Marketing Audit For Coca Cola Enterprises

Marketing Audit For Coca Cola Enterprises This report provides a complete comprehensive analysis of The Coca-Cola Company which includes an overview of the industry the company operates in, a PEST Framework analysis of the industry then moves on to analyzing the company itself. Company analysis includes a history of The Coca-Cola Company, a SWOT analysis of the segments The Coca-Cola Company operates through, a look at the customer, competitor stakeholder analysis of the company, to derive a strategic assessment of the same to finalize a conclusion a set of recommendations which can be implemented by Coke for a better market share. The Coca Cola is licensed to produce, sell distribute a range of beverages. The company owns the trade marks for most of these, supplies the concentrates is largely responsible for consumer marketing. The most popular product of the Coca-Cola Company is the Coca-Cola invented by pharmacist John Pemberton in 1886. Asa Candler brought the brand formula in 1889 that incorporated the Coca-Cola Company in 1892. Besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage, Coca-Cola currently offers more than 500 brands in over 200 countries serves 1.6billion servings each day. Corporate social responsibility Council (CSR) makes Coke a more competitive company, responsibly manage the social, economic environmental impacts, manage risks, capture opportunities, innovate, reduce costs improve reputation with all groups of stakeholders. The results of Cokes latest marketing shift is still under evaluation but arguably the strongest most pervasive marketing distribution system in the world with Coke being the first soda drunk in outer space, even the sky may not be the limit. TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE NO Executive Summary 1 Introduction 4 1.1 Looking at the Industry 4 1.2 Brief Profile of the Industry 4 1.3 Products Brands 4 2 Current Environment and Operations 5 2.1 PEST Analysis 5 2.1a Political aspects 5 2.1b Economic aspects 6 2.1c Social aspects 7 2.1d Technological aspects 7 2.2 SWOT Analysis 8 2.2a Strengths to bulid upon 8 2.2b Weaknesses to overcome 9 2.2c Opportunities to exploit 10 2.2d Threats to overcome 11 2.3 Customer Analysis 11 2.4 Competitor Analysis 12 2.5 Stakeholder Analysis 12 3. Strategy Assessment 13 4. Recommendations and Conclusions 13 LIST OF REFERENCES 15 1. INTRODUCTION 1.1 Looking at the Industry: The Coca-Cola Company is a beverage retailer, manufacturer marketer of non-alcoholic beverage concentrates syrups. Founded in Atlanta in 1886, Coca-Cola grew steadily from a local business to a multinational institution. In the last century, Coke became the ubiquitous symbol of American business in virtually every country around the world. (www.coca-cola.com/index.jsp, 2010) 1.2 Brief Profile of the Industry: Coca-Cola, started in 1883, has successfully kept its brand relevant for over 100 years. Revenues in 2003 topped $21billion. The Coca-Cola Company only produces syrup concentrate which is then sold to various bottlers throughout the world who hold an exclusive territory. The company operates a franchised distribution system dating from 1889. The Coca-Cola Company owns its anchor bottler in North America, Coca-Cola Refreshments. The current chairman of Coca-Cola is Muhtar Kent. The Coca-Cola headquarters are in Atlanta, Georgia. Its stock is listed on the NYSE is part of DJIA, SP 500 Index, the Russell 1000 Index the Russell 1000 Growth Stock Index. By the end of 2006, juices, waters other health functional beverages represented almost 1/3rd of their sales to meet changing consumer needs. Coca Cola aims to be a preferred supplier to its customers, to deliver superior financial results to its stake holders to provide its employees with a safe, healthy inclusive workplace. (Coca-Cola HBC, 2006) 1.3 Products and Brands: The Coca-Cola has 400 brands in about 200 countries besides its namesake Coca-Cola beverage. The first diet soft drink attempted by Coca-Cola was Tab, whose sales have dwindled since the introduction of Diet Coke. It also produces Fanta Sprite this drink was produced by Max Keith during World War II. The German Fanta Klare Zitrone (Clear Lemon Fanta) variety became Sprite, another of the companys bestsellers its response to 7Up soft drink. Valpre Bottled water was also released in South Africa. Due to the growing demand of healthy beverages from the consumers Coca-Cola introduced some more brands like Minute Maid Juices, Powerade sports beverage, flavoured tea Nestea which was a joint venture with Nestle, Fruitopia fruit drink Dasani waters. () The rest of the report is organized in the following way: Section 2: Current Environment Operations. Section 3: Strategy Assessment. Section 4: Recommendations Conclusion. 2. CURRENT ENVIRONMENT OPERATIONS: For a clear analysis of Coca colas environment the report focuses on PEST, SWOT, Customer, Competitor Stakeholder analysis of the company, thus to develop a set of marketing objectives of the company. 2.1 PEST analysis of Coca Cola: 2.1a Political aspects: Coke comes under FDA, food category, as being a non-alcoholic beverage. The government plays a role within the operation of manufacturing these products in terms of regulations. There are potential fines set by the government on companies if they do not meet a standard of laws. The following are some of the factors that could cause companys actual results to differ materially from the expected results described in their underlying companys forward statement:- Changes in laws regulations, including changes in accounting standards, taxation requirements, (including tax rate changes, new revised tax law interpretations) environmental laws in domestic or foreign jurisdictions. Political conditions, especially in international markets, including civil unrest, government changes restrictions on the ability to transfer capital across borders. Their ability to penetrate developing emerging markets, which also depends on economic political conditions, how well they are able to acquire or form strategic business alliances with local bottlers make necessary infrastructure enhancements to production facilities, distribution networks, sales equipment and technology. (, 2010) 2.1b. Economic aspects: The U.S. economy was strong nearly every part of it was growing doing well, however things changed. Most economists loosely define a recession as 2 consecutive quarters of contraction, or negative GDP growth. The non-alcoholic beverage industry has high sales in countries outside the U.S. According to the Standard and Poors Industry surveys, For major soft drink companies, there has been economic improvement in many major international markets, such as Japan, Brazil, Germany. These markets will continue to play a major role in the success stable growth for a majority of the non-alcoholic beverage industry. 2.1c. Social aspects: Many U.S. citizens are practicing healthier lifestyles. This has affected the non-alcoholic beverage industry in that many are switching to bottled water diet colas instead of beer other alcoholic beverages. Also, time management has increased is at approximately 43% of households. The need for bottled water more convenient healthy products are important in the average day-to-day life. http://www.cdf-mn.org Consumers from the ages of 37-55 are also increasingly concerned with nutrition. There is a large population of the age range known as the baby boomers. Since many are reaching an older age in life they are becoming more concerned with increasing their longevity. This will continue to affect the non-alcoholic beverage industry by increasing the demand overall in the healthier beverages. 2.1d Technical aspects: The effectiveness of companys advertising, marketing promotional programs is crucial task. The new technology of internet television is the use special effects for advertising through media. They make some products look attractive. This helps in selling of the products. This advertising makes the product attractive. This technology is being used in media to sell their products. Introduction of cans and plastic bottles have increased sales for Coca-Cola as these are easier to carry can bin them once they are used. CCE has instituted an internal carbon tax on air travel and encouraged the use of video conferencing internet document sharing. As the technology is getting advanced there has been introduction of new machineries. Due to introduction of these machineries the production of the CCE has increased tremendously than it was few years ago. (, 2007) CCE has 6 factories in Britain which use the most stat-of-the-art drinks technology to ensure top product quality speedy delivery. Europes largest soft drinks factory was opened by CCE in Wakefield, Yorkshire in 1990. The Wakefield factory has the technology to produce cans of Coca-Cola faster than bullets from a machine gun. 2.2 SWOT of Coca Cola: 2.2a Strengths to build upon: An extremely recognizable branding is one of the greatest strength of Coca-Cola. Out of the 5 leading soft-drink brands being sold worldwide, the company produces sells 4 of them, Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta Diet Coke. Consumer loyalty to the company its products remains high, which is evident from the high market acceptance of  Coca-Colas introduced products newly.  Coca-Cola Zero, which was introduced in the North American market in 2005, garnered a 1% market share in supermarkets in the year of its launch. Enjoyed more than 685m times a day around the world Coca-Cola stands as a simple, yet powerful symbol of quality and enjoyment was stated by Allen in 1995. The company has been entering other non-alcoholic beverages segments to widen its presence in the beverages market like sports drinks juices which has been successful. Minute-Maid is presently available across 80 nations, its share in several juice markets in the world improved with 11% increase in sales volume of Minute-Maid products in 2005. The annual per-capita consumption of the companys products is increasing worldwide stood at about 32 servings (1 serving = 8 US fluid ounces of finished beverage) in 1985, increasing to 55 servings in 1995. In 2005, the average consumption per-capita was 77 servings. In North America, companys products stood at about 413 servings in 2005. (, 2010) 2.2b Weakness to overcome: In January 2004,  CCE has introduced the Dasani brand of bottled water in the UK. By March 2004,  Coca-Cola  recalled the product owing to the discovery of excess levels of bromate in the product, which could cause side effects including cancer in human beings. This resulted in recall expenses of $32m for the company. Coca-Colas sales have been hampered to a certain extent by rumours myths about the company its products. The companys sales in the Middle East were affected by rumours alleging that  Coca-Cola  is a Jewish company its trademark carries anti-Muslim messages. The companys sales in South Asia, particularly in India, were affected in recent years due to allegations of  Coca-Colas drinks containing pesticides. These rumours myths have impaired the companys image to some extent. (, 2010) The companys bottling activities are predominantly carried out by 3rd parties or bottling partners. The companys 2nd largest contributor to revenues (close to 19% in the 1st quarter of 2006) was its Bottling Investments segment.   