. (2014). Media/Impact: An introduction to mass media (11th ed.). London, UK: Cengage Learning.

Bonsor, K. (2019). How the Super Bowl works. Web.

Center for Aviation. (2019). Emirates Airline. Web.

Creamer, C. (2018). National Football League logos. Web.

Doeden, M. (2017). The Super Bowl: Chasing football immortality. New York, NY: Millbrook Press.

Emirates Group. (2017). Emirates ends 2017 on a high note reaching fleet and product milestones. Web.

Emirates Group. (2019). Our football sponsorships. Web.

Emirates Media Center. (2019). Emirates offers an inside look into the heart of its operations. Web.

Jackman, S. (2018). World Cup vs. Super Bowl by the numbers. Web.

Klein, C. (2014). The birth of the National Football League. Web.

McAtee, R. (2018). The 2018 NFL week 17 viewing guide. Web.

Page, J. (2014). Pro football championships before the Super Bowl: A year-by-year history, 1926-1965. New York, NY: McFarland.

Schauer, P. (2015). Russell Wilson: Super Bowl sensation. New York, NY: Encyclopedia Britannica.

Statista. (2019). Super Bowl average costs of a 30-second TV advertisement from 2002 to 2019. Web.

Thornton, J. (2018). Five rings: The Super Bowl history of the New England Patriots (so far). Lebanon, NH: University Press of New England.

Learning and Memory of Consumer Behavior in Emirates

Business corporations conduct consumer studies for the improvement of their marketing strategies. This enhances their understanding on how the consumers contemplate, sense, and reason amid different products they offer. Emirates airlines, as one of the greatest developed long-haul carriers, are no exception in this realm. Learning and memory of consumer behavior in emirates is of greater importance and requires extreme attentions for the survival of the business in this dynamic global market.

Learning within the consumers entails a rigorous transformation of the pre-existing memory as well as behavior. It is not exclusively knowledge based, but inducement by influence is also relevant. It focuses on the already known and enactment of subsequent concrete behavior^[1].

Learning and memory of the flight products are crucial at Emirates airlines. Various approaches of learning are taking course from which consumer awareness rests. One of such methods is a classical conditioning where consumers are natured to abide by the culture of the organization in terms of flight schedules, travelling conditions and all the benefits that abreast their products.

Countless contemporary advertisers utilize the ideology to survive in the competitive market share. Restrictions in consumer awareness or information handing capabilities influence resolutions and marketing results. Concurrently, operant conditioning engages a diverse succession of events thus perceived as learning.

The wide-ranging outline is behavior, consequence, and the possibility of the behavior to rise or descend. The Emirates Airlines embraces learning, as well as memory, to enact positive consumer behavior towards their products. They sometimes grant offers while trying out new products. Behavior arises from either individual realms, or groups. It entails the exploitation, disposal, and product acquisition.

Importance of Marketers’ Understanding on Consumers Learning on Products and Services

The marketers’ knowledge of how the consumers learn about their products is vital in the Emirates Airlines. The most fundamental one is for the marketing scheme meant to augment the promotion campaigns.

The illustration of this concept is vivid by the discovery that travelers are more receptive to flight advertisements throughout December holidays when most tourists tend to fly abroad for leisure than any other season. The organization understands that new services primarily meet adoption by few individuals, and eventually the entire population.

The marketers must be patient as the product steers through these rigorous phases while the organization has to finance the marketing projects to uphold the products buoyancy until they convene a commercial hit. The emirates marketers significantly understand how consumers learn about their services and support the gratification of initial customers, since they will in turn sway many successive clients’ brand preferences^[2].

Emirates conditioning results

Conditioning denotes the growth of behavior variation, which connects a desired behavior to a product with a previously unrelated stirring service. It aids in the successful promotion of new products. Emirates Airlines have effectively implemented such conditioning strategies with positive results.

This extremely firm, with affirmative results, employs several aspects of conditioning encompassing typical, operant, and vicarious erudition. They employ unconditional stimulus, which brings forth unrestricted responses from the customers towards a new product. The corporation also embraces repositioning, which engages an attempt to transform consumer perceptions of a brand, typically turning out to be less striking.

Customer’s behavior and induced receptiveness are the key components of this achievement. The rewarding of the customers behavior either at intervals or at some fixed duration is paramount in the arenas of conditioning^[3]. In vicarious learning, the clients do not usually undertake the learning procedures by themselves. Occasionally, they possibly learn from examining their fellow clients.

Bibliography

Shaw, S. Airline marketing and management. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Vermont, 2007.

Shimp, T. Advertising Promotion, and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, Cengage Learning, Ohio, 2008.

Taneja, N. Flying ahead of the airplane. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Vermont, 2008.

Footnotes

1. T, Shimp, Advertising Promotion, and Other Aspects of Integrated Marketing Communications, Cengage Learning, Ohio, 2008, p. 145.
2. S, Shaw. Airline marketing and management. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Vermont, 2007, p.107.
3. N, Taneja, Flying ahead of the airplane. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd, Vermont, 2008, p. 140.

Etihad Airways and Emirates Airways are two rival airlines operating from the United Arab Emirates (UAE). This proposal looks at several components of a research project designed to look at the elements of their marketing strategies, against the backdrop of their rivalry.

Aims and Objectives

The aim of the study is to determine the factors affecting the choice of market entry models in the international market. Emirates Airlines and the Etihad Airlines have managed to break into international markets despite bitter domestic rivalry. This makes them the best candidates for the study.

