Manchester Airport Essay Example

Manchester Airport Essay The purpose of this report is to detail the key external environment issues surrounding Manchester Airport and how the Marketing Manger and the Operations Manager can attempt to influence or control these. The external environment is considered to be a far environment, therefore can neither be controlled nor influenced. This environment consists of Social, Legal, Technological, Economical and Political factors. For Manchester Airport these are: 1. Social – Demographics, Seasons, environmental issues. 2. Legal – Legislations. 3. Economic – Boom/bust cycle, interest rates, taxation and Government expenditure. . Political – The Government and legislation. 5. Technological – Information technology. Fig 1, Current environmental issues Social: The social factors include population factors of age, occupation, lifestyle and wealth distribution. These can all have major impacts on businesses. Age population can determine whether people will travel close to home or further away, as younger people have families, which means there is a budget attached to their spending. Older people tend not to have a young family to cater for and have a larger disposable income. Occupation determines a person’s lifestyle through their earnings and thus their wealth distribution. Seasons affect the travel industry as most people prefer to travel in the summer for the warmth; therefore it is seen as a peak period for Manchester Airport. Environment issues arise as the Airport wishes to be seen as caring for the local area to boost popularity. Therefore concern over pollution must be regarded as a priority. Legal: Legal factors for the Airport include legislations on security, noise, air pollution and waste management by the Government and EU Directives. This does has implications on operations through the cost involved. For example, the EU Directive on the maximum weekly working hour of 48 hours per employee and waste management, resulting in overall performance being influenced. Economic: The Economic factors of the boom/bust cycle are the affects of the 8 year cycle of national economies going into recession. This means production shrinks, so jobs are lost and people have less disposable income to spend. Interest rates rising tend to reduce demand as mortgage and credit charges rise. We will write a custom essay sample on Manchester Airport specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Manchester Airport specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Manchester Airport specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Taxation increases (or expenditure cuts) mean there will be less money for consumers to spend resulting in a shrink in demand. Expenditure increases (or reductions in taxation) result in more money for the economy and rise in demand. Political: Politically the Airport needs to respond to the prevailing political climate and adjust the marketing policy accordingly. EU laws are hard to influence or control, but Politicians can be influenced by lobbying over their laws. Security laws must be followed to ensure the safety of customers. This does bring high expenditure as stated in Flying to the Future, B202 DVD. Technological: Technologically Information Technology is vital to the smooth running and communications of the Airport at all levels. The system needs to function well, be reliable and staff need to be fully trained in this, which brings more cost. Fig 2, Micro- and Macro-environmental forces diagram, Essentials of Marketing, Third Edition by Jim Blythe. The macro-environment issues can have a huge impact on the company and its micro-environment and it tends to be difficult to influence. This is why the Airports policy should be seen as operating within a rapidly changing environment and must monitor and react to any changes to ensure goals are met. Marketing managers should be reactive to macro-environment factors. To do this effectively they need to analyse where they are by using a SLEPT situational analysis to examine the strengths and weaknesses of the Airport and opportunities and threats from the external environment. Once this has been established they need to analyse the firm’s position within the environment and itself with a SWOT situational analysis. Social: Demography lifestyle analysis affects the way customers are targeted, so being aware of current patterns helps the Airport to target the right people. For example, shifts in the birth rate cause distortions in the market thus allowing opportunities to target sales to a specific age group. Seasons affect when people whish to holiday and therefore create peak and off peak periods. This allows marketing to adjust fares etc accordingly and market more effectively. Being environmentally active and aware brings good publicity as a caring company, which is what Manchester Airport wants. The Company value as stated in the internet site is â€Å"Social Commitment – we are a responsible neighbour and invest in our community. † The Airports Environment Plan states that â€Å"it is important that this growth takes place In tandem with a stringent framework dealing with controls on environmental impacts†. Technological: The internet is an opportunity for advertising and direct marketing. Manchester Airport’s internet site uses this advantage to its full potential by including all relevant information for passengers to view. The main computer system used by the Airport for security checking of staff and passengers and all communications is working well, reliable and staff are fully trained internally by Manchester Airport Ventures, who run the training centre. Ventures now also train outside bodies which generate more capital for the Airport. The Company value, from the internet site, states that â€Å"Integrity we strive to be better every day and take steps to make it happen. Costs – we spend money on the things that really matter. † Legal: The Airport is required by law to protect its customers, the airlines. It chooses to protect the passengers for the airlines. This ensures the safety of everyone on site and thus a good working relationship between all parties. Environment laws bring cost. But this is required by the Government and also brings good publicity, as the Airport is seen to be actively caring for the environment and local area. Economic: The boom/bust cycle occurs approximately every 8 years, in which national economies have a recession. This brings production numbers to recede, loss of jobs and purchases are then reduced. Increased expenditure, or reduced taxation would mean more money in the economy and people will want and need travel and holidays. Taxation increase or expenditure cuts would bring less money and a loss in demand. It is essential to anticipate this management of demand in the economy. Political: Government policies cause shifts in emphasis and can disrupt the Airport operations. Being aware how to adapt the Airport policies to include these is essential to ensure continued running of all areas within the Airport. Government legislations can be influenced by lobbying. EU laws are difficult to control and influence. All of the above external factors will also impact on the operations of the Airport. The political and social environment has effect on operations through standards of welfare, health and safety at work. Operations Managers will need to ensure changes required are planned and controlled so the output conforms to requirements. A strategic plan for structural decisions, long, medium and short, can then be devised. The dynamic state of operations and the environment make it essential that there is feedback on progress. This enables changes to be made so the operation can work appropriately. This is control. The process of operations strategy looks at how operations policies, plans and principles are decided and developed. The overall objective for this will be: 1. Quality. This is key to improving performance against objectives. Manchester Airport achieves this through having a skilled workforce, technology and excellent communications. 