Coca-Cola does not have any control over its bottling partners financial positions, which could be affected by market trends, competition their accessibility to capital resources. Though Coke has the right to unilaterally change prices of its syrups concentrates, the changes could be enforced only if its bottling partners have the ability to pass on the price increases to their consumers. In light of the bottlers high contribution to  Coca-Colas revenues, the company is more vulnerable to the threat of revenue impairment than its peers with more direct distribution activities. (, ND) 2.2c Opportunities to exploit: Coca-Colas products are being consumed, only 1.3b times a day. Furthermore, though Cokes products reach over 200 nations owing to its comprehensive distribution network, there are countries where the average per-capita consumption remains below 50 servings per day. Countries that fall in this category include the worlds 2 most populated nations, India and China. These markets provide tremendous growth opportunities for  Coca-Cola. The company has identified strategic areas for its expansion, which would complement its core business of manufacturing carbonated soft-drinks. In this regard, the company integrated its strategy, innovation and marketing efforts pumped in additional financial resources of $400m in 2005. It  is also expected to enter the freshly brewed coffee and tea businesses, on a trial basis, under the banner, Far Coast. (AsiaPulse News, 13 February 2004) The company modified its revenue growth strategy by adopting the best practices that were followed in its systems in Brazil Argentina. The company is also working with the bottling partners for better implementation of its revenue growth strategy, to increase profitability from case volume sales improving efficiency in worldwide operations. The company also foresees greater potential for growth in the immediate-consumption channel drafted an immediate-consumption strategy for its worldwide operations. The company worked with its suppliers bottling partners to develop advanced equipment, which would offer a new beverage experience to the immediate-consumption channel. Coca-Cola  is also benchmarking best practices in its top immediate-consumption markets to be implemented in other worldwide markets. 2.2d Threats to avoid: The increasing awareness about obesity among consumers, particularly youngsters, triggered by the consumption of non-diet carbonated soft drinks, is expected to dampen demand for the companys beverages from the youth segment in the future. In the recent past, consumer forums in the US threatened to file lawsuits against  Coca-Cola   other carbonated soft-drink producers, for pursuing deceptive practices associated with contracts for selling carbonated soft drinks in schools. The main ingredient in most of  Coca-Colas products is water, a scarce resource in many countries due to a host of factors including pollution of water bodies, inefficient water management and overexploitation of water resources. (Klebukov P, 22 December 2003) The soft drink industry is very strong, but consumers are not necessarily married to it. Tea, coffee, juices, milk hot chocolate are possible substitutes that continuously put pressure on Coke. It  faces tough competition not only from global players such as  PepsiCo, but also from local players. Competitors for  Coca-Cola include Cadbury Schweppes, Nestlà ©, Kraft Foods  Ã‚  Groupe-Danone. The companys efforts towards consolidating its market position could be restrained by the increased competition from these players. 2.3 Customer analysis: In a survey conducted recently by Coca Cola, a sequence of consumers purchasing preference is recorded which is Taste, Brand name, Packaging, Price, Easy availability and advertisement. The intensity of colour the flavour are the key drivers behind consumer acceptance of beverages then the packaging labelling, says a new study involving DANONE. 10 to 20 year age groups are consuming more Coca Cola than any other age segmentation. The customers loyalty for Coca-Cola has always been consistent though cokes price is slightly higher to that of Pepsi other brands. In response to the growing consumer preference for low calorie products, Coke launched Coke Zero, Diet Coke other health drinks whose sales are on top throughout the world. (Khermouch G Brandy D, August 4, 2003) 2.4 Competitor analysis: Coca-Colas direct competitor is PepsiCo whose strength is low carbonated energy drinks, weakness is snack foods. PepsiCo uses celebrities to attract customers. 60% of its profits come from snack foods 40% from drinks, PepsiCo has growing profits by 15% per annum. With Coca-Colas strength being in fizzy drinks, competitors would try to capitalize on its weaker products. Coca-Cola has recently acquired Subway soft drink business, which was previously served by Pepsi. Coke is the most popular beverage in the world, while Pepsi enjoys it only at home. By comparison, rival Pepsi-Colas brand value is a mere $11.78b. (Marketing, December 18 2003) 2.5 Stakeholder analysis: Most businesses have to consider the impact of their activities on stakeholders Coca-Cola is no exception. Coca-Cola identified its stakeholders as its employees, civil organizations, governments, regulatory authorities, non-governmental organizations, suppliers, consumers, investors, shareowners analysts. Understanding stakeholder concerns perceptions is essential to operating a successful business like Coke these positive long-term relationships built on the basis of trust common goals help them create a sustainable business growth. In 2006, engagement with stakeholders focused on key strategic issues like addressing obesity, water resource, packaging waste management, tackling climate change. In response to the employee engagement survey the company implemented action plans developed engagement internal communications. The company also worked with government agencies, NGOs industry peers to increase recycling protect water bodies. Coke has set up CRIS-consumer response i nformation centres in every country to address consumer enquiries. Regular communications with shareholders include road-shows, web-casts briefings. (, ND) 3. STRATEGY ASSESSMENT: Coca-Cola now gets 2/3rds of its revenues from outside the United States. Its easier to name the countries where coke is not available. Everywhere else including such tricky markets as Pakistan, Cambodia, Liberia, Zimbabwe, Liberia Colombia Coke is a beloved consumer staple. The brand is so strong entrenched that even the anti-American sentiments of 9/11 after have not hurt the sales. Coca-Colas brand valuation increased from $68.95b in August 2001 to $70.45b in 2003. Coca-Cola remains the top global brand, achieving the top ranking in BusinessWeeks Global Brand Scorecard once again in 2003. A small set of recommendations would help achieve Coke attain greater heights as discussed below. (Wamer F, April 2003) 4. RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSIONS: With the help of PEST, SWOT other analysis, the internal external environment of CCE has been analysed. Coca-Cola operations extend across 28 countries establishing, developing emerging markets according to business infrastructure, economic development growth prospectus. Through innovation acquisition, Coca-Cola owns operates 81 bottling plants, 64 soft drink plants, 3 juice plants 14 mineral water plants. The strength of Coca-Colas system allows infinite growth in the global market. They have the resources available for this opportunity but they must develop marketing strategies that have local appeal as this is essential for their success. Through their brand reputation vast marketing experience, Coca-Cola has the ability to extend the recognition of their brand logo. However it would be best to leverage brand equity their financial resources, to accelerate global market penetration with a view to long term profits. Coke must continue to evolve its market share. The effectiveness of TV ads is declining due to media fragmentation use of devices like TIVO that let viewers zap commercials. So it is advisable for Coke should divert money previously spent on TV towards more experimental activities like setting up of lounges in teen malls offer exclusive music videos, video games sell coke drinks from Coke machines. (Faust D, p.77, March 1, 2004) With the threat of political economical instability, Coke must consider each countrys unique cultural, political, legal economic environment to extend its market share. With the threat of increasing health consciousness among consumers, it is advisable for Coke to further resource their fruit drink product lines as this market sector is growing rapidly. In laying out an appropriate marketing mix, Coke must consider product, distribution, promotion price, therefore developing a marketing mix for each customer group. In a fairly saturated slow moving beverage industry if Coca-Cola can diversify expand on these products globally they would gain a huge market share a great competitive advantage that would allow for greater long-term profits increase dominations into the next century. LIST OF REFERENCES www.coca-cola.com. Coca-Cola HBC 2006, Social Responsibility report 2006, www.coca-cocahbc.com, Greece. Viewed 5 December 2010, Viewed 5 December 2010, Viewed 5 December 2010, Viewed 6 December 2010, Viewed 6 December 2010, Dean Faust, Coke:Wooing the TiVo Generation, BusinessWeek, March 1, 2004, p.77. Paul Klebukov, Cokes Sinful World, Forbes, December 22, 2003, p.86. Coca-Cola Japan to Debut Beer-flavoured Soda Next Month, AsiaPulse News, February 13, 2004. How Coke Moulded our view of Santa Claus to Fuel Winter Sales, Marketing, December 18, 2003. Gerry Khermouch and Diane Brandy, The Top 100 Brands, BusinessWeek, August 4, 2003. Fara Wamer, Chris Lowe Time To Get Real, Fast Company, April 2003.