The objectives of the study will be as follows:

1. To investigate the market entry models of Etihad Airlines and the Emirates Airlines.
2. To investigate the defining elements and the implications of the rivalry between the Etihad Airlines and the Emirates Airlines.
3. To determine the long term prospects of the two airlines in relation to their existing marketing strategies in the context of their rivalry

Justification for the Topic

Etihad Airways and Emirates Airlines are bitter rivals in the airline sector in the UAE. The two airlines have been competing for market share since the establishment of Etihad Airlines. The significant difference between these two airlines is that Etihad Airlines is much younger than Emirates Airlines.

Despite this, Etihad Airlines is proving to be a strong competitor for leadership in the UAE airspace. The main question this leads to is “how can a young company take on an established company and become a fierce rival?” Secondly, “what marketing strategies do the two airlines use, and how do these strategies contribute towards their success?”

Need for the Study

The need to study the rivalry between Etihad Airlines and the Emirates Airlines comes from the following reasons. First, marketing determines the success or failure of any business. Therefore, the fact that Etihad Airlines and Emirates Airlines are each successful in their own right makes them ideal candidates for a study in marketing strategy.

Secondly, Etihad Airlines has not yet broken even since its inception, and it will take a few more years before it makes profits. Emirates Airlines has been making profits throughout its history. Does this situation stem from the marketing strategies of the two airlines? Thirdly, there is need to determine the long term prospects for the two airlines given then existing rivalry.

Importance of the Study

The importance of this study is that it will provide a platform for examining the effectiveness of marketing strategies under a situation of bitter rivalry. The two airlines position themselves as luxury airlines. They also provide services in very competitive routes across the global landscape.

Their rivalry can end up with one of them collapsing and the other becoming a monopoly. On the other hand, each of the companies is a target of acquisition by its rival. These issues illustrate the importance of studying the marketing strategies of the two airlines in order to determine which one is likely to survive in the long term.

Sources of information

There are three main sources of data for this project. First, the project will examine existing data regarding the operations of the two airlines from literature. The study will also examine research papers written on various aspects of the operations of the two airlines.

It will be important to interview people who use the airlines to determine the customer satisfaction indices. Finally, it will be important to study publications by the two companies to decipher their marketing strategies.

Introduction

The Emirates Airline is one of the major airlines within the Middle East; it is known to be one of the top ten best carriers and the seventh biggest airlines worldwide.

Setting up lucrative business organization and making it stabilize within the airline industry proves very risky. However, the people working for Emirates Airlines counters the risks involved by setting up appropriate strategies through the use of Five Forces for the purposes of analyzing business environment.

Generalization of learning associations to other things is done within Emirates Airlines through the use of Porters Five Forces Strategies used to analyze the market environment.

The company ensures that their employees undergo frequent training programs within various departments to ensure continuity of excellent service provision within various business circles (Nicholas, 2009).

Learning strategies are important to marketers since they are enabled to form appropriate pictures on the kind of market and industry they are operating.

This ensures that marketers apply appropriate principles and strategies for the purposes of protecting the business from outside threats owing to high competition.

Implementation of appropriate strategies makes it easier for marketers to develop Emirates Airline as one of the market leaders. Studies done on the marketing strategies of competitive businesses prove vital since competition could be realized from other businesses not related to the airline industry.

The presence of close substitutes makes it easier for customers to switch alternatives owing to differences in prices, resulting into what is known as high elasticity of demand.

Several factors determine the company’s ability to attract customers, these include; the cost switching tastes, perceived level of product differentiation and relative prices (Nicholas, 2009).

Description and explanation of an airline example related to Emirates Airlines

One of the examples related to Emirates Airlines is Northwest Airlines which is one of the domestic airlines with the ability to serve large market segmentation across nations.

Its ability to provide excellent domestic services has been made possible through close operations with other commuter airlines. There is a link provided between NWA and other airlines which provides easy connection channels for jet services within the country of operation.

The overall merger makes NWA have superior technical and operational services just like Emirates Airlines hence boasting of established common operation and maintenance points (QuickMBA, 2011).

Such strategies have been utilized by the marketing department ensuring that NWA competes favourably with major airlines owing to their up-graded and up-dated services.

The marketing department has further resorted to integrating their flights and operations. Connections between air link carriers and Northwest have been shown with clarity as online rather than interline transfers, whereby less time and lower cost on fares are involved to facilitate connections.

These strategies have made NWA just like Emirates to obtain better competitive advantage hence commanding good part of the consumer base (QuickMBA, 2011).

The prime role of NWA is assisting customers in obtaining the best services that are safe and profitable to the company. The operations are reinforced through application of modern computerized systems helps in supporting necessary working systems, providing customers with efficient customer care services.

The various customer needs are easily met through installation of computerized technology system which provides customers with variety of choices on the kind of services and products they require (QuickMBA, 2011).

Is there a difference between classical and instrumental conditions? Identify each and explain the concept within Emirates Airlines

As one of the several rapidly growing airlines, Emirates Airlines operates brand new fleets of long-range. Their classical conditions operate hand in hand with instrumental conditions.

The designs of their aircrafts appear unique for classical service purposes. They use wide body aircrafts within which they offer finest services and accommodations.

Emirates operate the largest passenger jets which includes giant Airbus A380 aircrafts for the convenience of consumers. They offer superior in-flight services and limousine services on the ground.

In-flight services comprises entertainment, private suites within first-class and operate large spas with ability to accommodate families. They ensure that travellers are granted quality experience on long flights both in business and economy classes (Nicholas, 2009).

Description of things which customers and marketers could learn by observing other behaviours

Emirates Airlines have put a lot of faith in their employees and goes extra-mile to safeguard their jobs by giving them handsome pay. This enables employees give extra contributions towards ensuring that the company operates within the best realms in the market.

