Category: Emirates Airlines

Introduction

International Standardization Organization (ISO) runs a series of quality, control, and accreditation systems that award companies with best practices. In order to earn an ISO certification, an organization needs to develop adequate measures, policies, improvement cultures, and efficient service delivery modes. After successful development of all the prerequisites, an independent consultant takes an internal and external audit of the performance practices, and makes recommendation for certification. Developing a working culture that ensures successful implementation of the terms and conditions under ISO certification is mandatory. This paper explores the process under which the Emirates Airline received ISO certification on quality management systems in 2004. Likewise, the paper seeks to underscore the impacts arising from the certification.

The Emirates Airlines

ISO 9001 represents quality management systems that help companies and organizations supervise and manage production qualities across all operations. Developed in 1974, this quality management standard sets a benchmark for consistency in service provision and sustainability of human resource base in production. Moreover, ISO 9001 helps companies and organization develop processes that seek to improve productivity under least costs, hence increasing efficiency. In order to receive an ISO 9001 certification, the Emirates Airline, under the mother company –the Emirates Group – developed a series of requirements, policy and production frameworks. The section below describes the prerequisites the Emirates Group put in place to ensure ISO 9001 certification.

Planning

In order to analyze the existing loopholes within the Emirates Group management structures, proper planning played a vital role in this noble organization. Under this objective, the company developed objectives with clear goals and plans based on the existing resources. Plans and short-term objectives achievable within 5 years helped the management staff of the Emirates Group develop adequate goals. During the planning phase of this certification, the management staff maintained a great focus on consumer behavior and the rising dynamism in the demand for better services. The company developed a series of surveys with key customers to develop an adequate understanding of the consumer issues (Blokdijk 2008, p. 19).

After surveys on consumer demands on services, the company developed a series of objectives based on the findings of the surveys. These objectives played a key role in measuring the aims of the Emirates Group policy on service quality. With set objectives in place, the company carried out systematic reviews at specific time intervals to ensure that production capacity remained within the developed goals and objectives. Reviews took place simultaneously with system planning; this ensured allocation of duties and responsibilities to individuals based on capabilities and experience. These initiatives, together with the company’s quality policy, helped develop adequate plans for the ISO certification process (Blokdijk 2008, p. 23).

Processing

After developing adequate plans and objectives, the Emirates Group embarked on a process of carrying out the measures to execute the plans. The processing segment of ISO 9001 certification focused on improvement in sales, increased design, productivity development, initiation of efficient operational activities, and enhanced service delivery. In order to achieve this, the Emirates Group developed a system of review and management of investment resources. In this resource management strategy, the company carried out a systematic review of the competencies and skills of the existing employees, developed a skill-gap identification mechanism, and initiated an employee training and development structures to ensure successful implementation of the human resource management goals. Based on the techniques and employee training structures, the company developed a system of enhanced value addition within the workforce, thus improving efficiency in service delivery (Silva 2002, p. 43).

Notably, it is under this stage that the company developed a systematic review and management of infrastructure resources to ensure service efficiency. Acquisition of ultra-modern airbuses, introduction of improved and regular servicing systems and effective ticketing systems acted as the Emirates Airline’s style of infrastructure development that pushed the company towards acquiring ISO 9001. Equally, processing stage ensures improvement of the work environment. Again, increase in customer care services and recruitment of effective public relations teams helped the Emirates Group develop a conducive work environment in which consumer demands drove employee performance (Silva 2002, p. 44).

Monitoring and updating

In this segment, the company developed a process of reviewing and updating the plans and objectives of the company. Monitoring segment of this phase takes into account the loopholes existing within the human resource, asset resources, and work environment. Monitoring helps in gap analysis, and it remains important in the development corrective measures. In the Emirates Group point of view, customer satisfaction measurement played a major role in evaluating the process of the designed objectives. The company developed a systematic way of evaluating customer satisfaction through a series of random questionnaires and complaint recording systems. Similarly, the company developed a safety observation and corrective suggestions system in which employees and customer could use to forward their suggestions on service improvement (A Relentless Pursuit to Offer the Best 2008).

On the service delivery and product improvement sector, the Emirates Airline has put in place a monitoring and evaluation system for improved service delivery to ensure achievement of consumer demands. These monitoring and evaluation measures coupled with continual improvement structures and control systems for checking product and service defaults played a vital role in improving service delivery and productivity at the Emirates Airline. After developing all these structures, the Emirates Group contracted an independent ISO certification consultant to carry out an assessment and audit of the productivity structures, and recommend the company for ISO certification (A Relentless Pursuit to Offer the Best 2008). In recognition of the quality management systems in place at the Emirates Group, the International Organization for Standardization awarded the company ISO 9001:2000 in 2004. This followed a series of analysis of the company’s commitment to customer satisfaction through effective processes and continuous service improvement mechanisms.

Impact of ISO Certification

Since the accreditation of the Emirates Group under the quality management system, the company continues to undergo tremendous improvement in service delivery and profit levels. For instance, the company acquired several airbuses as it expanded its destinations. Undoubtedly, the Emirates Airline continues to enjoy ease of market penetration in new countries due to improved management structures for quality service delivery.

Profit and Growth

Since the accreditation in 2004, the Emirates airline continues to record massive growth and increase in profit margins every year. Major milestone in the financial year 2012/13 include the opening of the pioneer airbus A380 facility – Concourse A. Similarly, the airline company acquired thirty-four new aircrafts. During the same financial year, the company added ten new passenger destinations. Notably, market penetration depends on the ability of the management staff to develop viable and sustainable management systems as defined by ISO: 9001 (Emirates Reports 52 Percent Jump in Profits 2013).

Efficient employee performance

With the accreditation, the Emirates Group embarked on an employee recruitment and retention strategy that focused on developing employees’ talents and skills. This program ensures acquisition, training, and development of a dynamic, creative, and innovative workforce that develops new ideas based on the consumer and market demands. Employment of a productive workforce continues to increase performance of the Emirates Airline in the air carrier industry. For the last decade, the company boasts of increasing profit margins with the 2012/2013 financial year, making a record figure of $19.9 billion. This represented an increase of seventeen percent from the 2011/2012 financial year. With a profit margin of 3 per cent in the 2012/2013 fiscal year, the company closed the financial book with $6.7 billion. All these earnings draw inspiration from the ISO 9001 accreditation that set out clear goals and objectives with viable structures and plans for achievement (Innovative Building Solutions Makes ISO Gain 2012).

In the customer care service, the company enjoys a great support from the loyal employees. With an annual increase in the number of passengers standing at fourteen percent, the company recorded thirty nine million passengers in the same year. This represents a sixteen percent increase from the 2011/2012 fiscal year value. Additionally, revenues from the passengers in regards to kilometer coverage reached $188.6 billion, leading to an eighty percent passenger seat factor. Markedly, passenger seat factor highly depends on customer services, leading to increased number of customers. In order to develop a highly viable and productive performance, the company relies on the management systems recommendations developed in the ISO 9001 certification.

Improved branding

ISO 9001 certification sets a basis for developing business improvement strategies for improving profit margins and service delivery. Branding at the Emirates Airline remains one of the strategies set out in the management and quality assurance policies for successful business. Branding creates a sense of ownership and patent to product and service delivery. For example, the “Hello Tomorrow” campaign as a business brand within the airline continues to earn the company high number of customers. Even though the program got into practice in 2012, it acts as a significant brand development from the innovative and creative workforce. According to Brand Finance, a global company dealing in product brand ranking, Emirates brand value rose by eleven percent in the 2012/2013 fiscal year. This implies that the earning from the brand shot from $3.7 billion to US$4.1 billion between 2012 and 2013. Among the international carrier, Brand Finance puts the Emirates brand as the leading (United Arab Emirates: The Emirates Group S Third Environment Report Highlights Key Efficiencies 2013).

Increased and widened scope of finance

In order to maintain liquidity in the market, the Emirates Airline developed a series of widened scope of finances. For instance, in 2012/2013 fiscal year, the company introduced three different and unsecured bond issues. Despite the oversubscription received from the bonds issue – a sign of investor confidence, the finance received in the issue – $ 587.5 million enabled the company to acquire additional A380 airbuses, as well as improve the debt capital market in the international market. Likewise, in the same year, apart from issuing twelve-year amortized Sukuk, the company raised $750 million from a twelve-year amortized bond correlated to the payment cycle for the aircrafts acquired. Proper management and quality assurance mechanisms developed in the ISO 9001 help the Emirates Airline diversify the source of funding, hence improving productivity (United Arab Emirates: The Emirates Group S Third Environment Report Highlights Key Efficiencies 2013).

Conclusion

In order to live to the expectation of the ISO certification, the Emirates Airline continues to develop management and production measures that ensure quality service delivery and efficiency in production. Security systems, customer demands, regulatory measures, and implementation of the quality management systems developed by the ISO certification team provide the benchmark for service improvement at the company.

References

A Relentless Pursuit to Offer the Best 2008, Web.

Blokdijk, G 2008, ISO 9000, ISO 9001 100 Success Secrets, Emereo Publishing, Brisbane.

Emirates Reports 52 Percent Jump in Profits 2013, Web.

Innovative Building Solutions Makes ISO Gain 2012, Web.

Silva, G. M. S 2002, Basic Metrology for ISO 9000 Certification, Butterworth-Heinemann, Oxford.

United Arab Emirates: The Emirates Group S Third Environment Report Highlights Key Efficiencies 2013, Web.

Emirates Airline’s Current Mission

The current mission of Emirates Airline is focused on achieving global growth while supporting the development of communities where it operates. As Plunkett (2009) observes, the mission of this firm states, “Caring for our employees and stakeholders, as well as the environment and the communities we serve, have played a huge part in our past and will continue to shape our future” (p. 90). As shown in this statement, Emirates Airline’s mission statement focuses on the development of all the stakeholders within the firm. In its effort to earn profits to its owners, the firm is still determined to ensure that all other stakeholders’ interests are taken care of in order to achieve holistic growth. It is committed to improving the welfare of its employees, customers, and the community as an approach to achieving sustainability. The following are some of the objectives of this firm.

• To engage in community initiatives focused on improving the living standards of the disadvantaged children in various parts of the world.
• To offer continued support to the workforce, the stakeholders, and our environment as a way of achieving sustainability.
• To maintain business ethics as the foundation of the firm’s success both in the local and international market.

The above objectives of Emirates Airline have defined its current strategies in the market. The firm has introduced a new approach to handling its customers as a way of increasing their level of satisfaction. It has introduced different modes of entertainment for its passengers when they are on board. For the employees, there are initiatives meant to reward the best performing workforce on an annual basis. The firm has also increased its corporate social responsibilities focused on environmental protection and community development. This strategy has endeared the customers and the community at large to this firm. Employees also feel respected and have the desire to give their best to this firm.

Emirates Airline’s Current Financial Condition

In order to understand the Emirates Airline’s current financial condition, it is important to analyze some of its financial statements over the past few years. In this section, it would be important to review the firm’s balance sheet and income statement for the last three years.