Learning through exploration, active participation and imitation

Learning through exploration, active participation and imitation Young children learn through exploration, active participation and through imitation and as such quality arts programme comprising of all art forms visual art, music, media, dance and drama should be included as part of the curriculum in the early childhood classroom. As stated by Spodek,1993 (cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 2001) through participating in the art activities children are able to express themselves and it provides opportunities for development of creativity , symbolizing and enhances their learning about aesthetics which further helps them gain academic knowledge. Smith, 1982 (cited in Wright, 1991) mentioned that children are able to organise their experiences and know about themselves and their world through participating in the arts. Dyson (1990, p.52) further stated that art and play have critical roles in childrens growth as symbol makers . Like play, art is voluntary and intrinsically motivated as children are free to choose the content and direction of the activity . There are no external demands or expectations and children are free to explore, experiment and investigate with the people, objects and materials provided. He also mentioned that children pursue art activities for intrinsic pleasure rather than external rewards. Furthermore, the gestures and first words children use during make believe play reflect upon peoples actions and things around their daily lives which is the early understanding of symbolisation as well as the basic foundation that develops into drawing pictures, spoken and written words in their later stages. Based on my practical experiences in the classroom and as well as through the readings from books I believe that arts is just as important as any other subject in the curriculum and children do learn and develop their physical, intellectual, emotional and social skills through participating in the arts activities. It is also a requirement by the Ministry of Education that the arts be included as part of the curricul um in the Singaporean classroom. (cited in Framework for A Kindergarten Curriculum in Singapore, 2006). This essay is a brief attempt at looking at the importance of the arts in the education of young children drawn from two art forms which are music and drama. According to Isenberg Jalongo, (2001) four types of learning are promoted through the arts and they are 1) knowledge about the arts 2) skills in the arts 3) dispositions towards the arts and 4) feelings about the arts. As knowledge about the arts is developed through sensory experiences and explorations of materials, children provided with such opportunities to observe, explore and discover about the world, develop their cognitive ability and it further enhances foundation for later learning in the preschool years whereby they use symbols, language and make believe play develops. Skills in the arts are developed when children are allowed to explore and experiment in a safe and healthy art environment provided with a variety of tools and materials under the guidance of an adult who has already acquired these skills. For example, children creating a paper use the skill of printing, painting, tearing, rolling, and colour mixing. They use their fine motor skills, eye hand coordination and social interaction skills. Throughout the activity they engage in the process of problem solving as they experiment with colour and texture to create the paper. There is a certain amount of trial and error while they experiment with the tools. Self expression as children are able to use their own imagination and creativity to express themselves while creating the paper. (Isenberg Jalongo, 2001) Vygotsky, according to Berk, (2000) viewed childrens cognitive development as a socially mediated process whereby processes and skills are transferred and supported from more knowledgeable adult as children try new tasks. He also believed that as long as children acquire language, their ability to communicate with others leads to changes in thought and behaviour that vary from culture to culture. As such, the third type of learning dispositions towards art depends on the adult being the role model and the interaction with more competent peers and teachers to support the child to parti cipate successfully in the arts. Providing feedback as stated by Wright, (1991) is part of summative assessment that guides childrens learning and helps them acquire the elements, concepts, forms, and vocabulary about the arts. When children are given opportunities to respond to art works created by others, for example, when they are taken for visits to art galleries and teachers model ways to respond thoughtfully while viewing the works by professional artist children learn to respect the work of others and when teachers value childrens work and display them, these develops their sense of efficacy and enables them to have positive feeling about the arts. On the other hand, Swanwick, (1998) mentioned that the three elements of play applicable to learning through the arts are mastery, imitation, and imaginative play. Mastery involves learning of a skill associated with an art form for example children learning to make finger puppets for a drama performance or trying to keep to the rhythm while experimenting with a musical instrument during a musical percussion session. Children being able to identify things and people other than themselves as well as learning how to express sympathy, empathy and show concern explains the expressive nature of the art form known as Imitation. Based on my classroom experience, preschoolers making musical sounds for pigs running away from the wolf and moving their bodies to suggest movements of a wolf and expressing through facial expressions as an angry wolf for a drama performance of the story Three Little Pigs are examples of imitation. Imaginative play focuses on the structure of an art form. Examples of imaginative play during the Three Little Pigs drama are when children experiment with different musical instruments until they are able to create the sound that best resembles the pigs running away from the wolf and when experimenting with the different ways as they can move that suggests the movement of the wolf. Swanwick, (1998) also suggests that all three elements of play must be in action for all ages in order to learn through the arts. Isenberg Jalongo, (2001) claim that music contributes to the total development of the child cognitive, physical, social, emotional, cultural and aesthetics. In my centre, we have a music and movement area equipped with a variety of musical instruments like bells, tambourines, triangles etc. Children participate in music and movement activities whereby they move as well as sing along and play musical instruments. Through these activities children develop their large muscles of their bodies as they invent actions to go along with the songs .They develop fine motor skills as they play musical instruments and become aware of beat, tempo, and pitch. These activities also build kinaesthetic intelligence. Gardner, (1973, cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 1997) Children gain experience with music and use of language as they sing the songs for instance when singing the song If you happy and you know it clap your hands they link words with actions and focus on the sequence and task and all these i nvolves childrens ability to process mentally the tone, rhythm, and melody and thus involves thinking skills and cognitive connections between music and learning. As mentioned by Isenberg Jalongo , 1997 that Bruners three learning stages enactive, iconic and symbolic suggests developmentally appropriate musical experience for children and they add that Bruners enactive stage relates to Piagets(1952) sensorimotor stage and Eriksons (1950) trust-building stage where physical activity and music are intertwined. Thus, musical activities stimulate the childrens senses, cognitive development and also build social relationships. Childrens creativity is enhanced when they are asked to decide on the other actions and movement apart from those suggested by the teacher. As stated by McAllester, (cited in Isenberg Jalongo, 1997) music encourages participation, sharing and cooperation .Through participating in the musical activities, there is cooperation and sharing when children get together and work with a partner or in a group and these develops their social skills. Music is also an excellent tool to familiarise children with the different culture. When children are given the opportunity to experience and listen to different cultural music, they begin to appreciate and understand what each ethnic group is about.and these develops their aesthetic skills and understand the art form. Cornett (1999) supports the need for teachers to integrate creative drama in the classroom as she states that drama being a part of everyday life, prepares an individual to connect to real life situations. Cornett (1999) adds that when children are participating in the drama, they are able to look at problems from different points of view, respect diverse thinking, and realise that there are many ways to settle one problem. She further states that through drama, children learn to exchange feelings and emotions with each other. This enhances their personality development. Cornett (1999) also states that personal development takes place when children control their body and words as they express ideas and feelings during the drama activities. She also indicated that positive self image and confidence are developed through the problem solving situations. Cornett (1999) reiterates that children engaging in situational confrontations during their role play, also become aware of the different emotions people feel for example happiness, sadness .anger, fear. She adds that the children learn that these feelings can be dealt with, thus developing a tolerance towards them. Isbell Raines (2007), agree that social skills can be developed in drama as children working in a group overcome difficulties through problem solving skills. They experience working with peers as they negotiate plans to stage the drama. During interactions, children learn to negotiate with each other, work cooperatively, and develop respect for each other. In my centre, besides the dramatic play in the home corner, my class of four year olds involve in simple puppetry and mask drama using rhymes and childrens stories. Rhymes like This little pig went to market are taught to children using puppets and later children retell the rhyme using the puppets. In addition, children take turns to dramatise the rhyme each child given a mask of a pig (mask designed and made by child), actions like going the market, eating roast beef are incorporated. Puppets and mask are excellent props in focusing childrens attention. Through such activities children are able to participate in dramatic action using the element role, as they pretend to be someone other than themselves. Language is enhanced as they retell rhyme and children are able to express ideas and feelings through dramatic movement. (Isbell Raines, 2007) .As mentioned above, experts strongly believe that musical activities and drama enables children to develop their physical, cognitive, social, emotional and aesthetic skills as well as to provide opportunities for development of self expression, creativity, symbolizing all of which enhances their academic knowledge .There are many opportunities for children to learn and develop skills, knowledge and processes through participation in the arts , as such having discussed the benefits and leaning outcomes of childrens participation in the arts , I strongly believe that the arts is important in the education of preschoolers and all art forms should be integrated into the preschool curriculum with equal emphasis as any other subject in the curriculum.

Altered Reality in Joseph Conrads Heart of Darkness Essay example --

Altered Reality in Heart of Darkness      Ã‚  Ã‚   The world of darkness that Marlow finds himself in is directly comparable to what Leary describes of the bardos (stages) that occur during a drug-induced trip or psychedelic experience. ‘The underlying problem of the Second Bardo is that any and every shape—human, divine, diabolical, heroic, evil, animal, thing—which the human brain conjures up or the past life recalls, can present itself to consciousness: shapes and forms and sounds whirling by endlessly’ (48). An example of such presentation is Marlow’s perception of the jungle as a palpable force that has the power of human gestures. It calls, beckons, lures, etc. Leary writes that accompanying the moment of ego-loss is the perception of ‘wave-energy flow’: ‘the individual becomes aware that he is part of and surrounded by a charged field of energy, which seems almost electrical...the attempt to control or to rationalize this energy flow... is indicative of ego-acti vity and the First Bardo transcendence is lost’ (41). Marlow never loses ego-activity so he never reaches transcendence, but his ego-activity rationalizes his feeling of the physical awareness of the jungle. He colors the Congo dark instead of light and chooses to reject, not embrace, the force of the jungle so his rationalizations are negative and he thinks the force is evil.     Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The negative, wrathful counterparts to this vision occur if the voyager reacts with fear to the powerful flow of life forms. Such a reaction is attributable to the cumulated result of game playing (karma) dominated by anger or stupidity. A nightmarish hell-world may ensue. The visual forms appear like a confusing chaos of cheap, ugly dime-store objects, brassy, vulgar and useless. The ... ... all truth, and all sincerity, are just compressed into that inappreciable moment of time in which we step over the threshold of the invisible’ (Conrad, 113).    Works Cited Conrad, Joseph. Heart of Darkness. Editor Robert Kimbrough. New York: Norton, 1988. Cox, C. B. Conrad: Heart of Darkness, Nostromo, and Under Western Eyes. London: Macmillan Education Ltd., 1987. Guetti, James. ‘Heart of Darkness and the Failure of the Imagination’, Sewanee Review LXXIII, No. 3 (Summer 1965), pp. 488-502. Ed. C. B. Cox. Leary, Timothy , Metzner, Ralph, Alpert, Richard The Psychedelic Experience: A Manual Based on the Tibetan Book of the Dead Ruthven, K. K. ‘The Savage God: Conrad and Lawrence,’ Critical Quarterly, x, nos 1& 2 (Spring and Summer 1968), pp. 41-6. Ed. C. B. Cox. Watts, Cedric. A Preface to Conrad. Essex: Longman Group UK Limited, 1993.  