The company organizes for several training programs for their employees which ensure that they continue in good shape. Emirates Airlines operates in business circles whereby financial reports are made independently, the company serves ten destinations continuously within India, dozens of cities in some Far-East and Middle East countries.

Their services extend to Africa, more than twenty cities both in Europe and Asia. This shows how dynamic their marketing strategies are since there is non of the European Airlines covering such wide market outside Europe, the same with American Airlines (Nicholas, 2009).

Conclusion

Consumers respond either positively or negatively depending on the kind of services offered by various airlines. They crave for convenient and professionally managed airlines which are concerned with comfort and safety of passengers. The focus should be in-flight services, seat designs, availability of luggage area, sanitary requirements and also entertainment systems.

References

Nicholas, K., 2009. Emirates Sets the New Standard for Airlines. Web.

QuickMBA, 2011. Global Strategic Management. Available at http://www.quickmba.com/

Introduction

Management is the process where activities are coordinated in a business to meet an organization’s goals and objectives. In the changing world with competition, there is need to adopt policies and strategies that facilitate efficiency and effectiveness in all processes. Total quality management is a management tool which aims at ensuring that all processes in a business contribute positively to the overall conduct of the business.

TQM has both hard and soft parts. Soft parts consider the contribution of employees and the relations that they have with their employer. On the other hand, hard policies are more focused on physical assets which are used for production of goods and services (Paley 19). This paper will compare and contrast TQM policies adopted by Toyota Motor Company and Emirates Airlines.

Brief history of the Two Companies

Both Toyota and Emirates Airlines are more or less in the same industry; transport industry. Emirates Airline is an international airline company that is spreading to various countries. Currently, it has over 100 destinations. It is the major airline in Middle East and the national airline for Dubai, Unites Arabs emirates. It is a sub-subsidiary of Dubai Investment Company, through The Emirates Group.

The company was incorporated in the year 1985 as an international flight company and made the first flight to Dubai-Karachi on 25 October 1985. It was incorporated with the assistance of the government of Dubai’s royal family but the intervention of the government was limited.

Toyota is a multinational company found in Japan and it is the leading automobile car makers and seller in the world. It was incorporated in 1937; its founder is Kiichiro Toyoda. According to fortune global survey 500 of 2008, it was the fifth largest company in the world.

The company is structured in a no extra ordinary way and has departments like any other multinationals in the world; however the achievement of the company has made it different in performance a thing that proves that something extra happens. In 2008, it was able to surpass General motor company as the world largest automobile seller in the world. What has made the company go this far?

The answer is in the quality of its management and the interaction of brand as well the loyalty that it derives from its customers. The number of employees in the company stands at 320,590 distributed in different parts of the world (Black 20).

Hard T.Q.M.

Emirate Airlines operate in a fast changing air line industry where there has been an increased competition. One of the most recent is low cost services. On the other hard, due to globalization, there has been an influx of international airline companies fighting for the same market. In the efforts of ensuring that the company has remained competitive, it has embarked on massive capital investments.

By the year 1987, the company had expanded its destinations to reach eleven in total. It is one of the few start ups that recorded a break even at the first year of service. The earlier airline that operated in the area was Gulf airline; the airline was affected by the Gulf war and Emirate airline so enjoyed the benefit of all this.

Being in the plane industry, the company has increased its number of planes and the sizes of the planes; those planes that carry passengers have been refurbished and made to look more modern. In the efforts of surviving low cost competition, the company has made large planes which are used to ferry a large portion of people; this helps in enjoying economies of scale and thus the company can operate as a low cost.

The company has embarked on massive research to ensure that it knows the expectations of its customers and align its service to the needs. It is opening up virgin areas with its operations and collaborations with airlines of other nations.

Toyota Company has embarked on resource development especially in technology development. The technology has ensured that the company produces goods which are sensitive to the need of modern motor industry. The company produces one of the most efficient automobiles.

The vehicles are also comfortable to compete with companies like Mercedes, BMW, and Fords among others. In the various countries, it has embarked on making warehouses and garages which handle their products in a professional manner (Hino 12).

Soft TQMs

Soft policies consider human resources of a company. It aims at empowering them conduct their business with efficiency and become more productive. Emirates Airlines has been increasing its employee base. It ensures that it trains its employees to make their services better. This is on current trends in business world and the changes that the industry is going through.

In the fiscal year that ended on March 2010, the company had employed a total of 36,652 employees all over the continent. The performance of the company has been on a gradual increase; in the year 2009/ 2010, the passengers that used the online were 27.4 million, up from 22.7 million reported in 2008–09, the load cargo in the same period increased by 12.2% to 1,580,000 tons up from 2008–09: 1,408,000 tons.

Toyota Company has embarked on international fetching of employees. It employs from all over the world and maintains the team through appropriate appraisal and reward system. Graduates are integrated into the system by a graduate trainee procedure. This is where graduates undergo two year training in Toyota College before they are integrated in the system.

When they get into the system, they continue with further on job training and only given targets after the trainers are aware that they can perform effectively. In making decisions, the company engages all staffs. This is where they give their field experiences and recommendations on varying issues (O’Connor 44-56).

Conclusion

Total quality management (TQM) consists of competitive moves and business approaches aimed at producing successful performance; it is management’s “game plan” for running the business, strengthening a firm’s competitive position, satisfying the customers, the stakeholders, share holders, and the staffs. It seeks to develop the way into which all those that are a party to the business get satisfied.

It aims at going a step further and satisfying the customers beyond their expectations. There is a lot of focus on the customer; the customer is the greatest asset that an organization can have. To get customers’ loyalty is every business dream and target.

Comparing the Toyota and Emirates strategies, it is clear that both of them have adopted a TQM system which is acting to their advantage. They are both enjoying benefits brought about by TQM, which include efficiency in their processes, increased customer satisfaction, competitiveness, and customer satisfaction.

