A SWOT and PESTEL Analysis of EasyJet

A SWOT and PESTEL Analysis of EasyJet 1. Introduction and History A successful example of a European no frills airline is easyJet. Stelios Haji-Ioannou (Greek) founded the company in 1995. It is based on the low-cost, no-frills model of the US carrier Southwest. The concept of easyJet is based on the belief that demands for short-haul air transport is price elastic. That means, if prices for flights are being reduced, more people will fly. Traditionally airline concepts are based on the assumption that airline traffic grows in line with the economy and that cutting prices will only lead to a decrease in revenues. With the introduction of the no-nonsense concept to the European market, after its deregulation in 1992, easyJet has proven this theory wrong and goes from strength to strength by actually increasing the size of the market and more recently by taking away passengers from the majors (see www.easyjet.com for passenger figures, financial data and employee statistics). Today, it offers 125 routes from 39 European Airports (see www.easyjet.com for route launch dates), with Luton, Liverpool, Geneva, Amsterdam as base airports  [1]  and is operating 72 aircrafts (November 2003). November 1995: easyJet starts flights from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh with to leased Boeing 737-300 with a capacity of 148 seats at a price of  £29 one way. Seats are being sold over telephone reservation system only. In 1996 easyJet takes delivery of its first wholly owned aircraft and goes international with first services to Amsterdam from Luton. One year later easyJet launches its website, easyjet.com which will from 1998 onwards form an integral part of the business concept (and which provides for some 90% of the bookings today  [2]  ). In August 2002 easyJet expands its fleet and routes by acquiring British Airways low-cost subsidiary Go. In October 2002 the airline signs a deal to purchase 120 Airbus, which will facilitate the airlines ongoing growth strategy. Up until now, one of the cornerstones of the easyJets low-cost model has been to operate a single aircraft type fleet which so far has been the Boeing 737 series because uniformity means efficiencies in train ing, maintenance and operating costs. However, easyJets new deal with Airbus is being viewed by the company as stunning as the additional costs, which incur through the new type of aircraft are far outweighed by the financial benefits of this deal. easyJet argues that both Boeing and Airbus aircraft have broadly similar characteristics but that a wider aisle on A319 will make it quicker to embark and disembark, that it has an extra seat on board (150 vs. 149) and that overall the A319 will lower costs by about  10% compared to the current mix of aircraft, which will contribute to lower ticket fares. (See appendix 1 for Stelios Haji-Iannous other easyGroup enterprises). 2. The Mission Statement of easyJet To provide our customers with safe, good value, point-to-point air services. To effect and to offer a consistent and reliable product and fares appealing to leisure and business markets on a range of European routes. To achieve this will develop our people and establish lasting relationship (see www.easyjet.com) The basis of an organisations mission statement should answer the question What business is the company in? easyJet is doing this by stating that it provides point-to-point air services to its customers. That clearly underlines that easyJet is not in the people or food business, neither in the service business as such, but in the mass-transportation business, and as such its model is based on cost efficiency of the mass-transportation business. Moreover, it reflects several decisions about what kind of air service easyJet wants to provide. Evidently, its focus is on European routes, targeting business and leisure travellers alike. Furthermore, it aims to offer safe, good value transportation. easyJets mission statement also gives information on the How to get there? by putting emphasis on its people and suppliers. What is missing from the statement is the importance of the customers point of view, which could be expressed by saying, for instance, we want to be recognised asà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦.. Also, as the mission statement is the bedrock for the marketing plan it should be more quantifiable, as to how much market share easyJet aims to gain in the future, for example. 3. Competitive Analysis In order to analyse the airline industry in detail, it is useful to apply Porters five competitive forces. The threat of substitutes Minimal threat from other modes of transport like train and car on domestic routes. Usually the time and cost advantage of the low-cost carriers far outweigh the increased comfort and flexibility of trains or cars (e.g. on the route Luton/London to Glasgow a train takes around 6 hours and costs around  £80 while a easyJet plane takes just one hour and costs around  £29). On international routes distances are usually too great for car or train to be an alternative to air travel, expect maybe from London to Paris, which can be reached by Euro Star. The threat of new entrants High capital requirements negate threat to some extent. easyJet was started with a loan of  £5 million, with 2 leased aircraft, but required a  £50million investment raised by debt and equity in year two to speed expansion and buy 4 new planes. The UK low-cost market is quite mature in comparison to the rest of Europe and easyJet, as the biggest operator has quite a comfortable position. However, expansion into new European markets might prove more difficult as established; cash strong holiday firms like TUI are setting up their own low-cost operations (see information about Hapag Lloyd Express, www.hlx.com) Lack of take-off and landing slots makes it difficult for new carriers to find suitable airports. Loss leader is required in order to join the low cost market. The power of suppliers The price of aviation fuel is directly related to the cost of oil, as an individual company easyJet does not have the power to alter this. Airplane manufacturers are concentrated in the industry, with Boeing and Airbus providing the majority of commercial planes and with easyJet operating one type of aircraft until recently. easyJets deal with airbus however shows that favourable agreements can still be reached. The dependence on spare parts from one manufacturer could pose a risk. The more easyJet expands the more power it will posses over its suppliers The power of buyers Buyer power within the airline industry and especially the low-cost market is relatively strong, as customers will often shop around for the better price, particularly with the dependence that the low cost airline has on Internet sales. Price discrepancies can be easily found and exploited by the consumer, meaning that the operator must keep a regular check on prices. Need for customer loyalty because of low switching costs Customers have the Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) on their side which provides: 1. protection against the consequence of travel organiser failure for people who buy package holidays, charter flights and discounted scheduled air tickets; and 2. licenses airlines and ensures compliance with requirements of European and UK legislation relating to financial resources, liability and insurance of airlines.  [3]   Rivalry among existing firms Ryan air, BMIbaby, MyTravelLite and Buzz are major competitors of easyJet in the UK. Virgin Express, Hapag Lloyd Express, Germanwings and Air Berlin already are or might become competitors in the light of future expansion plans. Ryanair is the only one of these so far to have succeeded and shown a continuous yearly profit (see appendix 2 for financial data). A growing number of tour operators (like Thomas Cook and TUI) are selling air only scheduled seats to reduced prices  [4]  . British Airways and other traditional carriers out of the UK are competitors as well but on a lower scale as they target different market segments (see appendix 3 for more detail). 4. Marketing Mix Price Low price is a key element of the brand. Uses differential pricing; off-peak travelling and booking in advance makes a ticket less expensive. Discounts for tickets booked online. Product no-frills, point-to-point air services also car hire on its website (use of the Internet for bundling products) and links to other easyGroup websites (see appendix 1 for other easyGroup enterprises). Place/distribution Internet booking system (over 90% of bookings). Telephone reservation system. Promotion Highlights its number one position among Europes low-cost airlines (advertising strap line: Size matters!, slogan: the webs favourite airline) Advocates internal marketing, creative work done in-house. No Bullshit approach (Stelios), humorous, attention-catching campaigns (e.g. the giving away of free tickets on Gos inaugural flight and Stelios protesting in a orange boiler suit against an increase of airport fees at Luton in a branch of Barclays bank which owns the airport). 5. SWOT Analysis 5.1. Internal Analysis Strengths Image, differentiation on price and brand. Is financially successful. Is being seen as an innovative and flexible organisation. Has a strong e-business. Is part of the consortium that has been awarded to run UKs air traffic control system (NATS). Weaknesses Has no customer retention policy Has little or no scope outside of Europe. Lack of service, flexibility and business focus (such as frequent flyer programmes e.g.) make the low-cost model unappealing for most business travellers. The two drivers of growth, the focus on price and the focus on convenience (frequent flights, few connections, more nearby airports e.g.) are reaching their natural limits. Differentiation from there remains to be difficult. easyJets own success makes it difficult to recruit and train staff quickly enough. 5.2 External Analysis Opportunities Experts predict great potential for future growth in the next years (see appendix 4). The current recession is favourable as people and businesses are more cost-conscious. More full-service airlines may withdraw from the regional market to focus on more profitable long-haul routes leaving the market to the low-cost operators. The short-breaks market, an important market for easyJet grows more rapidly than the UK travel market as a whole  [5]  . Reduced aircraft prices Threats Difficulties to expand as viable new routes from London are scarce. Competition is likely to intensify, given the saturated market and the shortage of other options  [6]  . Increased competition is likely to lead to greater difficulties in demanding incentives from communities, like the very low fees easyJet received at Luton  [7]  . Companies cut on business travel in times of economic downturn and because of new time-consuming security measures travel substitutes like videoconferencing are introduced  [8]  . 6. Situational Analysis easyJet seems to be positioned very well with experts predicting excellent growth opportunities for the low cost-sector. Given the saturated market and the shortage of other options in the UK, competition is likely to intensify inevitably followed by consolidation, an early sign of which is easyJets purchase of GO. The UK market offers little growth opportunity, therefore concentration will be on the continental market, a step forward in this direction is setting up a major new base at Berlin, with flights from 11 European cities  [9]  , and possibly as well on Eastern Europe. Focus remains on pricing Strategy and expansion of its route network. Promotion needs to persuade people that it is safe to fly and establish easyJet as Europes largest low-cost carrier (as easyJet is already doing in its advertisement: Size matters!) 7. PEST Analysis Marketing Plan PEST analysis for easyJet for the next 5 years The following factors are likely to have an influence on the airline industry and should therefore be taken into account when formulating a Marketing Plan for easyJet. Politico-legal factors Threat of war in the Middle East The Air Miles scheme is not considered as a taxable perk by the government in the way that company cars are taxed which may change to allow easyJet to compete on more equal grounds with the likes of BA. A EU east-enlargement may provide access to viable, new markets. Economic factors Likelihood of increasing fuel costs, congestion and other environmental restrictions, as well as the prospect of higher security and insurance costs to reflect the risk of terrorism. As the recession is likely to last for some more time, business travellers will keep an eye on their travel expenses. Globalisation should continue to boost traffic in the long-term. The introduction of the single currency in Europe is likely to bring more business to easyJet as Europe becomes more integrated. Socio-cultural factors To win over the French and German publics might cause problems as there appears still to be a general reluctance to use credit cards over the phone and Internet  [10]  . The public are general quite friendly to the prospect of cheap flights. However they may feel begrudged where they see promotions found in newspapers where flight are for  £10 only to find that the actual cost is much higher for the particular time or day they wish to fly on. Technological factors A key issue will be the extent to which technological advancements such as the use of the Internet on distribution and cost synergies from industry consolidation can offset upward pressures on prices and costs. easyJet has to keep track of technological developments in the field of e-commerce and aircraft manufacture in order to gain a competitive advantage. 8. Conclusion 8.1 Strategic issues facing the airline industry The face of aviation is gradually evolving. The long-standing problems of the industry in the form of large numbers of network carriers and substantial over-capacity in many markets were exacerbated by the events of September 11th (see appendix 5 for a post-Sept. 11th overview). This is likely to pave the way for some acceleration in the process of airline restructuring and consolidation. Experts believe that there is not room for the current multitude of carriers in Europe, and that these will eventually be whittled down to three or four major airlines, with the others absorbed or restructured to focus more on regional traffic. This also represents an opportunity for no-frills carriers to increase their market share. Along with this, some restructuring of the industrys complex and outdated regulatory system will be required. In the longer term, trend growth may itself slow gradually as the big air travel markets mature. In addition, falling yields, which have boosted air travel growth in the past, cannot be relied upon to persist, at least at the rate they have for the past decade or so. If cost trends are less favourable for example because of increasing fuel costs, congestion and other environmental restrictions, as well as the prospect of higher security and insurance costs to reflect the risks of terrorism the scope for lower yields would be less, and this might reduce future growth trends. A key issue will be the extent to which favourable cost trends such as the impact of the Internet on distribution costs and cost synergies from