Monday, January 27, 2020

Strategic Report on Delta Airlines

Strategic Report on Delta Airlines Introduction The airline of our group research is Delta Airlines which is one of the most famous international airlines in the world. And this article is going to discuss the comparison and contrast with another famous airline, Singapore Airlines. Besides, it will also evaluate how they will get today business scale through analysis their growth strategy. Comparison and Contrast According to the web page of Delta Newsroom, Delta Airlines was a dusting services organization, which named Huff Daland Dusters, in U.S. in 1924. One of the Delta partners, C. E. Woolman bought it in 1928 and changed it to provide the air mail services and its name Delta Air Services. Moreover, after Woolman took over the company, it started to services the passenger in 1929 which just serviced 5 passengers with only one route from Dellas, Texas to Jackson, Mississippi (Delta Newsroom). In 1945, Delta was officially changed its name to be Delta Airlines (Delta Newsroom). Its services hub had become from 1 to around 11 and flying over 119 countries with 606 destinations in nowadays. Moreover, its annual passenger is around165 million with around 5400 daily flights (Delta Newsroom). Besides, its net profit is around US$10.54 billion in 2013 (Karp 2014). Delta Airlines has become to be today business scale which was mainly depend on its growth strategy of mergers and acquisition in pas s few decades (Ireland, Hoskisson Hitt 2008). Comparing with Singapore Airlines, it also is one of the famous Airlines in the world. According to the web page Singapore Airlines, It was found in 1947 that cooperated with Malaysia Airlines firstly. Its original name was Malaysia-Singapore Airline. However, in 1972 Singapore Airlines suspended to cooperate with Malaysia Airlines and established its hub in Singapore. When it started the business it already has around 18 destinations with 20 airports that including the international flights of Europe, the Middle East and Australia etc and around 6200 staff which already have the related industry experience (Chua n.d.). Until 2014, Singapore Airlines expand to be over 30 destinations with more than 60 airports (Singapore Airlines website). And in 2013-2014 fiscal year, Singapore Airlines got US$ 288 million net profit (Torr, 2014). That is far different from Delta Airlines when Singapore Airlines officially started its business as the business of Singapore Airlines has already tendin g to be mature. However the business scale of Singapore Airlines is less than Delta Airlines nowadays. On the other hand, the first passenger service flight of Delta Airlines is the domestic flight from Texas to Mississippi. And the Singapore Airlines doesn’t have any domestic flight, it just operate international flight. Moreover, Singapore Airlines has Singapore government support. Such as the Singapore government signed a lot of agreement with other countries to support the developing of Singapore Airlines (Chua n.d.). Besides, the Singapore government owned company, Temasak Holding (Pte) Ltd, is one of the shareholders of Singapore Airlines which holds around 56.15% stake of Singapore Airlines (Singapore Airlines website). Meanwhile, Singapore Airlines is mainly utilizing an organic growth strategy to develop its business (Roll 2005). All of these are also different from Delta Airlines. Although Delta Airlines and Singapore Airlines have a lot of difference of starting the business and its growth strategy, they also utilize the alliance strategy, Delta Airline is Sky Team and Singapore Airlines is Star Alliance, to enlarge its business network (Sky Team website and Star Alliance website). Moreover, Singapore Airlines has mergers and acquisition with 49% stake of Virgin Atlantic such as Delta Airlines, however it sold the 49% stake to Delta Airlines in 2012 (Singapore Airlines website).Besides, they also seem to face a similar macro environment. According to our research portfolio in Chapter 2, PESTEL and Porter’s Five Forces analysis that can refer to appendix 2 and 3 for simply analysis, they need to be threat by higher level of bargaining power of suppliers such as fuel and aircraft suppliers and rivalry competitive in the industry with other airlines. Moreover, they also need to face the impact of deregulation that causes the price war with other competito rs. Evaluation of growth strategy According to the above discussion, it related that Delta Airlines is utilizing the strategy of mergers and acquisition to grow its business to become today position. And its first Mergers and Acquisition was starting from 1953, Delta bought Chicago and Southern Air lines and its first international flight in Caribbean and Caracas region had been developed. Then in the later few decades, Delta had another merger and acquisition actions. Through the merger and acquisition strategy, Delta Airlines earned a lot of equity, routes and facilities from those airlines. Therefore, the company scale had been become even bigger and its merger and acquisition time liner such as below table: Table 1 Besides, Delta Airline also use the differentiation strategy to make it different from its competitors to grow its business such as it