An Analysis Of Global Alliances

An Analysis Of Global Alliances As a matter of survival, airlines within the current environment are constantly reviewing and altering their strategies. An important component of any airlines’ strategy to remain viable and maintain competitive advantage in today’s setting is to pool resources and share risk, known as an alliance. A broad definition of an alliance that occurs in the aviation industry is the â€Å"collaboration between two or more firms that retain their autonomy during the course of their relationship† (Kleymann & Seristà ¶, 2004). To that end, there are certain variations of airline alliance in vogue today, in particular the Global Airline Alliance. Starting with a synopsis and identification of these alliance groups, the discussion will move to a selection and analysis of benefits and shortcomings that can be associated with global alliances from a business and consumer perspective. From here, an appreciation will be gained of the major airline alliances and typical rational e of alliance strategies. Currently, the most popular forms of coalition in the airline business are the non-equity marketing alliances known as Airline Alliance Groups (Kleymann & Seristà ¶, 2004) or Global Multicarrier Alliances (Cools & Roos, 2005). At the present time, the main global multicarrier alliance networks are Star Alliance, One World, and Skyteam (UBM, 2010). These alliances are predominantly a massive global network of multilateral codesharing and joint resource Air Service Agreements (ASA’s) between carriers. This allows a central point of contact for the passenger to â€Å"ensure a convenient, smooth and efficient worldwide travel experience† (Star Alliance, 1997). Although individual airlines are aligned under the umbrella of a single corporate entity, distinct airline brand identities and cultures are retained. These alliances have set out to revolutionise seamless air travel for the international passenger from hub to hub and beyond. Additionally, the synergies created were only possible due to astute governance of previously implausible collaboration. To that end, airline conglomerates now understand â€Å"The best way to generate real business growth and expansion is by forging the appropriate strategic partnerships† (Borovich & Yeheskel, 2001). From an airline business perspective, membership in a global alliance has one distinct, instantaneous and strategic advantage. Almost overnight, all member airlines’ geographic route structures will have expanded without costly capital investment in infrastructure and assets. This allows airlines to service routes that were previously deemed non-profitable or inaccessible, albeit on other alliance members’ aircraft. This â€Å"complementary alliance† (Oum & Park, 1997, as cited in Chen & Ross, 2000, p. 328) has the flow on effect of generating untapped markets within the domestic environment and yielding higher load factors for all alliance members aircra ft operations. Henceforth, this produces larger revenues which in turn diminishes overhead costs and maintains more efficient airlines by lowering unit cost base (Doganis 2001, p. 76). While this contributes to diversification and larger profit margins for collaborating airlines, the traveller can be confident airfare cost will remain relatively reasonable assuming competition remains viable on any given route. This is a beneficial outcome for all involved, both airline businesses and the consumer. A comparable example where alliances between two airlines operating on the same route is however, considered anti-competitive (Chen & Ross, 2000, p 328). Here the competing airlines could strike a codeshare accord, typically after a tenuously long and protracted battle attempting to gain market share. This is routinely known as a â€Å"parallel alliance† (Oum & Park 1996, p. 190), however this is unfortunately likely to result in cartel type price fixing. This form of alliance gene rally benefits the airlines as it narrows competition and has a propensity to create a higher demand for a particular service, hence higher airfares (Chen & Ross, 2000, p 328). Conversely, the pre-alliance scenario utilising â€Å"capacity dumping† (NZ Parliament, 2006), where supply exceeds demand, only profits the consumer with ridiculously low and unsustainable airfares. This invariably serves to strengthen the dominant market leader’s position by financially eliminating the competition in the long term. These types of alliance are inherent of predatory behaviour with very little consumer benefit and require antitrust immunity (Bilotkach, 2005, p. 168). An example of this type of arrangement within the global alliance networks does exist, although on the exceedingly competitive North Atlantic route between Lufthansa and United Airlines (Kleymann & Seristà ¶, 2004, p. 23).

