EasyJet A No Frills Airline Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words - 1

EasyJet A No Frills Airline - Assignment Example The disadvantages of the cost leadership strategy, as employed by EasyJet, include negative perceptions of quality, poor customer service, and unsustainable discounting systems. It is recommended that EasyJet adopt highly flexible strategic decisions, develop a more aggressive and direct strategy, and reevaluate its wage structure. Finally, it will provide a comprehensive conclusion, and make the necessary recommendations regarding the subject. This paper provides a comprehensive perspective of EasyJet as a company, including the cost leadership approach, which is the generic strategy favoured by the company. EasyJet is a leading budget airline that operates mainly in Britain and Southern Europe. The company’s headquarters are in Luton, Britain. According to Anderson (2014:41), as at December 2014, EasyJet employed almost 9,000 people and flew to over 600 destinations in 30 countries. In the financial year ended September 2014, the company posted revenues of  £4,527 million (Anderson, 2014:41). This represents a 6.3% growth in the 2013 financial year. Pre-tax profit, on the other hand, was  £581 million, representing a 21.5% increase in 2013. EasyJet’s 2014 financial results were positive to say the least, and reflected the strategic decisions made by the company to maximise efficiency and expand its services to more countries (Chen, 2013:34). The strategic plan implemented in 2013 was necessitated by changes in the global and European airline industries that complicated operating conditions for most airlines. EasyJet, however, has been able to not only adapt but also t o perform in spite of the conditions. As of December 2014, the company’s founder, Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, is the largest shareholder (Doganis, 2013:38). Apart from basic travel, EasyJet offers a range of auxiliary services. For example, it collaborates with Gate Gourmet for its in-flight products and services, Europcar, for car hire services, and booking.com that

Australian Security in the 21st Century Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Australian Security in the 21st Century - Essay Example in East Asia must not only be capable of deterring a North Korean attack or a Chinese lunge across the Taiwan Strait, they must support the war on Islamic fundamentalist terror in Southeast and South Asia".2 In addition, China's role as a major world power, and its welcomed economic contribution, needs to be balanced against its military ambitions and intentions. Realist theorists have postulated the possibility that "the accompanying relative loss of power of the USA, and the possible decline in the importance of European nation states will lead to a renaissance in the power rivalries of great actors and possibly even to violent conflicts".3 All of these issues require a great deal of international cooperation and a series of evolving multilateral agreements. The need for a multilateral security umbrella for Asia, Australia, and the US has been hindered by history, tradition, and the current political and economic climate. Currently, most security concerns are constructed as bilateral agreements between the US and the interested country. Historically, the US has acted as a hub with a number of bilateral spokes, whose participation comes about through their interaction with the US. The history of Australia and Japan still lingers from the remnants of World War II and had created some issues of trust and cooperation. According Jain, "Until the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s, most links between Australia and Japan that concerned national security were largely indirect (via the United States, through the US/Japan Security Treaty and the ANZUS alliance)".4 In addition, Australia receives a tepid welcome from ASEAN where it remains isolated as a dialogue member. The North Korean threat has been made more difficult by the popularity of t he Korean unification agenda... Australian Security in the 21st Century Its European ties and Western culture operates in the shadow of China's economic influence and the US hegemonic military might. Asia needs the defence force of the US, but has numerous internal and external tensions that make multilateral security agreements temporary and tenuous at best. As we move into the 21st century, the US will continue to provide a significant security presence in Asia, while Australia, faced with a rapidly changing political and economic landscape, will need to rely on an ever-changing series of ad-hoc multilateral security arrangements. The end of the Cold War finalized the polarized concept of two super powers with strict allegiances across the globe, and ushered in a new wave of security concerns that demand multilateralism. While the US is currently perceived as a hegemonic power, the nature of a global national security has diluted the resources of the US with their wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The new threats to Asian security are terrorism, nuclear proliferation and the Korean issue, drug smuggling, piracy on the seas, illegal movement of immigrants and populations, and the looming threats of the ambitions of India and China. No nation in the region can afford to create hostilities with China, and the concerns of North Korea and Taiwan must be handed with diplomatic care and steadfast commitment. Australia, led by the US military, will continue to court China as it is drawn into the Asian Community.