Deism and Changes in Religious Tolerance in America Essay -- Deism Rel

Deism and Changes in Religious Tolerance in America      Ã‚  Ã‚   Religious conscience in America has evolved considerably since the first settlers emigrated here from Europe. Primary settlements were established by Puritans and Pilgrims who believed "their errand into the wilderness [America] was above all else a religious errand, and all institutions - town meeting, school, church, family, law-must faithfully reflect that fact" (Gaustad 61). However, as colonies grew, dissenters emerged to challenge Puritan authority; indeed, many of them left the church to join untraditional religious sects such as "the Ranters, the Seekers, the Quakers, the Antinomians, and the Familists" (Westbrook 26). Debates over softening the stance on tolerance in the church engendered hostility in many religious leaders, priming some officials to take action. Whether it was in direct response to "the liberalizing tendencies beginning to take hold in some [. . .] New England churches" (Westbrook 65), or a "reaction against the attempt in the Age of Reason to reduce Christian doctrine to rationalistic explanation" ("Great Awakening"), the Great Awakening impressed upon the issues of religious conscience. Moreover, what spawns from this controversy is a query over the juxtaposition of morality and spirituality: the question of whether these conditions are actually related. The gradual escalation of unconventional thinking in religious affairs facilitated new ideas on what defined spirituality; one religious theory, boosted by Thomas Paine and his book, The Age of Reason, denounced both Christianity and Atheism, proposing instead, a new concept: the middle path of Deism.    As a progressive religious view rising in popularity during the middle of the e... ...ns, it is quite possible that American's would not have religious freedom today.       Works Cited    Gaustad, Edwin S., ed. A Documentary History of Religion in America to the Civil War. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans, 1982. "Great Awakening." Colliers Encyclopedia. 1996 ed. Paine, Thomas. The Age of Reason. Ed. Moncure Daniel Conway. New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1930. Richmond, B.A. "Deism: It's History, Beliefs, & Practices." Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 25 July 2000. http://www.religioustolerance.org/deism.htm. Walters, Kerry S. The American Deists: Voices of Reason and Dissent in the Early Republic. Lawrence: UP of Kansas, 1992. ---. Benjamin Franklin and His Gods. Chicago: University of Illinois, 1999. Westbrook, Perry D. A Literary History of New England. Cranbury: Associated University, 1988.

Multigrade Classes

Multi-grade teaching refers to the teaching of students of different ages, grades and abilities in the same group. It is referred to variously in the literature as ‘multilevel', ‘multiple class', ‘composite class', ‘vertical group ‘,’ family classes, and, in the case of one-teacher schools, ‘unitary schools'. It is to be distinguished from mono-grade teaching in which students within the same grade are assumed to be more similar in terms of age and ability. However, substantial variation in ability within a grade often leads to â€Å"mixed-ability† teaching. There can also be wide variations in age within the same grade, especially in developing countries, where the age of entry to school varies and where grade repetition is common. This condition of â€Å"multi-age-within-grade† teaching appears not to have generated such universal recognition, perhaps because it occurs more often in developing than in developed countries. The summary of experiences from Australia, Bangladesh, Peoples Republic of China, India, Indonesia, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines and Thailand confirmed that: †¢ primary curriculum documents and their associated lists of â€Å"minimum learning competencies† have not been specifically designed for use by teachers in multi-grade schools †¢ school plans, instructional materials and methodological guidelines are often difficult to apply to multi-grade teaching situations †¢ there is a shortage of support materials for teachers and individualised instructional materials for learners †¢ there is a need for more work on the kinds of continuous evaluation, diagnostic testing, remediation and feedback which would best assist multi-grade teaching and added that †¢ although many teachers work in multi-grade teaching situations few countries have developed special teacher training curricula for pre- or in-service training. Teaching practice during preservice is invariably carried out in mono-grade schools †¢ teachers posted to teach in multi-grade schools â€Å"develop a sort of psychological alienation from the school† †¢ the educational system as a whole pays inadequate attention to the proper functioning of multi-grade schools through, for example, not filling vacant teaching positions in rural areas, the absence of systems of teacher accountability, a lack of basic physical facilities in these schools, lack of training for supervisors of multi-grade schools and a general â€Å"inattentiveness of education officers to the needs of these schools† Factors Contributing to the establishment of Multigrade Teaching * * Cultural factors * Socio-economic factors. * Benefits of multigrade teaching * Richer learning environment * Greater community involvement. Development of health competition * Greater understanding between learners and educators Advantages and Challenges of Teaching Multi-level Classes When faced with the challenge of a multi-level classroom many teachers do not know where to start. They fear that the preparation will take much longer, and that the students will be more demanding. Schools that have multi-level classes often have limited budgets, and teachers may fear that they will not be paid for what they are worth. However, it is only by looking at the advantages of the multi-level classroom and employing strategies to overcome the challenges, that teachers can achieve success. Advantages of Multi-level classrooms * Students are able to learn at their own pace * Students learn to work well in a group * Students become independent learners * Students develop strong relationships with their peers * Students become partners in learning Challenges of Multi-level classrooms * Finding appropriate teaching resources and material * Organizing appropriate groupings within the class * Building an effective self-access centre in the classroom * Determining the individual needs of each student * Ensuring that all students are challenged and interested Teaching Method Strategies Experiment with different types of groupings to find the ones that work best. You may find that cross-ability pairs work best for certain types of activities, while like-ability small groups work better for others. If possible, use a wide variety of groupings to keep things interesting for your class. Use a simple schedule that is similar each day. Here is an example: 1. Start with a warm-up that involves the whole group. 2. Break part of the class off into one type of grouping (i. e. pairs) and work with part of the class on a lesson, grammar point, or activity. 3. Break off the class into another type of grouping (i. e. small groups) and have the other students use self-access materials. 4. Bring the class back together for a whole group activity/game. Isolate students within the class who are interested in peer tutoring. This doesn't have to be the student with the highest level of the subject. Your students who fall somewhere in the middle may in fact be the most valuable to you, as they strive to attain a level of competency comparable to the most advanced students. Remind your students that the best way to practice and improve a new language is to teach it to someone else. Consider enlisting a volunteer. Limited budgets or low enrolment are often the reasons behind multi-level classes. For this reason, it may be difficult to convince administrators or managers that you need a paid assistant. If you feel overwhelmed, consider hiring a volunteer. Finding someone who is interested in helping you with your preparation work and teaching may not be as difficult as you think. ARTICLES ABOUT MULTI-GRADE TEACHING/CLASSES Multigrade classes bring more children to school Friday 30th of March 2012 PASIG CITY, March 30 —Will a teacher not hold class if there are just a few enrollees? Should a student drop out if the school is far from home or there is not enough teachers and classroom? If you ask the Department of Education, the answer is no because it continues to find ways to bring children to school in order to complete their basic education. One of these is the holding of multigrade classes. A multigrade class is a class consisting of two or more different grade levels inside a single grade classroom handled by one teacher for an entire school year. It is offered in elementary schools located in distant and sparsely-populated localities, a statement from DepEd said. Figures from DepEd show that there are close to a million enrollees in multigrade classes across the country. Education Secretary Armin Luistro said most of the students attending multigrade classes are learners who belong to isolated and poor communities, indigenous peoples or those who reside in far-flung mountains and islands where schools are far apart from each other. â€Å"This is part of our thrust to democratize access to education and make the learning experience inclusive to as many sectors. In effect, we are bringing more students to school,† he added. If a class does not meet the required number of enrollees and therefore it is not viable to conduct a class of limited number of pupils, the supposed enrollees are merged into a single class and taught by one teacher,† Luistro explained. The small number of students for each grade level; the shortage of teachers; the distance from the community to the nearest school; and the inadequacy of funds and classrooms are reasons that necessitate the organization of multigrade classes. In the Philippine public school system, classes with two grade levels inside a single classroom and handled by the same teacher is called combination classes. Those with three grade levels in one classroom and handled by a single teacher is called a multigrade or multi-level class. This means that a multigrade classroom mixes children with different skills and abilities, different developmental levels and needs while working together under the guidance of one teacher. â€Å"The truth is long before multi-tasking became a buzzword, our teachers were actually already living up to the word,† Luistro said. While DepEd has always recognized the existence of multi-grade classes it was only in 1990 that the department started to consider the formal organization and continuing operation of multigrade classrooms all over the country in keeping with the goal of Education For All (EFA). Thus, DepEd continues to invest in teachers’ training, curriculum development and in the preparation of learning materials appropriate for multi-grade classes to improve elementary education especially in underserved and remote areas. (DepEd) More Than One Million Filipino Students Have Classmates At Different Grade Levels Academia March 30, 2012 The Philippine Department of Education says more than one million students are enrolled in multigrade classes, where three or more grade levels are taught by a single teacher. AsianScientist (Mar. 30, 2012) – Should a teacher cancel a class if there are only a few enrollees? And should a student drop out if the school is far from home or if there are insufficent teachers and classroom? The Philippine Department of Education (DepEd) says no. Instead, it has found one way to solve this problem, by holding multigrade classes. In the Philippine public school system, classes with two grade levels inside a single classroom taught by the same teacher are called combination classes. Classes with three grade levels conducted in one classroom taught by a single teacher are called a multigrade or multilevel classes. Figures from DepEd show that there are close to a million enrollees in multigrade classes across the country. Education Secretary Armin Luistro said most of the students attending multigrade classes belong to isolated and financially challenged communities, are indigenous peoples, and reside in far-flung mountains and islands where schools are far apart from each other. The small number of students for each grade level, the shortage of teachers, the distance from the community to the nearest school, and the nadequacy of funds and classrooms are reasons that necessitate the organization of multigrade classes, he explained. This means that children with different skills and abilities, developmental leve ls, and needs are mixed in a class under the guidance of one teacher. â€Å"This is part of our thrust to democratize access to education and make the learning experience inclusive to as many sectors. In effect, we are bringing more students to school,† Luistro explained. â€Å"If a class does not meet the required number of enrollees and therefore it is not viable to conduct a class of limited number of pupils, the supposed enrollees are merged into a single class and taught by one teacher,† he added. Although the DepEd has always recognized the existence of multigrade classes, it was only in 1990 that the department started to formally acknowledge multigrade classrooms, in keeping with the goal of Education For All. Source: Philippine Department of Education. Disclaimer: This article does not necessarily reflect the views of AsianScientist or its staff. A Review on Multigrade Education by admin on Jan. 09, 2012 Multigrade teaching occurs within a graded system of education when a single class contains two or more student grade levels. It is contrasted with the usual pattern of classroom organization in graded systems where a single classroom contains students of only one grade level. In many graded systems, age and grade are congruent, so a grade level is also equivalent to a particular age group of students. However, this may not be the case in systems where grade level satellite phones repetition and acceleration are common. There are three important reasons why multigrade teaching may occur in both developed and developing countries. First, multigrading is often associated with ’small’ schools in remote and sparsely populated areas. In such schools, there may be only one, two or three teachers, yet they offer a complete cycle of primary education. If that cycle consists of eight grade levels, then each of these teachers must deal with multigrade classes. These ’small’ schools are also sometimes referred to as ‘multigrade’ schools. Multigrade schools have attracted attention in the developing country context because of their potential to increase primary school participation rates. By bringing the school closer to the community, they encourage more children, especially girls, into school. Second, multigrade teaching is also common in larger urban and suburban schools. In some countries, it is a response to uneven student enrollment. For example, a school with a two and a half grade entry may have to combine two grade levels to make up class sizes. Also, in countries where teacher absenteeism is high, and there is no ‘cover’, grades may be combined to avoid having a class with no teacher present. A single teacher then has to deal with two grade level groups together. Third, multigrade teaching may be a deliberate response to educational problems. In developed countries, this is linked to the multiage perspective. Proponents of mixed age grouping argue that there are sound pedagogical reasons for placing students of different ages together in the same classroom. Mixed age classes, it is argued, stimulate children’s social development and encourage greater classroom cooperation. These arguments are seldom raised in the developing country literature, although several commentators take the view that multigrade organized classes are potentially a cost effective means of providing quality education in difficult to reach areas.

