Carnival Corporation Plc

The Carnival Corporation Plc is among the biggest world cruise and vacation business organizations. The company basically carries out its operations in such countries as Australia, the United States of America, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, New Zealand, and Germany (Wheelen and Hunger, 2006). It has its headquarters in the United Kingdom (London) and in Florida (Miami). Basing on the statistics that were released in the year 2010, Carnival Corporation and Plc has 93 ships under operation (Marketingtercher.com, 2010).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Carnival Corporation Plc specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More This company started its operations in the year 1972 and it started as a â€Å"subsidiary of the American International Travel service† (Marketingtercher.com, 2010, Para 1). It was set up by Ted Arison. Several acquisitions were carried out beginning form the year 1989 and this went on unt il the year 2009, bringing up the level the company’s â€Å"brand portfolio†. This includes â€Å"Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, ibero Cruises, Costa Cruises, P O Cruises, Cunard Line, AIDA Cruises, P O Cruises Australia, Ocean Village and The Yatchs of Seabourn† (Marketingtercher.com, 2010, Para 2). The strategic positioning of Carnival Corporation Plc is on the basis of 3 basic divisions which include; luxury, premium and contemporary divisions. Each of these divisions has varying requirements, demographics as well as characteristics. The company has ensured that all these divisions are effectively served which has enabled the company to grow over the years to its current position. SWOT Analysis and the current strategic position of the company The Company’s Strengths One of the company’s strengths is its large size, the company being the biggest cruise operator in the world. It has a huge â€Å"fleet capacityà ¢â‚¬  and engages in the operation of eleven cruise brand names which are greatly familiar. The company’s â€Å"brand names portfolio† is appealing to closely all niche market (Wheelen and Hunger, 2006). The second strength is that, considering the company’s large size, the company has a substantial cost advantage over other companies competing with it in the industry. The company gains its strength from the large profitability it realizes, making it to carry out its operations without encountering much difficulty as compared to the competitors. For instance, the company realized an average net income of 18.1 percent between the financial years 2005 to 2009. This level of average net income was far much above the industry figure which is 6.3 percent (Marketingtercher.com, 2010). Another of the company’s strength is that it engages in aggressive and effective advertising. It invests a large amount of money in the TV media as well as print media. Last but not least, Carnival Corporation Plc has large market share in some of the major countries such as France, the United Kingdom and Italy, having a market share in each of the countries of more than 45 percent with the market share being as high as 68 percent in Italy (Marketingtercher.com, 2010).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More The Company’s Weaknesses A larger portion of the company’s revenue, which is about 52 percent, comes from the clients in the United States. However, this kind of overdependence makes the company to be susceptible to the economic fluctuations that take place in the economy of the United States, which might negatively affect the company. For instance, in the year 2009, the revenue the company was receiving from the U.S customers went down by two digits because of the economic downturn experienced in the region. Moreover, another weakness w as experienced by the company where the company realized a decline in the net profit in the years 2009. A decline in the net profit was 23.2 percent in comparison with the pervious year (2008). Another of the company’s weaknesses is in regard to the currency it uses to give the financial reports. This company uses the U.S dollar in its financial statements. However, almost 50 percent of the company’s revenue is earned in the currencies that are not dollars. It was reported that â€Å"the value of the dollar against the Euro appreciated from 1.60 in January 2010 to 1.53 by April 2010 against the pound† (Marketingtercher.com, 2010, Para 10). This implies that in case the dollar gains strength, the company records in its financial statements a revenue that is below the actual value of the revenue earned in its over all performance. More so, as of November 2009, â€Å"the company had 13 ships which were being constructed and this was a time of economic uncertaintyà ¢â‚¬  Marketingtercher.com (2010). The total cost of this kind of construction was estimated to be about 8.2 U.S dollars. During such a time of economic uncertainty, it is very hard to have an immense cash outflow like that being truly justified. Carrying out such a move may bring about grave negative outcomes such as large debt burden on the company’s balance sheet as a decline in the company’s profit levels. Another weakness is the high fixed costs of the company. The fixed cost takes up 25 percent of the over all operating expenses of the company. Opportunities In the course of more than the last ten years, the cruise industry has realized a significant growth and yet it still takes up a quite small share of the world’s vacation market. As on one hand there has been realization of a decrease in the cruises revenue in the United States, on the other hand, there has been realization of an increase in the revenue from markets in Asia as well as Europe and this offers an opportunity for the company’s expansion in these markets. The company has also identified an opportunity and has put in place plans to raise â€Å"the berth capacity for the European market by 37 percent by 2012† (Marketingtercher.com, 2010, Para 12).