Works Cited

Black, Richard. Organizational. Boston: Universal publishers, 2003.

Hino, Satoshi. Inside the mind of Toyota: management principles for enduring growth. Tokyo: Productivity Press, 2006.

O’Connor, Patrick. Total Quality Management (Book). Quality & Reliability Engineering International [serial online]. April 1989; 5(2):183.

Paley, Norton. The manager’s guide to competitive marketing strategies. London: CRC Press. 1999

Introduction

When organizations operate in a competitive market, managers are compelled to formulate strategies for their organizations to gain a competitive edge in the market. The idea of strategic management can also be relevant to non-profit organization when competing for resources in the market.

This paper seeks to analyze the business environment, resources and strategic growth methods employed by Air France and Emirates Airlines.

Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines was invented in 1985 when it was issued with two aircrafts and ten million dollars as a starting capital by the government of Dubai. Its first routs were from Dubai to Karachi and Bombay to Delhi (Senge, 1990, 44).

Emirates is a successful organization because it has employed successful strategies in its operations which has helped in the management of the company. The company has employed the strategy of acquisition and mergers in its operations and this has resulted into greater benefits to the company (Carnall, 2007, p.42).

The Emirates merged with Qatar airways and Etihad so as to increase its profit margins. By merging with the two airlines, Emirates has been in a position to set high flight costs since there are no other competing airlines in the regions (Mintzberg, 1994, p.38).

The Emirates devised another strategy of ensuring that it offers high quality services to its targeted customers so as to gain a competitive edge in the market.

The company decided to order three hundred and fifty five wide body jets for Emirates, Etihad and Qatar airlines so as to overtake their competitors in the European and United States markets.

The company has attracted many clients who are willing to spend so as to enjoy the luxury and comfort of the Emirates air flights. Studies show that this strategy increased the profit margins of the company by nine percent in 2012 as well as its market share by three percent (Grant, 2012, p.98).

Research shows that Emirates is registered as the fastest growing company in the airline industry since 1990s. Their revenues have always increased by ninety nine million dollars each year.

This growth was accelerated by the Gulf War because during this time, Emirates carried over sixty seven thousand passengers and one point five tons of cargo (Burnes, 2009, p.56). In 2010, Emirates registered a net profit of nine hundred and sixty five million dollars in the first and second quarters of the year.

The company has experienced an increase in passenger traffic that in 2012 the company registered sixteen million passengers in the first half of the reporting period as compare to the previous fiscal year.

During the same financial year, Emirates managed to increase its profits up to three thousand five hundred and sixty dirhams as well as increased its sales by three point seven percent from the previous business year (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2012, p.16).

Air France

Air France is another airline company which dominates the European market. The company was established in 1993 through an acquisition arrangement after the Gulf War.

The company was registered in the European stock exchange market in 1998. In 2004 the company merged with KLM- Royal Dutch Airlines which is based in Netherlands.

This helped Air France Company to establish point-to-point services internationally so as to counter the inroads that are incurred in the low cost carriers in France (Goshal et al., 2003, p.46).

This strategy was meant to restore and sustain profit margins both in the short-term and long-term operations of the airlines.

Air France has suffered stiff competitions during its short-haul operations from the high-speed rail in Europe. In 2011 Air France increased its destinations by fifty two new routes and this increased its regional capacity by thirty two percent (De Wit & Meyer, 2004, p.46).

Due to the increased competition in the market, the management of Air France thought of another strategy that was meant to help the company remain competitive in the market. The company implemented a strategy which reduced its operation costs by fifteen percent.

This strategy intended to push the profitable operations of the company since passengers were to be attracted to the low costs of the flight which were as low as fifty Euros for one way including the tax.

This strategy proved profitable to the company because the number of passengers travelling with Air France increased since it proved to be cheaper as compared to other LCCs peers (Grant, 2012, p.54).

This new strategy of reduced operational costs failed to yield the expected results since it did not last for long as many companies in the transport industry decided to lower their costs too. This strategy was implemented on four routes of the Air France which were in direct competition with the LCC applied the strategy.

The remaining nine routes were compelled to regulate their prices depending on the number of passengers so as to maximize their profit margin since they were not affected by the LCCs (Johnson, Scholes & Whittington, 2008, p.26).

Research indicates that after the merger between Air France and KLM the company became a leading transport company in Europe carrying over seventy four million passengers in the 2010-2011 fiscal years.

The company operated in more than one hundred and four countries with two hundred and forty three destinations.

The company increased its employees up to one hundred and eight thousand to achieve the objectives of the company. In 2012, the company increased its profits by two thousand one hundred and sixty six million dirhams as it increased its sales by three percent from the previous financial year (Lynch, 2013, p.88).

Air France employed the strategy of organic growth by making an alliance with Etihad which had merged with Emirates and Qatar. This strategy helped the Air France Company to increase its routes and destinations hence expanding the company.

This enabled Air France KLM to extend its operations into German as well as experienced the growth of Air-Berlin footprint in France unlike its competitor Emirates which did not want to make alliances due to fear of tarnishing its reputation.

Advantages and disadvantages of the strategies

The merger and acquisition strategy employed by both companies led to the expansion of alternative routes since it gave an access to already established markets.

It also increased the revenues of the companies since the merged companies hiked flight fares as there were no competitors in the market.

The major challenge was the issue of the expenses incurred like the increased duties of the passengers, unpredictable fuel prices and long processes of decision making.

Conclusion

The study has revealed that as much as scholars propose that merger and acquisition strategy is a solution to the ups and downs of a company, studies on the cases of Air France and Emirates indicate that the strategy can result to losses for the company.

