Notesale: Turn your study into money

Document Preview

Extracts from the notes are below, to see the PDF you'll receive please use the links above

---

Conor Cunningham P5

Task 1 Part 1
Mr Kuzinka has requested you to investigate how 3 contrasting business organisations are
responding/adapting to the competitive pressures imposed on them by the developments
and trends in ICT and related technology
...

Your formal report must:


Provide evidence from your three chosen contrasting organisations, to identify and
explain a list of competitive pressures that are forcing your chosen organisations to
develop their use of e-business
...
0 Terms of reference
This report has been requested by Mr Kuzinka and will investigate Ryan Air, Apple and
Santander, looking at how they respond to the competitive pressures imposed on them by
the developments and trends in ICT and related technology
...

2
...

3
...

3
...
These
marketing benefits apply to both the business and its customers
...
The website has used consistent branding with the logo used on each
webpage
...
It is extremely easy for the customers to use and information is supplied
throughout
...
Their website means that they
aren’t in a specific location so can target customers at different parts of the world
...
For example, a flight to a
particular place at a particular time, sitting in the class of their choice
...
Prices and variety of locations can be
compared through using the internet as competitor websites are compared and contrasted
...
When visiting the Ryan Air website, videos, images,
texts and maps can be seen which builds a rapport between the company and its customers
...
The
internet has allowed Ryan Air to compete globally and contributes significantly to the
success of the business – particularly when competition is fierce
...
It
has allowed apple to establish a 24-hour global presence
...
The flexibility of location
accommodates for people who do not live within a reasonable vicinity of an Apple store
...
The use of the website for Apple has allowed the company
to showcase and exhibit the excellent promotions that it may have on offer
...
The Apple website has allowed for richer communications
between the company and its target audience
...
The
website is easy to use which keeps it simplistic for customers to view and surf the website
...

There is the opportunity for competitor analysis so Apple can see what other companies
such as Samsung are doing: they can check what new products competitors are launching,
as well as the success of their existing products
...
For example, the colour,
storage capacity and model of a phone
...
It excels at
intriguing customers to view the latest products which are on offer and sustains interest as
it is always showing existing products as well as new products which are soon to be

Conor Cunningham P5

launched
...

Santander
Many customers of Santander have been attracted to become a customer of the company
as a result of visiting their website
...
Red – which is the main colour
of the company – is visually attractive, making the website easy on the eyes of the viewer
...
The website means that customers have access to
Santander’s products 24-hours a day
...
The website is easy to use
and allows for richer communications with its customers
...
Different types of information have
been used throughout the website
...
e
...

Santander can compare themselves to competitors who are in a similar industry and make
adjustments to their company accordingly to ensure the remain as competitive as possible
...
This allows Santander to make their website as easy and efficient to
use as possible in order to keep customers happy
...
The website constantly promotes the latest deals and offers so that customers
feel they are getting a discount as they involve themselves with the company
...
With technology and the internet growing significantly in the past number of
years, and certainly in the future, Santander has succeeded in producing an excellent, easyto-use website which has contributed to their success as a business
...
2 Cost benefits
The internet, ICT and related technology has many cost benefits for companies
...

Ryan Air
As a result of using the web, Ryan Air have many cost benefits
...
These costs will save Ryan Air
massive sums of money which will boost its overall profits
...
As a result of having a
website, staff costs are reduced as a smaller team could update the website as opposed to
many staff which it would take for a physical store to operate
...
This
cuts down costs which are used to open different Ryan Air stores
...
For example, discounted
flights and promotional deals can be advertised and promoted on the website at no expense
for the business
...
The internet has many cash flow
advantages for Ryan Air
...
A final
cost benefit of using the internet for Ryan Air would be the disintermediation of the supply
chain
...
Flights, cars and hotels can all be
purchased directly from Ryan Air
...
As the internet
grows, more and more cost benefits are becoming useful for Ryan air – some of these cost
benefits are highlighted above
...
To accumulate such significant profits, Apple has
had to cut costs and a contribution to this was a result of Apple building an online presence
...
This
has been a huge cost benefit for Apple as it reduced the need for
premises
...

