Southwest Airlines Staying Ahead the Pricing Game

South west pricing strategy was a unique strategy different from the normal conventional industrial strategies. Initially, it sought to retain the lowest air tickets for certain routes that it operated.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Southwest Airlines: Staying Ahead the Pricing Game specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Therefore, the airline created some policies which included; flights with no first class, non assigned seats, flying one type of air craft, limited in-flight entertainment and offering no retirement benefit plans for its employees. Considerably, the formulation of these policies led to the success of this company making it to dominate over the first three decades. The strategy required little cost to maintain its cost centers as compared to other airlines. Generally, each class of customers desire different qualities and values. For business class travelers, price is not a limitation to them. Ho wever, their major concerns are; the ease at which can tickets can be changed, first class comfort, assigned seating arrangement, convenient and frequent flights to their destinations, convenience in arrival time and availability private airline lounges. On the contrary, leisure travelers look for low cost airlines with no additional fees. Compared to their competitors, south west airline has shown better improvements in catering for its customers needs. The airline prefers flying a bus route rather hub to spoke pattern.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Additionally, It has evaluated it’s under performing routes so as to develop profitable city routes with its destinations to non crowded airports. Notably, this has helped the airline to save on time for its customers. Moreover, the airline has created customer loyalty with leisure travelers as compared to other ai rlines which only consider business class models. Its destinations are always on schedule with more frequent, non stop flights. Lastly, the company has pledged to always maintain the best customer care in the most efficient and effective way. One of the vital internal factors affecting the airline pricing decisions would be lab our costs. South west case clearly shows this aspect through their earlier policies. According to the company, profit sharing for employees would reduce lab our cost. Other factors include, marketing policies, objectives and supply. For instance, initially, the main objective was to retain low prices and create high profit margin. Today the company has revised its policies so as to curb the increased competition by creating new routes and offering business class travels which have very enticing policies though higher in price. To eliminate high ticket prices from sales agents they only allow for online booking. On the other hand, Supply depends on capacity th e airline can deliver to a specific destination. South west airline aims at delivering full capacity during flights by incorporating the leisure travelers who are not on a schedule. Additionally, they are offered discounted fares so as to fill in the empty seats.Advertising We will write a custom case study sample on Southwest Airlines: Staying Ahead the Pricing Game specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More External factors include; rates and taxes, government regulations, completion, demand and fuel costs. Notably, fuel prices make up the largest component than all the other variables that affect price. Majority of the airlines are feeling the impact of the increasing fuel prices making their pricing strategies less effective and inefficient. The airline has managed to increase its prices and still maintained its customer loyalty and reputation through discounts. Among its marketing campaigns include, no charges for baggage and change t ickets. This is different compared to other caries which charge up to 50 dollars. Preferably, this is a major reason why the prices of the company remain high since it incorporates the extra charges in baggage and change fees in its ticket price. However, other airlines maintain their prices low by distributing the travel expenses so as to lower the normal travel price to extra charges in luggage and travel change tickets. Lastly, the airline has limited its on line ticketing to only one site ‘The south west.com’ which limits the customer to compare prices. From its background the company has been consistent in its growth. It has managed to make tremendous achievements from maintaining customer loyalty and low prices even with high fuel prices. Through this we can definitely conclude that the airline can sustain its pricing strategy and freely compete with other airline such as the Jet Blue.Advertising Looking for case study on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Jet blue is a real threat to the company. Currently, the airline has purchased an Air Tran with an aim of expanding its routes. South west should look unto this matter by purchasing the most modern air crafts such as the dream liner which is efficient on fuel. The airline ought to continually expand its business destinations to as far as China, Turkey and Dubai which are the current popular business markets. In addition, it should increase its promotional strategies by closely paying attention to the insights of the customer. Practically, it is very expensive for a round trip ticket noting that some customers will at some point require no luggage either on return from destination or when flying to out. Creating some discounts on these cases might ease the cost for passengers and build more customer loyalty. Lastly, I would recommend free internet for on all planes in southwest airline. This would be very enticing to business travelers and would be a unique strategy than no carrier h as recently formulated. This case study on Southwest Airlines: Staying Ahead the Pricing Game was written and submitted by user Kimberly Kent 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.