The analysis indicates that Emirates has been able to devise strategies that have helped the company to stand tall in the market as compared to Air France which has always operated below the margins of Emirates.

References

Burnes B, (2009), Managing change, Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Harlow.

Carnall, C, (2007), Managing change in organizations, 5^th ed., London, Pearson Education

De Wit, B, & Meyer, R, (2004), Strategy process, content, context: an international perspective, Harlow, Thomson.

Grant, M, (2012), Contemporary strategy analysis, 8^th ed., Chichester, Wiley.

Goshal, S, Lampel, J, Mintzberg, H, & Quinn, J, (2003), The strategy process: concepts, contexts, cases, London, Prentice Hall.

Johnson, G, Scholes K, & Whittington R, (2012), Exploring strategy text and cases, 9^th ed., Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Harlow.

Johnson, G, Scholes K, & Whittington R, (2008), Exploring strategy text and cases, 8^th ed., Financial Times/Prentice Hall, Harlow.

Lynch, R, (2013), Strategic management, 6^th ed., Harlow Pearson, Education.

Mintzberg, H, (1994), The rise and fall of strategic planning, London, Prentice-Hall.

Senge, P, (1990), The fifth discipline: the art and practice of the learning organisation, New York, Doubleday.

Customer Acquisition

A few years back, Emirates Airlines adopted the use of wireless Internet access on one of its new Airbus. The same services were expected to be rolled out by both Lufthansa of Germany and Scandinavian Airlines within almost the same time. However, before rolling out this service, the main communication tool that was available for use by passengers was the seat phones, which due to their expensive nature were not commonly used.

Given these high prices with respect to the use of seat phones, there was great lobbying by the general Internet community for the use of Wi-Fi access since it could have benefited the retailers who were to use it as a tool of customer acquisition¹.

For a small café, the complete cost of providing a Wi-Fi access that is free was approximated to be about six Unite State dollars. Comparable to a billable hot spot, this was cheaper since the billable hot spot requires additional expenses such as provision of customer support and maintenance costs for Internet speed.

Although the free model would not suit application in all places, it would eliminate the adoption problem that was present at that particular time.

As far as air travel is concerned, the Middle East is presently the leading global region in growth of traffic. According to statistics, there was double-digit growth in passengers between 2004 and 2006.

Presently 8% of global air traffic is represented by the region. The increase in number of passengers is similarly reflected n the rise in freight. In view of these statistics, it is not shocking to see thee civil aviation of the Emirates Airlines work at expanding their civil aviation infrastructure at a very rapid pace. The authority has recently undergone restructuring with the airports being managed by the new Dubai Civil Aviation Authority.

Dubai is investing about $ 82 billion to transform the Emirates into one of the greatest global airlines. The plans for expanding the Emirates airlines are quite ambitious. In the year 2006, 20.6 million passengers passed through its gates and more than 237,000 aircraft transported at least 1.4 million freight.

Comparatively, during the same time, Hartsfield, the world’s busiest airport had about 85 million passing through its gates whereas 68 million customers were served by London Heathrow.

The government of Dubai is not fully satisfied with the figures and it has made a move to add two more concourses and a third terminal. They have expectations of between 60 and 70m million passengers annually. The Airlines of Dubai International Airport have been extended to accommodate the new Airbus A380 and actually, the Flagship of the Emirates Dubai has been able to make an order of 47 of the Aircraft².

In addition to this, the Dubai Cargo Village, which is a dedicated site for cargo handling and adjacent to Dubai International Airport, is also undergoing extensions to handle about two million tonnes annually and is currently handling almost at double capacity.

As far as expansion of capacity is concerned, both Dubai Cargo Village and the Dubai International Airport are experiencing the same challenge: after completion of the current extensions, there will be no room for growth at their current locations.

The facilities are encompassed by urban sprawl as a result of the growing capacity within the city³. Apart from the greatest order for the new Airbus, double Decker plane, Emirates Airlines ordered a new Aircraft worth $37 billion. Below is a table for the company’s airport traffic between 1997 and 2006.

Source: HWM. The Wireless revolution: Experience New Ways of Living Wirelessly. Singapore: SPH magazines.2004.

Customer retention

The major players in Indian Airline industries include Emirate Airlines, Air Sahara, Jet Airways, Lufthansa, Air Deccan, Air India, and Indian Airlines. As a result of the boom in IT, and other IT associated services, these airlines have exhibited a large potential for air traffic increase. Prior to its privatization in the 1990s, the airline was under the government control.

Operation of private airlines was still restricted. After the airline industry was opened to private players, the competition heightened between both private and public players. Prior to privatization, little importance was attributed to customer satisfaction in the industry.

When private players offered quality service and thus attracting more customers, the public carries such as India Airlines and others began seeing the significance of quality customer service⁴.

Some of the strategies these players use to both attract and retain customers are not only innovative but also convenient. They include using the Internet and phone to book, serving the customer needs by showing care, check in using phone, serving different kinds of meals, crews, and airhostesses that are highly trained.

The kind of customers served by the industry totally changed since the opening of the market in 1990s. Lately, clients travel globally to experience airline facilities that are of top quality⁵.

To ensure that these premium customers have been taken care of, the level of service ought to improve largely. The crux of customer retention is not only understanding different cultures but also ensuring that customers have made happy.

Whereas the focus and desire of business people and high-end customers is customized services and sophistry, cost efficiency is the key factor in the economy segment. These two extremes must be balanced by an airline provider. When the market gradually changes and expands, it provides sufficient room to concentrate on a specific category of customers.