Having a website means that Apple was able to cut its staff costs
...
Instead, they would recruit fewer people to
operate online as part of the company
...
It has allowed for flexibility of location
...
The Apple
website has allowed for disintermediation of the supply chain and as a result has saved
Apple thousands
...
This saves costs distributing the products to
wholesale and retail outlets, meaning it is a huge cost benefit for the company as a whole
...

However, with an establishment on the web, Apple can advertise on their own website
reaching a more targeted demographic
...

Santander
Santander has explored many cost benefits as a result of reaching in to e-commerce
...
Santander
can now sell their products and services online, without a physical store
...
As Santander made its way to e-commerce, it has
allowed for cash flow advantages
...
The internet means that more people can be
targeted over a larger area, which is cheaper than opening Santander stores over lots of
areas
...
Promotions and deals that Santander have can be cheaply marketed and
promoted on their website which saves marketing costs
...

These cost benefits mean that Santander can operate as profitably and successfully as
possible
...

3
...
If a company sells
their goods and services via their website, it is usually more convenient for customers
...

Ryan Air
Ryan air customers avail of many benefits as a result of the
company having their own website
...
There is no actual opening hours so this suits
customers who may work all day and can only shop online at
night
...
Customers can purchase flights, cars and
purchase hotels from the comfort of their own homes
...

The Ryan Air website is useful for the customer to carry out comparisons and compare
prices of Ryan Air products with other companies such as Aer Lingus
...

Through the Ryan Air, customers can customise their purchases
...
Stores may have more limited choices available so the website allows
more room for product customisation
...
This is an advantage for
customers as they are getting products and services at a lower price
...
This is a benefit for the
customer as if the product no longer suits, for example a flight on a particular date, they
may get a partial or full refund
...
Customer satisfaction is also growing as the
website improves
...

Apple
A huge contribution to the success of Apple is its loyal customers
...
Apple has now established
an extremely professional website which has many benefits for its customers
...
This is convenient
for customers and is favoured by many of its customer over having to physically travel to the
Apple store
...
Customers want to be able to buy products which doesn’t cause
them hassle and Apple exemplify this
...
For
example, customers can compare a phone with Apple and a phone with Samsung
...

Apple customers now have the power to customise products via the website, which is
beneficial for the customer
...
For
example, the model, colour, size and storage capacity of an iPad
...
Another benefit for customers shopping with Apple
online is that they have the advantage of free delivery
...
This cuts
the expenses for the customer which is a huge benefit in their eyes
...
However, this is different online
...
This makes the customer feel a
benefit as the service is quicker and easier
...

Santander
Santander are constantly building their website to look more and more professional, as well
as providing more and more services
...
A huge area of the business surrounds banking
...
This is useful for customers who need to
transfer money or make payments quickly
...
Instead of customers having to travel to their nearest Santander

Conor Cunningham P5

bank, they can carry out different functions online, all from the comfort of their own home
which is a huge advantage
...
Customers can compare
fees and interest rates of different banks, insurance
companies and building societies
...

The customers of Santander can customise particular products online
...
For example,
paying £200 a month instead of £300
...
By setting up an account online,
interest rates could be slightly higher which is a benefit for customers looking to save
money
...
This makes the whole process
easier and quicker for the customer, leading to greater customer satisfaction
...


How organisations adapt to trends in the use of e-business
3
...
Businesses constantly try to improve their products and services to
retain/attract new customers
...
These new markets have extended the customer base of the company
...
Different flight
times/locations are being added to facilitate more customers and improve the company
image
...
This new service will attract customers as more people are being targeted
...