Emirates Airline Balance Sheet

Source (Bamber, Hoffer, Kochan & Nordenflycht, 2014, p. 18)

Emirates Airline Income Statement

Source (Bamber, Hoffer, Kochan & Nordenflycht, 2014, p. 16)

From the above income statement, it is possible to develop some of the financial ratios for this firm in order to determine its performance in the market.

Gross profit margin

Gross profit margin= (Gross Profit/Revenue) ×100

= (16,809,000/37,773,000) × 100

= 44.5%

This is a clear indication that this firm’s operations generate enough income to support its short term financial needs

Operating profit margin

Operating profit margin= (Operating profit/Revenue) × 100

= (10,540,000/37,773,000) × 100

= 27.9%

This percentage clearly demonstrates that Emirates Airline has the capacity for its overhead costs. These two financial ratios and the balance sheet show that this firm has positive financial growth over the last two years. The balance sheet shows a consistent increase in the asset base of this firm. The income statement also demonstrates the ability of the firm to meet its financial obligations in the market.

Emirates Airline’s External Opportunities and Threats

Emirates Airline is operating in a highly competitive industry. According to Jha (2011), the airline industry has experienced massive growth over the years as the world becomes increasingly globalized. In order to understand the external opportunities and threats of this firm, it is necessary to use a SWOT analysis model at this stage. The airline industry has experienced massive growth in the global market as the need to travel from one part of the world to the other increases over time. This expansion has brought massive opportunities for airline companies in terms of the increased number of customers. This firm has experienced an increase in the number of passengers that use its services because of the expansion of the industry. The advancement in technology has also offered Emirates Airline the opportunity to expand its facilities to ensure that its passengers can get maximum satisfaction from their services. The firm now has better screening services to increase the safety and security of the passengers, employees, and all other assets that may be the target of criminal gangs.

Despite the above opportunities that this firm enjoys in the market, there are some threats that the management has been forced to deal with in order to sustain its operations. One of the major threats is increasing competition in the market. There has been a consistent rise in the level of competition in the aviation industry following the growth of the aviation sector. This firm must find a way of dealing with this threat in order to ensure that it remains operational in the market. The rising number of terror groups, especially in the Middle East, is posing serious challenges to this firm in the market. The sophistication of the approaches used by these criminal gangs exposes serious threats to many airline industries.

Emirates Airline’s Internal Strengths and Weaknesses

According to Walker (2005), a firm’s ability to deal with some of the external environmental factors always depends on its internal strengths and weaknesses. A SWOT analysis will be vital in understanding the firm’s internal strengths and weaknesses. The strength of this film lies in its financial capacity. The firm has experienced massive growth over the years, and this has been accompanied by prolonged financial success. This means that it has the financial capacity to support its operational activities in the global market. Another strength that has been important to this firm is its strong brand in the market and the support it has been receiving in the region. It is one of the preferred airlines in this region.

The management of this firm will need to deal with some weaknesses that may affect its normal operations in the market. One of the weaknesses of Emirates Airline that may affect its operations is its inability to turn its competitors into partners. According to Ranchhod and Gurau (2007), some of the leading airlines in the world have managed to turn their competitors into partners. They link with other airlines and connect their passengers to regions they do not operate. This is one of the most successful strategies that some of the leading airlines are currently using. Emirates Airline should find a way of employing this strategy.

Recommendations

Emirates Airline has been successful using its current mission and objectives in achieving global expansion. Although the mission and objectives of this firm have helped it achieve success in the market, it may be necessary to adjust them a little to reflect the changing environmental forces. The mission statement of this firm should focus on the need to protect the environment and enhance the living standards of those who are less fortunate in the society. Its objectives to achieve success in the market should be intertwined by the desire to make the world a better place for all. The following statement should be reflected in the firm’s mission statement.

To work with the local communities in an effort to conserve the environment and enhance the living standards of the less fortunate members of the society.

This firm should develop appropriate corporate business strategies that can enable it to achieve its mission and objectives. It is recommended that management increases its budgetary allocations to corporate social responsibilities in order to achieve the objective of making the world a better place. Most of the corporate social responsibility activities should be based on environmental protection and enhancing the living standards of the less fortunate members of society.

Actions Needed for the Implementation of the Chosen Strategies

In order to achieve the above objectives, there must be some specific actions that the management should take in areas such as marketing, finance, human resource, information system, and operations. There should be a long term plan on how the human resource will be managed to help the firm achieve the above objectives within the stated timeline. The marketing strategies should use some of the modern technologies in order to address some of the issues raised above.

The management should develop annual objectives that would ensure that the marketing needs, financial expectations, operational targets are achieved. The marketing unit should show an effort to work with local communities when developing new marketing strategies. In this new strategy, the focus should be on how to improve the results of this firm. The pro forma statements given above should experience consistent positive growth.

Recommend procedures for strategy review and evaluation

Based on the above recommendations about the new objectives for this firm, it is necessary to formulate some of the procedures for strategy review and evaluation. The following procedures should be observed.

• The management should set aside specific funds for its corporate social responsibility activities.
• Corporate social responsibilities should be considered an integral part of the marketing activities of this firm.
• There should be a specific team that will be fully responsible for all the activities meant to protect the environment and improve the living standards of the less fortunate.
• Advanced technologies should be incorporated into marketing management.

References

Bamber, G., Hoffer, G., Kochan, T. & Nordenflycht, A. (2014). Up In the Air: How Airlines Can Improve Performance by Engaging Their Employees. New York. Cengage.

Jha, A. K. (2011). Institutions, Performance, and the Financing of Infrastructure Services in the Caribbean. Washington, D.C: World Bank.

Plunkett, J. W. (2009). Plunkett’s transportation, supply chain & logistics industry almanac 2009: The only comprehensive guide to the business of transportation, supply chain and logistics management. Houston, TX: Plunkett Research Ltd.

Ranchhod, A., & Gurau, C. (2007). Marketing strategies: A contemporary approach. Harlow: Financial Times Prentice Hall.

Walker, O. C. J. (2005). Marketing strategy: A decision-focused approach. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irvin.

Introduction

In his Keynote Interview, the President of Emirates Airlines, Sir Tim Clark discusses some essential issues that the company faces nowadays and highlights its performance. Overall, Mr. Clark’s seems to provide a fair representation of how Emirates Airlines deals with present-day challenges, such as threats from low-cost carriers, adverse political and legal changes, and so forth. Also, he mainly focuses on the positive aspects of performance.

For instance, Mr. Clark states that the enterprise has the necessary capacities to meet customer needs and adapt to industry changes effectively. Considering that it continues to expand its operations and invest in innovation on the regular basis, this statement is rather true. Thus, one may regard Mr. Clark’s discussion of Emirates’ performance as fair and honest.

Video Review

The company’s performance measurements were not identified explicitly in the video. However, it can be presumed that, as one of the major global airline enterprises, Emirates implements a business excellence model. By this framework, performance is measured based on customer focus, leadership, social responsibility, continual innovation and learning, partnerships, and so forth. Mr. Clark highlights some of these performance measurements, yet he makes the primary accent on innovation and technological advancement. For him, digitalization and the use of modern information technologies are a cornerstone for the overall improvement of the organization, enhanced competitiveness, and better customer satisfaction.

Conclusion

To sum up the video review, I would like to note that I would not showcase Emirates Airlines’ performance much differently than Mr. Clack does I the interview. He touched upon the most important problems in the industry and explained the internal factors that help the company excel in the global market. However, it could be useful to add some more information about the enterprise’s performance in terms of customer satisfaction and its current efforts in the field of customer service, besides pricing flexibility. By highlighting such performance measurement as customer focus, it would be demonstrated that Emirates does not put financial gains first but acknowledges the importance of customer involvement in the process of performance improvement.

Introduction

Emirates Airlines is one of the leading global airlines. The firm has destinations to various parts of the world and it is currently one of the top regional passenger carriers in the industry. According to Taneja, the airline industry is increasingly becoming competitive because of the emergence of new players and the expansion of the existing players (21). To survive in this competitive market, this firm must come up with ways of meeting the changing needs of the customers. It must be ready to come up with new and better products that outperform that of the rival firms. Chandan notes that the performance of this company has been impressive even when other airline companies were experiencing economic challenges (42). The 2008 global economic recession significantly affected the airline industry and so many airlines were forced to cut down on their operations. However, Emirates is one of the very few airlines that continued expanding its operations during the global recession (Low 41). It was able to embrace changes in the market and redefine its product delivery approach to suit the emerging market forces. Currently, this airline is the fourth largest in the world and the largest in the Middle East in terms of revenues and passengers carried (Ellman 90). In this paper, the researcher will focus on how Emirates Airlines manages change in the current competitive business environment.

Company Background

Emirates Airlines was founded on March 25, 1985, with the backing from Dubai’s royal family (Smith and Warburton 89). The royal family was concerned that the decision by Gulf Air to reduce its flights to Dubai would affect the growing relevance of the city as a global business hub and tourist destination. As such, the idea of starting a local airline flying to regional cities was conceived. The airline registered impressive growth as it focused on flights to major cities in the Middle East and North Africa regions. The firm formed a partnership with major global airlines as it struggled to expand its market share. In the late 1990s, it had started purchasing Boeing 777-300s and A340-500s as it sought to go beyond the regional market. The growing relevance of Dubai city as a major business center and tourist destination has helped in promoting the rapid growth of this airline. A report by Morrell shows that during the global recession of 2008, this company did not reduce its number of destinations or flights (67). This was so because tourists and businesspeople continued to fly to Dubai. The company is currently owned by the Emirates Group. It has about 40,000 employees working as pilots, cabin crew, engineers, flight deck crew, and many other positions within the company. It is a flexible firm that knows how to respond to change whenever it is necessary.

Descriptions of the Change Introduced

According to Taneja, Emirates Airlines has always been keen on introducing new products that meet the expectations of its customers in the most appropriate way possible (78). It has been relying on its innovativeness to overcome competition in the market. One of the new changes that it recently introduced is the layout of the floor of their passenger planes for the first class and business class passengers. The firm has introduced a unique layout that is designed to make passengers more comfortable, especially during long-distance trips. In the first class, the firm introduced an enhanced private bedroom where customers can engage in any private activities without any interference. The business class also has new seats that can be converted into 2-meter long beds with individual overhead reading lights in every bedroom. These are features that are not common in the products offered by other companies.

The introduction of these new services also meant that the crew had to be ready to offer new services to the customers. Customers in the first-class cabin have the privilege of getting service of the flight attendants on demand. All the customer has to do is press the bell and an attendant would respond immediately. It meant that the company had to train these employees on how to respond to the unique demands of the modern-day clients. They also had to know how to work under pressure because the firm did not increase the number of attendants per flight. The employees had to be more efficient and effective in meeting the demands of the customers during the flights. Customers in the business class and economy class were not as demanding as those in the first class, but it does not mean their needs can be ignored. As Morrell observes, in cases where a firm has to meet the emerging needs of the customers, training becomes necessary (18). The management of this firm has been taking its employees through a rigorous process of training to help them understand the new workplace environment.