industry consolidation can offset these upward pressures on prices and costs. The full-service airlines, saddled with big networks and strongly unionised workforces, cannot easily embrace the management strategies of the no-frills airlines. Moreover, their scope for de fensive mergers is limited by competition policy. The ability of international airlines to expand is limited by ownership restrictions (In the US foreigners cannot own more than 25% of a national airline, in the EU the restriction is 49%  [11]  ). The no-frills market within Europe is immature relative to that of the US. The sector accounts for only around 5% of all intra European capacity, though the share is much higher in the UK domestic market and on services between the UK and Europe, closer to 20%. Further strong growth is expected over the next 2-3 years as new operations start up, and new destinations are added to the existing carriers networks. However as the UK market becomes saturated, these carriers are likely to focus their development at continental European hubs. The experience of the US market suggests that deregulation will be followed by industry consolidation. So far there has been limited progress in this direction but many are viewing the current crisis as the catalyst necessary to completely restructure the European airline industry . In the US the industry has consolidated into seven major carriers, which carry over 80% of passenger traffic of US airlines. Europe is far more fragmented with the equivalent figure for the seven European majors at only 47%  [12]  . 8.2 easyJets Future easyJet has to consider whether it should respond to new entrants by ceding niche-segments or by competing aggressively on price, routes and service in an attempt to drive the entrant out of the market. To make the strategic decision market research on the size of different combinations of pricing and service is needed. easyJet also needs to know how much it costs the competitor to serve, and how much capacity the competitor has for, every route in question. Finally, the new entrants competitive objectives are of relevance to anticipate how it would respond to any strategic moves easyJet might make. By obtaining these information residual uncertainty would be limited, and the incumbent airline would be able to build a confident business case around its strategy  [13]  . It is advisable that easyJet targets mainly leisure travellers as business often demand frequent flights to a wide range of destinations, seek quality service and frequent flyer programmes, and are willing to pay a premium for these benefits. Also, trying to appeal to widely different customer needs runs counter to the overall trend in service industries, in which distinctive approaches, tailored to different customers, have generally come to dominate  [14]  . No real opportunity offers the long-haul business as it is very different, both technically and in customer needs, to short-haul travel. easyJet should continue to focus on price and attempt to connect the dots in its network, which cost less than opening new cities. Thereby, it needs to make sure that a growth in its network and fleet does not lead to higher operating costs. It should also consider putting more emphasis on direct marketing by e.g. introducing a customer retention scheme. To differentiate its brand further on promotional lines, easyJet could introduce a CRM (cause related marketing) scheme, developing a reputation for being a caring airline, e.g. by selling shares in forest help programmes over its website, collect ing foreign currency on flights for charity etc., thereby giving its passengers a sense of psychological comfort and well-being  [15]  when they choose to fly with easyJet. Overall, easyJet has to develop a realistic and accurate assessment of the market-niche to be served. A relentless commitment to quality service and cost control is as important as the discipline to establish a growth plan (see www.easyJet.com for easyJet product life cycle and marketing strategy). (Word count 3,144) Appendices Appendix 1 Under the easy brand Stelios Haji-Iannou has furthermore established and Internet car rental service (easyRentacar), a chain of Internet cafes (easyEverything), a financial services site (easyMoney), a portal site for bargains on the net (easyValue) and a free e-mail service (easy.com). In all his ventures he is using yield management to extract the ideal margin from each customer  [16]  and keep costs down. Furthermore, yield management can help to better use price in the marketing mix to best reach the most customers  [17]  . However, there are no cross-shareholdings between easyJet and these other easyGroup companies. easyJey operates independently from the other companies although some cross-marketing agreements do exist. Also, results of the non-airline businesses have been mixed as they have lost  £75m in three years  [18]  . Appendix 2 Profit for Ryanair April September 2002 Year-on-year increase 151m à ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¡Ã‚ ¬ ( £96m) 71% Source: Tran, M. (2002)  [19]   See http://www.ryanair.com/download/morganjune.pdf for actual data. Appendix 3 Compare Airline Traffic Data (Europe) Air Transport World http://www.atwonline.com/Pdf/worldairlinereport_2002.pdf Appendix 4 The airline market is currently being re-shaped by the expansion of existing low-cost airlines. It has been estimated that they will expand their European market share from 5% to 25% by 2010, establishing themselves on a long-term basis. (Source: International Travel News (2003), available on http://www.internettravelnews.com/article/20223 Friday, 28th November 2003) Low-cost airlines are gearing up to take large chunks out of their rivals. In a decade, low-cost airlines may be the dominant form of air travel in Europe. à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦. In Europe, no-frills travel accounts for only 5% of European air travel, but it is likely to grow to claim a 12-15% share in the next decade. (Source: BBC News (2002), available on http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/2038192.stm; Friday, 28th November 2003)

Biguine French Movie Review

Title-Biguine Director- Jacques Boumedil Year- 2005 Type- Drama Main actors: Micheline Mona and Max Telephe 1) The main characters granddaughter narrates the story over the radio. Hermansia and Tiquitaque travel to St-Pierre with a group of other plantation workers looking for a new life and they come to a cliff and see the volcano and the harbor. They walk around the city amazed by urban the atmosphere. They are particularly interested in the jewelry and other material goods that are sold in the city center. 2) Hermansia – Hermansia is a black plantation worker who moves to St-Pierre to pursue her passion to be a singer.At first she is reluctant to embrace the city but eventually her music becomes popular and up lifts her community. Her lyrics capture her desire to live life to the fullest and rise up from the oppression the black community faces from that French and Europeans on the island. Tiquitaque- Tiquitaque is Hermansia’s husband and is also a musician. He is ex cited to be in a new city but disappointed that wealthy individuals will not hire him and his wife to perform at their social functions. The upper class does not like the rural black music that the two play, especially the drums which were popular among the slaves in the plantations.However, Tiquitaqu learns to play the clarinet and develops his own style of music that is popular among the upper class and lower class alike. The Creole music is high tempo and inspires movement and dance. 3) The film takes place in St-Pierre, Martinique. 