How they compete; Ryan Air constantly have offers and promotions to attract new
customers and be seen as cheaper and more value for money over other competitors such
as Aer Lingus
...
For example, offering discount to hotels if they book through the
airlines
...
As
opposed to just technology and products, new markets such as music/videos and streaming
has now been explored
...
For example, when the iPhone 5 was released, soon after the iPhone 5S
was released
...
Different products are suited to different types of customers and the price
often reflects this
...

Open/close or relocate; Apple is constantly opening new stores across the world, as well as
renovations and updating its professional website which has helped it become one of the
most popular technology brands in the world
...
This store alone is extremely busy which proves that the company
is growing and reaching more and more people
...
Apple – being one of the most popular technology
brands in the world – has to compete in many ways
...
Apple try to have more products on offer, at prices
which offer more value for money for customers
...

Santander
Enter new markets; Santander have effectively explored new markets
...

Through this, new audiences and customers have been discovered and retained –
contributing to the success of the business
...

Within banking, Santander has now explored new products such as loans, personal banking,
online banking, account alerts and touchless credit cards
...

Open/close or relocate; In 2014,
137 building societies – which
included Santander stores – closed
on the high street
...
Santander now has
a professional website which saves
the company on costs associated
with a physical store
...

This relocation and closure of stores
actually increases the sales of
Santander
...
Offering cheap prices and the best interest
rates are also other ways in which Santander compete with its competitors
...

http://www
...
com/money/2014/oct/04/contactless-cards-bank-lloydsnationwide-santander
3
...

This is what the organisations carried out over the last five years to improve their product or
service
...

Ryan Air
Strategic level decisions; Ryanair has grown from a small airline flying the short journey
from Waterford to London into one of Europe's largest carriers
...
However, strategic decisions led them into the European market and
they are now a huge competitor within that market
...
They started off as a airline company,
venturing in to different industries such as hotels and car hire
...

Location of manufacture and service; Ryan Air needs to establish its bases in airports which
are going to be popular or in high demand
...
The chosen locations of service will need
to be locations which will benefit the company and improve its profitability
...
Ryan air had plans to take over Aer Lingus
...
In 2014, Ryan Air
announced plans to establish a hub in Israel to service more European routes
...
telegraph
...
uk/finance/newsbysector/transport/11730942/Ryanair-to-allowIAG-takeover-of-Aer-Lingus
...
Many strategic decisions allowed Apple to
become so well know
...
Apple decided to join
Microsoft to release new versions of Microsoft Office
...
Other strategic level decision was the decision to launch new products and
establish new markets
...
A key
attribute to the global success of Apple is due to its ability to make excellent strategic
decisions
...
However, the location of manufacturing is not in America
...
Other places include Korea and Taiwan
...
The products are made quickly in these locations so Apple can
produce products at a greater rate and increase their revenue quicker
...
However, starting in 2003, Apple opened stores across the world
...
In
2003, Apple planned to close 20 stores in order to re-open larger ones in their place
...

http://techcrunch
...
entrepreneur
...
In 2011, Santander was recognised the worst UK bank with regards to customer
service
...
Strategic decisions like these try to improve the way in which
Santander look in the eyes of the public and indeed its customers
...
This strategic
decision would allow the company to become larger, as well as improve their service to
customers
...
As of 2013 it had 14,392
branches and 102 million customers
...
Santander bank has extended its locations and continues to do so, which
help it become one of the most popular and favoured banking companies in the world
...
In 2008, Santander UK took over Bradford & Bingley savings business
...
Through these
take overs, it resulted in 56 closures to reduce the overlap in its UK banking
...

http://www
...
co
...
theguardian
...
wikipedia
...
6 Organisational adaptations to trends
Organisation adaptations to trends for Ryan Air, Apple and Santander will be investigated
...
For example,
a high street store moving online and building their own website
...