Sexual Offenders Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Sexual Offenders - Research Paper Example The management of sexual offenders is very challenging especially when a time comes for reunification with family members. This is especially so because most of these sexual crimes are perpetrated by known people most of who are family members (Langan, Schmitt & Durose, 2003). This is supported by Campbell (2007 p. 3) who argues that â€Å"preditors pose a serious threat to society even after they have served their sentences.† According to Fenner (2008 p. 2) the safety and protection of victims should be the first priority in the management of sex offenders combined with effective collaboration of the different stakeholders. Research has shown that recidivism rates are high for sexual offenders after they are released from prison. This is despite the various treatments available for offenders either in the community or in prisons. This research is aimed at discussing self offenders. It will look into the reasons why they engage in such conduct, why recidivism rates do not decl ine despite various interventions and also the various forms of treatment in place for such offenders. Sexual Offenders Sexual offenders in this case refer to those engaged in sexual crimes of rape, sexual assault, child molestation and statutory rape. ... 16) Child molestation involves sexual crime against children while statutory rape involves non forcible sexual acts such as incest, adultery. The definition of a child or minor varies from state to state or from one country to another but in most cases the consenting age is the age between 14 and 18 though many states considers those below the age of 16 as minors. Sexual acts with a minor whether forcible or non forcible are considered a sexual offense in the United States though with some exceptions (p. 5). First, for it to be considered a crime the offender must be above age 18. Secondly, the age difference between the offender and victim must be established and if the offender is less than 3 years older than the victim, then it is not an offense. Another exceptional case is whereby the offender is married to a minor; in this case if the sexual act was consented it is not an offense. However, these may vary across various jurisdictions. Research indicates that most offenders are li kely to repeat the offense even after incarceration (Langan et al. 2003; US Office of Justice Programs, 2012). In light of this, it is only appropriate to try and figure out why people engage in sexual offenses against family members especially children and also strangers in the first place. Many theorists have put forward various reasons as to why individuals perpetrate sexual violence against children. Some believe it is a result of multiple factors while others attribute it to cognitive distortions. However, all agree that biological, cultural, social and psychological factors combine to drive the offenders to abuse children or even adults (Fenner, 2008; Wad, Polaschek & Beech, 2006). One theory developed by Finkelhor’s in 1984 known as

Debt Crisis in Developing Countries Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Debt Crisis in Developing Countries - Essay Example However despite the many problems associated with developing countries it is still possible to solve the debt problem and to attain high levels of development, this can be done through well laid strategies that involves all the sectors in an economy and this will be analyzed in this paper. Debts in developing countries have increased over the years, many factors have caused this increase in debts including unfavorable terms of trade, rising international interest rates, increasing protectionism in the international market, irresponsible lending by international finance organizations and the rescheduling of punitive terms where countries delay payment.2 The above mentioned factors are external factors and that there exist internal factors that have led to the increased problem of debts include economic mismanagement, unsustainable government deficits and the maintenance of unrealistic exchange rates. All the above factors have led to the increased debt problem in developed countries.3 As a result of unfavorable terms of trade countries are faced with the problem of balance of payment, developing countries mainly export agricultural goods and in turn import machinery and electric goods, the value of imports in most cases exceeds the value of exports and as a result the increasing debt problem, countries are faced with an increasing balance of payment which lead to rising debts. Rising international interest rates: Most international finance institutions will raise their interest rates which in most cases affect developing countries, for example a country may obtain funds from a financial institution but the country may face increasing interest rates on the loan which will increase the pay back value where in most cases the country may end up paying more than double it acquired from the institution, therefore this has added to the problem of debts in developing countries. Increased protectionism in the international market: Increasing protectionism in the international markets has led to an increase in the debt problem in the developing countries, most of the products produced in developing countries are exported to developed countries, when the products are faced with high levels of protectionism in the developed countries the developing countries will experience a reduction in exports leading to unfavorable balance of payment, this means that the country will experience debt problems. Irresponsible lending by finance institutions: Financial institutions will lend money to countries without taking into consideration the current state of an economy, a country may receive a lot of funds which will end up not being used for their intended purpose, finance institutions will lend the developed countries large sums of money and also they lend money even before previous payments are not yet complete leading to the increased debt problem in the developing countries. Rescheduling of payment terms: Financial institutions will change payment terms over time and this may end up increasing the debt problem in developing countries, such terms include the increase in interest rates, the delay of payments has also led to the increasing debt problem in d