2. Speed. The Airport has to ensure time is taken into account, as there are many people travelling through areas at one time. There are fire regulations on the number of people allowed in one area to consider. And, as stated in the DVD, Flying to the Future, if an area is overcrowded, passengers will become uncomfortable and stop spending in the retail outlets. 3. Dependability. This is how the Airport keeps its promises to its customers. So ensuring all systems are functioning well to keep all operations running on time is essential to enable passengers to move through the building. 4. Flexibility. Being flexible to seasons in the year enables the Airport to change the balance of the range of services to meet the needs of the Airport on a whole. This then ensure a cost effective operation is running smoothly. 5. Cost. This ensures finances are being used within budgets and appropriately. This can be achieved by reduced overheads, multi purpose equipment and facilities. Four variables are important to ensure the way the Airport operates. These key environmental factors are volume, variation, variety and customer contact. The operations should be designed so that it matches these features of its environment closely. Volume: The Airport has a high volume in the way that it has to repeatedly deliver its service. The use of technology by the Airport results in high output from an efficient process. Variation: Manchester Airport provides the correct level of capacity to meet the pattern of volume demands. Variety: The ability to be flexible is essential. The Airport has proved this since changing the way security is organised within the Airport Terminals. This high variety does need a lot of planning and control, which bring more overhead costs. Customer contact: The Airport has taken the service option of Front Office and Back Office. This ensures effective and efficient gains of planning and control. The above four factors will enable effective and efficient running of operations by determining how complex the task of managing the operation is. Once the above has been undertaken, the Systems Approach should be used to analyse operations. This will enable the Operations Manager to envisage the impact any operational changes will have on other areas linked. Three key ideas are involved in the systems approach, which are: 1. Environmental influences; it is important to identify the processes of the operation and design these in the most effective manner. 2. Control; information is gathered and compared with the Airport standard. This enables Management to proactively manage operations ensuring all predetermined standards are met. 3. Structure decisions; the hard system method should be followed here, as most problems surrounding operations within the Airport will have agreement from all, as there are guidelines to follow in this business. Fig , Operations Management in Context, by Galloway, Rowbotham and Azhashemi. All the above information on the effects of environmental issues in the Marketing and Operations areas and how to address them, have been detailed. Management should now be able to effectively incorporate the above into day to day work and filter it through to team members. Business graduate skills outcome. Example of how Block 1 case studies have contributed to my skills development. Self-assessment of current level of skill – high/medium/low; any actions to be taken. Learn from non-text as well as text-based materials enhancing your general study skills. 1. The text books and block books were very good to work with. 2. Case studies helped me to have a better understanding of how a subject worked. 3. I absorbed information from the DVD/CD after watching it repeatedly. 1. I enjoyed working with the text books, but I am still finding it hard to get into the study mode. It is maybe my age, but entering back into the world of business learning is proving harder than I anticipated. 2. Low. I need to create more time to learn the art of skim reading before re- reading chapters. 3. Medium. The need to take better notes to safe time must be learnt. I did not enjoy the Listening to the CD, I found it hard to take information in that way. I must re read the study skills information. Demonstrate thinking skills (holistic, integrative, critical) and show deeper understanding of some technically detailed topics. . My note taking initially took up too much time as I was writing down every item from pages I thought was important. 2. The block information as a whole has been a good starter for me entering into the first term of my degree. It has been hard, but eventually the information is starting to be understood by myself and applied. 3. I have found that I am no w using items learnt through this block in my working life at the Council. 1. Medium. I now highlight text in the book and make small notes at the side. I find this has sped the learning process up for me, which helps with the time limit. I still need to make time to re – read chapters after the first read. 2. Low. I still need to find more time to just sit and read all the information and let it sink in. I shall also try and give myself longer to complete self assessments and case studies. 3. Low – Medium. I am not using it as often as I would like. This is down to confidence issues, as I do not want to enter into a conversation/debate that I still do not fully understand. Use examples and analyse case studies to enhance understanding, support conclusions and illustrate issues concerning business functions in organisational contexts. I have found the B202 beginning difficult, but with the use of case studies and examples it has made the work easier to do. This is because it helps to explain the subjects to you through examples etc. Low. I need to study for more than 15 hours a week, as I am needing more time for information to sink in. This is until I find my feet with the course and find the balance between family, work and study. Bibliography. J Blythe, 2005, Essentials of Marketing, Third Edition, Essex, Pearsons Education Limited. L Galloway, F Rowbotham, M Azhashemi, 2005, Reprint, Burlington, Elsevier Butterworth-Heinemann. M Hinton, J Holloway, Other Members of OU Course Team, Block 1 Introduction: Business Functions in Context, 2006, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Manchester Airport website, http://www. manchesterairport. co. uk/manweb. nsf accessed from November 28th until December 10th 2007. Flying to the Future, DVD, Milton Keynes, The Open University. Reference list Manchester Airport web site, Our Company Values, ttp://www. manchesterairport. co. uk/manweb. nsf/Content/OurCompanyValues. Manchester Airport website, Environmental Plan, http://www. manchesterairport. co. uk/manweb. nsf/Content/Environment