4) At first Hermansia and Tiquitaque are not successful as musicians so Hermansia works as a maid and Tiquitaque works on the docks. Hermansia buys Tiquitaque a clarinet and he develops his own style of music and is hired play at parties. At these parties he normally would play the waltz and polka and other European style music.Tiquitaque starts to play a style of Creole on his clarinet that inspires people around the town and unites their communities . Their Creole music, he and his wife perform at cabarets, which symbolizes freedom for the repressed lower class people. People start to enjoy the music and whites and blacks come together to dance. Their music becomes extremely popular in the city. At the end of the movie, the volcano next to the city erupts and symbolizes the new culture that is developing in Martinique in the ninetieth century. 5) Overall, I did not enjoy this film because the plot was not well developed and the movie didn’t have any action.The majority of the movie was listening to the couple sing. Although, the music was beautiful the movie did not have much substance. Therefore, I would not recommend this movie to anyone. 6) I learned a lot about Martinique’s culture while watching this movie. I saw many landmarks in the city of St-Pierre including the volcano. I also listened to Creole music for the first time and I enjoyed its upbeat rhythm. Additionally, Martinique was French colony in the ni netieth century and its main export was sugar. Thus, many slaves where brought from Africa to work on the plantations, which resulted in a large black community on the island.

Case Study of a Cross-Cultural Organization

Organizational Behavior Final: Clayton J. Ollarvia [email  protected] com Organizational Behavior October 4, 2012 Looking into Nestle S. A and its disconnect with Cross-cultural communication and decisions Nestle SA is a Swiss Company engaged in the nutrition, health and wellness sectors. It is the holding company of the Nestle Group, which comprises subsidiaries, associated companies and joint ventures throughout the world. It has such business units as Food and Beverage, Nestle Waters and Nestle Nutrition. It is also active in the pharmaceutical sector.It divides its products into Powdered and liquid beverages, Water, Milk products and Ice cream, Nutrition, Prepared dishes and cooking aids, Confectionery, PetCare and Pharmaceutical products. The Nestle Group is managed by geographies (Zones Europe, Americas and Asia/Oceania/Africa) for most of the food and beverage  business, with the exceptions of Nestle Waters, Nestle Nutrition, Nestle Purina Petcare, Nespresso, Nestle Profes sional and Nestle Health Science which are managed on a global basis – these we call the Globally Managed Businesses. We also have joint ventures such as Cereal Partners Worldwide and Beverage Partners Worldwide.In regards to the operations elsewhere, Nestle USA caters to cravings on this side-of-the-Atlantic, from a child's sweet tooth to a grown-up's caffeine fix. The company is a major subsidiary of Swiss food  giant  Nestle S. A. Nestle USA  produces hundreds of well-known food brands, including frozen pizza (Tombstone, DiGiorno), chocolate and candies (Baby Ruth, Goobers), beverages (Nestea, Taster's Choice,  Nesquick), juices (Juicy Juice), canned milk (Carnation), ice cream (Edy's, Haagan-Dazs), baking goods (Nestle Toll House, Libby's), and prepared  meals (Stouffer's, Lean Cuisine). http://www. hoovers. com/company/Nestl%E9_USA_Inc/cysfyi-1. html Specifically where I see Nestle could benefit from understanding some of the Organizational Behavior practices i s in the realm of (cross-cultural) decision making and in Personality Traits. Nestle needs to recognize how to make decisions based upon more than just sales goals. A common definition of  decision-making  is the process of choosing a course of action for dealing with a problem or an opportunity. Schermerhorn, John R. (11/2011).Organizational Behavior, 12th Edition [1] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved from http://online. vitalsource. com/books/9781118426319/id/L9-1-1 One of the biggest problems with Nestle is that it is indeed a global company. A majority of the Presidents and Vice-Presidents and senior staff all reside in Switzerland and travel inconsistently to other countries and regions. This traveling issue makes it hard for management to be able to effectively know how to 1. Communicate with others in other countries and 2. Understand the differences in cultural mores from country to country.Moreover things that affect the economy in the Eastern countries does not effect the west. However, more than likely they expect things to work in similar if not the same ways from culture to culture and economy to economy. What this problem lends itself to is a lack of cross cultural management and ability to understand the proper ways to address other cultures. Although those of the Swiss culture tend to be very manner-able and well liked, often times we would find them somewhat unrelenting and slightly rude on conference calls and communications.A large faction of what I saw was miscues from managers not being able to communicate across different ethnic and cultural lines. This was even more evident with regional managers having to disseminate information to retail operations across the border and into other geographies. After going through all of our upcoming TCO’s I would like to investigate how given an understanding of the communication process and given specific incidents of cross-cultural communication problems, I plan to develop a strategy for improving organizational performance through the improvement of cross cultural management process. Nestle should first look at adopting a very extensive guide to cross cultural awareness * All managers should be privy to cross cultural communication programs to ensure compliance with cultural guidelines At the beginning of every cross-cultural management process is an encounter between two or more members of different cultures. In this encounter both participants communicate, watch, and react to  each other’s behavior. This behavior and communication is often not interpreted in the correct way, but according to the cultural program of the observer.Because it is dif? cult to understand the other’s thinking, interpretation is often wrong and does not allow insights into the attitudes and values of  the communicators or interactions. Culture can best be described through three main concepts: values, attitudes, and behavior. All three signify culture and allow us to di fferentiate from other cultures. A survey of current literature consistently indicates that the contemporary business context is globally interdependent and interconnected.It further demonstrates that corporate leaders should provide opportunities for their managers in international assignments to learn cross-cultural business etiquette in order that they will excel in their interpersonal relationship overseas. (Sizoo, 2007, p. 84) Being that Nestle has so many plants, locations and does business in over 100 countries worldwide, one could argue that it would be essential to have multi cultural norms and ethics guidelines. Throughout my tenure, the main focus of the organization was to produce sales based upon projections from Head Quarters.This can be problematic seeing as expectations for sales is not weighted based upon the social economy. Cross-cultural misunderstandings often have some seemingly deep roots. Even if we speak with people in English and communicate directly what we intend to say, the message comes across differently than anticipated. Recognizing the need for a Nestle cultural