Justification for the Change

The change introduced at this firm was justifiable. Just like other airline companies, Emirates Airline has been encouraging its customers to identify areas of improvement that the firm should look into to help improve their comfort. One of the major complaints they often received was discomfort among long-distance travelers. Those in the first class and business cabin argued that they are not getting the value they deserve. As such, the management commissioned research to find ways of addressing these complaints. The new floor design for the two cabins was determined to be the most appropriate way of meeting the new customer demands. As Smith and Warburton say, the rich want comfort irrespective of the environment in which they are (69). The firm’s decision has indeed addressed the complaints registered by the customers. The firm is currently looking into ways of improving the comfort of passengers traveling in the economy class.

Implementation of the Change

Implementation of change was the most challenging part after the researchers came up with the design. The new floor plan meant that more space had to be created in these two cabins. It meant that each of the planes could accommodate a lesser number of passengers. The firm had to come up with ways of transferring the additional cost to the customers without making them feel exploited. Ellman notes that every time a firm introduces a new value on a product, it becomes necessary to transfer the additional cost to the customer for the firm’s profitability not to be affected (52). It took a while for this airline to finally find a way of transferring the cost. The next challenging phase was to train flight attendants on how to handle their tasks in an increasingly demanding environment. Training and motivational measures were introduced to enhance their efficiency at work. Currently, these employees are very efficient at working in the newly introduced environment.

Impacts of the Change

The change introduced at the firm has had a major impact on its operations. A report by Smith and Warburton shows that Emirates is currently attracting a high number of passengers using first class and business class cabins (73). The airline has proven its worth in meeting the unique needs of the rich in society. Most of the products offered in these two cabins are premium. Chandan says that customers in the first class have particularly registered satisfaction with the privacy and service delivery method they get when using the services of Emirates Airlines (53). The firm is currently one of the most preferred airline companies not only in the region but also at the global level. Travelers visiting the Middle East or traveling to other parts of the world from the Middle East often consider Emirates Airlines as their priority. The profitability of the firm has improved and its market share is steadily increasing. Ellman argues that if this firm continues to record such impressive results, then it may become one of the top two global airlines in the next decade (33).

Conclusion

Emirates is currently one of the most dominant players in the airline industry, classified as the fourth-largest airline in the world in terms of the number of passengers and revenues generated. The success of this firm is attributed to its ability to understand market forces and develop new products that meet emerging customer needs. The recently introduced changes at the firm that focused on improving levels of comfort of employees have made this firm very popular among global travelers.

Works Cited

Chandab, Taghred. The Perfect Flower Girl. Allen & Unwin, 2012.

Ellman, Louise. Security on the Railway: Fifth Report of Session 2014-15: Report, Together with Formal Minutes Relating to the Report. McMillan, 2014.

Low, Linda. Abu Dhabi’s Vision 2030: An Ongoing Journey of Economic Development. World Scientific, 2012.

Morrell, Peter. Airline Finance. Wiley & Sons Publishers, 2013.

Smith, John D, and Fiona Warburton. Travel and Tourism. Cambridge University Press, 2012.

Taneja, Nawal. Designing Future-Oriented Airline Businesses. Springer, 2014.

Introduction

This research was commenced to analyze two markets (host and home) that could enhance the international development of an aviation organization. The organization that is discussed here is Emirates Airlines. This organization is particularly important due to its rapid growth in the global aviation market. Such growth is vulnerable to competition and also has a significant impact on the global economy.

The paper looks at the position of the firm in terms of strengths, weaknesses, and market competition to select the potential host market. Since the success of the organization in internationalizing its business relates more to the market environment, it becomes important to identify the most significant ones. Therefore, there is an analysis of the UAE market where the Emirates is located that focuses on political, legal, social, economic, and technological suitability.

Further, there is an analysis of the suitability of the Egyptian market from a similar perspective. The need to analyze the two markets is to identify the advantages and opportunities existing and those that can be combined to facilitate the penetration of the organization into the host market. The paper is not complete without commenting on how Emirate Airlines might position its operation within Egypt in response to the emerging business opportunities.

Emirates Airways background

Emirate Airways is the international airline of UAE and its main activity is to provide commercial air transportation services. It also provides external services such as cargo, in-flight catering, engineering, and training, not to mention its involvement in hotel and resort development. The airline is fully owned by the government of Dubai and is located at the Dubai International Airport. Due to its recent airport expansion and government initiatives, Emirate Airways uses the recently developed terminal 3 facility.

The success and growth of Emirate Airways are entitled to several important strengths. First, the overall responsibility of the King and the government for all aviation-related initiatives in Dubai and the lack of a selfish-culture as regards airport expansion ensures that the airline does not face infrastructure disadvantages for years; which increasingly suppresses the growth hopes of its competitors (Knorr & Eisenkopf 2). Second, the airline benefits from the low charges in the home country.

While landing charges are huge and identical to other airports, no carrier landing on Dubai airports is supposed to pay additional charges. The third strength is associated with Emirate’s strong brand recognition. Its strong emphasis on its award-winning service through in-house training and development is beaten by only a few other airlines. Finally, the airline has established numerous routes including the longest direct route from Dubai to Los Angeles indicating its ability to cover a comparatively wider passage base.

For weaknesses, it is almost impossible for a person to distinguish any. Though, disreputable unreliable as a source, several comments posted on aviation-related blogs are suggesting the slipping service standards and lack of constancy in service quality from the carrier (Knorr & Eisenkopf 2). This observation could be justified by the recent failure to succeed in winning various awards for excellent service quality such as Skytrax.

Emirates entrant into new markets was envied by major international airlines that induced established airlines in Europe and Australia including British Airways, KLM, Air France, Qantas, and Lufthansa to perceive the carrier as a major threat. Most of these airlines compete for international passengers with Emirates and impose extra pressure by accusing the carrier of receiving state subsidies. Emirate Airways also competes directly with about 23 carriers operating in the Middle East. These are particularly threatening because they share the same good management as well as cost reductions as their competitive advantages.

UAE market

Dubai, the hub for Emirate Airlines, is an administrative and business center within the United Arab Emirates. Initially, these emirates were bound by treaty to Great Britain for many years. They later allied in 1971 and have since functioned mutually to create a stable economy and political environment. UAE is located in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula between Saudi Arabia and Oman.

The country is in the Arabian Desert and hence is characterized by desert features such as dunes and limited vegetation. However, it lies along the coast of the Persian Gulf with many islands and several mountains along its coastline. Most of the cities including Dubai and Abu Dhabi are located along with the cost.

The main focus of the UAE government is investing in its people since the inception of the nation and particularly regarded as the wealth of the nation. The people are now enjoying the benefits of high standards of education and excellent health services. Significant efforts have been made to enhance human resources, achieve the empowerment of women, and offer social well-being to the more marginalized in society. The relatively young nation has a society with a unique blend of people and cultures. With a large foreign population, the country is the most socially liberalized in the Middle East.

Islam religion has played an influential role in determining the society and culture of the UAE (Denicola 2). It is the official religion and permeates almost every part of life. Education, law, mode of dressing, and conversations to name a few are strongly influenced by the Islamic religion. Family and tribal linkages further form the basis of social structure. They are largely influential and shape individual values and behaviors.

Moreover, hospitality is an important part of the culture and applies to both professional and social circumstances. The weight placed on hospitality closely relates to the significance of relationships that everybody strives to cultivate. The official language in UAE is Arabic and all government communication must be in Arabic. However, among the expatriate societies, other different languages are accepted with English being used for all written business communications.

In UAE there are no legal political parties or elections. Power rests with Sheikhs or Emirs who govern the seven traditional emirates and select a president or the overall leader among themselves. There is a cabinet in which positions are distributed among the Sheikhdoms. The parliament or Federal National Council advises the supreme council and the cabinet, but cannot claim superiority over them.

These leaders have steered the diversification of the UAE economy to become a politically stable nation. UAE is a civil law jurisdiction highly influenced by Islamic, French, and Roman laws. The legal system has been influenced by the increasing presence of foreign law firms based on the common law. In particular, many of the laws endorsed by the ruler of individual emirates are more administrative, like the creation of state-affiliated entities.

As of 2010, the total population of UAE was estimated to be 5.6 million. The three most populated sheikdoms are Abu Dhabi, Dubai, and Sharjah with about 85 percent of the total population. Most people are concentrated in major cities with Dubai topping the list. Total GDP was estimated at AED 987.5 billion at a growth rate of 3.2 percent with the non-oil sector seeking to provide an attractive business climate. Oil dominates the economy although it contributes just a third of the overall GDP.

Due to government policies and liberalization of the economy income levels per capita are among the highest in the Middle East (Denicola 5). UAE is a major exporter of oil, machinery, and electronics while the major imports include precious metals, telecommunication equipment, and foodstuff. Imports are quota-free and there are no restrictions on exports with an exception of items of historical value. The country strictly prohibits trade with Israel.

UAE is among the most advanced nations in technology within the Middle East. In addition to automation in industries, the country has adopted technology in the transportation sector. For instance, the Dubai metro network involves high tech, electric trains that transport people within the emirate. Moreover, information technology is the core aspect of UAE policies. About 95 percent of the population in Dubai uses the internet either for professional or personal purposes.

Egypt market

Egypt has a long history of its pre-historic civilization and culture that attracts a large pool of tourists and scholars. The country is full of wonders and artifacts that were built thousands of years ago as well as features of modern civilization. It is among the first countries to develop both economically and socially in the world. Egypt is located in northeast Africa and borders Sudan, Libya, Israel, the Red Sea, and the Mediterranean Sea. Although the country is characterized by desert features of the Sahara Desert, it has a long coastline in the north and east as well as the river Nile that divides the country into two parts. Egypt is divided into four distinct sections: The Nile Valley and Delta, The Eastern Desert, The Western Desert, and The Sinai Peninsula.

The social environment and organization in Egypt are greatly influenced by the Islamic religion. Although the ancient culture still lingers in some aspects of social organizations such as family roles, the modern culture responds to Islamic beliefs.

Among other African states, Egypt has relatively higher literacy levels and most of the citizens have attained basic education. The population is principally made of Egyptians and Arabs as well as a small population of Nubians and Berber in the south and west respectively. With 95 percent of the Egyptians conforming to Islamic practices, a small population of other religion-based groups has maintained their practices. The official language is Arabic which is also used for written communication. Other languages such as French, English, and German are also used in business and education domains.

Egyptian political structure is such that the president is the head of state and is appointed by at least a third of the People’s Assembly. The administrative body and the supreme organ is the government and consist of the council of ministers headed by the Prime Minister. The ministers are collectively responsible for the policies of the country. Until recently when the people rebelled against Mubarak rule, the political environment in Egypt was stable. However, after the resignation of Mubarak, the country is gaining political stability. The judicial system is founded on Islamic law, English common law, and the Napoleonic code system. Four judicial bodies guarantee the independence of the system.