is first to utilize radio frequency identification (RFID) Tag to check the baggage location through internet. That can help Delta Airlines to save the cost around US$100 million a year to avoid losing the baggage (Rosencrance 2014). Besides, it develops â€Å"Skymile† to the customers to earn the mile for rewarding the free travel to attract more passengers (Delta Airlines website). Moreover, it also utilizes the technology such as twitter and facebook to interact with the passenger, thus it also got an award of Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline in 2012 (Delta Newsroom). Meanwhile Delta Airlines establish Delta TechOps to maintain its own fleet and to provide maintenances services to other company (Delta TechOps website). And it has reduce the threat by supplier and cut its operation cost as well. All of these strategies led Delta Airlines to reach today business scale. And Singapore Airlines, it is mainly based on the organic growth strategy to develop its business. Singapore Airlines develop a lot of different new routes as the Singapore government signed the agreement with the government of New Zealand, Indonesia and Japan etc. before (Chua n.d.).Besides, the Singapore Airlines utilizes the differentiation strategy as well to enlarge its business scale such as it is first to provide free choice of meal and free drink in an economy class in 1970s (Singapore Airlines website). Singapore Airlines seems to be become an industry dominator to provide a lot of services to its passenger for attracting more passengers. It desires to build up a good branding of Singapore Airlines as well. Therefore, it also creates its branding through well training its staff such as providing four month training to its carbine crews that is longer than regular two months training of western airlines (Marquardt 2012). It creates a good image of its carbine crew which name Singapore girls that represent always elegant images as an ambassador of Singapore Airlines to attract the customer (Singapore Airlines website). Therefore, it also got one of the World’s Top Airlines award in 2014 (World Airlines Awards website). On the other hand, Singapore Airlines use the modern and new fleet of aircraft (Chua n.d.). The new and modern aircraft of Singapore Airlines build a good perspective to the customer for enhancing its profits sales. Besides, the new aircraft seems to reduce the maintenance time that can also decline the maintenance cost as well. Singapore Airlines is utilizing all of these strategies to develop its business to reach today position. Conclusion In conclude that, a different strategy has a different result and that also affect the development of its business scale such as Delta Airlines and Singapore Airlines. Delta Airlines utilize the mergers and acquisition strategy and Singapore Airlines utilize organic growth strategy. Therefore, their business scale has significantly different from each other. Meanwhile it found that effective growth strategy should also coordinate with other kind of strategies to attract more customers for enhancing the company growth such as Delta Airlines and Singapore Airlines which also coordinate with the differentiation strategy to enlarge its profits sales. One more important thing that, choosing the different growth strategy also depends on its sources such as Singapore Airlines which has Singapore government’s financial support, in contrast with Delta Airlines, it has even enough source to be organic growth. Appendix 1 Delta’s M A timeline Appendix 2 PESTEL Analysis Appendix 3 Porter’s Five Forces Analysis Reference Chua, A n.d., Singapore Airlines (SIA). Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_1705_2010-08-10.html Delta-Newsroom. Accessed on 25 Sep 2014 http://news.delta.com/History Delta TechOps websirte. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://www.deltatechops.com/ Ireland, RD, Hoskisson, R Hitt, M 2008, Understanding Business Strategy: Concepts and cases, Cengage Learning. Karp, A 2014, Delta Air Lines earns $10.5 billion 2013 net profit. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://atwonline.com/finance-amp-data/delta-air-lines-earns-105-billion-2013-net-profit Marquardt, M 2012, Global Leaders for the Twenty-First Century, SUNY Press. Roll, M 2005, Asian Brand Strategy: How Asia Builds Strong Brands, Palgrave Macmillan. Rosencrance, L 2004, Delta to use RFID tags to tack luggage. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://www.computerworld.com/article/2564693/mobile-wireless/delta-to-use-rfid-tags-to-track-luggage.html Singapore Airlines website. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://www.singaporeair.com/en_UK/about-us/sia-history/ Sky Team website. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 https//www.skyteam.com/en/ Star Alliance website. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://www.staralliance.com/en/ Torr, J 2014, Singapore Airlines annual net profit down 5%, operating profit up 13%. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://atwonline.com/finance-data/singapore-airlines-annual-net-profit-down-5-operating-profit-13 World Airline Awards website. Accessed on 8 Nov 2014 http://www.worldairlineawards.com/Awards_2014/Airline2014_top20.htm