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Carnival Corporation Plc specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The growing disposal income among the Chinese consumers offers another opportunity for the company. The disposable income has been growing at an annual rate of 10 percent. The customers in this region are currently seeking luxurious cruises â€Å"as vacation option† (Marketingtercher.com, 2010, Para13). In addition, the aging population is seeking to have relaxing vacation. This offers an opportunity for growth for the company. Whereas the size of this population enlarges, this company can capitalize on its â€Å"economies of scale† and charge these clients good prices. Another opportunity is the possibility of the Carnival Company to form mergers and acquisitions in order to expand its operations. Threats One of the threats that Carnival faces and the industry at large is terrorism and pirates. This threat affects negatively the way consumers may perceive cruising. This company experienced such a case in the year 2008 when the Somali Pirates hijacked one of the company’s cruise ships though luckily the passengers were not harmed. Moreover, the possibility of the company receiving bad press is a big threat and may also bring about negative consumer perception of the company. Such a case came about in the year 2009 when three passengers on the company’s ships fell off. In addition, another threat is in line with the â€Å"compliance regulations† and the laws of the United States. Some of these laws may cause this company to experience higher operating costs. Another of the weaknesses is in line with the issue that Carnival Corporation Plc has been capitalizing on the â€Å"special tax loopholes† to evade paying taxes to the United States (corporation taxes). Consideration was made by the U.S government in the year 2009 to close such loopholes. In case this is done, there will be a negative effect on the company’s financial statements as well as the bottom line in time to come. Last but not least, another threat is that the rate of growth is slowing. Carnival’s industry analysis using Porter’s Five Forces Model Rivalry According to Wert (2009), in the cruise industry, there is a moderate level of competition and the companies in the industry compete on the basis of differentiation, pricing and distribution or place. He further points out that â€Å"the industry contains intimidating barriers of entry with no real potential threats or substitutes from other industries† (Wert, 2009, pg.1).Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More According to his research, Wert established that; â€Å"Carnival holds the strongest position in the industry with highest product differentiation, increasing global outreach, and promotionally offering the lowest price in the industry† (Wert, 2009, p.1). Threat of New Entry For a company to enter in the cruise industry, it appears that the easiest means to do this is through the company engaging in acquisitions, mergers and takeovers. There basically exist 3 market segments in the cruise industry. These include the luxury segment, the premium and the contemporary segments (Wheelen and Hunger, 2006). Each of these segments requires levels of expertise as well as services that are varied. According to DocShare.com (2009), â€Å"the high cost of training and maintaining exceptional employees for their shops, casinos, entertainment, hotel staff, world class chefs, and of course the maritime staff requires parent company with vast financial resource† (DocShare.com, 2009, p g 1). This implies that the threat of having new entrants in the industry is quite low. Threat of substitution According to DocShare.com (2009), â€Å"the cruise industry holds a unique position in that the threat of a substitution by another vacation activity by the current consumer market seems highly unlikely† (Page 2). There is as well an increase in the popularity of the family cruises. As a matter of fact, in general terms, a cruise vacation is less costly as compared to a traditional â€Å"vacation package†. A larger number of lines are making efforts to ensure expansion of ports and destinations in order to meet the customer demands in the current cruise market which now has great diversity. The travelers have more choices at their disposal. Supplier Power An increase and instability in the price of fuel has greatly affected the cruise industry. The companies operating in this industry have directly experienced high fuel costs for operating their ships. In addi tion, they have been forced to charge their passengers higher prices following the high fuel costs. This poses a big challenge to these companies and therefore, it is quite important o have suppliers that are of higher quality and that can be depended upon in order to make sure the company has repeat cruisers. Customer bargaining power The current day cruise vacations have a large number of lines at their disposal among which to choose from. Each and every line engages in some sort of differentiation that it carries out on cruising to attract customers. The target customers for a large number of companies in this industry are those that belong to the middle class. Those who are cruising for the first time are enticed by fairly priced cruise packages. Alongside the fair prices, the customers demand to be offered a vacation experience that is distinctive. The company’s competitive advantage and its future direction The competitive advantage that this company has over its compet itors is the wide range of the products that it offers to its customers in each of the three market segments; offering from cheap cruises to luxury ones. More so, it offers long as well as short vacation cruises on big fleet ships providing various activities. This company can currently be considered to be successful following the expansion of its operations and the high profitability it has been achieving. In order for this company to continue growing in the future, it needs to capitalize on its strengths and opportunities available and look for the best ways to overcome the current weaknesses and threats in order for it to achieve a competitive advantage, which will facilitate further growth. References DocShare.com (2009). 1 Carnival Cruise Lines Marketing Analysis. Web. Marketingtercher.com. (2010). Carnival Cruises SWOT. Web. Wert. B. A. (2009). Carnival Corporation. Web. Wheelen, L. T. and Hunger, J. D. (2006). Strategic Management and Business Policy. New Jersey: Pearson Pren tice Hall. This report on Carnival Corporation Plc was written and submitted by user Aurora O. to help you with your own studies. You are free to use it for research and reference purposes in order to write your own paper; however, you must cite it accordingly. You can donate your paper here.