program would be a dif? cult task. Most people are born and bred in a very particular cultural environment, they can only perceive and understand the world, their deeds, and counterparts’ reactions through their very own cultural perspective.This perspective is a strong ? lter through which most people understand, interpret, and process information in a particular way. And in most cases, these same people do not recognize this ? lter. Our own culture and way of doing business seems sovereignly logical and â€Å"normal† that we can hardly think of a better or different way of doing things and managing in ? rms. I would argue that this view is also true for managers who grew up on the other side of the world; they have their own (very logical and often very successful) ideas about how to do business.A good portion of cross cultural misunderstandings come from how people think and feel about other cultures, which I would argue is made up generally of stereotypes. Stereotypes are generalisations help us to simplify, classify and in general attempt to make sense of the world. They occur when we infer qualities about a person based on evidence of a single characteristic. For example, we may assume that because someone is Hindu that they work in the IT department. This assumption is likely to be based on our previous experience of people with Hindu people or from information we have gathered from the media or other people.The problem is of course that stereotypes do not always apply. It is certainly not the case that all Hindu people work in information technology. We are most likely to hold stereotypes about groups of people who we do not perceive to be like us and of whom we have limited experience. It is essential for a company the size and with as much reach as Nestle to be able to understand the negative aspects of both behaviors of cro ss-cultural misunderstandings and avoid stereotypes and learn how to cross-culturally manage both organizationally and or on the institutional level.I would argue that this means having enough awareness of both their host culture and their home culture to be able to make correct managerial decisions regarding its organization’s work force, its commercial markets, the community in which it operates, and the country, which is its host. A good example of Nestle’s non-understanding of cross cultural awareness is the all but forgotten Nestle Infant Nutrition scandal of the 1970’s. Here Nestle sent several of its work-force into third world countries in order to push their infant nutrition.Now at the time the formula was doing well in countless other countries and was practically flying off the shelves. However, one of the KEY necessities for the formula was for it to be added to water. Being that at the time no one in Switzerland chose to know enough about these thir d world locations to see that the water that they had access to was wildly polluted and all but poisonous to small children. If Nestle had taken steps in preparing managers for multinational assignments, they would have been abreast of cultural sensitivity, understanding the importance of maintaining business relationships, and impression management.They should be informed about the complexities in international cultures and human resources management The way people communicate varies widely between, and even within, cultures. One aspect of communication style is language usage. Across cultures, some words and phrases are used in different ways. For example, even in countries that share the English language, the meaning of â€Å"yes† varies from â€Å"maybe, I'll consider it† to â€Å"definitely so,† with many shades in between. (http://www. pbs. org/ampu/crosscult. html) This theory alone is what makes having a viable and understandable guidelines for multi-cul tural communication.We will admit that the difficulty in crafting such a document would be not only time consuming but also, extremely tiring as in order to create such guidelines one would have to familiarize themselves with hundreds of different cultures at any given time, however I would argue that a successful guidelines would not just solely be based on the specific interactions of each country but instead be focused on a general understanding of how managers and ALL employees should seek to treat each other across local, national and especially international lines.The critical process of making decisions, reaching mutual agreements, and building consensus has taken a new dimension because of differences in business etiquette and ethical practices. Cross-cultural awareness skills and interpersonal negotiation competence are a pre-requisite to effective management of a multination workforce. (Okoro, 2012, p. 132) Cross-cultural awareness encourages the recognition of cultural di fferences while also noting similarities through which communication, understanding and relationships can be forged. The following points reflect the value of gaining a stronger sense of cross-cultural awareness:Reduces misunderstandings and enhances trust †¢ Understanding and trust can be deepened when each government is more aware of how its and the other government’s cultural background influence their perceptions, values and decisions. Aids in planning, setting goals and problem solving †¢ Each organization can plan and problem solve more effectively as they will be more attentive to what is important to them and the other party Communication, though variously defined, generally describes a process by which information is exchanged among two or more people in a given context.Ultimately, this process of exchanging information is bound by a purpose: that is, to reduce uncertainty and develop a common understanding among the participants (Kawar, 2012). Cross Cultur al communication is another area that I believe Nestle could greatly benefit from on a global scale. Not all too dissimilar to that of awareness communication allows you to take what you know via that of awareness and be able to translate those things into how you speak and interact with you clients worldwide.Success or failure in managing a diverse or multicultural workforce largely depends on the ability of managers to communicate effectively with people from different backgrounds and nationalities. International business is the outgrowth of globalization, which is driven primarily by economic interdependency and advances in technology, but the success in global business ventures will be affected by the inability of international managers to understand appropriate business etiquette, customs, and values needed to conduct business among nations of the world. (Okoro, 2012, p. 132)Okoro assesses that management and communication scholars have consistently argued that the success of m anagers on international assignments depends largely on effective cross-cultural communication. Because of its importance, a number of high-growth organizations competing globally make a conscious effort to hire multi-lingual people from varied cultural backgrounds and nationalities. Here in particular is a place of great opportunity for Nestle to grow fundamentally. Having a manager in play that is already familiar with the customs and languages of the area is vitally important to the success and overall outcome of the business.Now the issue comes into play is that while Nestle does have staff all around the world in numerous countries that are indigenous to those specific areas, they still have a strong expectation and in some ways an imposing will on those people. How does that affect the communication process? Well If in any given country it is impolite to wags one finger as they speck yet that practice is customary in Switzerland, that