Saturday, January 18, 2020

Tda 3.19

TDA 3. 19 Support disabled children and young people and those with special education needs. 3. Be able to support the inclusion of disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs. 3. 1 Obtain information about the individual needs, capabilities and interests of disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs with whom they work. It is important to me that I get to know pupils and find out their capabilities and interests as soon as possible, this will help me to best support them through the curriculum in extra ways.As I didn’t work with them from the beginning of their St. Felix schooling I didn’t visit them at home to speak to their parents about their needs, but I did obtain the information that I needed from their class teachers when we went through the children’s files and targets to discuss the next steps. Not long into the school term the SENCO also set up a meeting with the parents and outside agenc ies, (in the cases of the children that I work with, this included social worker, speech and language therapist and visual impairment adviser).In some cases the child themselves would be included but with the children I work with it is felt that this is not suitable, but I do work with them previous to the meeting to discuss what they enjoy, find difficult, would like to change etc. In these meeting we discuss the children’s individual plans and targets for the year and how we can work together to get the best results and experience for the child. At St. Felix we feel that partnerships with parents are crucial to the process of working with pupils who have special educational needs.I work 1 to 1 with 3 different children although I was able to obtain lots of academic information about the children form colleagues that had already worked with the children, including the speech therapist, visual impairment advisor, occupational health and more recently the Autism advisors, I ha ve found it just as important to get to know them on a more informal level by getting to know their interests so I can support them through a greater awareness of their personality.TDA 3. 19 Support disabled children and young people and those with special education needs. 3. Be able to support the inclusion of disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs 3. 2 Identify barriers to participation for disabled children and young people and those with special educational needs with whom they work. All pupils, whatever their needs and abilities have an equal right to educational and learning without barriers.This should also include access and provision and to facilities outside the school settings. Schools and other organisations which offer educational provision must by law ensure that all pupils have access to a broad and balanced curriculum. Physical barriers There should be no reason that a child or young person who has a disability or special educatio nal need should not be able to gain access to an educational institution or to its facilities.As I support children that have additional needs, I make it my responsibility to make sure that all staff are aware of the provision which needs to be made to ensure that they are able to participate. One little girl that I support needs to have all her written resources blown up to A3, and I ensure that all staff know that she needs to be sat at the front to learn from the interactive board and where possible she has her own book to follow when the class are on the carpet being read to by a member of staff.She has light blue paper to write on as she finds it easier to see writing on this and also uses a pen instead of a pencil, again because it is easier for her to see. Although we use a lot of visual resources with all the children in year 1 and 2 especially in numeracy, for this little girl we make sure she has her own set rather than sharing because of her Autism this allows her to keep routine and aids her to organise and become more independent in her learning. In P.E and playtimes her main disability is her sight and although she is very confident with moving around the school, staff and children are reminded to keep areas clear and she needs a slightly larger personal area in P. E as due to her poor gross motor skills her physical actions require lots of room! If she is to fall especially onto reflex areas such as her knees she usually falls into a fit, although I am her 1 to 1 all staff know about her condition and also know how to deal with it if they were with her when it happens.If we didn’t share with other colleagues the needs of this child and the immediate staff that work with her were absent due to illness or on a course etc, she would not be able to be doing what all her classmates are doing through the day. This is not acceptable and also would be very difficult for her as she needs to keep her routine as much as possible due to her Autism. I also work with twin boys that have Dyspraxia, and again all staff are advised on what they need in the classroom to make sure the are able to access the curriculum with as little amount of disruption as possible.The boys find it hard to sit on the carpet and concentrate on input without fidgeting, one finds it helpful to sit on a blown up wedge on his chair, it seems to help keep his posture and allow him to concentrate as without it he finds it hard to control his core and is nearly rolling around the carpet! His brother struggles more academically as well so if necessary especially with numeracy he will sit with me and we will do the same as the other children but what they are learning from the teacher and the interactive board, we will do the same on a wipe board, this way I am also able to take it back a step if its too difficult for him.The boys also use pens rather than pencils this helps with their writing because of their poor fine motor skills, they have other small resou rces that allows to keep up with the pace of their peers such as pots to put things in that they have cut out as they struggle with organisation, they also use pincer type scissors as they are unable to cut accurately with normal scissors. In P.E they will join in with the rest of the class but I will just observe them more than others to give them help if needed but I also observe to see the areas they need more help with and then when the rest of the class have finished we stay on and play different gamed that will work on particular skills. Organisational barriers At St. Felix we have an up to date equal opportunities policy which sets out our priorities for developing inclusion. It also ensures that all staff who are working with pupils who have additional needs are fully trained and able to do so with the full support of the school.We are encouraged to source out courses that will be beneficial to us and our children. For the children I work with I have been on a lot of speech and language courses including Elklan, which for the boys, as they have poor speech allows me to give them extra time giving them therapy under the advise of the therapist and for the little girl it has given me knowledge of using different strategies when her poor language understanding has given a barrier to her understanding the work.In the near future I am learning how to teach them to touch type as we feel especially when they are older that they will find it much easier to keep up with the curriculum to type their work rather than write. Barriers in the attitudes of the school community This barrier can sometimes be more challenging to overcome and we did have some problems with parents in the past in relation to the little girls sight condition and autism that lead to her sometimes being aggressive to other children.To get over this we worked with her parents who wrote a piece on her explaining her needs and conditions, they included pictures of her in different activities an d also paper clippings as the family had recently been interviewed by the Daily Mail about their fight to get a diagnosis. This was given out to the parents in the same class and it encouraged them to speak to mum in the playground if they had any questions.The feedback we got was very positive, it stopped them from focusing on the negative things and allowed them to see her as a happy 6 year old that was interested and loved the same things as their 6 year old but found it difficult and sometimes needed support and understanding. It is important to remember that the needs of the child or young person come first and I will always stand up for the rights of the children I support.