Technology Is the Solution to Overpopulation Essays

Technology Is the Solution to Overpopulation Essays Technology Is the Solution to Overpopulation Paper Technology Is the Solution to Overpopulation Paper At some point the steadily rising population will move from being a problem that is geographically distant to one that is immediate and more salient than just an increasing value on a faceless counter. This problem of population growth leads to a number of solutions that could have significant implications on the quality of life. Taking no action and allowing population to grow unchecked could possibly risk the entire human species if food or clean water were to become unavailable worldwide. Aiming for zero population growth would in theory maintain the existing quality of fife since a stable population would not increase their use of resources. However not all resources are renewable, so scarcities could still occur with a fixed population size. In an extreme case permanent resource depletion under zero population growth could have the same extinction effect that unchecked growth can lead to. Despite the escalating risk of unchecked population growth, technological advances necessitated by the increase in population will at least maintain the quality of life and could possibly improve conditions. Southwest in Global Ecology in Human Perspective says that human population has increased geometrically over the past two millennia. With a high number of people in their reproductive age the potential for continued growth is likely. Southwest says that scientists think the world population has increased far beyond an optimal size of one to two billion. The optimal population comes from a standard of middle class quality of life. A more critical analysis of population growth relates it to a cancer in an organism. Despite the level of pessimism on population growth, future research needs to be conducted with a more objective viewpoint to counteract cultural and emotional origins (Southwest, 1996). With the likelihood that population will continue to increase when considering Southwests observation that many people able to reproduce, the population will continue to move further from its optimal size. This deviation implies that the quality of life must be decreasing for many. In reality this decline has not happened. As discussed in class, increased agricultural yields have allowed for a larger population to be adequately supported. Even with the increased amount of food, Southwest says that 20 percent of the world population is malnourished (1996). More food may be available but it still is to being distributed to all of those who need it. The lack of rapid worldwide transport of all goods including food may appear to be a hindrance to well- being but this disconnection between locations may provide an important health safeguard. Diseases are another negative factor to human population growth and some highly contagious fatal diseases can risk human extinction. A virus can only spread if it can find someone else to infect before it kills the carrier. A fatal disease that leads to death after a long period of time increases the chance that the carrier can infect other people, in turn bringing population closer to extinction. In terms Of transportation, if people and goods in the world are too well connected, then a fatal disease that has the potential to lead to extinction would be able to infect many people over large area since the disease can spread quickly over trade routes. The World Health Organization has found that the current spread of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome or CARS is facilitated by international travel and can quickly infect many people around the world. Originating in Southeast Asia, speedy transportation has turned CARS from a regional problem into an international issue (World Health Organization, 2003). To avoid the risk of mass deaths due to rapidly spreading diseases, international policymakers need to avoid the creation off level of world interconnectedness that is too quick. A slightly disconnected world may mean goods may not reach all places where in demand, but the risk of fatal diseases affecting large regions of population would be less. The ideal model of resource distribution is to have necessities be located near areas of population. Localized resources would reduce the need for goods to travel long distances over a lengthened period of time to avoid the spread of disease. Increased levels of population could live well off of added amounts of food that are nearby. This best case of locating populations near resources would be difficult to obtain in practice as resources and populations are already in fixed locations. If people were unwilling to move near where food is available it would be difficult, except in times Of war and famine, to force them to relocate. A compromise solution would accept the fact that not all people of the world will be able to have a high standard of living but the potential for improved quality exists. This potential cannot be reached immediately since resources ND population remain geographically separate and faster transportation would increase the spread of fatal diseases.

Leadership int the public Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Leadership int the public - Essay Example According to Rayner (2013) these relationships are quite essential in the performance of the public organization, thus management is to see to it that these relationships are maintained effectively and remain extremely functional.An illustration of how good working relationships are important in public organizations has been reflected in the case study; when Peter Mathews took the position of the Acting Director of Immigration, his relationship with that of his ten; area and program managers was quite strained 1. If anything, his relationship to them was characterized by resentment and impasse (opposition) which is an absolute inhibition to the success of any public organization. It is evident to see exactly how Peter Mathews got frustrated at his unsuccessful efforts to connect to his managers such that he took it upon himself to figure out ways how to improve the organization which, unfortunately, only brewed more hatred; causing him to rethink his choice to take up the job in the first place. Additionally, Public service organizations the Immigration inclusive is subject to attaining high rates of performances. It is important to note with reference to Baird and Green (2008) that the performance of the public service is quite critical in guaranteeing the rule of law and safeguarding national security.This illustrates the fact that public organizations require that the management in place puts in a lot of effort to secure productivity in terms of good performance and effectiveness in accomplishing the set goals and objectives of that given organization 2. Failure to do so only shows that the government in place is not effective in implementing the laws and in protecting its citizens as well. It is for this reason that in the study, we realize that the Director General (DG) requests Peter Mathews to leave his job with an employment services group to take on a sixth month assignment as an