If a given player begins to focus on a particular category of customers, then such a player will become a great competitor and would be able to compete effectively among other competitors. Therefore, the dynamics of the entire industry dynamics towards clients will begin to change, making each player to improve their level of service so as to retain customers⁶.

Studies show that a service is essentially non-tangible. Therefore, even though the provision of airline related services at times entails tangibility such as environmental aspects, presentation and quality of food, it remains to be intangible and dependent on the service quality from the customer’s perspective, as a distinctive aspect.

Moreover, the lack of separation between production and consumption results to its Perishability and the heterogeneous nature of the service experience. Within the commercial airline business, an opportunity cost belonging to the operator is represented by a vacant seat on a frequently scheduled flight. A lot of variability is involved with regard to in-flight service’s quality.

This service is greatly enhanced by the customer – provider interactions. The most important thing in this case is how the customer perceives the quality of the service rather than the actual service itself⁷.

Customer Recovery

Due to difficult conditions in trading, the Gulf Air (United Arab Emirate’s national carrier) devised a recovery plan to get back its profits. This was to take place within three years and is an approach that affected operations at all levels.

The efforts were fruitful since statistics released in 2003 revealed that the airlines had produced a very outstanding record for those four years. Apart from showing an increase in the number of passengers by about 10.4%, there was also a great increase in revenue and a subsequent cut in losses. The three-year plan also had a projection on increasing the number of clients by about one million⁸.

Several marketing strategies contributed to a revival of fortunes such as Bahrain Grand Prix’s sponsorship, pricing that’s more competitive, improvements in network and service, and its subsidiary Gulf Traveler’s launch.

During the greatest global study with regard to how passengers perceive airlines, the Gulf Air became the winner of the awards for Skytrax Airline Excellence. This award was accorded to Gulf Air in recognition to the great changes that had been accomplished within a period of two years and the way in which it was now making a come back as champion within the Middle East.

The results achieved by the gulf air are greater than were anticipated with an excess in average loads. The sub-continent of India, Asia, and Saudi Arabia are among the main destinations served by the airline.

Emirates Airlines is one global Airline that grows rapidly. Its operations are based in Dubai. During its 2003/2004 financial year, the number of customers carried by emirates had increased by about two million. Both its profit and revenue had risen too.

Emirates 69 strong is one of the youngest in the sky with about 46 months on average. The plans of this Airline is to increase ensure that there is a rise in its fleet by 2012. During the Paris Air show, it had made its announcement and made an order for both a large Boeing aircraft and a number of Airbus.

The long haul 340-500 has its launch carrier as the Emirates Airlines. It was the first Airline to make an order for the double-decker in the year 2001 and the innovative A340-600 HGW will have it as its key launch carrier. Airbus super- jumbo has Emirates as its largest customer.

Additionally, the Airline has plans to increase the number of its Boeing 777s. Emirates Airlines operates in several cities and nations including Africa, North America, Europe, the Middle East and the subcontinent of India. However, it had begun extending its services to New York, Accra, Vienna, and Lagos, among other nations⁹.

During 2004, Emirates began a new ticketing system that was worldwide and electronic. This encouraged a travel that was coupon free thus resulting to a reduction in time required by customers to book and fly. By 2004, Emirates Airlines had received numerous awards for being the best Airline, which has obviously made many clients to identify with it.

Although the Emirates is encountering financial constraints to some level, it is less affected if compared to numerous other carriers. This can be attributed to the strength that its network has and its high diversification.

Although there is a decrease in the traffic of its passengers, which is apparently due to a decline in building activities in Dubai, it is possible for the airline to enlarge its operations given the tremendous connectivity network based at its hub, which is Dubai. Research reveals that through Dubai, many passengers from the United Kingdom can connect to cities in both Australia and India¹⁰.

Study shows that employees do not only play a significant part in improving their own productivity but also that of other vital assets like gates and aircraft and in ensuring that there is an improvement in customer service. Lessons drawn from several companies including Toyota that have used both employee engagement and ongoing improvement to embrace the principle of total quality management require a lot of attention.

So too do the approaches of companies in both the legal sector and International Airlines such as Emirates Airlines and Virgin Atlantic that are part of the full service airlines that are the youngest¹¹.

Interaction process

There are two main ways through which customers get exposed to the activities of a firm. This is through the process of distinct communication and through the interaction process. What comprise the distinct communication process are the touch points between the firm and the customers, which entail aspects such as sales, advertising, and communication for direct response.

On the other hand, the interaction process is represented by the real world. The interaction process includes episodes such as interaction with aspects such as websites, goods, service processes, call centers, systems of payment and invoicing, procedures in service recovery and documentation with regard to use of goods among others¹².

Activities within the distinct communication process are geared at granting promises with regard to the proposition of the firm’s value. On the other hand, the interaction process is supposed to fulfill given promises. Something is communicated and promises given through interaction between the firm and the customer. This might even include sales activities.

However, the key aim in the episodes of the interaction process is to ensure that customers have had access to value supporting solutions such as information, services, and goods. The three main aspects of the interaction process in the Emirates Airlines are customer integration, service production, and service recovery.

Service Production

The Middle East’s air transport industry is one of the industries that are facing the fastest expansion rate across the world. Studies reveal that during each year, both the passenger and cargo traffic continues to soar. Airlines at the local and regional level have projected spending colossus sums of money for several years in a bid to expand their fleets¹³.

The United Arab Emirates has recognized the significance of aviation as one of the best instruments through which it can connect to other parts of the world. Over the last hundreds of years, the UAE has been a great trading post in the Gulf, South Asia, and Africa.

The current UAE provides a business environment that is highly energized accompanied by both resources and infrastructure to ensure that the complete spectrum of the world’s business needs has been achieved.