Friday, January 10, 2020

Restaurant Business Plan Essay

Entrepreneurs who start new restaurants may overestimate the size of the market in their area and not take into account the tough competition they will face from established restaurants with loyal clientele. Doing a feasibility study prior to investing the time and money to open a restaurant can help an entrepreneur make a more informed decision about the venture’s chances of success. Starting or running a restaurant? These practical tools can help.www.virtualrestaurant.com Obtain Market Statistics Studying demographic characteristics such as age and income will help you estimate the size of your potential market. If you are planning a mid-price, family-style restaurant for example, you need to know how many families reside in your area. A heavy population of singles or college students will probably not support your restaurant. The U.S. Department of Commerce Census Bureau website is a good place to begin your research. Evaluate Potential Locations A high-traffic location is preferable, one close to major streets with lots  of visibility to vehicle or pedestrian traffic. Make sure parking is ample and easy for customers to access. Look for businesses in the area that could create demand for your restaurant — large office complexes, hotels or retail centers for example. Be sure to consider the tradeoff between a location’s suitability and the lease cost. Saddling a new restaurant with a lease payment that is too high can make it extremely difficult for the venture to reach positive cash flow. Related Reading: Business Plan Vs. Feasibility Study Review the Competition Look not only at the total number of restaurants in your immediate area but also at the styles of restaurants that are prevalent. Consider whether your area is already saturated with restaurants similar to the concept you will be offering — similar cuisine, price point and target markets. Analyze the strengths and weaknesses of each major competitor and determine whether your proposed restaurant will stand apart from competitors and be memorable to customers. Study the Industry Join your state or local restaurant and hospitality organizations. Attend their meetings, talk with other restaurant owners and review any statistical information they publish about the growth and health of the industry. The National Restaurant Association also publishes studies and statistics about industry trends and growth. Decide whether given the current economic environment it is advisable to launch a new restaurant. Find out if any restaurants in the area have closed in the last two years and why. Look at Your Cost Structure Once you have a good idea what type of food you want to offer, break down the cost of each menu item. Determine who your major suppliers will be and ask them for pricing. Software programs are available to help you accurately calculate projected food cost. You may consider reducing the number of items on your menu to keep food cost down. You may also find that given the food cost projections, the prices you will have to charge are higher than your  local market will support. Evaluate Management Capability An entrepreneur contemplating opening a restaurant should take a hard look at whether he has the skill set and experience to make the venture a success. He should ask himself whether he has the eye for detail to maintain high customer satisfaction. He needs to be able to train and motivate staff members who may have limited experience or education. He needs to understand how to make the kitchen operation run smoothly. He may determine that it is not feasible for him to be the general manager of the restaurant’s operations and elect to hire a manager who already has a track record of success in the industry.