Strategic Analysis for Ryanair to Enter China

Strategic Analysis for Ryanair to Enter China Submitted in part fulfilment of the Master September 2010 STRATEGIC BUSINESS ANALYSIS (ULMS 719) University of Liverpool Management School 17 September 2010 Abstract Ryanair, the leader of low-fare carriers in Europe, will expand its business throughout the world. This report discusses the strategies which Ryanair entre the Chinese market.Through PESTEL analysis and SWOT analysis to have sophisticated understandings of the Chinese market situation and the civil aviation environment, then after a series of considerations, eventually, Ryanair makes the decision to cooperate with China Southern Airlines in the form of a joint venture. Based on this, Ryanair has set up plenty of adequate business strategies that are composed of market targeting strategy, price strategy and marketing strategy in order to successfully enter the Chinese market. Keywords: Ryanair; China; Strategic analysis Table of ContentsAbstract ——— Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€-i List of Tables and Figures————————————————————————iv 1. Introduction————————————————————————————-1 2. Overview of Ryanair ————————————————————————-2 2. 1 General introduction of Ryanair———————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€-2 2. 2 Ryanair’s competitive advantages ———————————————————-4 3.Strategic analysis ——————————————————————————–6 3. 1 External environment-PESTEL Analysis ———————————————-7 3. 1. 1 Political ————————————————————————————7 3. 1. 2 Economic———â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ8 3. 1. 3 Social ————————————————————————————–10 3. 1. 4 Technology——————————————————————————–11 3. . 5 Environment——————————————————————————-12 3. 1. 6 Legal ————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€13 3. 2 Internal Environment-SWOT Analysis————————————————-14 3. 2. 1 Strengths ———————————————————————————-15 3. 2. 2Weaknesses———————————————————————————17 3. 2. 3 Opportunities————————————————————â€⠀Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€18 3. . 4 Threats————————————————————————————–19 3. 3 Summary ————————————————————————————-20 4. Business Strategic——————————————————————————–21 4. 1 Entry Mode Strategy————————————————————————21 4. 1. 1Problems that may cause ————————————————————–21 4. 1. 2 Joint Venture —————————————————————————22 4. 1. 2. 1 Brief introduction of Joint Venture ————————————————22 4. 1. 2. 2 Partner-China Southern Airlines —————————————————23 4. 2 Market Targeting strategy —————————————————————–25 4. 3 Pricing Strategy —————————————————————————–26 4. 3. 1 The level of highest price ————————————————————–27 4. 3. The level of lowest price —————————————————————27 4. 3. 3 The level of average price ——————————————————— —-27 4. 3. 4 Price choice on peak-season and off-season —————————————â⠂¬â€œ28 4. 4 Marketing Strategy ————————————————————————-28 4. 4. 1 Cooperation with Mass Communication ———————————————-28 4. 4. 2 Cooperation with local authorities —————————————————–28 4. . 3 Cooperation with China Southern Airlines ——————————————-29 4. 5 Summary————————————————————————————-30 5. Conc lusion—————————————————————————————-30 References——————————————————————————————-32 List of Tables and Figure Table1. The Development of Civil Aviation in Recent Years——————————— 9 Table2.Ryanair’s SWOT Analysis —————————————————————- 15 Table3. Highlights of Ryanair’s Finances ————————â₠¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€Ã¢â‚¬â€œ 16 Table4. Key Statistics Comparison between Railways, Highways and Civil Aviation——19 Figure1. Comparison of Average Fares in four airlines —————————————–16 1. Introduction Low-cost carriers mainly operate high-volume passenger traffic on short-distance routes, use second-level airports, and offer no extra services.Given their sharply reduced costs, normally low-cost carriers offer fares considerably lower than that of traditional airlines. The trend began in America, with Southwest Airlines as the chief representative. Since 1990, numerous low-fare airlines have sprung up on a global scale. Among these, Ryanair’s achievements stand out. As the most profitable airline company in the world, Ryanair is renowned for its low-cost and low fares to travel destinations throughout most Eur opean countries. However, current airline routes and markets cannot meet Ryanair’s long-term development.To achieve its expanding ambitions across a global range, Ryanair decided to start with the Chinese market. Aviation in China is advancing at a staggering rate. Because of improvements in the living standard, more and more customers are willing to spend money on high-fare air tickets to save time and obtain excellent service, whereas the majority of middle-class individuals would rather travel by other vehicles than by plane due to its high price. Without doubt, the low-cost carrier is the only way to satisfy the growing requirements of the market in the next several years.Ryanair sees China’s high-potential market and increasing demands. It must, therefore, address these paramount issues: how to carry out appropriate strategies and combine Ryanair’s own advantages with the framework of international regulations and the Chinese government’s policies. I f Ryanair enters the Chinese market successfully, it will have a special meaning and impact on Ryanair’s sustainable development and will bring about a great change in current Chinese aviation patterns. This study will suggest specific measures for Ryanair to enter the Chinese market.The study first introduces Ryanair’s history, its considerable achievements, and unique predominance. From these aspects, we can have deeper understanding of Ryanair. Then, this study will apply PESTEL and SWOT models to analyze the internal and external environments. Based on environmental assessment, during the entire entering process, some unpredictable problems will be generated. In accordance with these problems, this study will offer relative solutions. More specifically, it offers an entry-mode and business strategy.Last but not least, the study concludes by offering a look at Ryanair’s experiences and improvements during the analysis process, and shows its drawbacks as well. Finally, the study offers suggestions to minimize the risks of entry into and for making profits in China. 2. Overview of Ryanair 2. 1 General introduction of Ryanair Ryanair’s legend dates back to 1985 when the Ryan family set up the company with only ? 1 share capital and 25 staff in Ireland. At that time, the Ryan family mainly operated scheduled passenger airline services between the UK and Ireland. At first, this mini-airline failed to draw the public’s attention.In the meantime, due to blind business expansion, Ryanair opened up new routes and purchased new aircrafts regardless of risk, resulting in constantly increasing expenditures and making huge losses for four years running. The meaningful year for Ryanair was 1990. Under the leadership of a new CEO, Michael O'Leary, Ryanair first introduced low fares and low-cost operation modes, based on the American South West Airline’s successful experience. The move has proven a wise decision. From then on, Ryan air began to make a profit and gradually became the leader in low-fare air tickets in Europe.After more than 20 years of unremitting efforts, Ryanair is recognized as the world’s favorite airline (Ryanair Annual Report, 2009). In addition, in accordance with its latest fiscal year report, Ryanair has developed into the largest low-fare airline, with over 7,000 employees, 43 bases and 1,100 routes between 26 counties (Ryanair. com). Also, Ryanair’s fleet includes 250 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Its number of passengers served reached 66. 5 million, which took the lead in the industry. In the next several years, Ryanair will still enlarge its fleet to deliver more passengers.In recent years, the value of Ryanair shares has gone up more than 10 times compared to 1997 when Ryanair issued shares to the public( Ryanair Annual Report, 2010). This continued, even after the events of September 11, 2001, when global aviation changed dramatically. Although most airlines have bee n largely affected, Ryanair has retained profits for 12 years. In 2003, Ryanair successively merged and acquired Holland’s low-cost airline, Buzz, the budget airline subsidiary of KLM and the Dutch national airline. These moves led to the organization’s overall strengths and risk resistance for further improvement.The 2010 financial report illustrated Ryanair earned â‚ ¬305. 3 million in 2010. In consequence, Ryanair was named as â€Å"the most profitable airline in the world† by The Economist magazine in 2005. Meanwhile Ryanair’s stock share is very popular with investors and shareholders. In addition, one reason why Ryanair continues to achieve milestones is that it has maintained its business philosophy of ‘providing its customers with a lowest price ticket even no fares, on the premise that Ryanair cuts into the whole company’s operating expense and other unnecessary cost† (Johnson, 2004) 2. Ryanair’s competitive advantage s It is universally acknowledged in business that superior enterprises will prosper whereas inferior ones will be eliminated. That is to say, survival of the fittest. The main points allowing a company to gain success are competitive advantages. This is the final goal of the strategic process in management. Competitive advantages were first proposed by Michael Porter in 1990. If a firm is able to generate more economic value than rival firms, it has a competitive advantage.In other words, not only could it bring benefits to customers, but also its opponents would find it hard to imitate and surpass it (Barney and Hesterly, 2007). In the competitive low-fare aviation market, Ryanair gradually created its own competitive advantages. They are as follows: A. Purchasing a single aircraft type: Ryanair only operates Boeing 737 and Boeing 737-800 â€Å"next generation. † Ryanair took good advantage of its own bargaining power and stable reputation to gain favorable contracts. This a dvantage helps Ryanair save costs.At the same time, Boeing aircraft not only suit the demands of European countries but also saves a large amount of maintenance and the costs of repair and staff employment. B. High efficiency in staff work: Employees’ efficiency at Ryanair is relatively higher than those at other airlines. For example, at Ryanair, an airhostess is responsible for service on the plane and for cleaning as well. Productive-based remuneration system is widely applied in Ryanair. It consists of the number of on-board sales of products on the flight and their working hours.To arouse enthusiasm and initiative among staff, Ryanair distributes company’s stock as dividend and rewards. C. Masterful exploitation of second-level airport resources: In some European areas, use of second-tier airports is very low. Therefore, to raise the usage ratio and boost economic improvement, local governments have offered some favorable policies. Based on Ryanair’s large volume of passenger traffic and its rapid growth, Ryanair obtained great contracts and even some subsidies from local areas, leading to a decrease in airport access fees. D.Taking advantage of the Internet: To save agency commission fees and simplify the purchasing process, Ryanair set up online reservations and spent a large amount of money on promoting online implementation widely. The Skylight system offers a platform for Internet users to book and confirm their ticket through Ryanair’s website promptly. Consequently, its Internet operation has significant advanced to reach 99% of ticket sales. E. Reducing expenses and making profits from other aspects: Ryanair no longer provides free meals, and Ryanair cancelled first and business classes to offer more seats.Apart from this, Ryanair limits weight of luggage to decrease fuel consumption. During the entire operation process, Ryanair always puts cost decreases in first place, and also attempt to seek a way to earn more money . For instance, Ryanair supplies different kinds of products and services including food, as well as information in terms of taxi and hotel booking for passengers. Simultaneously, the advertisements for colorful Ryanair’ aircraft and websites for other companies offer major sources of revenue. F.Unique corporate culture: Ryanair’s headquarter was built in a rural area at a small location in Ireland. In the beginning, the entire company comprised only eight administrative workers. At times, the firm’s CEO and department managers would help customers check in and even load and upload their baggage. Every Thursday the company would hold football matches between various company departments. The corporate culture creates a harmonious work environment and makes a success of the business. 