In the previous years, systematic attempts have been made to ensure that the aviation sector’s infrastructure has been expanded as both Dubai and Abu Dhabi move towards a period where they both operate as the global airline hubs. A clear reflection of the UAE as a modern nation can be best seen if the projections made by Abu Dhabi and Dubai are implemented with regard to their airports.

The past few years have seen a great increase in cargo, passengers, and movements of aircraft. This represents the growth and change of the UAE into a major hub for both tourism and business. There have been reported cases of increases in passenger movement within the Dubai International Airport. This is expected to continue rising even in the coming years. A similar situation is also being experienced at the Emirates Airlines¹⁴.

Dubai’s remarkable economic development has been as a result of investment in the Emirates Airlines and the liberalization of the aviation policy. The main driver for this economy is tourism and services. The outcome of the liberal policy applied by Dubai since 1985 is the fact that numerous airlines flying to hundreds of destinations can be served by Dubai.

This has made Dubai to become a dreadful competitor at the global level. Another aspect is that Dubai has become Middle East’s tourism and business center. The air transport services of the airline are also reliable, competitive and of high frequency, making it to be part of the global networks for transportation and distribution based on just-in-time production¹⁵.

Use of the brand pyramid is one way of deriving the brand promise’s nature. The initial concern of managers when introducing a new brand is to locate gaps that have not been exploited in the market then taking advantage of their core competencies to come up with a brand that a novel technology supports or process, which results to products, that are unique.

However, the concern of consumers is not so much with the attributes but is more focused on the advantages that threes attributes brings out.

Through experience, customers begin to understand the brand more effectively and emotional rewards result from the benefits. For instance, a key benefit of Emirates Airline as an early enterprise was the installation of a television set before each seat of the economic class as a form of entertainment.

This results to fun during the flight, which is an emotional reward. If there has to be an appreciation to this emotional reward, then it should result to a value that is welcome by the clients. Thus, the emotional benefit of fun could result to appreciation of autonomy.

One of the main reasons as to why some passengers would chose to commute using one specific airline is because it will provide them with what they want to watch at a time that they want to view it.

Consumers will seldom take a long time to look for and interpret information about brands and thus each brand has personality brands associated with it. By promoting the brand through use of a personality who manifests the brand’s traits, inferences are drawn by consumers that the brand has some of the values that the personality promoting it has¹⁶.

Service Recovery

Whereas some airlines have been struggling to survive, Emirates airlines has been growing and performing excellently well in the recent past. Its target is not among the passengers who are price sensitive ant; thus, it does not intend to venture into low cost services.

Contrary to this, the approach is to feed the region with long-haul flights. Moreover, the company has no plans to get into airline collaborations except for code-share kind of alliances. This is because this will not only affect brand value, but will also put restrictions to the operations of the flight.

Moreover, when using alliances, airlines are favored instead of passengers. In comparison to airlines that are of low cost such as JetStar and EasyJet, the price of Emirates is high. However, its services are of high quality when compared to some of the best global airlines such as the British Airways.

Emirates Airline has an unbeatable competitive advantage in comparison to any other airline within the region. This is due to its strong network within the region and its world-class service¹⁷.

Flight operation encompasses various aspects such as the rotations and schedule of the aircraft, Schedule alteration and manipulation, scheduling and management of crew and the statistical analysis of flight. An airline’s flight operations management gives a solution that is integrated to monitor, plan and give response to events that lie within real time, give an analysis of traffic statistics, and lead to better performance in operation.

As the Emirates Airlines project to increase their fleet with at least 130, the amount of air traffic will really increase at the Dubai hub. In view of the day-to-day operation at the hub, the most important factor for the future success of the company is the seamless and dependable communication among all the relevant stakeholders.

The quality of airline service is dependent on their ability to take care of the planned schedule’s requirements. However, the ability to meet the demands of the schedule can be inhibited by several other factors such as adverse weather and conditions and the failure of one or many of the members of the crew from arriving on duty. In some cases, such as the situation of thunderstorms, only one airport may be affected for some hours¹⁸.

The advantages of cosmopolitan culture are enjoyed by Emirates Airlines with a large number of its employees coming from different nations. Since it operates in a service industry that meets the needs of consumers from around the globe, its cosmopolitan culture adds a lot of value to its services.

Culture is very crucial in the flight operation. The crew ought to have sufficient knowledge regarding the passengers’ culture and ought to make the services available to the delight of the customers.

For instance, prior to giving the customers liquor, the crew flying to Saudi should take caution. Also during the holy month of Muslims/Ramadan, the crew should not offer Muslim clients drinks and snacks since doing this may appear to lower the value of their flight service. Thus, when the interruption recovery exercise is being carried out, the right crew should be placed at the correct place.

Latest research reveals that the success of Emirates is more pronounced at an international level rather than at the regional level. There was an expression that the local community view Emirates as an International Airline rather than an industry that carries the national flag of the United Arab Emirates, which affected both their preference and perception with regard to the Emirates product.

Besides, with regard to the cultural elements and the customers’ preference, it was revealed that product of Emirates is not properly suit most Middle East routes.

The fleet of the Emirates Airlines invests a lot in the modern aircrafts present in the market. This helps it to keep its fleet young and modern. It has an order for one of the passenger aircrafts that are technologically advanced in the world (Airbus A380).

It is reported that A 380 will utilize fuel that is below 20% and fly quieter, affordable, and friendlier to the environment as compared to other aircrafts. To help it handle its disruptions and the normal operations, Emirates Airlines is installed with the latest information Technology systems¹⁹.

Analysis using ServQual and customer Reviews

The views of most customers who used Emirates Airlines are the service they received did not match their expectations. It is reported that the cabin crew did not accord them assistance in a number of areas such as serving them meals on time, they offered drinks after meals rather than before, did not bother ensuring that family members were seated together and were not interested in the affairs of passengers.