Cloning How Far Will it Go1 essays

Cloning How Far Will it Go1 essays Everyday people find themselves at a crossroads that requires a decision as to which path to follow. In the past few years, scientists have gained knowledge about cloning that could impact our lives for centuries to come. As a society we are at a crossroads and we will have to decide how to use this knowledge. Will we choose to increase our power over nature or will we develop a partnership? There are many benefits of cloning, but do they outweigh the possibility of losing genetic diversity, facing genetic discrimination, and the scary consequences portrayed in science fiction books like Brave New World and 1984, and movies like Gattaca and Planet of the Apes. Cloning is the production of a genetically identical duplicate of an organism? (Hawley 1). In a sense, many plants, algae, unicellular organisms, and even humans naturally produce identical offspring. For example, the dandelion reproduces asexually to create a copy of itself. As a species it has reached a plateau and can no longer progress. Within the human species, identical twins are essentially clones. The division of the embryo produces two embryos with the exact same genetic information. The consequence of a species only producing asexually is the loss of genetic diversity, which can have adverse effects on a species. There is a gray area between the benefits and the problems of cloning. Some people may say that anything that improves the lives of humans is a benefit, but I disagree. Human cloning needs to be restricted. If taken to the extreme, human cloning could be disastrous to mankind. First of all, asexual reproduction creates a population with the same genetic information which eliminates genetic diversity. Without diversity, one disease could wipe out the whole population because no person would be able to fight a disease any better than anyone else. In Brave New World, the author writes about 'making ninety-six human beings grow where only ...

'More talked about than done' (Ellis). Do you agree with this Essay

'More talked about than done' (Ellis). Do you agree with this assessment of Napoleon's reforms in the annexed lands and subject - Essay Example The Franks, which was the largest Germanic tribe, took control of the territory that later became France and what is now Italy and western Germany. In 1989, the France’s feudal government exploded into an open revolt that drew the attention of all the European nations. This led to more than two decades of warfare as the empires tried to re-impose their own views in order to achieve a balanced power. According to Gooch (1948) this was the first true world war era and can be divided in to two periods: the Napoleonic Empire and the French Revolution. The French Revolution erupted in 1789 and involved most European countries including Germany and Italy. It gained the support and approval of some intellectuals in Germany and Italians. According to Sheenhan (1993), Germany is the only country where historians were majorly involved in the political process of nation building in which history was a powerful weapon in the struggle for national identity. Also, Germany was the only count ry where an official version where the past of the nation triumphed over its rivals entirely. In the middle of the 19th century, the advocates of the Prussian-led German country started to formulate an account of the German past that reinforced Prussia’s claims. However, this account of the German that was formulated became, as well as remained the history of Germany. Between 1842 and 1843, one of the founders of Prussian school of German history called Johann Gustav Droysen, interjected his work on the Hellenistic period to lecture about the age of wars of liberation where he discussed the developments of Germany from 1770 to 1815. As stated by Carr (1999) the French Revolution started in Germany in 1792 when the French troops invaded Germany and defeated the professional imperial army, which was protecting Germany. In 1794, France took control of the Rhineland that enabled it to keep Austria and Prussia apart, as well as controlled the small states of Germany for twenty yea rs. Blanning (1983) argues that through the treaty of 1795, German forces and Prussian in the north of the main river declined efforts against the French. This was followed by several defeats on Austria with a notable one during the battle of Austerlitz, which took place in 1805. During this period, the Russians and the Australians fought together against the French who were aided by some German states such as Baden and Bavaria. However, in 1806, Prussia re-joined the war against France, but it was still defeated at the Battle of Jena. For this reason, Prussia lost its territory due to the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, and it was also abandoned by Russia, which was its only ally. This motivated them to take up a serious program of social and military reform, which included reformers such as Karl August von Hardenberg and Karl von Stein among others who improved the education, military organization, laws, and administration of the country. In addition, Gerhard von Scharnhorst improved th e military reforms and educated the army on the importance of moral incentives, responsibility and personal courage. This made Prussia stronger and in the late 1813, it joined forces with Russia, and Austria in order to defeat Napoleon during the Battle of Leipzig. After his defeat, Napoleon was driven out of Germany. However,