Thursday, January 2, 2020

College Interview Tips Tell Me About a Challenge You Overcame

A college admissions officer wants to know how youll handle adversity because your college career will invariably be filled with challenges that youll need to overcome. The question isnt a hard one as long as youve put a bit of thought into your answer before your interview. Realize that you can draw from many different kinds of challenges when you answer this question. You dont need to have lived a life of adversity or oppression to have a meaningful challenge to discuss. Your first step is to figure out which challenge you want to share with your interviewer. Its wise to shy away from anything thats too personal—you dont want your interviewer to feel uncomfortable. But an appropriate challenge can come in many forms. Academic Challenge If  you struggled, but ultimately succeeded, in a specific class, you might find this to be a perfect topic to discuss during your college admissions interview. Other academic challenges include the demands of balancing schoolwork with a demanding role as the lead in a play or captain of the basketball team. An academic challenge is one of the more predictable responses to this question, but it is perfectly appropriate. After all, dealing with academic challenges will be relevant when you are in college. Challenge at Work The way you deal with difficult people says a lot about you and gives your interviewer a glimpse into your ability to deal with an annoying roommate or a demanding professor. If youve had a challenging experience with a boss or customer at work, you might consider discussing how you persevered through this situation with your interviewer. Make sure your answer here presents you in a good light—pouring hot coffee in an annoying customers lap or telling off your boss isnt the type of response that an admissions officer will look upon favorably. Athletic Challenge If youre an athlete, you likely had to work hard to improve your skills and succeed in your sport. Was there an aspect of your sport that didnt come easily to you? Did you overcome a physical problem to excel in your sport? These are great topics to discuss during your interview. Alternatively, you could talk about a specific competition that was especially challenging. Just frame your answer to reveal your problem-solving abilities. You dont want to come across as bragging about your athletic accomplishments. Personal Tragedy Many challenges are personal. If you have lost someone close to you or had problems due to an accident, youve likely suffered from the distraction. If you decide to discuss this topic with your interviewer, try to center the conversation on the steps you took to eventually move on and grow from the painful experience. Personal Goal Did you set a goal for yourself that was tough to accomplish? Whether you pushed yourself to run a six-minute mile or write 50,000 words for National Novel Writing Month, this can serve as a good response to the challenge-you-overcame question. Explain to your interviewer why you set your particular goal and how you went about reaching it. Ethical Dilemma An ethical dilemma is a situation in which you must decide between two options, neither of which is clearly the greater moral choice. If you have been in a position where none of your options were attractive, you might consider discussing this situation with your interviewer. By providing background information, sharing how you handled the situation, and detailing the factors you considered in finding a solution, you can showcase your problem-solving abilities and moral compass to your interviewer. Realize that your solution to the challenge does not need to be heroic or absolute. Many challenges have solutions that arent 100 percent ideal for all parties involved, and there is nothing wrong with discussing this reality with your interviewer. In fact, revealing that you understand the complexity of certain issues could play well during your interview as it may highlight your maturity and thoughtfulness. Formulating Your Response When describing the challenge in your interview, begin with a brief summary of the challenge itself. Explain to the interviewer any necessary context so that she can understand the circumstances you faced. Keep this part of your response brief, as you should focus the conversation on the process of overcoming the challenge rather than the initial struggle. To transition from the challenge to the process of overcoming it, take the interviewer through your thought process. Identify the different options that were available to you and how you arrived at your decision. A Final Word As you prepare for the interview, keep the purpose of this type of question in mind. The interviewer isnt necessarily interested in hearing about some horror story from your past. Rather, the question is designed to help the interviewer discover what type of problem solver you are. College is all about developing critical-thinking and ​problem-solving skills, so the interviewer wants to see whether you show promise in these areas. When confronted with a challenge, how do you respond? The best answer will highlight your ability to navigate a challenging situation.