Airborne Express Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

Airborne Express - Essay Example Now it was easier for companies to invest in jets and pose threat to profitability of firms. With respect to the power of suppliers, it can affect the relationship between a business and its customers by influencing the quality and price of the final product. Power of buyers had great impact on the profitability as they began to negotiate in groups and enjoy discounts and lower costs. Availability of substitutes is high in the industry and with the advancement of technology and better systems, more promising channels flared up, inflicting damage to the profitability of the industry. Competitive prices also lead to a decline in its profitability levels. Competition from conventional rival has had the biggest impact in depressing industry profitability: the express package delivery industry has become more concentrated in recent years, because of mergers between companies and bankruptcies of many firms. What strategies did Airborne adopt to try and increase profitability? Why was it un able to gain any competitive advantage over FEDEX and UPS? Generally Airborne strategies focused on gathering information about competitors in the market, the service’s uniqueness, description of key clients, channels for distribution, pricing strategy, expenses and research and development.

Managing at the Edge Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Managing at the Edge - Research Paper Example This is an approach that underestimates the abilities of the employees to carry out tasks and to innovate and improvise as they go. In this kind of companies, each and every decision has to be taken at top level and the employees in the lower levels of hierarchy only have to mechanically obey what they are told. There will a fixed chain of command that will often be lengthy as well (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.23). The decision making will be highly â€Å"procedure-driven† (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.23). Lack of flexibility caused by stringent rules and stunning of the possibilities of creative contribution from employees, are two major drawbacks of 'how' companies. In contrast to this, a 'why' company is one which shares with its employees a single quest, namely, 'why we are doing what we are doing?' (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.16). Naturally, it is a common quest for the company and the employees. The only answer possible for this question is, â€Å" to keep the customers happyâ €  (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.17). Thus the 'why' company wants the employees to keep its customers happy and does not bother much about how it is attained (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.17-18). This is an approach that allows maximum contribution and participation from the employees. It gives freedom to the employees to innovate and improvise and through that, will enhance their motivation and self-esteem. In traditional 'how' companies, the strict control can help achieve good growth and profits (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.43). But this positive aspect will be counter-balanced by the detachment and stress that the employees feel in an environment where there is least freedom (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.43). This will get reflected in their output as well (Carney and Getz, 2009, p.43). References Carney, B.M. And Getz, I. (2009) Freedom, Inc., New York: Crown Business. 2. What are the characteristics of a Level 5 Leader? Level 5 leader is someone who has the capability to lead a company f rom â€Å"good to great†, according to Collins (2001). The term, level 5, is used to indicate â€Å"a five-level hierarchy† (Collins, 2001). Collins (2001) has explained these five levels as given below: Level 1 relates to individual capability, Level 2 to team skills, Level 3 to managerial competence, and Level 4 to leadership as traditionally conceived. Level 5 leaders possess the skills of levels 1 to 4 but also have an "extra dimension": a paradoxical blend of personal humility ("I never stopped trying to become qualified for the job") and professional will ("sell the mills"). People who inhabit the level 5 leadership category are not egocentric and dislike showing off (Collins, 2001). All the same, they have the strength and will power to take bold decisions when the hour needs so (Collins, 2001). It is the goals, the organization and the meaningfulness of the whole exercise that come first for them rather than their personal ego (Collins, 2001). They are highly a mbitious but not in the real sense the word, ambition is commonly used (Collins, 2001). Level 5 leaders are ambitious not towards their own narrow personal career goals but for greatness of the job involved and the organization (Collins, 2001). Level 5 leader will always be only partially satisfied by the results achieved and would constantly seek self-improvement (Collins, 2001). The greatest motivation of such a leader is to leave behind a real