in and about itself makes for very difficu lt deliberations. Cross- cultural communications problems may occur if all individuals within a team do not use the same language, nor norms.In these situations, for ease of communication, the team often chooses a common language that they can use for group communications. Communication differences between individuals can occur on several different levels but for the sake of consistency I will use the finger example I used in the previous paragraph: Gestures form a significant part of methods of communication. However, there are few if any universal gestures. Non-verbal behaviours or ‘body language' vary considerably from one culture to another.For example, a high level of eye contact is considered a sign of attentiveness in some cultures and a sign of rudeness in others. In some cultures individuals are encouraged to express their emotions openly, while in others openly demonstrating feelings is discouraged. These differences in body language can lead to misunderstandings bet ween people of different cultural backgrounds. Norms are culturally defined rules for determining acceptable and appropriate behavior (Okoro) They include those that govern social situations and conversational routines such as greetings, making requests, and expressing various emotions.In intercultural communication interlocutors may be tempted to transfer their cultural norms to contexts that are not appropriate In conjunction with this Sizoo states that, while some organizations recognize the importance of international business, training and development programs often deal inadequately with the potential conflicts that result from cross-cultural interactions. Too often this training addresses only the cognitive level–focusing on the dos and don’ts. When managers pursue careers in international business they must prepare for a life in a foreign cognitive, affective, and behavior context.That preparation must include learning cross-cultural considerations intellectual ly, emotionally, and experientially. I believe that Sizoo’s outline for effective communication training is as outlined. I. Cross Cultural Interview II. Handling a Cross Cultural Event With Cross Cultural interviews the gist of it is each participant interviews one foreigner who is from a culture different from his or her own, and whom he or she has never met before. This exercise provides experience and builds skills at the first two levels of cross-cultural management, self and interpersonal.This orientation into cultural norms will help management better decipher different cultures and how to break the ice. I have seen the contrary of this especially within Nestle in the early stages of my career. In two distinctly different interactions with management I was told, once that my manager had never worked with an African American man and that he needed to adjust how he communicated since there may be a barrier between us. In a different interaction another manager, while spea king with an Asian coworker said hey I love Chinese food, can you make any by yourself.Having to initiate and manage an interaction with foreign stranger addresses the emotional challenges of developing cross-cultural expertise. With handling cross-cultural events Sizoo states that, each cultural incident describes a realistic cross-cultural misunderstanding, four plausible explanations for the misunderstanding, and an evaluation of each explanation. In this activity trainees discuss and demonstrate the cross-cultural incidents. The emphasis is on having participants project themselves into the scenario so they â€Å"experience† the cultural conflict motionally as well as intellectually. This type of training could be paramount in helping managers overcome communication problems that may arise while dealing with a cross-cultural organization. I use the example of the formula debacle once again here. I would argue that although no one could have readily predicted that such a t ragedy would have occurred, if managers were trained on how to defuse problems culturally then I would argue that the explosion of public opinion would not have happened.Being amply prepared to deal with cultures is one of the key fundamental necessities of any successful business. Now while Nestle was able to eventually recover if people had been trained in this process a bit earlier than, again perhaps things would not have escalated to the points that they did. Through this process managers would learn how to accept the virtual inevitability of making some cross-cultural errors, but not to accept repeating the errors. They would also learn that errors in appropriate behavior are far worse than mere inability to speak the host country language.The participants further learn to strategically recover in such situations and soon afterwards seek out explanation of their cross-cultural error from a member of the host culture. The key take away with this exercise is that management lear ns how to develop and over time eventually master communicating cross-culturally in hostile environments. Within the cross-cultural news portion of the exercise, managers would be required to find a newspaper or magazine article that describes an American work organization adapting, or having difficulty in adapting, to the culture of a foreign country.Participants present an analysis of the cross-cultural differences to the group as a whole and explain why the American organization was successful or unsuccessful in resolving its cross-cultural differences. This allows for managers to get firsthand experience of a similar company to Nestle (ideally) and analyze some of the struggles that they are currently experiencing. This first hand ensures that managers will be able to not only potentially defuse similar situations in the future but even potentially understand the communication process in order to better facilitate a smoother transition to other cultures.In cross-cultural communi cation, anxiety and uncertainty are heightened by cultural variability. If the differences between cultures are profound, anxiety and uncertainty would increase when members of the different cultural groups engage in cross-cultural communication. In the same way that theories such as The Theory of Communicative Competence (as described by T. A. McCarthy) suggests that cross-cultural norms practices etc should be taught in schools, is the same was one could argue that cross-cultural communication should be taught by all those organizations, similar to Nestle that have offices all other across the globe.With both of these initiatives I would think that Nestle would be able to propel itself by leaps and bounds over cross-cultural boundaries. And yes to be honest Nestle has moved to rectify SOME of the issues outlined in this expose, however again I do believe that there does still exist some behavior and speech that is not conducive to the cross-cultural atmosphere. 1. Schermerhorn, Jo hn R. (11/2011). Organizational Behavior, 12th Edition [1] (VitalSource Bookshelf), Retrieved from http://online. vitalsource. com/books/9781118426319 2. Sizoo, S. , Serrie, H. & Shapero, M. (2007). Revisiting a Theory-Supported Approach to Teaching Cross-Cultural Management Skills. Journal Of Teaching In International Business,18(2/3), 83-99. doi:10. 1300/J066v18n02_0 3. Okoro, E. (2012). Cross-Cultural Etiquette and Communication in Global Business: Toward a Strategic Framework for Managing Corporate Expansion. International Journal Of Business & Management,  7(16), 130-138. doi:10. 5539/ijbm. v7n16p130 4. Kawar, T. (2012). Cross-cultural Differences in Management. International Journal Of Business & Social Science,  3(6), 105-111.