Egypt is the most populated Arab nation with a population of about 75 million as of the year 2005 (Awad and Zohry 2). The population growth rate is about 2.25 percent with most of the population concentrated in cities, along the river Nile and the coastal region. Egypt’s economic stabilization plan initiated some time ago has produced substantial results in most macroeconomic sectors. GDP growth is about 8 percent which is largely driven by domestic demand.

The export growth is about 10 percent and is expected to strengthen future GDP growth. Exports mainly consist of grains, industrial raw materials such as cotton and oil, while imports include machinery, electronics, telecommunication equipment, and precious metals. The stabilized economy has resulted in higher income levels and most of the people are in the category of medium-income earners. Most of the wealth is concentrated in the urban centers and in particular within the Nile delta region.

Compared to other African states, Egypt has developed its technology environment more than them (Abdulla 21). There is a remarkable application of automation in factories as well as within major facilities such as airports. There is also increasing adoption and application of information technology in governance, business, and education domains. Despite the recent political hurdles the country is only comparable to its Arab counterparts in terms of technological investments.

Market attractiveness

Considering the long-term goal of Emirates Airways to expand globally and increase its routes, the Egyptian market is attractive. The country is an ally of UAE which is also reinforced by their commonness and Islamic orientation. It appears that the two economies have a mutual economic interest especially when it comes to exports and imports. Egypt is a major producer of foodstuffs that are much needed by the UAE, while UAE has technological potentials required by Egypt. In addition to the two countries being members of the Arab League, Egypt is geographically close to Dubai. Moreover, Africa is becoming an important region for investing in the aviation industry partly because of the raw materials produced and the increasing movement of foreign investors into the region.

To reinforce the attractiveness of the Egyptian market, Emirate Airways can use the infrastructure to link to other African nations. Indeed, like other airlines, the carrier already has its operations in Egypt and hence the market already exists. Emirates Airways just needs to establish a tight presence and exploit emerging business opportunities by increasing its activities. This can be achieved by opening new routes to important cities like Alexandria and Suez which have become educational hubs and tourism destinations. In as much as the airline wants to penetrate Northern Africa, Egypt remains the most strategic market.

Conclusion

Emirates Airlines has demonstrated tremendous growth in the recent past partly because of its business model that focuses on cost and quality service. However, the global aviation arena is characterized by established airlines that have been in operation even before the conception of Emirates. Therefore, in the case of international development, it is important to identify the strengths and weaknesses that can drive strategies for successful implementation.

Emirates has several strengths associated with Dubai’s favorable political environment, its quality services, and strong brand recognition. In addition to these strengths, UAE being the home market is politically stable, has resources, is geographically advantaged, has an educated population, is technologically sensitive, and is economically advantaged. These factors add to the international development of Emirates as long as they align with those of the host.

Egypt in particular is psychologically, economically, politically, and religiously close to UAE, therefore, indicating its suitability as a market of choice. Emirates can build on these similarities and exploit the opportunities arising.

Works Cited

Abdulla, Rasha. The Internet in the Arab world: Egypt and Beyond. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2007. Print.

Awad, Alyaa and Zohry, Ayman 2005, The end of Egypt population growth in the 21^st century: challenges and aspirations. Web.

Denicola, Christopher 2005, Dubai’s Political and Economic Development: an Oasis in the Desert? Web.

Knorr, Andreas, and Eisenkopf, Alexander. “How sustainable is Emirates’ Business Model.” Airline Magazine, 38 (2010): 1-4. Print.

Introduction

The economy class (EC) is crammed to allow physical movement, while the business class attaches a high price tag for its comfort. The concept of the premium economy (PE) class aims to bridge the gap between the business and economy classes (Hugon-Duprat & O’Connell 2015; Kuo & Jou 2017). At present selected number of airlines are offering this innovative PE class such as Singapore Airlines, Virgin Atlantics, Japan Airlines, Cathay Pacific, and British Airways to name a few (Morrell 2008; Hugon-Duprat & O’Connell 2015). Though the concept of PE has picked up recently with major airlines announcing the addition of PE as an option for their passengers, the concept was initially introduced in the 1990s by the UK’s Virgin Atlantic and Taiwan’s EVA Air. Figure 1 shows a standard layout of all classes’ seating of Cathay Pacific.

In a bold move, Emirates plans to offer a PE class to attract customers with tighter budgets. Emirates has long offered luxury class but the declining oil revenues have impacted the passengers’ budget to afford first and business class. With other airlines offering more options to the passenger with a tighter budget, Emirates looks to fill this gap and retain its customer base. In this respect, this report offers a review of PE class and its possible impact on the overall design and economy of Emirates. First, this study offers a comparative study of various types of premium classes available. Second, this report looks at the impact and suggests the routes beneficial for offering PE class.

Attributes, Merits, and Disadvantages of PE

First, it is important to understand what the Premium Economy (PE) Class is. It provides more features than the EC; however, it does not provide all the features of the business class. The PE provides 1 to 2 inches of extra pitch with wider seats than the EC. Also, PR seats recline and have adjustable headrests. The PE class offers an average pitch (legroom) of 38 inches and a seat width of 18 inches (Paris 2017). This is substantial compared to EC seats, which offer an average pitch of 30 inches and a seat width of 18 inches (Paris 2017).

Additional features as well as services come with PE depending on the policies of airlines such as larger personal video screens, additional food choices, and power port for electronic devices. Table 1 shows the basic features of PE class offered by different airlines. They vary from one airline to another. For example, almost all the airlines provide the amenity kit to PE passengers with socks and eyeshadow. However, only selected carriers to offer the privilege of early check-in, blanket, and a free meal. Further, the price of the PE is higher than EC; however, the fare difference can be 50% to 120% higher (Josephs 2016). Therefore, it can be concluded that through PE class fills the gap between the economy and business class, its implementation varies among airliners.

Table-1 Premium Economy Class features (Josephs 2016).

Characteristic Design and Economy of PE

Present Emirates fleet comprises Boeing A380, Boeing 777-300, 777-300ER, and 777-200LR. With the inclusion of PE class and fleet space remaining the same, it is likely to reduce the number of seats per row. The decrease in the number of seats can impact total fare collection. For example, presently Emirate’s Boeing 777-300 has a passenger capacity of 364 (12 First Class, 42 Business Class, and 310 Economy class seats). Figure 2 shows Emirates seat distribution for its Boeing 777-300. A single row of business class has 7 seats, while a single row of an EC has 10 seats.

Let us consider two design scenarios to analyze the impact of design and economy of PE:

• The case I: Consider half of the EC seats are converted into PE class.
• Case II: Half of the Business class capacity is converted into PE class.

It should be noted that a standard PE class of Being 777-300 can accommodate 8 seats in a row. Under the first scenario (Case-I), the total number of seats will reduce from 364 to 330 as the existing 33 rows of economy class seats will be converted into PE class, which will replace 155 seats (half of EC capacity) with 90 PE class seats. Therefore, the total capacity of Boeing 777-300 will reduce from 364 to 329 (12 FC+ 42 BC + 120 PE + 155EC). This will lead to loss of income coming from the economy class seats.

On the other hand, the second scenario (Case-II) will convert half of the business class seats to premium economy class. In other words, 32 out of 64 business class seats will be converted into premium economy class. This will increase the total capacity of Boeing 777-300 from 364 to 367 (12 FC+21 BC+ 24 PE+ 310 EC). The second scenario shows that converting business class increases the total number of sets marginally. On the other hand conversion of economy class seats into premium economy class reduces the total number of seats.

Route Selection

Research studies show that the premium economy class can be most effective in long-haul aircraft carriers (Wensveen & Leick 2009; Hugon-Duprat & O’Connell 2015). For example, Singapore Airlines offers its premium economy on long-haul routes such as from Singapore to Paris, Munich, Manchester, Sydney, New York, and Los Angeles (Rosen 2015). Therefore based on industry practice and Emirate present routes, this report proposes the following three routes for implementing premium economy class:

• Route-1: Dubai to New York
• Route-2: Dubai to Paris
• Route-3: Dubai to Singapore

Selections of these three routes are based on multiple factors. First, these are the most frequent destination for most travelers to and from Dubai. Second, the business class travelers with a tighter budget will get an option of a premium economy that would fit in their pockets. Besides, other airlines have been offering premium class options to their passengers on these routes. Thus, Emirates offering premium class will even out the competitive edge other carriers avail in these routes. An in-depth economic analysis is provided in the following sections on the feasibility of these routes and premium economy class.

Premium Economy Seat Section and Layout

The new premium economy class should be placed in the transition zone between economy and business class as shown in figure 2. This would require minimal changes to the existing amenities such as the gallery, toilet, and service space. Nevertheless, there will be reduced space for the movement from the new premium class to business and economy class due to wider seats per row. Based on the industry-standard, the premium economy class should consider JDA Design seats, which offer leather seats, leg rests, adjustable headrest, and larger leg space (Garcia 2015; Drescher 2015). Table -2 list the detailed design feature of JDA Design premium economy seats. With the new seats, Emirates can expect 2-4-2 premium economy seats per row.

Table 2: Design features of the proposed premium economy class seat (Drescher 2015).

Feasibility

This study proposes to install the PE class by replacing 5 rows of popular EC and 2 rows of business class. Feasibility test results are presented here by considering the economic viability of the proposed configuration. Table 3 shows comparative revenue of present configuration and proposed configuration. This study only considers the change in generated revenue for the section under consideration (Figure-2) because revenue from the remaining section of the flight will remain unchanged. The primary objective of this analysis was to estimate the optimal price of a premium economy class for a break-even situation. Results show that Route-1, Route-2, and Route-3, at present, generate $78448, $65640, and $37752 with 14 business class and 40 economy class seats. Now, these 14 business class and 40 EC seats will be replaced with PE class 48 seats. From Table 3, the data price of each PE class seat can be calculated for a break-even situation. The estimated price for each PE class seats for Route-1, Route-2, and Route-3 are $1634, $1368, and $787 respectively.

Table 3: Feasibility analysis of present and proposed seating arrangement for the three selected routes.

The feasibility study shows that the price of PE class seats would be higher than the present ECs i.e. for Route-1, Route-2, and Route-3 the price would be higher than EC by 150%, 157%, and 223% respectively. Nevertheless, the new PE class will offer a lower price option to a business class traveler who has a tighter budget and looks for comfort. Also, the new PE class will attract EC travelers who look for comfort but cannot afford business class.

Findings and Conclusion

The new PE class segment is much needed to improve Emirate’s customer experience and retain its frequent fliers. With the decreasing oil price, most business class travelers are tight on their travel budget. With the introduction of PE class, Emirates will offer the best fit option to its customers and will be able to compete with other carriers who have already started to offer PE classes in selected routes. This study looked at the advantages and disadvantages of a premium economy class in comparison to business and economy class.

A feasibility study was conducted to estimate the economic impact of introducing the PE class. Results show that the PE class fills the gap between the comfort of the business class and the competitive price of an EC. In this respect, three routes were considered for implementing PE class based on their viability: Dubai to New York, Dubai to Paris, and Dubai to Singapore. This study proposes to select a space between economy and business class and convert it into a premium economy class. From the selected section, the Emirates collects $78448 for a round trip on the Dubai-New York route. To break-even, Emirates will need to price a single premium economy seat 150% higher than economy class. Similarly, the price of premium economy class on 2^nd (Dubai to Paris) and 3rd (Dubai to Singapore) proposed routes will be 157% and 223% higher than the economy class.