On their website, they do not have a contact number
...
This would help with Ryan Air having a
greater customer satisfaction
...
For example, if a person wanted to fly out of London to New York
...
This is a common feature of other air companies so if Ryan Air
adapted this, their business process may be much simpler for its customers
...
This saves time for
customers and Ryan Air staff
...
It also means allows for a quicker process
in the eyes of the customers as they do not have to check in with more than one Ryan Air
staff on arrival
...

Investment in ICT; It’s clear that Ryan Air want to stay competitive and with the ever
growing technology market, they have to keep up
...
It’s a handheld boarding pass on a
mobile phone which saves paper and is done through technology
...
This
technology feature will allow for simpler and secure payment
...
Customers can now travel with their tablets/technology devices switched on and in
use, as a result of Ryan Air investing money in to this feature which attracted thousands of
customers
...

Acquisition or development of appropriate skills; Across the many markets Ryan Air has
ventured in to – such as hotels and cars – they all have one thing in common and that is
professional, helpful staff
...
The skills within the company are fantastic and without the acquisition of
these skills, Ryan Air would not have a place in the market as customer service is one of the
most important things in business; after all, if no customers returned the business wouldn’t
survive
...
Recently, they introduced relationship marketing and teamed up with Santander to
introduce “Apple pay”, which allows people to add their credit card to their device and pay
for products in stores
...

Redefining supply chain; When Apple began and well in to its success, they noticed that the
manufacturing stage of their products was too high and was eating in to their profit margins
...
Instead of them paying
manufactures to buy the raw materials and manufacture their products, they now buy the
raw materials themselves
...
It now means that Apple spends less on the
manufacturing process, which subsequently results in higher profit margins
...
5 billion in to new
technology
...
For example, they mentioned a machine
that would actually polish iPhones and prepare them better for sale
...

Acquisition or development of appropriate skills; Apple has highly intelligent staff across
the entire company
...
Apple train their staff
to an exceptional standard and develop their skills
...
They have professional staff to deal with
complaints and these adaptations are compulsory in building a huge, loyal customer base
...
Together they have created “Apple Pay”, which will
allow users to add their card to their Apple device and pay by card using their phone
...

Redefining supply chain; Santander have changed their supply chain
...
This will cost Santander a fee however it is
effective to have in place as the external company will collect payments and chase late
payments
...

Investment in ICT; For a business to invest in technology and ICT is almost paramount in the
growing age of technology
...
They have teamed up with WhatsApp to do this
...


Conor Cunningham P5

Acquisition or development of appropriate skills; Santander have trained their staff
extremely well and the skills they develop have allowed the company to grow and grow
...

3
...
For example, no internet access means customers can be left behind
...
This is great for these companies
...
Customers will be more inclined
to purchase something from the comfort of their home instead of going to the shops
...

Ryan Air remains mostly online now and all sales and services are offered from there
...

Customers who don’t have internet access;
Customers of Ryan Air, Apple and Santander who do not have access to the internet will be
at a disadvantage
...
However, if there is no access to the internet, the
customer will miss out on all products
...

Technical literacy;
Other customers are fantastic and have an excellent technical literacy
...
This is convenient for these customers and some customers stay with these
companies as their websites are so easy to use and because it is a lot quicker and affordable
than having to visit the stores
...
0 Conclusion
This report highlights the many ways in which Ryan Air, Apple and Santander have adapted
to competitive pressures, forcing them to develop their use of e-business
...
As sales channels increase, it
automatically attracts new customers and all three businesses have done this effectively
...

5
...
They should be fully aware of their competitor’s activities and what their
competitors are doing so that they can remain competitive
...
Subsequently, as a result of reacting to these competitive pressures, they can improve
their use of e-business and grow on their current success
...
0 Appendices
http://www
...
co
...
theguardian
...
wikipedia
...
com/2013/02/12/apple-closing-20-retail-stores-in-order-expand
http://www
...
com/article/228315
http://www
...
co
...
html
http://www
...
com/money/2014/oct/04/contactless-cards-bank-lloydsnationwide-santander
http://technology
...
bloomberg

---