Critical Analysis of Police Powers on Search, Arrest and Detention - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 7 Words: 1964 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Law Essay Type Critical essay Level High school Did you like this example? Police Powers: A Critical Analysis of Police Powers on Search, Arrest and Detention Aims and Objectives This proposed dissertation has a number of key aims it intends to meet. These can be expressed as follows: 1. To provide an overall perspective of the role of policing in the community; 2. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Critical Analysis of Police Powers on Search, Arrest and Detention" essay for you Create order To demonstrate the historical development of the nature of policing, due to changes in social circumstances; 3. To address any key differences between public and ‘private forms of policing (e.g. security, private investigation etc); 4. To assess the current powers of police in relation to search, arrest and detention, and highlight the differences with historical times; and 5. To assess the governance of police, with particular reference to internal resolution and discipline procedures. Feasibility This proposal requires no data collection or fieldwork, and is virtually entirely theory based. By minimising the extraneous fieldwork requirements, it allows this dissertation to focus mainly on the underlying theory and social policy behind policing, allowing for an adequate analysis of the benefits and consequences of increased police powers in the modern context. There may be some critique of internal police processes, such as dispute and conflict resolution and discipline, which may require some liaison with police officials; however it does not require the same depth and preparation as a large-scale data collection, saving time and resources. Rationale The role of policing is ever changing and expanding. Throughout history, the concept of policing has had to adapt to respond to a number of challenges that have faced society. From the industrial revolution, through to both world wars and now the apparent growing threat of terrorism, policing has changed and grown to equip itself to deal with a number of new circumstances. Perhaps most notably since the attacks of September 11 on New York City, the threat of terrorism has never appeared so real. As a consequence, many national governments, including the United States, United Kingdom and Australia (among others) have amended the powers of police in an attempt to deal with terrorism and terrorist groups. The primary purpose of this proposed dissertation is to consider the general idea of policing (as highlighted throughout historical development), and also determine whether these increases in the powers of police represent a proportionate and measured response to the threat of terror ism and 21st century society, or whether it is simply an overreaction by lawmakers and police groups. Research Points 1. The nature and function of policing The primary purpose of this chapter is to provide a broad overview of the general theories behind policing, such as the prevention of crime and enhancement of public safety. The main points of interest in this area will be the role of police in the State and legal system, as well as the pluralisation of the police forces. Another area for explanation by this chapter will be the relationship between the police and other aspects of policing, such as forensic investigation and the court system, for example. By illustrating this, the audience will be ‘read into the idea behind policing, rather than simply limiting policing to the simple concept of arresting those who break the law, and thus deterrence will also be a point worthy of highlighting. 2. The historical development of policing This chapter will be largely theory based, presenting a number of views and opinions on the development of policing over time. Of particular interes t here will be the differences in opinion between historical theory and that present in modern times. This will prepare the audience for the debate that this dissertation intends on contributing to: the idea of over-extending police powers, creating a disproportionate response to modern day issues. The idea of this chapter is to highlight key events in history that have seen the development of police, and measure the police response to these events. This will allow for a comparison with modern day ideas and objectives. 3. Police work, and the impact of police organisations There are a number of key issues that this chapter will seek to address, however it is primarily concerned with identifying the real perception of police work, rather than relying on any possibly fabricated reports from tabloids and other media. Particularly, this chapter will attempt to identify the possible existence of elements of discrimination arising from the reliance upon police discretion in carrying out police work. This is an issue that has received notorious media coverage, highlighted especially by the Rodney King incident and consequent Los Angeles riots in the United States in 1992, as a result of the officers acquittal in a state court. Another area of interest will be the measurement of effectiveness (i.e. how does one measure when policing is effective?). 4. The characteristics and dynamics of police organisations As with any workplace, there are certain policies and procedures in place to ensure that the environment is both manageable and productive. The main rationale of this chapter will be to highlight these policies that are in place in many of the popular police forces, and also to assess whether they sufficiently address issues such as discipline and reporting lines, for example. The most important aspects of this chapter will be the management structures in place to run the force, as well as any issues relating to personnel (eg. Recruitment, training etc) . Additionally, the informal nature of management will also be important; to determine if convention and custom play any significant role in the way police work is carried out. This chapter may require first-hand research from police bureaus, which will most probably be conducted by way of interview with a senior official or similar. 5. Specialist areas of policing This chapter will highlight other areas of policing, such as criminal investigation processes, and the control of public order in particular circumstances (eg. Riots, major events etc). This will give an indication of the more specialised roles that police play in modern society, and the need for more focused policy rather than broad ideals. 