Apart from this, feedback from some clients who had used Emirates Airlines is an expression of the discomfort they encountered during their flight. The discomfort was caused by several aspects such as lack footrests and insufficient space between seats.

Besides, it is reported that the newspapers are no longer adequate for use by all the classes. Yet, other clients have complained about lateness of both the arrival and departure of flights. The common sentiments are that their level of service is declining compared to how it was ten years ago and that something ought to be done about it.

On the other hand, other customers have expressed satisfaction with services offered by the Emirates Airlines such as quality in-flight entertainment, welcoming crew and food after boarding the aircraft more than once.

Some of those who have used the business class have expressed their satisfaction with the services offered during their flights such as uncrowded lounges, food selections that were good, excellent flights and comfortable seats. Others applause the airline for providing plenty of reading materials during the flight, serving them meals quite on time and ensuring that flights were quick²⁰.

Conclusion

The strategies employed by Emirates Airlines are quite broad. Relational drivers include installation of the free Wi-Fi access to the passengers, enlargement of its premises and services to increase passenger traffic and acquisition of more other quality and large capacity aircrafts.

On the other hand, interaction drivers that the company has employed are use of the RFID system to ensure safety of customer’s cases, investment in the aviation industry, installation of television sets in each of the economy customer’s seats, targeting the premium customers, embracing a cosmopolitan culture and use of technologically IT systems.

All these seem to go well apart for the fact that the UAE community views it as an international airline rather than a national one.

Most of the latest feedback from customers is that Emirates Airlines is not where it was about ten years ago in terms of the quality of service provided. Most of the customers complain about the carefree, selfish and unresponsive attitude of the crew, insufficient and low quality meals, discomfort and generally poor service.

A few of the clients applaud the airline for its punctuality and reasonable service. Generally, based on the views of most passengers, the Emirates Airlines ought to upgrade their service and either retain or replace their crew. This is the only way they will get back on track like it was a decade ago.

Bibliography

Al-Abed, I, P Vine, and P Hellyer. United Arab Emirates Yearbook 2005. London: Trident press. 2005.

Baker, J and S Hart. The marketing Book. Burlington: Butterworth Heinemann. 2007.

Bamber, G. Up in the Air: How Airlines can Improve Performance by Engaging their Employees. New York: Cornel University Press. 2009.

Bartneck, N, V Klaas and H Schoenherr. Optimizing Processes with RFID and Auto ID: Fundamentals, Problems and Solutions, Example Applications. Erlangen: Publicis Publishing. 2009.

Betz, F. Creating and managing a Technology economy. NJ: World Scientific Publishing. Emirates Airline Customer Reviews-Skytrax. 2011. Retrieved from https://www.airlinequality.com/airline-reviews/emirates/

HWM. The Wireless revolution: Experience New Ways of Living Wirelessly. Singapore: SPH magazines. 2004.

Lusch, R. and S Vargo. The service-dominant logic of marketing: dialog, debate, and directions. NY: M.E. Sharpe. 2006.

Mitra, S. The Caucasian Tiger: Sustaining Economic growth in Armenia. Washington DC: World Bank Publications. 2007.

Nargundkar, R. Services Marketing. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. 2006.

Oxford Business Group. The Report: Dubai. Oxford: Oxford Business Group. 2007.

Taneja, N K. Looking beyond the runway: airlines innovating with best practices while facing realities. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company. 2010.

USA International Business Publications. Doing Business and Investing in United Arab Emirates Guide. Washington DC: International Business Publications. 2007.

Footnotes

¹ HWM. The Wireless revolution: Experience New Ways of Living Wirelessly. Singapore: SPH magazines.2004. p. 63

² Oxford Business Group. The Report: Dubai. 2007. p. 117.

³ Oxford Business Group. The Report: Dubai. 2007. p. 117.

⁴ Nargundkar, R. Services Marketing 2E. New Delhi: Tata McGraw Hill. 2006. P. 412

⁵ Nargundkar, R. 2006. P. 412

⁶ Nargundkar, R. 2006. P. 412

⁷ Nargundkar, R. 2006. P. 412

⁸ Al-Abed, I., Vine, P. and Hellyer, P. United Arab Emirates Yearbook 2005. London: Trident press. 2005. P. 207–208

⁹ Al-Abed, I., Vine, P. and Hellyer, P. 2005. P. 209-210

¹⁰ Taneja, N.K. Looking beyond the runway: airlines innovating with best practices while facing realities. Burlington: Ashgate Publishing Company. 2010. P. 10

¹¹ Bamber, G. Up in the Air: How Airlines can Improve Performance by Engaging their Employees. New York: Cornel University Press. 2009. P. 185

¹² Lusch, R. and Vargo, S. The service-dominant logic of marketing: dialog, debate, and directions. NY: M.E. Sharpe. 2006. P. 356

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¹⁴ USA International Business Publications. Doing Business and Investing in United Arab Emirates Guide. Washington DC: International Business Publications. 2007. P. 70s

¹⁵ Mitra, S. The Caucasian Tiger: Sustaining Economic growth in Armenia. Washington DC: World Bank Publications. 2007. P. 111

¹⁶ Baker, J. and Hart, S. The marketing Book. Burlington: Butterworth Heinemann. 2007

¹⁷ Betz, F. Creating and managing a Technology economy. NJ: World Scientific Publishing. 2010. P. 286

¹⁸ Betz, F. 2010. P. 286

¹⁹ Betz, F. 2010. P. 299

²⁰ Emirates Airline Customer Reviews-Skytrax. 2011. P. 1-3