3. Strategic analysis The Chinese market is new for Ryanair.There is no denying that the Chinese market has its own unique characteristics. To enter the Chinese market, it is imperati ve that Ryanair have a deep understanding of the external environment. Similarly, Ryanair should grasp if the internal environment is beneficial or detrimental to Ryanair. Only in this way, will Ryanair be able to exploit its own strong points to fulfill its potential and avoid some influences that may give rise to shortcomings. Meanwhile, environmental analysis offers a determinant factor to establish specific strategies. The following steps might be taken. . 1 External environment: PESTEL analysis Johnson pointed out the PESTEL framework as an effective tool for analyzing the macro-environment. Moreover, it helps the company to know what is going on outside the organization and how external factors are likely to change in the future. PESTEL refers to six points: political, economic, social, technological, environmental and legal (Johnson, 2008). It is clear that this framework includes all external aspects. Through this framework, Ryanair could get a better understand of the unfam iliar Chinese market.Then, on the basis of this, Ryanair could carry out accurate methods that are suitable for Chinese customers. 3. 1. 1 Political issues The political point is related to political and state systems, policies and regulations. Aviation is an industry that is very sensitive to political changes. In the meantime, aviation is strictly regulated by government. Chinese aviation started late, therefore its laws and regulations have several shortcomings. With the gradual deepening of its economic reforms in recent years, the Civil Aviation Administration of China opened the door for non-state owned enterprises in 2004.After that, a series of loosening policies regarding airline routes have been put forward to provide more chances for low-cost carriers. Up through late 2007, the Chinese government concluded 110 bilateral agreements with foreign states (The Report of Chinese Aviation, 2008). On the one hand, this move indicated that the Chinese aviation industry was at the international stage to seek further development. On the other hand, it means that the Chinese market relaxed rules on foreign ownership of airline. Through corporation, the monopoly concerning a reservation in fuel price, maintenance fees or tickets would be broken up.In addition, there has been a dramatic increase in space resources. As of 2007, Chinese aviation implemented the Reduced Vertical Separation Minimum (RVSM) cruising altitude between 8,400 meters and 12,500 meters. RVSM went up from 7 to 13. This implied that space environment would be optimized and flights would be unobstructed. Beyond a new regulation applied regarding airline tickets in 2004, the Chinese government gradually relaxed price control. The measure was of immense significance in long-term development of airlines. 3. 1. 2 EconomicIn 2009, the financial crisis swept through the global, and the world economy has been greatly affected by it. However, even under this circumstance, the Chinese GDP was 33. 5 tril lion yuan, up by 8. 7 percent over the previous year. Fiscal revenues reached 6. 85 trillion yuan, an increase of 11. 7 percent (Report of the Work of the Government 2010). Constant economic growth provides an attractive environment for aviation industry. The following table indicates the development of civil aviation in recent years: Tab1e 1: The Development of Civil Aviation in Recent YearsYear Item| 2004| 2005| 2006| 2007| 2008| Length of Transport Routes (10 000 km)| 204. 94| 199. 85| 211. 35| 234. 30| 246. 18| Total Passengers Traffic (10,000 persons)| 12,123| 13,827| 15,968| 18,576| 19,251| Total Passage-Kilometers (100 million passenger-km)| 1,782. 3| 2,044. 9| 2,370. 7| 2,791. 7| 2,882. 8| Sources from China Statistic Yearbook 2009 As can be seen from Table 1, Chinese civil aviation has maintained a sustained, rapid and sound development. Moreover, the rise in the value of RMB will work to the advantage of aviation.It contributed to cutting down the cost of crude oil import. To some extent, airlines could benefit from it and improve profitability. The financial crisis had a noticeable impact on the fuel market, which is the lifeline of aviation. As a whole, the global fuel price market decreased from $80 per barrel to $74. 07 per barrel. Whereas, in view of the Chinese fuel market monopolized by China National Aviation Fuel and high demand in the domestic market, Chinese fuel prices ran counter to the international situation and had an upward tendency.Hence, this is a big challenge for airlines (Hu,2010). 3. 1. 3 Social Since the adoption of reform and opening policies, China has made headway socially and demographically. In the first place, Chinese people’s living standards have greatly improved. The annual per capita disposable income and annual per capita consumption expenditure of urban households have seen a dramatic increase to reach 15,781 yuan, 11,243 yuan, respectively. After 30 years of arduous efforts, the excessive population growth has been brought under effective control.Furthermore, China’s population has basically accomplished the change-over to the population reproduction pattern characterized by low-birth rate, death rate and growth. Based on statistics provided by the State Statistical Bureau, by 2008, China had a population of 1. 3 billion. In the second place, residence, transportation and communication, as well as recreation, education and culture contributed to the promotion of the continuous growth of domestic consumption. Take 2006 as an example, the annual per capita living expenses of urban residents was 59,370. 3 billion yuan.In comparison with last year, transportation and communication rose by 13. 8%, and the other two items went up by 10. 8%. The major factor that caused the results above was due to changes of the social-cultural environment. Thus, people’s lifestyles, including transportation and travel choices have changed subsequently. In recent years, the rate of tourism had an upward tendency, climbing from 26% in 2001 to 36. 7% in 2007 throughout the whole air transportation market. Moreover, the number of self-funded travelers accounted for 50. 7% in the tourism industry (China Statistical Yearbook, 2009).Last but not least, with close relationships of educational institutions between different nations, the quantity of students who study abroad is increasing year by year. In particular, through a ten-year development period, the number of students in 2008 was ten times higher than that in 1998; it reached 179,800 persons. 3. 1. 4 Technology First, we can acknowledge that advanced technology has resulted in cost reductions for airlines. As a result, as the most famous civil aircraft manufacturing companies in the world, Boeing and Airbus continually issue new economical and practical aircraft, like the Boeing 777 series and Airbus A380.Secondly, simplifying the business program(StB)was proposed by International Air Transport Association in 2004. It i s a new approach that aims to reduce airline expenses and offer better services for passengers. The StB program compromises five parts: bar-coded boarding passes (BCBP), IATA e-freight, IATA e-services, the Baggage Improvement Program and the Fast Travel Program. With the aid of the StB Program, airlines can sell tickets by direct marketing and vending machine or booking tickets via the Internet, mobile phones and land lines.Since 2006, e-ticketing has been implemented widely in the domestic market and is up to 100%. It was estimated that, after implementing e-tickets, the cost of each ticket would decrease by two-thirds, and there is no denying that this measure would bring huge potentials regarding a decrease in operation expense for airlines(Wu,2007) Thirdly, with the rapid improvement of air-traffic management and overall industrial technology and equipment levels, the utilization rate of national airspace resources had a significant rise.In the meantime, increased numbers of ai rcraft have driven the development of the aircraft maintenance market, extending the useful life of civil planes, which endure 25–30 years. Lastly, along with the quick development of civil airlines, the supply and demand of pilots in the transport market is increasingly prominent. With regard to training and recruiting pilots, there is fierce competition between new airlines and existing airlines. As an administrative department, the Civil Aviation Administration of China is cautious about turnover as to pilots.To a great extent, the liberalization of rules pertaining to pilots is still restricted by laws and regulations, thereby hindering long-term development of new airlines (Fang, 2009) 3. 1. 5 Environment In contemporary society, human beings have gradually raised their awareness of saving resources and protecting the environment. Hence, consumers are willing to back â€Å"no-frill,† low-cost carriers. Analysis of the low-cost carrier market in China and the Inves tment Advisory Report, 2006–2007, showed that 79% of customers would accept products provided by low cost airlines.Next, in 2012, the European Union will begin to charge for carbon emission. Obviously, it is not good for high-speed growth but imperfect Chinese aviation. In spite of China vigorously pushing forward energy conservation and greenhouse gas emissions reduction, nevertheless, under the current technology and situation, to reduce greenhouse gas emission, it must depend on technology rather than fuel decreases. Because of insufficiency or drawbacks of relevant laws and regulations, at present, China has not formulated a relevant policy in terms of charging carbon emissions.This contributes to more and more foreign airlines paying more attention to the Chinese aviation market of the future (Li, 2010) Finally, through decades of operation and development, Chinese airports have begun to take shape. By 2008, China had 152 civil airports. Beyond that, passenger traffic an d freight traffic achieved great performances: 19,251,000 persons and 4,076,376, tons respectively (The Year book of China, 2009). Currently China is speeding the construction pace. The Civil Aviation Administration of China has announced that by 2020, China will set up more than 97 airports.By then, 80% of the area will be covered, so that 82% of the total population would enjoy airline service (Tan, 2003) 3. 