Corporate strategy and business objectives (Michael Porter) Case Study

Corporate strategy and business objectives (Michael Porter) - Case Study Example An elimination process enables us to confirm that MDCM falls into the Efficient, Predictable Operators quadrant. To begin with, we are informed that MDCM did neither research and design (R&D) nor marketing. A company that is focused on using differentiation as its competitive strategy would typically be actively engaged in R&D. Secondly, the medical device manufacturing industry is not one defined by a relatively high rate of change partly due to the nature of its market and partly due to the high cost of medical devices. The first overall strategic goal of MDCM is to bring down the company’s cost structure (more information would be required before we can specify by what percentage). From the case we are informed that MDCM had the worst operating and profit margins and also that its high internal costs did not allow it to price competitively against smaller, more efficient rivals (Jeffery and Norton 3). The CFO, Sharon Leis, confirm this where she states that MDCM had the least efficient cost structures in the industry. In spite of its high cost structure we are informed that MDCM continued to excel in customer satisfaction (Jeffery and Norton 3). The second strategic goal of this company is reduce the time it takes for different business functions to access updated, relevant information in 24 hours or less. When gather from the case that it takes too long for both CFO and marketing and sales staff to get the information they need. CFO Sharon Leis laments that it takes her 45 days whereas the VP of marketing and sales Pat Perry complains that it takes his staff a week to get the relevant information. This means that it takes too long before the organization devises a plan to tackle whatever threat or opportunity that may arise. The CEO Max McMullen realized that both of these overall strategic goals will depend a lot on the IT infrastructure and systems of the organization. For this purpose McMullen hired a CIO to

Pre-assessment Stage Essay Example for Free

Pre-assessment Stage Essay The participants of the study are 40 second grade Hispanic students who are currently studying English as a second-language in one of their courses. These students lived at the Mexico-US border and are currently attending a small urban school district in the metropolitan Chicago area. Two teachers were selected from a list of teachers who were known to apply each method (Pask’s and Landa’s) in teaching mathematics. Procedure Two classes of 20 students each were compared in a month’s period of time. The classes had 90 minutes of mathematics per day. The class applied Pask’s Conversation Theory while the other applied Landa’s Algo-Heuristic Theory. The study included a pre-assessment and a final assessment stage. Before classes start, the students were first asked to fill out a form regarding their personal information. After which, each of the students were given an examination to assess their proficiency in English and knowledge in Mathematics. General Procedure For the first thirty minutes of the first day, the teachers discussed addition and subtraction of digits more than two. For the next thirty minutes, the teachers then showed some examples. Then for the last thirty minutes, each student was asked to answer addition and subtraction equations on the board. For the next day, the first fifteen minutes were devoted in reviewing the topics discussed yesterday. Then after, for the next hour, the teachers discussed word problems in which addition and subtraction of digits more than three is applied. The last thirty minutes were devoted for board work. The third day was also allotted for reviewing word problems in the first thirty minutes. The Pask teacher paired up each student and then assigned a word problem to each pair. The students then answered the problems and discuss the solutions to their partners. After which, a spokesperson for each pair went to the board and explain their solutions to the class. The class then discussed if the solution is valid and if not discuss why it is not. The Landa teacher also assigned a word problem to each student. However, in this class, the students were not paired up. Each answered the word problem according to the algorithm given by the teacher. The teacher then checked if each of the students’ answer is correct. If not, he returned the paper to the student and asked him or her to review his solution and correct it. Both classes were given a written exam on the fourth day applying what they have learned for this lesson (addition and subtraction). The next day, both classes were given another chapter examination of ten various word problems. The examinations did not instruct as to which particular type of solution will be used. That is, the students are free to choose which strategy to use. This same procedure was used in discussing multiplication and division. After their examination on multiplication and division, the teachers devoted the whole session in discussing word problems in which all of the operations are applied. The first 45 minutes of the last day was devoted to discussing word problems in which all of the mathematical operations are involved. For the last 45 minutes, both classes were given a word problem to solve. Each teacher used the same procedure as they did in their previous lessons. Final Assessment Stage After the discussions and examinations on multiplication and division, both classes were then given a final examination to assess what they have learned and understood in their class. The examination will consist of twenty word problems involving the mathematical operations discussed in their classes. These problems consisted of each type of problem discussed in Chapter 2. Again, the examinations did not instruct as to which particular type of solution will be used so that the students are free to choose which one they will utilize. The students were also free to ask their teachers for clarifications. After answering their examinations, the teachers were asked to fill out questionnaires regarding the advantages and disadvantages of the educational theories they practiced. The students were also interviewed asking them what they have learned from their lessons aside from learning mathematical operations. The questionnaires contained open questions dealing with the strengths and weaknesses of their approach to allow respondents to say what is exactly on their minds.