Though the price of premium economy class is slightly higher than the economy class, the passengers looking for additional comfort will be able to get the facilities at a lower cost than the business class. Besides, this new segment will help the struggling economy hit with a plunge in oil prices. Emirates has long been a major player in the luxury segment, but with changing dynamics and passenger requirements, Emirates will be at a loss if it does not implement innovative and competitive technological changes such as the premium economy class. Results clearly show that with a slight increase in price customers can avail better facilities, at the same time; Emirates need to strategize the design of new seat to facilitate better movement and optimal utilization of the available space. The study clearly shows that the phase-wise introduction of premium economy class into the present layout can benefit both the carrier and customers. As future work, this report possesses an in-depth analysis of premium economy class economic viability on shorter routes, which is majorly driven by economy class. Inclusion of premium economy class, on one hand, attracts business class passengers looking to save some money, and on the other hand, it provides much-needed gradient to the economy class passengers who look to have a better facility at a cheaper price.

Personal Learnings and Insight

The assignment was useful for understanding the requirement of the premium economy class. The assignment helped me develop analytical and reasoning skills. I was able to use my design, decision making, and research skills. This project conducted the feasibility study for only one selected section and configuration of a premium economy class. I would like to compare various other configurations. There are limited published reports on the premium economy class. Such projects require data from validated sources, which was lacking as the section is new and still developing.

Reference List

Drescher, C 2015, ‘Singapore Airlines’ premium economy makes a 16-hour flight seem reasonable’, Traveler, Web.

Emirates 2017, Seating charts, Web.

Garcia, M 2015, ‘Happy medium: JPA design explains why airlines should make premium economy differentiation count – part three’, Apex, Web.

Hugon-Duprat, C & O’Connell, JF 2015, ‘The rationale for implementing a premium economy class in the long haul markets–evidence from the transatlantic market’, Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 47, no. C, pp. 11-19.

Josephs, L 2016, ‘How “premium” is premium economy? A guide to choosing that upgrade, airline by airline’, Quartz, Web.

Kuo, CW & Jou, RC 2017, ‘Willingness to pay for airlines’ premium economy class: the perspective of passengers’, Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 59, no. C, pp. 134-142.

Morrell, P 2008, ‘Can long-haul low-cost airlines be successful?’ Research in Transportation Economics, vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 61-67.

Paris, N 2017, ‘Which airline is number one for premium economy? The answer might surprise you’, The Telegraph, Web.

Rosen, E 2015, ‘Review: singapore Airlines 777-300ER in Premium Economy’, The Points Guy, Web.

Wensveen, JG & Leick, R 2009, ‘The long-haul low-cost carrier: a unique business model’, Journal of Air Transport Management, vol. 15, no. 3, pp. 127-133.

Introduction

The aerospace industry grows continuously, as this segment becomes more and more attractive to different service providers. Emirates Airlines could be considered as one of the companies that were able to take advantage of the external environment and became one of the industrial leaders. Today, Emirates is an international airline with constant flights to 82 countries across the globe (The Emirates Group 2017).

It gives priority to quality, exceptional service, and its recognition worldwide (The Emirates Group 2017). Thus, even industry giants face difficulties in economic crisis and recession. Consequently, the primary goal of this paper is to evaluate its external environment, marketing strategies and tactics, and finances. Finally, recommendations are proposed to discover the ways to survive in the market within the next 20 years.

Factors on Airline Business

General Overview

To establish a foundation for discussion, it is essential to describe methods and techniques that Emirates used since its first years of operation to overcome financial difficulties such as crises. Utilizing the PESTE framework is the most suitable approach because it covers external factors from different spheres such as political, economic, social, technological, and environmental ones (Grunig & Kuhn 2015).

This analysis assists in gaining a multifaceted overview of the topic by depicting the impact of each external force. Nevertheless, before conducting the PESTE analysis, it is essential to review Emirates’ performance over the past three years. For example, it experienced a substantial increase in its revenues from AED 82,636 million in 2013-2014 to AED 88,819 million in 2014-2015 (The Emirates Group 2017).

In 2015-2016, sales slightly dropped (from AED 88,819 million in 2014-2015 to AED 85,044 million in 2015-2016) while at the beginning of the fiscal year 2016-2017 (AED 85,061 million), it was able to prevent this rapid decrease in revenues (The Emirates Group 2017). To summarize, Emirates experienced problems with its finances and demands since the beginning of 2015 while continuing to be one of the market leaders.

PESTE Model

According to the PESTE model, political factors have a critical impact on the financial performance of the company. For example, operations of the enterprise are highly dependent on the political stability of the country and its neighbors. In this instance, wars in Yemen and Iraq create negative perceptions of the country while making the United Arab Emirates less attractive to foreign investors and visitors (Dudley 2016).

The blockade of Qatar’s airspace is also a vital political aspect, as it requires changing the existent travel routs and leads to increases maintenance costs (Kamel 2017). Another possible factor is a threat of terrorism since the country actively takes part in fighting it, it and its geographical location increases its vulnerability.

Furthermore, scholars and the management of The Emirates Group link a continuous drop in revenues to an unfavorable economic environment. During these years (2015-2017), the dollar was highly unstable, and changes in its values affected the revenues of Emirates due to its dependence on currency exchange (Dudley 2016). This aspect is of high importance since the company serves customers worldwide. Consequently, a decrease in revenues can be linked to slow economic growth and recession in other countries, as the profitability of Emirates is reliant on demands in the foreign markets (Dudley 2016).

Due to the dependence of the UAE’s GDP on oil sales, their low value not only affects the country’s growth but also slows the development of the companies (Dudley 2016). In this case, a combination of economic factors can cause a downward shift in sales solely, but the overall economic condition of the UAE is favorable due to its active investments in transport infrastructure. Consequently, Emirates has possibilities to recover.

Social aspects are highly linked to previous sections, and people’s attitudes towards neighboring countries of the UAE, a threat of terrorism, high prices, and low demands may affect the recognition of Emirates. However, the enterprise can maintain its image of one of the best companies in the industry that constantly aims at expansion to different international locations such as Orlando (Mouawad 2015).

As for changes in technology, it is essential to take into account this aspect since it has a direct impact on consumer behavior. For example, a new generation of Millennials tends to use mobile applications while video conferencing affects the demand in real-life meetings and, as a consequence, in traveling (Anderson 2016). Consequently, attracting new customers becomes a challenge. Speaking of environmental factors, climate changes in different countries where Emirates operates have an essential impact on its functioning, as dealing with these issues may require additional investment.

In turn, people tend to change attitudes and become more concerned about the environment and the effects of different technologies on it, and it is the primary trigger for the development of eco-friendly gadgets while revolutionizing the aerospace industry. Nevertheless, prioritizing excellence helps Emirates remain one of the market leaders while showing customers its social sustainability strategy.

Future Trends and Conclusions

Based on the analysis of the factors conducted above, potential future trends may include rising operating costs due to currency fluctuations, intensifying rivalry, and decreases in demand due to terrorism and differences in economic growth (Dudley 2016). To overcome these challenges, the company may consider establishing a new low-cost airline to regain its market shares in the countries with insufficient economic growth. At the same time, Emirates has to create collaboration with local authorities to maintain security at high levels and redesign travel routs. Currently, Emirates attracts customers with the help of the Emirates Skywards program that allows flyers to earn miles (Emirates 2017a).

Relying on its current strategy does not seem to be effective due to a constant decrease in sales since 2015 (The Emirates Group 2017). Other future trends may include the continuous rise of technology and environmental concerns, and Emirates can focus on developing interactive websites and applications. However, the company already employs these action plans and should continue using them while making adjustments that can be discovered as a priority. To conclude, Emirates has to review its current corporate strategy and take into account different environmental factors and possible threats such as terrorism and wars.

Airline Product and Marketing Strategy

Emirates’ Marketing Strategy and Its Comparison

In turn, it is vital to understand a connection between Emirates’ marketing activities and its superior financial performance, as only relying on these concepts will help understand the microeconomic environment. Emirates used a consistent marketing strategy from 2015 to 2017. The company positions itself as an excellent service provider, who cherishes quality and respects the needs of the customers (Tadros 2016).

At the same time, it promotes “technology-driven customer initiatives” by delivering this message via partnerships, press releases, newspapers, official websites, and social media (Tadros 2016 para. 3). Apart from representing a luxury segment, Emirates still has competitors with similar features. For example, Etihad and Qatar provide comparable quality and evoke analogous feelings among consumers while attracting customers with similar needs (Zhang 2015).

Thus, the company attempts to differentiate itself from the competitors not only by the brand equity but also by its frequent flyer program. For example, Emirates Skywards allows loyal customers to gain miles and use them to explore the world (Emirates 2017a). Overall, only with the help of these features of the marketing strategy Emirates was able to have stable revenues while experiencing only a slight decrease in sales.

Nevertheless, it is essential to review the marketing strategies of Emirates each year. For example, apart from having a well-developed social media marketing campaign, in 2015, Emirates took part in Dubai Airshow and demonstrated its aircraft and the high attention paid to the training of its pilots and flight attendants (Tadros 2015). Meanwhile, in 2015, the company also focused on improving its social media services by making them available 24/7 (Emirates 2015).

This activity showed the international focus of the company since it was available in English and Arabic at the same time. As for 2016-2017, Emirates continued sponsoring different activities such as football, tennis, horse riding, rugby, and motorsports (Emirates 2017b). A combination of these factors states that the company continued upholding its brand equity, and it helped Emirates maintain its financial performance and avoid a subsequent drop in sales.

Evaluation of Success

Nevertheless, a profound assessment of the marketing strategy has to be conducted. Emirates attracted new customers by its high quality, superior performance, prestige, safety, and international brand recognition, and customers chose this airline due to a combination of these reasons. In turn, its unique selling point pertains to its slogan “Hello Tomorrow” and the desire to create a special culture for its customers and employees (Goodson 2016, para. 4).

It gives people not only an opportunity to travel and expand their horizons with Emirates but also develops a positive attitude toward the future. These campaigns had a direct impact on the number of passengers carried.

For example, it increased by 8.1% from 2015-2016 to 2016-2017 while the overall capacity rose by 7.2% (The Emirates Group 2017). A combination of these factors led to the ability of the company to reach the maturation stage of the product lifecycle and have high satisfaction rates among customers. To conclude, with the help of the evaluation of the company’s marketing strategy, it is possible to discover that Emirate continues to attract customers, and its changes in revenue are majorly affected by different external factors indicated above, but it should revise the existent marketing strategies by emphasizing social media to avoid a greater drop in sales.