1. 6 Legal Although world aviation has become wired, foreign airlines that would like to enter and operate in China also face a great many difficulties in the aspects of market and technology and, especially, laws and regulations. For instance, according to the General Administration of Civil Aviation Law of China, Article 177 states that it does not allow transportation between any two points in the areas of China for foreign airlines.Besides, foreign airlines’ timetables and flight plans must report to relevant aviation departments in a timely fashion. To some extent, it undoubtedly becomes an obstacle to free development in aviation. In addition, lack of relative facilities results from the immature advancement of aviation in China. Like most cities having only one main airport, the construction of a secondary airport still falls far short of needs of modern aviation. Consequently, this is a big problem that should not be ignored by foreign airlines. 3. 2 Internal environment: SWOT analysisSWOT was first put forward by Albert Humphrey in the 1960s and mainly deals with an enterprise’s internal environmental analysis. It is the method that is used for arriving at deep and comprehensive understanding of a company’s own strategic competence, as well as a business environment before the company works out the adaptation strategy in the new circumstances. SWOT refers to strength, weakness, opportunity and threat. Among these four aspects, ST focuses on company, while OT pays more attention to relevant competitors’ effects.By appl ying this, the enterprise could realize what factors are beneficial to it and then carry forward them in the future. Meanwhile, the organization should find some existing serious problems that would have adverse influence on further development. Then, it should find a solution to the problems or try to avoid them in practice. By this method, the company could make best use of the advantages and bypass the disadvantages so as to attain sustainable development (Johnson, et al. ,2008) The following picture shows a summary in respect of Ryanair’s SWOT analysis: Table 2: Ryanair’s SWOT AnalysisStrength| 1. Powerful brand support2. Low fares3. Low operation cost and high ancillary incomes4. High efficiency, flexible operation| Weakness| 1. Service quality decrease2. Regulation restrictions3. Changes of charges have great impact on Ryanair4. Limited niche market| Opportunities| 1. Tremendous civil market potentials2. Economic downturn3. Ambitious expansion | Threats| 1. High- speed development of other substitutes2. Fierce competition and pressure from other civil airlines3. Excessively depends on jet fuel market and low price| 3. 2. 1 StrengthsAfter 20 years of arduous efforts, Ryanair has already built up an enterprise image and exploited the brand with its own characteristic in the European LCC market. The Economist magazine called it â€Å"the best airline which could earn a large amount of money. † Wall Street Daily considered Ryanair’s stock as the most popular and the most valuable to purchase (Wang, 2008) It has made marked achievements in every respect, as can be seen from the table below in terms of general accomplishments: Table 3: Highlights of Ryanair’s Finances â‚ ¬ Key items| 2010 | 2009| change|Operating revenue| 2,988. 1| 2,942. 0| +2%| Net profit /(loss) after tax| 305. 3| (169. 2)| +280%| Scheduled passengers| 66. 5m| 58. 6m| +14%| Fleet at period end| 232| 181| +28%| Average number of employees| 7,032| 6,369| + 10%| Adapted from Ryanair Annual report 2010 Since its establishment until now, Ryanair has always persisted in the philosophy of business: Let more and more customers enjoy low fare, even for free. A survey of different airlines and their fares follows: Figure 1: Comparison of average fares of four airlines. â‚ ¬ Source: Ryanair Annual Report 2010.Ryanair can in fact issue tickets much cheaper than other airlines. That’s the reason why the total Ryanair scheduled passengers came out to â‚ ¬ 66. 5 million. With such cheap fares, Ryanair can still make profits. The reason is attributed to an emphasis on minimizing operations costs, which includes: aircraft purchasing, daily maintenance and selection of airports, online booking and personnel expense. Apart from these, Ryanair tries to earn more from ancillary service while reducing costs. For example, customers could book cars or hotels, and even some low fare tickets of concerns from Ryanair’s websites easily.Besi des, Ryanair is considered a conspicuous billboard as its aircrafts and even its trays are fully sprayed with different companies’ advertisements. This action brings about considerable income to Ryanair. In 2010, the advertising income reached â‚ ¬663. 6million. Definitely, a highly productive work force also plays a pivotal role in the way to success. It is reported that each Ryanair’s emplyee can serve 9,457 passengers per year. To mobilize the enthusiasm of employees, Ryanair brought out air bonuses and participation in Ryanair’s valuable option project (Ryan air Annual Report 2010). 3. . 2 Weaknesses Due to reduction in Ryanair’s various operation expenses, a variety of free services have been cancelled. At present, customers must pay to use the toilet. Therefore, more limitations are sure to follow, service quality decrease and then, increasingly, customer complaints. The most serious negative issue has been the severe criticism continually releas ed by the news media, and it has harmed the company’s overall image and interest. Ryanair’s target market mainly focuses on leisure-travel customers and short point-to-point routes. Although it does not have higher standards of ervice, Ryanair is extremely sensitive to price. That is to say, once Ryanair raises prices slightly, it will lose lots of customers. Nevertheless, as the company’s scale is constantly enlalrging, costs will go up proportionately. Therefore, limited niche market and increasing cost are not propitious for further expansion of the company. Currently, Ryanair confronts a tough situation, which involves how to balance the company’s benefits and customers’ requirements appropriately. In spite of Chinese aviation advocates; reform and innovation, China is not completely wide open to foreign airlines.Local laws and regulation restrictions are not conducive to Ryanair’s entry. 3. 2. 3 Opportunities Compared with advanced coun tries, although China aviation is advancing rapidly, it still has plenty of drawbacks, particularly in the low-cost carrier area. 2008 Chinese Aviation Report implied that China has a huge market with big potential and wide prospects in civil aviation. However, nowadays, there is only one small-scale, low-cost airline, Spring Airline, in China’s domestic market. Apparently, existing fleets and routes are difficult to satisfy a increase of domestic demand.Ryanair’s entry will fill the low-cost carrier vacancy. Moreover, it has been proved that low-cost carriers can benefit during economic downturn(Kerpen, 2004). lobal recession leads to a sharp fall in public income. Therefore, the public turns to low fares to reduce expenses. A host of customers would rather choose Ryanair, which does not have free services, than general flagship airlines that offer higher standards of service. Apparently, the economic slump brings infinite business chances and generous profits for Rya nair. Ryanair is planing to enlarge its fleet to acquire 200–300 planes by 2016.Due to bulk buying, Boeing and Airbus quote Ryanair the most favourable prices to acquire such big orders. In that case, it not only saves costs but also offers sufficient funds to invest in overseas markets. Ryanair’s ambitious expansion could come true in the near future. 3. 2. 4 Threats Rapid development of Chinese railways and highways in recent years should be a concern for air carriers. Ever since the transportation industry has advanced steadily, railways and highways have held leading positions. Because civil aviation is subject to its own conditions, in freight traffic, t had a very big lead compared with railways and highways. This is shown in the table below: Table 4: Key Statistics Comparision between Railways, Highways and Civil Aviation Items| Year| Passenger Traffic (10,000 persons)| Passenger-Kilometers (100million passenger-km)| Freight Traffic (10,000 tons)| Railways| 2006 | 125,656| 6,622. 1| 288,224| | 2007| 135,670| 7,216. 3| 314,237| | 2008| 146,193| 7,778. 6| 330,354| Highways| 2006| 1860,487| 10,130. 8| 1,466,347| | 2007| 2,050,680| 11,506. 8| 1,639,432| | 2008| 2,682,114| 12,476. 1| 1,916,759| Civil Aviation| 2006| 15,968| 2,370. | 349. 4| | 2007| 18,576| 2,791. 7| 401. 8| | 2008| 19251| 2,882. 8| 407. 6| Adapt from Chinese Statistic Yearbook 2009 As shown in the diagram, from 2006 to 2009, people would rather choose railways and highways than civil aviation. Furthermore, as mentioned above, the statistics of railways and highways far exceed that of civil aviation. In 2002, civil aviation was reconstructed and reorganized. From then on, competition through three airline groups involving Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines has taken shape in the civil aviation market.The three airlines have the market share for 80% in China. There is no denying that these three airlines groups pose a huge threat to Ryanair. They would t ake full advantage of their own strengths to freeze out new competitors. More importantly, Ryanair is famous for its low fares. Jet fuel is a major component of Ryanair’s operations costs. However, as cost of jet fuel has risen, Ryanair’s ticket prices have spiraled up to match them. Therefore, this action is directly opposite to the aim of the company. Ryanair would lost a large number of customers because of its relative high fare compared with privious price. . 3 Summary As discussed in the PESTEL and SWOT analyses above, as a whole, the external environment is conducive to Ryanair’s entry and development in China, specifically, the attractive points were policy relaxation to foreign airlines and high demand for low-fare carriers. However, Ryanair would have to pay more attention to techniques and legal restrictions in certain aspects. Only after analysing the external environment objectively will Ryanair enter the Chinese market smoothly. In the meantime, th e internal environment is equally fundamental.After placing more emphasis on understanding the other airlines and Ryanair itself, then it will be able to fight a hundred battles without danger of defeat as the result of wise decision making and strategic adjustments in a short time. 4. Business strategy 4. 1 Entry mode strategy 4. 1. 1 Potential problems Given that aviation is a sensitive industry, there is no doubt that Ryanair will face some tough problems that could interfere with its entry plans or progress. In particular, the Chinese government puts up all sorts of obstacles, and these factors are concretely revealed by the following.The first obstacle is the imposition of restrictions on setting ticket prices. Civil aviation-transport price reforms state that on the basis of benchmark prices, airlines may set a price which increases 25% and decreases no more than 45% (Wu, 2007). Compared to the previous rule, the government has relaxed controls on prices. Nevertheless, it is s till hard to satisfy the requirements of low-cost carriers, which rely on low fares to gain a larger share of the market. The second obstacle is the control of air-route management rights. So far, there are 115 airports which are completely open.Airlines could freely arrange air route entry and quit based on actual market demands by themselves. However, these airports’ handling capacities are relatively small and the low-cost carrier’s self-potential is subject to it. The last obstacle is the monopoly pattern in civil aviation. At present, Air China, China Southern Airlines and China Eastern Airlines have become three powers of civil aviation. At times, the three-airline group launches its own low-cost tickets in order to develop market share. Ultimately, their positions in the domestic market are strengthened.As a new entrant to the Chinese market, the three-airline group’s low-cost strategy will negatively affect Ryanair. 