moralhf charhf Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn †Morality of Hucks Character :: Adventures Huckleberry Huck Finn Essays

Huckleberry Finn – Morality of His Character Many critics of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn fail to see the morality and support of racial equality presented in this novel. June Edwards the author of "What's Moral About Huckleberry Finn" also believes that most critics do not understand Twain's method or completely ignore the satires used throughout the novel. Twain uses a unique method to make a point, including racial equality and Huck's highly moral personality. In June Edward's opinion critics who try to censor Huckleberry Finn see Huck as a poor role model for teenagers. They pass this judgment because of his poor use of grammar and his repeated ability to lie. In Edward's article she points out many things that show Huck's morals along with the novels support of racial equality, which differs greatly with those who wish to censure Huckleberry Finn. Unlike most critics of this novel, I happen to agree with Edwards on her position on this novel. One topic of disapproval of this novel is Huck's use of bad grammar making him a poor role model for today's youth. Huck's use of poor grammar reflects the culture that Huck lived in at that time in the south. I believe that if a person uses poor grammar in their speech, that is not a reflection of that person's personality or morality in any way. Huck proves countless times that he is a young man of high morals even if he is not highly educated. Another criticism of Huck Finn is he tricks people into thinking he is something he is not. For example he posed as a girl in a town down the river to see the response to Huck and Jims disappearance. He acted in a similar manor when asked, by slave catchers who was accompanying him on his raft. Huck quickly created a story to protect his slave friend Jim from the feared slave catchers. Huck hides his identity numerous times to protect his friend Jim from danger and possibly death. It takes an extraordinary high moral person to take these kinds of personal risks to protect a slave especial during this time period in the south, but Huck is nothing of the ordinary.