Financial Assessment

As was mentioned earlier finding a connection between corporate strategy, marketing activities, and financial performance is important due to the interdependence between these components. Emirates’ current strategy implies that customers are provided with full services for the price of the fare while there are different options available. Competitors such as Qatar and Etihad use a similar framework, but Emirates can face a constantly intensifying rivalry due to its well-developed brand equity and differentiation strategy. Using this approach could be considered as the most effective in this industry, as, otherwise, the enterprise would not be viewed as one of the leaders of this market with outstanding financial performance.

When referring to its revenues, they accounted for AED 82,636 million in 2013-2014 (The Emirates Group 2017). Meanwhile, the previous sections identify that the peak in sales was recorded in 2014-2015 (AED 88,819 million), and in the subsequent years, they experienced a slight decrease (AED 85,044 million in 2015-2016; AED 85,061 million in 2016-2017) (The Emirates Group 2017). Consequently, apart from these differences, the company made profits in the last five years and tended to be stable.

As for operating expenses, they experienced a vast increase from AED 70,274 million in 2012-2013 to AED 82,926 million in 2014-2015 due to high investments of the company in its expansion (The Emirates Group 2017). It is evident that in addition to cargo and passenger transportation, the company heavily relied on acquisitions and transactions in the stock market. When comparing Emirates’ performance with Qatar and Etihad, the position of the company was relatively stable since Etihad had a $1.87 billion annual loss while depicting the pressure of competition faced by Gulf airlines due to terrorism, oil prices, and blockade of Qatar’s airspace (Kamel 2017).

Meanwhile, Qatar reported a 20% increase in its sales and earnings (Kamel 2017). Consequently, currently, only Qatar could be discovered as the major competitor of the Emirates due to its rapidly growing profit margins.

When referring to yield management, its values continued to decrease from 249 fils per RTKM in 2012-2013 (250 – 2013-2014; 245 – 2014-2015; 218 – 2015-2016) to 204 fils per RTKM in 2016-2017 with the total drop of 8% (The Emirates Group 2017). Similarly to Emirates, Etihad’s yields were reduced by 7% (Kamel 2017). This decrease was linked to fluctuations in the dollar and unfavorable socio-economic conditions that affect all companies in the Gulf region.

Additionally, Emirates’ operating margin was low in 2016-2017 with a value of 2.9% while in previous years it was relatively higher (3.9% in 2012-2013; 5.2% in 2013-2014; 6.6% in 2014-2015; and 9.8% in 2015-2016) (The Emirates Group 2017). Profitability ratios were also unfavorable for the company with a 6.9% drop from 2015-2016. As for liquidity, its current ratio is only 0.5%, and it implies that Emirates started to face similar issues as Etihad.

As for aircraft utilization, the total fleet used increased from 217 in 2013-2014 to 259 in 2016-2017 while the average fleet age decreased to 63 in 2016-2017 (The Emirates Group 2017). The passenger seat factor continued its drop from 79.6% in 2014-2015 to 75% in 2016-2017 while implying the problems with capacity, and a decrease in load factor from 67.3% in 2014-2015 to 65% in 2016-2017 inferred the same conclusion (The Emirates Group 2017).

Overall, Emirates is in a similar condition as Qatar and Etihad, and it should consider revising its strategy, as otherwise, it will be impossible to survive intense competition. To regain its losses in revenues, the company should consider setting performance indicators of 2014-2015 as financial benchmarks and aim at their achievement. However, it is critical to note that in 2014-2015, the economic environment was more favorable while the Gulf region was highly attractive to tourists and businessmen due to its prosperous opportunities. Now, it is important to take into account arising trends in maintenance costs and fleet newness factors while carefully planning a budget when these investments are necessary.

Conclusion and Recommendations

Conclusion

In the end, apart from being one of the well-known and popular corporations in the world, Emirates has to adapt to external changes. It is currently affected by fluctuations of currency exchange, a threat of terrorism, wars in neighboring countries, and unfavorable economic environment, a drop in oil prices, and changes in consumer buying behavior. It could be said that using a unique blend of marketing channels including social media, newspapers, sponsorships, and official websites helped the company stabilize its revenues and maintain them at a sufficient level during the economic crisis. Nevertheless, similarly to its competitors like Qatar and Etihad, the external factors mentioned above hurt its performance while causing a substantial decrease in all critical financial ratios.

Recommendations

Thus, with the assistance of the analysis of micro and macro factors, it is essential to define the action plan and propose relevant strategies to stay competitive within the next 20 years. Based on the analysis of external forces, Emirates should consider partnerships with authorities to ensure security. Meanwhile, to comply with social trends, it may be rational to establish a low-cost option of Emirates by acquiring another company, as, otherwise, it will ruin its brand equity.

As for marketing, it should continue working on its marketing scheme by proposing interactive solutions to social media and its website while constantly conducting market research. However, it should not be its central focus since the demands can be viewed as favorable, and a major decrease in revenues is caused by the external environment (see PESTLE). When suggesting recommendations to enhance financial performance, Emirates should view acquisitions as its additional sources of revenue but carefully evaluate every option before making a decision. The enterprise should review its performance in 2014-2015 and consider the aspects that can be used as benchmarks (yield, profit margin, revenues growth, sales volumes, and operational costs (have to be decreased)).

Nevertheless, adjustments including changes in maintenance costs due to technological advancement and issues with oil prices and fleet newness (purchasing new aircraft and equipment) have to be taken into account when shaping a budget and developing new travel routes to minimize costs. In the end, only taking advantage of these recommendations can help the company remain a market leader, take rising opportunities in the airline industry, and stay highly profitable even during the times of economic crisis.

Reference List

Anderson, K 2016, Technology and social trends: a biblical point of view, Christian Publishing House & Probe Ministers, Cambridge.

Dudley, D 2016, ‘Is the Emirates growth story at the end?’, Forbes. Web.

Emirates 2015, Emirates’ social media customer service provides 24-hour support in English and Arabic. Web.

Emirates 2017a, Emirates Skywards: change the way you see the world. Web.

Emirates 2017b, Emirates sponsorships. Web.

Goodson, S 2016, ‘Emirates’ Hello Tomorrow – why it helped build the world’s favorite airline’, Huffington Post. Web.

Grunig, R & Kuhn, R 2015, The strategic planning process: Analyses, options, projects, Springer, New York.

Kamel, D 2017, ‘Etihad has $1.87 billion loss in worst blow to Gulf carriers’, Bloomberg. Web.

Mouawad, J 2015, ‘Emirates has plans to make Orlando its 10th destination’, The New York Times. Web.

Tadros, R 2015, Emirates set to showcase the world’s first two-class A380 at the Dubai Airshow. Web.

Tadros, R 2016, Emirates brand value grows 17% to reach US$7.7 billion. Web.

The Emirates Group 2017, The Emirates Group annual report 2016-2017. Web.

Zhang, B 2015, ‘Emirates is attacking its competitors by evoking the Golden Age of air travel’, Business Insider. Web.

Introduction

The United Arab Emirates, is one of the most dynamic business locations in the world. In essence, the economies of the Arabian Gulf states are among the most dynamic in the world today. This is because wealth in these regions has been generated at what we can describe as historical rates (Rehman, 2007). This has been largely contributed by a boom in oil prices. The Gross domestic product (GDP) growth in the Gulf countries often approaches or exceeds the double digits, which have been attributed to the countries rapidly evolving demographics. In these countries, the youth make up approximately half the population which has led to high consumer demand.

In essence, the states of the Gulf Cooperation Council – the United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and Oman – have become promising places to do business.

Business firms in the UAE

In this paper, we are going to focus on business firms within the United Arab Emirates. The business firms which we are going to focus on are in the airline industry. Specifically, we are going to look at Emirates Airlines.

History of the airline

The Emirates was established in the year 1985 in Dubai. As an airline company, this firm started operating with two leased aircraft. These aircraft had only three destinations which included Karachi, Mumbai and Delhi (Doganis, 2006). The initial aircraft that were being leased by this airline was Boeing 737 and an airbus 300B4. Emirates Airlines is one of the world’s fastest-growing long haul carrier. It was recently ranked as the world’s second most profitable carrier, after Singapore Airlines. In the year 2005, the airline’s profits rose by 45% to $637 million at a time when the airline industry was accumulating losses. The following year Emirate’s passenger volume had risen to more than 17.5 million, which was a reflection of rapid growth that was taking place in Dubai (Graham, Papatheodorou, & Forsyth, 2010). This was occasioned by the fact that Dubai was considered as a commercial hub in the Middle East. In recent history, this airline has rapidly emerged as one of the most important success stories in the airline industry.

Ownership

Emirates Airlines is part of a state-owned Emirates Group. This is a large diversified travel umbrella group which is owned by the state of Dubai. This Group emerged as a globally influential travel and tourism conglomerate that generated record profits of $ 762 million in the year 2006 (Ragaei, 1981).

Operations and strategy

In a sense, this airline enjoys a monopoly within this region. This is because the airline belongs to The Emirates Group, whose primary mission is to transform Dubai into a major economic and transport hub in the Middle East. In order to achieve this goal, Dubai has developed and pursued an “open skies policy” which allows over 100 airlines which are serving over 140 destinations to operate out of Dubai International Airport. The long term goal of this approach is to benefit from the traffic flows by attracting international tourists to the Dubai hub (Rehman, 2007). This is done because the Emirate Airlines is an airline which does not have a sizeable domestic market. The success of this airline has further been accelerated with the ideal geographic location of this region. In essence, this region forms a perfect link between the East and the West. Based on this, the Emirates Airlines has emerged to be a major competitor for the Singapore Airlines on long haul routes between Europe and Asia. A case in point is based on the fact that Emirates Airlines busiest city – pair markets include the Dubai – London and Dubai – Singapore (Ragaei, 1981). Furthermore, coordinating the prevailing airline policy regarding air travel has worked to benefit this airline. This strategy alongside the largest airline in Dubai has been able to establish a major hub in the name of Dubai International Airport.

The massive projects which have been taking place in Dubai have led to an increase in air traffic into this region which has benefitted the Emirates Airlines. The projections which had been adopted to attract 15 million visitors by 2010 had been realized to an extent. This increase in the tourists’ traffic paid off by bringing about major expansions within the region. For example, Emirates Airlines current order book stands at 124 aircrafts with a total value of approximately $30 billion (Rehman, 2007). Furthermore, it is the main launch customer for the famous A380 double-decker super Jumbo where it has placed 45 orders which cost $250 million each.

The consumer perceptions

The airline is regarded as a high class airline. This is because of the quality of the service that this airline seeks to provide its customers. This has largely been contributed by the branding that has been associated with this airline. Secondly the airline has invested in the latest technology in order to attract more clients. This has served to reassure the clients on the quality of services which the airline offers.

It is worth noting the fact that since this airline seeks to serve the tourists, the major strategy which has been employed by this airline is on quality of services. This airline has been recognized to be among the airlines which have got the best hospitality services (Nargundkar, 2010). This has in turn boosted the consumer perception with regard to the quality of service. The airline has got quality in-flight entertainment which has made it to be among a choice airline among most passengers.