6. The relationship between State and ‘private policing The intention of this chapter is to raise the question of private security and other measures that do not rely on public policy. The main question is where does state responsibility end and private responsibilit y begin? 7. The legal powers of the police This is perhaps one of the most important chapters of the dissertation. It will focus primarily on the sources of law for police powers, particularly in the United Kingdom jurisdiction. Primarily, this source is from legislation, and is found in relevant sections of the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984; however certain aspects are also covered at common law. Furthermore, other legislation should also be assessed, such as the Mental Health Act 1983, Road Traffic Act 1988, Misuse of Drugs Act 1971, Aviation Security Act 1982, Criminal Law Acts 1966 and 1967, Terrorism Act 2000, Public Order Act 1936 and 1986, Firearms Act 1968, Police Acts 1996 and 1997, Criminal Justice and Public Order Act 1994, Customs and Excise Management Act 1979; as well as cases such as Moss v McLachlan (1980), Donnelly v Jackman (1970) and Thomas v Sawkins (1935). As one can see, this chapter is quite detailed and requires much consideration of a wealth of sources of police power, and thus there is ample opportunity for a review to be conducted on police power in more specialised areas of policing, such as terrorism, traffic and drugs, to name a few. 8. Police accountability and control This chapter will primarily focus on the governance of the police force, with a particular emphasis on the impact that the legislature and judiciary can have on the regulation of police power, and thus protection of the public. Also, the complaints process available for use by the public will also be discussed, and thus the effectiveness of this system as a means of conflict resolution will be assessed. 9. The role of the police organisation in the formation of law and criminal justice policy It is also important to understand the broad role that a police organisation has in contributing to its own regulation and governance. In this chapter, the amount of input that the police have in this area will be discussed and thus a conclusion will be drawn as to whether the police are an entity that can effectively self-govern, or one that requires the constant oversight and minding of the Parliament and court system in order to determine its boundaries and aims. 10. The rights of the police In the final chapter, the debate will be contributed to by the question: do police have any rights in relation to stop, search and arrest? Or is it merely the rights of the public that are governed by legislation? Also, how are police represented in misconduct and disciplinary hearings? The rights to safety and representation of the members of the police force will be discussed by this chapter, and contrasted with the statutory and common law rights of the public that form the source of police law. Methodology As this proposal has already mentioned, this dissertation is significantly theory based, meaning that the methodology for the research is simply statute, case law, as well as other authors works on various issues relevant to the topic. There will be some aspects which may require first-hand liaison with members of the police force and their senior officials, particularly those relating to the mechanics of police work which cannot be discussed by simply reading other works. This should be primarily collected by interviews with certain members, and possible government officials, and suitable ethics clearance will be obtained from the relevant committee at a time when the participants in these interviews become clear. References  · Anon., ‘Divisional Court – Police Power to Remove Masks from Demonstrators (2002) 66 Journal of Criminal Law 197  · Bell, J., Police and Policing Law (2006), Aldershot, UK: Ashgate  · Brayne, H., ‘Detention under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (1987) 84(1) Law Society Gazette 28  · Clayton, R., and Tomlinson, H., ‘Safeguards and Sanctions under the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 (1988) 138(6350) New Law Journal 216  · Davenport, A., ‘Court of Appeal – Stop and Search: Lawfulness of Extended Powers (2005) 69 Journal of Criminal Law 16  · Edwards, C., Changing Policing Theories for 21st Century Societies (2005, 2nd ed), Sydney: The Federation Press  · Ferguson, P.W., ‘The Limits of the Police Power of Search (1992) 37(3) The Journal of the Law Society of Scotland 113  · Harrison, R., ‘Police Right to Stop and Search for Weapons (2000) 64 Journal of Criminal Law 156  · Holdaway, S., The Ra cialisation of British Policing (1996), Hampshire, UK: Macmillan Press  · Jason-Lloyd, L., An Introduction to Policing and Police Powers (2005), London: Routledge-Cavendish  · Leishman, F., and Mason, P., Policing and the Media: Facts, Fictions and Factions (2003), Devon, UK: Willan Publishing  · Lidstone, K.W., and Palmer, C., Bevan and Lidstones The Investigation of a Crime – a Guide to Police Powers (1996, 2nd ed), London: Butterworths  · Miller, S., and Blackler, J., Ethical Issues in Policing (2005), Aldershot, UK: Ashgate  · Mimmack, A., ‘Police Station Practice (2006) 10(1) Magistrates Court Practice 6  · Morgan, R., and Newburn, T., ‘Radically Rethinking Policing (1994) 144(6659) New Law Journal 1092  · Nicholls, S., ‘Police Station Practice (2006) 10(6) Magistrates Court Practice 6  · Poyser, S., ‘The Role of Police Discretion in Britain and an Analysis of Proposals for Reform (2004) 77 Police Journal 5  · Reiner, R. , ‘Responsibilities and Reforms (1993) 143(6611) New Law Journal 1096  · Reiner, R., The Politics of the Police (2000, 3rd ed), London: Oxford University Press  · Roberts, A., ‘European Court of Human Rights: Search Warrant: Compatibility with Articles 8 and 13 of the European Convention on Human Rights (2006) 70 Journal of Criminal Law 479  · Spencer, J.R., ‘Extending the Police State (2005) 155(7170) New Law Journal 477  · Starmer, K., Criminal Justice, Police Powers and Human Rights (2001), London: Blackstone  · Stone, R., The Law of Entry, Search and Seizure (2005, 4th ed), London: Oxford University Press  · Zander QC, M., ‘The Police Reform Act 2002 – Pt 1 (2002) 152(7047) New Law Journal 1355 Fraud Order 200975 This essay/coursework/dissertation was stolen from UK Essays, call 0115 966 7955 to speak to a Fraud Officer now for more details. We have made it available for use as a study resource. Date Of Order: 01/11/07 Date Paid: 01/11/07 Email Address Used: [email  protected]/* */ Likely Course: Law Level Of Study: University Level