Did Government Violate Laissez-Faire Essay

After the Civil War, many businessmen endorsed the Laissez-Faire concept of government in order to promote industry. In this concept, government did not interfere with industry. But what came with this concept was unlimited freedom for businessmen and high prices for consumers. While many businessmen supported a Laissez-Faire concept of government between 1865 and 1900, the people did not benefit from it, which led government to violate this concept with their policies, but only to a moderate extent overall. They violated laissez-faire to a moderate extent by issuing Railroad Land Grants before 1870 and eliminating them after, to a great extent by Regulating Interstate Commerce with the Interstate Commerce Act in 1886, and only to a limited extent by attempting to control trust activities with the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890, producing a moderate government involvement overall. Government began to violate the concept of Laissez-Faire with its Railroad Land Grants. Laissez-Faire promoters believed that â€Å"†¦the government is best which governs least. † While industrialists promoted this concept, it was already being violated when the Federal Government gave thousands of acres of land to Railroad companies in return for building railroads. These subsidies, in the form of loans and land grants, totaled over 130 million acres of public land. (Doc D. ) The federal government issued these grants in hope that the railroad would increase the value of the land and provide better rates for carrying mail and transporting troops. More railroads continued to be built, including four other transcontinental railroads. Of these four, James Hill’s Great Northern Railroad was the only one to be built without federal subsidies. These grants benefited the Railroad financiers greatly, especially Jay Gould who went into the business to make quick profit by selling off the assets and watering stocks. The grants were justified by financiers by saying that the railroads provided for settlement of the west and attracted immigrants, giving the land more credit, which was the government’s main purpose to begin with. However, as more competition entered the industry, the railroad system began to fail, and, in the 1870’s the Federal government recognized this problem and terminated their policy of grants to railroads. This policy prohibited the issuing of subsidies to associations or corporations engaged in public or private enterprises. (Doc F) By issuing this resolution, Congress eliminated itself from the railroad industry, promoting the concept of Laissez-Faire. So while congress was a large part of industry before 1870, violating Laissez-Faire, they eliminated themselves from it, and promoted Laissez-Faire from that point on. This shows that congress violated Laissez to a moderate extent, because they violated it before 1870 but not after. Later, government violated Laissez-Faire in another way, by regulating interstate commerce. Before 1886, many states had Granges, social and educational organizations for farmers and their families who aimed to defend its members against the middlemen, trusts, and railroads. Grangers in many states successfully lobbied their state legislatures to pass laws regulating railroad rates. In the case of Munn v Illinois in 1877, the Supreme Court upheld the right of a state to regulate businesses of a public nature, like railroads. But these laws, called Granger laws, could only regulate local and short-haul rates within their states. In the case of Wabash v. Illinois in 1886, the Supreme Court ruled that states could not regulate interstate commerce: that was left up to the federal government. Because many railroad companied raised their long-haul rates after the granger laws were adopted, the federal government needed to respond to the outcry of farmers and shippers. It recognized that the railroad industry’s benefits had been attained to, in effect, â€Å"†¦ build up the strong at the expense of the weak†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Doc J. ) The federal government worked to fix this problem by passing the Interstate Commerce Act in 1886. This Act required railroad rates to be â€Å"reasonable and just,† and set up the first federal regulatory agency, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC. ) This law affected the railroad industry greatly, and the results were astounding. In effect, it increased railroad earnings, and put an end to rebates and drawbacks. (Doc L. ) This act was huge in government intervention in industry. By issuing this act, the federal government aimed to help the cries of the farmers and shippers, and in effect violated laissez faire by involving itself directly in the railroad industry from state to state, and also nullified previous laws regulating the railroad industry passed in individual states. This shows that the government did violate industry to a great extent when it came to regulating Interstate Commerce. As a select few became very wealthy by forming trusts in their particular industries, the government violated Laissez-Faire by trying to control trust activities. In the 1880s, many middle class citizens feared the power that trusts gave industrialists, and urban elites resented the increasing influence of the new rich men in America. Because so many businessmen were developing trusts and were the only ones benefiting from business, John Sherman, a Senator from Ohio, was inspired to pass the Sherman Antitrust Act in 1890 by reformers who failed to curb trusts on the state level. The Act prohibited any â€Å"contract, combination, in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy in restraint of trade or commerce. Sherman believed the act would provide every man with his â€Å"†¦right to work, labor, and produce†¦Ã¢â‚¬  and to transport his production on equal terms. (Doc N. ) The Act, however, hardly did that. It was purposely written vaguely in order to promote loose interpretation. This was partly because those holding the trusts were bribing state legislatures. Since the state legislatures appointed senators, and senators were all represented equally in each state, monopolists would bribe the state legislatures in order to get the candidate they wanted in the senate, who in turn would affect the passage of anti-trust laws. There were very few federal prosecutions issued under the act between its passing in 1890 and 1901, a total of 17 in 11 years. (Doc Q. ) In one particular case of United States v E. C. Knight Co in 1895, the Supreme Court ruled that the Sherman Antitrust Act could be applied only to commerce, not to manufacturing. (Doc P. ) Because of this case, the US Department of Justice secured few convictions until the law was changed during the Progressive Era. So while the federal government attempted to regulate the industry and prevent trusts, it barely did so. Because of the weak wording of the act, trusts failed to stop developing. The federal government involved itself in the industry because of the complaints and fears of the powers that those who held trusts had, and though it involved itself in the industry by issuing a law and enforcing it slightly, the supreme court rulings and loose interpretation of the law allowed little alterations to the industry, showing that the federal government only violated laissez-faire to a limited extent. As it can be assumed, the businessmen of industrial era promoted laissez-faire only when it benefited their business. They manipulated people in order to gain what they wanted-a monopoly. As economic problems began to surface with the laissez-faire system, government began to intervene. Though they were involved to a great extent in the railroad system initially, they eliminated themselves from it after 1870, only violating the laissez-faire system to a moderate extent overall. When it came to interstate commerce, the government violated laissez-faire to a great extent by issuing the interstate Commerce Act. And with this issue of trust activities, the government only intervened to a limited extent by passing the Sherman Antitrust Act and then failing to execute it. All of these things show that government violated laissez-faire to a moderate extent, and this was because the laissez-faire system did not benefit society as a whole and government needed to fix economic and social problems.