The society’s perspective

This airline has made a mark from the society’s perspective. This has been occasioned by the number of initiatives that this airline has invested in. For instance, the management of this airline has focused on sponsoring international events and sporting organizations. This has improved the general perspective from the society (Rehman, 2007). However, in as much as this is the case, the general outlook of this airline has not changed. This is because it is considered to be a star studded airline implying that it has got slightly higher rates as compared to other airlines in the industry.

Conclusion

This airline has benefited a lot from its center of operations. This has made it to be among the best airlines in the world. It is worth noting that the operating environment within UAE has contributed a great deal to the success of this airline. In addition, the management of this company has ensured that the brand of this airline is associated with quality by investing in the state of the art technology and aircrafts. Essentially, business is all about strategy. The strategy which sustains any venture is usually based on addressing the needs of the customer.

References

Doganis, R. (2006). The Airline Business. New York: Routledge.

Graham, A., Papatheodorou, A., & Forsyth, P. (2010). Aviation and Tourism:Implications for Leisure Travel. London: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Nargundkar, P. (2010). Services Marketing 3E. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education.

Ragaei, E. M. (1981). The Economic Development of the United Arab Emirates. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Rehman, A. (2007). Dubai & Co:Global Strategies for Doing Business in the Gulf States. California: McGraw-Hill Professional.

Step One – Getting Ready

Organizational Profile

Emirates Airways is currently the leading airline in the Middle East. This firm was started in 1985 by the Emirati government. There was a rising concern that some of the international planes that were plying the route were avoiding the route and this was causing a lot of inconveniences to the people of this country.

The government of United Arab Emirates realized that the country needed to develop an airline that would take care of the interests of the country’s nationals. The government had embarked on development of the infrastructure of the country. The roads were well developed and the airports were also properly expanded (Freeman 92). Dubai was rising very fast as a business center.

The government had heavily invested in building social amenities, besides the infrastructure, and therefore this city was attracting a good number of tourists on a yearly basis. As a result of this, the government wanted an airline that would be reliable to its tourists, and other people that would be travelling to this country. They wanted an airline that could be controlled by the state, and could meet the rising demands locally. This was the genesis of this airline company.

The Emirates Airline has its headquarters in Dubai in Dubai International Airport. This firm operates in to four largest destinations across the world. The firm operates in more than 100 destinations in 74 countries. The company has managed to overcome the stiff competition that is in the current market. According to Desvaux (70), the airline industry is very competitive. This scholar notes that this competition has been rising in the past decade with the entry of new airlines into the industry.

It becomes a big challenge for a firm to operate in such a competitive market if it lacks proper competitive strategies. This scholar notes that the aviation industry has been consistently on the rise in the past one decade. The emerging technologies have brought in a lot of changes in this industry, and firms are forced to adjust their operations in order to meet the market demands.

The emerging trends in the aviation industry cannot be ignored. It would force a firm to embrace these changes in order to realize the benefits that this industry has to offer. This is what the management of Emirate Airline has been keen on. This firm has received enough financial support from the government to enable it manage the emerging trends in the aviation sector.

Effective strategic planning has seen this firm become the largest airline in this region. According to Freeman (26), project management has changed from what it used to be in the past. Project management was considered as part of production about 50 years ago. By then, competition was low, and the main concern was to increase production of the firm. The market was readily available in the global world. However, this has systematically changed over the years.

Firms have come to realize that customers have various options to choose from when they want to make a purchase. Given such independence of the customers, firms have come to realize that they have to come up with strategies that would enable them attract customers. This has resulted in a scenario where every firm is struggling to come up with appealing strategies through which they can capture the attention of the customers.

Issues that the planning process should address

Planning process should address specific issues within an organization that would result in achieving the goals of a firm. The vision of a firm always stipulate what the firm plans to achieve.

Strategic planning would help achieve this vision within the desired timeline. One of the main issues that planning process should address is the emerging technologies. In the field of aviation, there are various emerging technologies that affect the industry very heavily. The emerging technologies are bringing new trends that have redefined marketing in this industry.

For instance, most of the bookings in this industry are currently done online. Customers can easily do their bookings from their homes. Emirates Airline must ensure that it adopts this technology if it plans to increase its customer base. Planning should be done with the aim of ensuring that the process of implementing this technology within this firm is successful, and that it reflects the current trends in the market.

Another issue that requires serious planning within this firm involves customers’ comfort when on board. Many of the major airlines like the British Airways and Virgin Atlantic have come up with strategies to ensure their customers are satisfied. This involves installation of television screens and music system on each seat. A customer can watch television on a seven inch screen fixed on the backseat of the seats.

Other services like snacks and newspapers are also offered to increase customer satisfaction. This firm should develop a clear plan on how it would come up with a strategy that would help the firm come up with such services that would offer its customers superior satisfaction in the market.

Information that must be collected to help make sound decisions

Information is very important when making decision. In order to come up with a sound decision on what steps that should be taken to ensure that the strategic plan is successful, it would require the management to ensure that relevant information is gathered from all the relevant stakeholders. The days when decision would be made based on the information the top management had are long gone.

In the current society, it is important to ensure that all the stakeholders’ opinion, from the customers to employees, the government and the general public, are taken into consideration when making sound decision. From the customers, it is important to have information about their changing tastes and preferences in the market. Collecting this information will help make a sound decision when it comes to developing customer management strategies.

Employees’ opinions should also be put into consideration when making decision because they are the ones involved in the day-to-day activities of the firm. Management should therefore collect this information when making decision. Information from the government, industry players and the general public is also important to take into consideration when making sound decision within the firm.

Step Two – Articulating Vision & Mission

The vision, mission and objectives of a firm are the basic elements of strategic management. Sadler (31) says that the main difference between a vision and a mission is that while the vision focuses on what the firm plans to achieve in future, mission statement is concerned with what the firm is doing now in order to achieve its objectives.

The vision of a firm is always very important in charting the path to be taken by the firm. Emirates’ vision statement clearly demonstrates the far this firm sees in the competitive electronic market. The vision statement of Emirates is based on leadership and ambition.

The vision is envisaged on coming up with ambitious projects and new ideas that would enable the firm offer its customer’s new products with maximum satisfaction always. As such, he should be above structures and systems, and not subordinate to them (Kline 28). This vision has seen this firm become very competitive. This has been its driving force in innovations and creativity. Based on this, the firm has ensured that it remains relevant in the market by introducing new products with advanced features.

The mission statement of Emirates Airlines may not pass as a standard mission statement. This is because it is a list of products that this firm produces, its commitment to a green pollution free world, and what it does in ensuring that they remain competitive. However, by the close of this statement, there is another statement that explains its commitment to business travelers, various professionals, and general consumers in providing them with desirable products that are able to meet their desires.

Step Three – Assessing the Situation

In strategic management project, there are always three important conditions that should be assessed in order to come up with a clear plan. The first is always the past incidents or activities that had an impact on the firm’s current position. The second is the firm’s current position that would define its future.

Lastly would be what the firm’s plans for its future based on the past and present situation of the firm. Assessing the situation is always important in determining the strategic position of a firm. The following SWOT analysis is important in helping assess the current situation of the firm.

SWOT analysis is one of the important tools that are very popular in analyzing a company. It helps in analyzing firms based on the existing internal and external factors. SWOT analysis would be very valuable in analyzing Emirates Airline. In order to bring more understanding of the firm in this competitive market, a SWOT analysis would be appropriate. It would also help in understanding the strengths and weaknesses that the firm has.

Strength of this firm that would translate to increased profitability is a positive image in the market due to its environmental friendly projects. The world is increasingly becoming sensitive of the impact of various business units on the environment.

The concern is emanating from the fact that it has been confirmed beyond any reasonable doubt that various multinational companies are polluting the environment at a very dangerous rate Sadler (65). Various environmental conservation projects are expected to give this company a different image in the market.

This company will be seen as a firm that is smarter in its environmental strategy. The market will be convinced that this company is not just interested in making profits, but also turning the society into a better place. The firm will easily attract additional customers who are determined to make a positive difference in their society. This is because they will view this firm as one that helps in conserving the environment.

They will consider the purchase of the firm’s product as part of environmental conservation. As a result of this, the firm will develop a strong base of loyal customers. This firm may also take this advantage to reach out to the international markets. The project would give this company a moral right to claim that it is a champion of a clean environment in the entire world. The firm has a team of dedicated and qualified staff who are able to front all the interest of the firm both in the local and regional markets.

Despite the above strengths, this firm has some weakness. The first weakness that this firm has is the financial challenge. The initiative of managing the environment is very challenging financially.

It would cost this firm, large sum of money if it would sustain such projects over the years it expects to operate in this market Grundy (92). The members of this firm expect to work in collaboration with other firms in order to clean the environment. The team may not have the capacity to rid the environment of all the electronic wastes, unless it is supported by other agencies within the local society.

The local government must be convinced to participate in such projects actively. Other environmental agencies would also be invited to take part in the elimination of such wastes as plastic materials. The fact such the projects would involve partnership with other firms; success of the entire process may be jeopardized. Success would be pegged on how determined the other partners are in fulfilling their duties.

The firm has a number of opportunities in the external environment. In the local market, this firm has managed to build a large base of loyal customers, especially in the cities of Abu Dhabi and Dubai. The Emirati government has strongly appreciated the move of this firm to help improve the environment of this country, a fact that has earned it a large base of customers.

The Emirati government has maintained a very stable political environment. This means that the business environment is free from any political unrest that may disrupt normal business operations within the market. This has created a business environment that is very peaceful to various firms in the country.

The firm also enjoys an economic growth in this region that has increased the purchasing power of the consumers. This increased purchasing power has helped the firm to increase its operations to regions beyond its borders. The emerging technologies have also helped Emirates Airline in its operational strategies. The firm has adapted the emerging technologies in its operations, a fact that has helped it increase it efficiency.

This firm faces a number of threats in its operations. Threats may not be predictable in this industry, though the firm may try to reduce the possibility of occurrence. The first threat that this firm faces is price wars in the market. The strategy of the firm to charge lesser prices for its products, especially to those consumers who have shown resolve to combat environmental degradation may not pass unnoticed by the local firms.

There is a possibility that the competitors may consider this move as a strategy that this firm uses to charge cheap for their products. The impact of this is that the competitor may respond by equally lowering their prices in the market. Such price wars are always dangerous to the prosperity of a business. The initiative may fail to make any serious sense. However, this threat has been minimized by introducing other responsibilities for the project, and the invitation of the whole society to participate.

Emirates Airline also faces the threat from the emerging technologies. The emerging technologies are beneficial to the firm. However, they can pose serious challenge to the firm if the firm fails to select the appropriate technology to apply. Applying a wrong technology may cause serious negative consequences to the firm. Late application of the emerging technologies may also render such a firm less competitive in the market. This firm has been forced to spend a lot of financial resources to sustain the force of emerging technologies.

Step Four – Developing Strategies, Goals, and Objectives

Miller (56) says that it is important for a firm to develop functional strategies that can help it achieve its vision within a competitive environment. Emirates Airline has adopted diversification and partnership strategies. It is important that a firm develops different lines of products that can cushion it in case one of the lines is experiencing a dry spell.

