Analysing tourism and Hospitality Organisation Essay

Analysing tourism and Hospitality Organisation - Essay Example It is also considered to be one of the major divers towards the development of economic conditions and employment opportunities for both developing and developed countries in today’s modern day context. In UK, tourism and hospitality industry is regarded as a major business sector assisting towards the development of the economic conditions (Kapiki, 2012). Forecasting the advantages of rapidly growth demand in this particular sector, Thomas Cook Group Plc commenced its business operations in the year 1841. The company is one of the renowned and oldest British companies offering services in relation to leisure travel to the global customers. The company is observed to be serving around 23 million customers on an annual basis. The company is mainly focused on the process of transforming its business activities with the objective of offering customers with more innovative and superior quality services or innovative products. The major objective of the company is therefore confine d to attract customers or tourists to have a better tourism experience. The company seeks that its customers are offered with innovative and quality services. The ultimate aim of the company is to meet as well as provide services or products beyond the expectations of its targeted customers. The company with effective management of business operations has planned to improve profitability and reduce operational costs [1] (Thomas Cook, 2012). In this regard, Thomas Cook has planned and implemented various strategies with the intention of accomplishing the determined objectives or aims successfully. The company has developed strategies in relation to hotel concepts, ‘products and service innovation’, ‘single customer gateway’ and ‘execution supported by brand and technology’ which are being elaborated below. International Hotel Concept Thomas Cook has undertaken this strategy with the intention of expanding and developing its business operations i n the international market segments. Moreover, the company has adopted this strategy in order to collaborate with various international hotels. This strategy is expected to assist the company in offering better quality services and room facilities to customers. The company possesses various hotel concepts in continental as well as Northern European regions which include Sunwing, Smartline and Sentido. Furthermore, these hotels’ concepts are planned to be expanded in order to provide better accommodation services to customers [2] (Thomas Cook, 2013). Product and Service Innovation Thomas Cook has devised plans as well as strategies with the objective of offering better trusted and innovative products and/or services to its customers. The company, with the assistance of this strategy, aims at providing better packaged holiday programs for travellers along with better accommodation and travelling services. The customers are also offered with ‘high tech services’ to assist its customers in developing community relationships, where customers can share their experiences and investigate about the services delivered by the company. In this context, the company expects that customers will be able to identify the best services offered and will subsequently, motivate customers to make repeat purchases; thus, retaining the loyal buyers [2] (Thomas Cook, 2013). Single Customer Gateway Thomas Cook has formulated and adopted the strategy of Single Customer Gateway with the intention of facilitating customers to have access to a varied range of products

Strategic Groups and Contribution to Industry Profitability Essay

Strategic Groups and Contribution to Industry Profitability - Essay Example Both institutions may belong to the same industry but do not compete directly with another, so the factors that affect either of them may not be critical in their success; instead, organisations within similar strategic groups ought to be considered (Amel and Froeb, 1991). In essence, a strategic group may be understood as a collection of firms that utilise common strategies and operate within common competitive environments. Membership within this entity determines the threats and opportunities that organisations are susceptible to as well as other components of their competitive environments. Knowledge of such information is critical in understanding why some strategic groups perform better than others and why firms cannot move between groups easily. The concept of mobility barriers captures the above changes; this term is analogous to entry barriers because it prevents companies from changing from less profitable strategic groups to ones that are more profitable. High mobility barriers in a strategic group assist in cementing positions of high performance for certain organisations and shield them from intense rivalry by new ones (Hill and Deeds, 1996). One way of understanding how strategic groups contribute to industry profitability is through an analysis of the motor vehicle market; a highly traditional yet technology-dependent industry. Organisations like Jaguar, Land Rover and Rolls Royce initially had vertically integrated business models. These companies operated within similar strategic groups where they took advantage of economies of scale as well as specialisation in order to maintain the competitive advantage. Even collision between them was common because they were not overly concerned about production costs; however, these dynamics altered upon arrival of Japanese firms (Noel and Eduardo, 2007). The new entrants did not place too much emphasis on vertical integration; instead, they preferred to forge close associations with their contractors. A process that made them stand out was just in time manufacturing, which focused on efficient production through low inventory as well as flexibility.