Emirates Airlines stated out as a passenger carrier firm. However, as time went by, this firm realized the importance of diversification of its products. Taking research and development as one of the important aspects of the firm, Emirates Airlines has managed to develop new products to the market, extending its line of production. The firm currently has a series of products targeting various markets. Some of these products include different classes of the planes, the cargo plane and other currier services.

This has enabled this firm to operate as a multi-business firm. This way, it is able to reap maximally from one line in case the other experiences a low season. In its early year, it entered into a joint partnership with Qantas to ensure diversification of its products. This resulted in huge profits, though this partnership is yet to get deep rooting. The following are some of the objectives of this firm.

1. To be the leading airline in the entire region of Middle East and beyond.
2. To increase its market share within this market.
3. To diversify its products in order to bring in new market segments.

Step Five – Completing the Written Plan

Strategic management of projects will only be considered as complete if there is a clear success after implementation. It is important to have a clearly written plan on how this can be achieved within a stipulated timeline. Having a written plan on how to undertake a given strategy within a firm is important.

The management of Emirates Airline should have a clearly defined plan written in a way that is unambiguous. This written plan should stipulate all the activities that are to be carried out within the firm. Having a clearly written plan would not only be vital to the top management of the firm, but also lower cadre employees. The entire group of employees would base their actions on this written plan. It is through this that the plan can be executed based on the vision, mission and objectives of the firm.

Works Cited

Desvaux, Martin. “A Synopsis Of Clive Ponting‘s: A Green History Of The World.” Optimum Population Trust Journal. Vol. 5-10. (October 2005 – April 2010): 45. Web.

Freeman, Edward. Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010. Print.

Grundy, Tony. Strategic Project Management: Creating Organizational Breakthroughs. London: Thomson Learning, 2002. Print.

Kline, John. Ethics for International Business: Decision-Making in a Global Political Economy. New York: Routledge, 2010. Print.

Miller, Roger. The Strategic Management of Large Engineering Projects: Shaping Institutions, Risks, and Governance. Cambridge, Mass: MIT Press, 2000. Print.

Sadler, Philip. Strategic Management. London: Kogan Page Publishers, 2003. Print.Top of Form

Introduction

The research was aiming to look at the impacts that COVID-19 has had on the airline industry, taking the case of Emirates Airlines. The following were the objectives of the research.

1. How COVID-19 has impacted the nature of work among the employees of Emirates Airlines.
2. How the pandemic has influenced the job stability of employees in the airline industry.
3. Whether the employees needed to work remotely or not.
4. How the employees can describe the work from their perspective.
5. To find out whether the workers experienced psychological pressure due to remote work.

Emirates Airlines

Emirates Airlines has become one of the companies, which are proliferating in the contemporary airline industry. It is a state-owned corporation based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates (Emirates, n.d). Since 1985, the company has shown excellence in service provision to customers, thereby receiving over 400 internal awards (Emirates, n.d). It has a large customer base, both nationally and internationally. It is one of the companies that provide service in more than 100 destinations in Europe, the Middle East, the Far East, Africa, Asia, Australia, and North America.

It is a large corporation in the Middle East and it currently operates over 3600 flights in one week from Dubai where its hub is located to the rest of the 6 continents and over 100 destinations (Emirates, n.d). By revenue, it is the second-largest company in the world. It has expanded its operations where it also carried out a mixed fleet of Airbus and Boeing with a number of over 230 aircraft. The vision statement of Emirates Airlines is to “To be the leader in aviation innovation, environment protection as well as the best airline in the world with a global network of coverage thanks to its strict compliance with flight safety, responsibility, reliability, product and service quality, and competitiveness while making travel without borders to change the lives for the better” (HealthTechArena 2020. para. 1). The Emirates airline’s mission is to “deliver the highest standards of service quality to support business in the air transportation industry and to achieve complete customer satisfaction through innovation and refinement of service levels” (HealthTechArena 2020, para. 2).

Most businesses worldwide have suffered from the crisis amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. The airline industry has not been spared from the flaws of this particular pandemic, mainly from reducing the number of passengers (Serrano & Kazda, 2020). This has been due to government regulations to contain the spread of the virus among individuals. Emirates, as a company, has also suffered from the pandemic.

How Data was Collected

To examine the impacts of COVID-19 in the airline industry, data collection was a necessity to achieve the objectives that were set for this particular research. Data was collected using a survey and analyzed according to the responses. Primary data was directly obtained from the employees of Emirates Airlines which was administered online. Survey data questions were contained in the samples where 20 responses were received and analyzed.

Key Results

The following were the key results that were obtained from the survey data.

1. All employees responded that COVID-19 has affected their work’s nature, for example, financial impacts as most people are not traveling.
2. Out of the 20 respondents, it was revealed that 10 (50% of them) agreed that the pandemic has affected their job stability, while other 10 (50%) said that the pandemic has not impacted it.
3. Out of the 20 responses, they all needed to work remotely.
4. Most of the employees ascertained that they work remotely as it saved their time and concluded that this type of work will one day be the future.
5. Out of the 20 responses, 9 employees (45%) revealed that they experienced psychological pressure, while 11 (55%) stated that they did not have the same experience.

Recommendations

1. To increase the number of respondents in the survey.
2. To use other methods of data collection such as interviews for clarification.

Research Plan and Research Questions

1. Identifying and clarifying the topic
2. Formulating the research questions and objectives
3. Identifying the company to study
4. Collecting enough materials for data collection
5. Carrying out the actual study
6. Recording and analyzing data collected in the field.
7. Presenting the data
8. Writing the report of the research.

Research Questions

1. How has COVID-19 affected the nature of your work
2. Has the pandemic influenced your job stability?
3. Did you need to work remotely?
4. How would you describe the field of work from a distance and what is it from a positive aspect?
5. Did you experience psychological pressure due to remote work?

Methodology and Research Process

Data Collection Methods

The data collection method that was used is the survey. This was administered to the participants through an online platform, where they were required to respond to the research questions. There are various reasons for this particular data collection method to be chosen. The first one is that due to the pandemic outbreak, the survey would be most efficient as there have been various directives from the authorities for limiting face-to-face interaction. This would be difficult if interviewing methods were used for collecting data. The other reason for choosing survey data collection is due to the time allocated for this research. The online survey was efficient as the responses are given were recorded as fast as possible because it was system generated, which increased the accuracy of the obtained results. Lastly, some of the respondents were still working, thus an online survey was efficient and worked well. This was to avoid any inconveniences and also to increase the level of confidentiality. No names of the employees were revealed in the survey data collection.

Data Sources

The data sources that were contacted in this research were six which were related to the topic of study. Most of them were contacted through the website of Emirates Airline and other relevant sources that would be useful for the study. This was done before embarking on the research so that it was possible to identify the kind of information needed for the research and the right questions that would assist in collecting data.

How the Research Reliability, Ethics, and Quality has Enhanced

The reliability of the data was enhanced by using the employees of Emirates Airlines. This was to ensure that actual results of the current situation of the company were dealt with in greater insight. Moreover, the survey method ensured that the actual results were obtained, which made it reliable. The names of the employees were not to be included in any case so that confidentiality and ethical concerns were upheld. The quality of the research was enhanced through a comprehensive approach of analyzing data and collection using the survey method.

Variables

Dependent Variables

The dependent variable for this particular research was COVID-19.

Independent Variables

The independent variables for the research were:

1. Nature of work
2. Job stability
3. Psychological well-being

Data Analysis and Results

The data were analyzed through a survey administered to the employees for responses. The key results were as follows:

1. All employees responded that COVID-19 has affected their work’s nature regarding its financial side, as represented in Figure 1 below.
   

   

2. Out of the 20 respondents, it was revealed that 10 (50%) them agreed that the pandemic had affected their job stability, while other 10 (50%) said that the pandemic has not impacted their job stability as shown below
   

   

3. Out of the 20 responses, they all needed work remotely.
   

   

4. Most of the employees ascertained that they work remotely as it saved their time and concluded that remote work will one day be the future of work.
5. Out of the 20 responses, 9 (45%) revealed that they experienced psychological pressure, while 11 (55%) revealed that they did not experience any psychological pressure as shown below

   1. 

Key Findings

From this particular research, it was found that the pandemic affected the nature of work for every employee in Emirates Airline. Moreover, a good number of employees revealed that the pandemic has impacted their job stability. This means that the pandemic affected them negatively and the whole company. Due to the impacts that the pandemic was having on various sectors, all employees agreed that there was a need to work remotely. Furthermore, most of the employees experienced psychological problems while working remotely (Tore, 2020). It can be revealed that generally, the pandemic negatively impacted the general work environment of Emirates Airlines, especially the employees. From the findings, no deviations from the objectives were found.

Hypotheses

• HI: COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted the nature of work in Emirates Airline
• H2: COVID-19 has negatively affected the job stability of employees in Emirates Airline
• H3: Due to the pandemic, most employees had the desire to work remotely.
• H4: COVID-19 caused psychological pressure on employees working remotely.

Causal Model

A one-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) test could be used in analyzing the data collected. Similarly, a simple regression model could be implemented to present the problem. This is because it involves one dependent variable which is the COVID-19 pandemic and psychological issues, work stability, and the nature of work as the independent variables. The correlation in this research could be between COVID-19 and the general work environment in Emirates Airlines. The sampling frame will be the employees of the organization.

Conclusions

This research can be used by Emirates Airlines to improve the work environment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees are still facing issues with the company despite the efforts that have been put in place to ensure that they continue with their work. The research has identified the loopholes within the employment sector, which should be handled with care to improve employee service during a hard time during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, the initial assumptions that were made before this research are correct. COVID-19 generally has affected the nature of work and job stability, and employees in remote environments are facing psychological issues.

Recommendations

In future research, the sample used in the survey should be increased to improve the accuracy of the data. The current research used only 20 responses, which implies that the results may be limited, especially when it comes to accuracy. Another recommendation is that the other methods of data collection are used, for instance, interviewing. This will help in the collection of more data so that analysis can be done as per the findings

Limitations

The advantages of this research are that it helped identify the loopholes that Emirates Airlines should address in remote working. Similarly, it is the first research, meaning that the information can be further duplicated to fit other organizations. On the other hand, the research had various disadvantages, such as a reduction in revenues and laying off of employees. The respondents would be based on the information they give because of little supervision when presenting their responses.

References

Emirates. (n.d). Emirates then and now. Web.

Serrano, F., & Kazda, A. (2020). Business continuity during pandemics–lessons learned about airport personnel. Transportation Research Procedia, 51, 56-66. Web.

Suau-Sanchez, P., Voltes-Dorta, A., & Cugueró-Escofet, N. (2020). An early assessment of the impact of COVID-19 on air transport: Just another crisis or the end of aviation as we know it?Journal of Transport Geography. 1-25. Web.

Tore, O. (2020). President of Emirates outlines the impact of COVID-19 on aviation industry. Web.

Kamel, D. (2020). Emirates taking ‘aggressive’ measures to tackle COVID-19 impact after Annual Profit Surges 21%.Web.

HealthTechArena. (2020). Emirates Airlines mission statement 2019. Web.