4. 1. 2 Solution: Joint Ventures As st ated above, the way to enter a new market is not completely clear for new entrants. To avoid some unpreditable factors that would arise in the Chinese market and to lower risks attributed to lack of knowledge regarding market information or market situations, joint ventures are the most convenient and effective solution for Ryanair, especially a minority joint venture. 4. 1. 2. 1 Brief introduction to joint venturesA joint venture is a â€Å"corporate child† that is a new entity given birth and jointly owned by two or more parent companies. (Peng, 2009)Generally, this is a common measure for new entrants to enter unfamiliar environments. That is to say, that Ryanair should seek other partners in the Chinese market. Two parties hold different proportions of equity and also share investment, management, risks and responsibility for profits or losses. At the beginning, owing to the fact that Ryanair stands at a disadvantage, it is imperative that gaining support from domestic fi rms make up the shortage of funds and resources.From all of the above, this measure is acceptable and advocated by local authorities, and they will even offer a preferential policy in the developing aviation industry. Yet it is certain that there will exist some drawbacks during the application of joint ventures. On the one hand, because of differences in background and corporate culture, a new company will be easily split on objectives and interests and even conflicts. On the other hand, sometimes both paties cannot reach a consensus in regard to equity allocation and operational control.At the end, it is often hard to coordinate globally on account of tight controls on a foreign subsidiary (Peng,2009). 4. 1. 2. 2 Partner: China Southern Airlines Based on an overrall consideration of various factors, Ryanair decided to choose China Southern Airlines as its partner. The following paragraphs show reasons why Ryanair mades the decision. First, highlights of China Southern Airlines fol low. Its headquarter is in Guangzhou. The company is made up of 13 branches and 5 subsidiaries throughout China.Futhermore, China Southern Airlines has set up two bases in Shanghai and Xian, and it also owns 54 foreign agencies abroad. China Southern Airlines possesses the highest number of aircraft, 400, the most advanced air route network and the biggest passenger traffic that up to 66,280,000 persons. At present, with Guangzhou and Beijing as major hubs, their air route networks and ranges of business have spread throughout the main cities in the world. In 2008, China Southern Airlines was honoured with â€Å"flight safety five stars† by the Civil Aviation Administration of China. Now it still keeps the longest safety records.China Southern Airlines always insists on â€Å"Safety First Principle† On the premise of safety, the firm constantly brings forth management level and technology innovation to improve its strength and international competitiveness. China South ern Airlines is the only airline that fosters pilots independently. Second, in some ways China Southern Airlines and Ryanair are complementary, eventually accomplishing a win-win situation. For China Southern Airlines, in spite of the fact that it plays an irreplaceable position in domestic aviation, the pattern of company management still has gaps compared to other European airlines.By joining Ryanair, China Southern Airlines not only brings fresh blood but also receives advanced management patterning. China Southern Airlines can absorb Ryanair’s rich experience regarding corporate governance and human resoure management to achieve rational resource allocation and high employee efficiency. In the meantime, China Southern Airlines’ business covers the whole country, and transport capacity cannot suit domestic market’s demands. Ryanair’s entry could lighten its burden in some air routes. More importantly, China Southern Airlines has lost in terms of intern ational air routes in recent years.Whilst Ryanair is the pioneer in the low-cost area in Europe. By means of Ryanair’s influence, China Southern Airlines could regulate tactics in Europe and make profits. Similarly, Ryanair can benefit from cooperating with China Southern Airlines. First and foremost, due to application of the joint venture, this it way complies with legal requirements, thereby diminishing entry resistance from the government to a great extent. Then Ryanair could develop smoothly regardless of culture or language differences under China Southern Airlines’ strong brand support and resouce sharing.At last, China Southern Airlines will offer the permission of using its bases and airports and pilots to Ryanair. This measure will reduce the anxiety caused by the shortage of resources. This is the only way that lowers Ryanair’s operation costs and carries on its low-fare business in China. 4. 2 Market Targeting Strategy When it comes to the target cli ents of low-fare carrier service, it mainly focuses on the special group that is characterized by high sensitivity to fare, high-price elasticity and price factor as their first consideration.Southwest Airlines was awared of the chief competitors of airlines are highways and railways. Generally, in short air routes, customers are sensitive to price. Because of short flight time, they do not require high-standard services. As a result, it is difficult to capture more customers through service differentiation. With regard to how to choose a target market accurately, there are three elements to be taken into consideration: First, price factor. Customers who prefer low-cost carriers are distributed into three classes.Initially, self-funded travellers. In general, tourists are customers who visit families and friends in their schedule in advance. They pay attention to low fares rather than immediacy to save travel expenditures. Next, the main character of this group is time flexibility. Finally, general business customers. Due to high air-ticket prices, sometimes they are restricted by unit to take planes. Once low fare are implemented, there is no significant distance between air tickets and train tickets, and they will welcome low-fare air tickets.Another thing is the length of flight time. In the present situation of the aviation market, the majority of flights take 3 hours. In order to decrease costs and raise aircraft utilization rates for low-fare carriers, 2 hours would be preferred. Humans usually select transportation like railways and highways due to cheaper prices, even if they spend a long time on the journey. Low-cost air fares not only save much time but also let more customers have access to comfortable trips and services (Olson and Peter, 2005) 4. 3 Pricing StrategyThere is no denying that low-cost strategy is the lifeblood for low-fare carriers’ existence. In the fierce competition of the aviation marketplace, flagship airlines launch their own ultra-low fare in the off-season. However, as flagship airlines are limited by high costs, offering low fares is only a temporary method to attract more customers. As a low-cost carrier, it is obvious that Ryanair’s fare should be much lower than the level of market. Only in this way can it obtain market share and optimize itself. So how to set its ticket prices? 4. 3. 1 The level of highest priceLow-cost carriers are known for low fares, therefore their highest prices cannot go beyond the full price of economy class of flagship airlines. If the price is quite low, it will affect the company’s profits. On the contrary, high price does not conform to the firm’s low-fare tenet. 4. 3. 2 The level of lowest price In China, owing to price control from the government, Ryanair could not implement its bottom-line price strategy. Hence, on the basis of regulation, Ryanair could properly provide two-thirds low fare tickets in every flight to draw customers.After the c ompany develops and reaches the maturity stage, it could gradually reduce low-fare tickets proportionally. 4. 3. 3 The level of average price On the one hand, the average price must be higher than the average cost to guarantee the firm’s normal operations and profits, ultimately, fulfilling Ryanair’s sustainable development and expansion. On the other hand, the low-cost carrier’s average price should be markedly lower than he average price of flagship airlines to win stable and long-term customers and capture a market share.Through moderate pricing, althought Ryanair’s air tickets are low, it could increase the passenger load factor to improve profitability in every flight. 4. 3. 4 Price choice on peak- season and off-season In peak-season, like holidays or festivals, Ryanair could consider raising the price a little higher than usual in some special and hot routes due to high demands of these days. Likewise, in the off-season, the best way to stimulate c ustomers’ consumption is to provide more low-fare tickets widely (Goddard, et al. ,2005) 4. 4 Marketing Strategy 4. 4. 1 Cooperation with mass commuicationAt the beginning of its China venture, Ryanair could take full advantage of its own aircraft to advertise for other companies through charging for advertisement fees. They could then spend this income on creating advertising compaigns for its low fare by means of newspapers, magazines, and television. Through a lot of press publicity, more and more people would be interested in this new thing. Moreover, people would be willing to get more information about low-cost carrier and they would like to enjoy so cheap price. At that moment, Ryanair could launch some promotion plans to stimulate customer interest. . 4. 2 Cooperation with local authorities Low fares are the lifeline of Ryanair, without this advantage, it is impossible to compete with other airines. So enhancing cooperation with local authorities is necessary. As a ma tter of fact, current price control policy makes it difficult to meet the competitive market’s needs. Indeed, Ryanair should set a good example to abide by regulations, and then lead by example against unfair competition. Once having set up a good relationship with local authorities, Ryanair can obtain more benefits like use of second-level airports at very reasonable prices. . 4. 3 Cooperation with China Southern Airlines For Ryanair, air route selection and pilot demands are two main operation issues. With the help of China Southern Airlines, Ryanair can apply for the hottest tourism routes to carry out point-to-point flights. When the market turns to off-season, Ryanair should timely change its route to some charter flights. For instance, these years personnel, economic and cultural exchanges across the Taiwan Straits have kept increasing. Therefore, setting up regular air service in this route would satisfy demand growth.In the meantime, Ryanair uses single type aircraft, so it can share pilots and aircraft maintenance expense with China Southern Airlines, and this leads to cost decline. Finally, Ryanair could truly implement its low fare and foster a good and healthy company image. What’s more, in order to avoid heavy traffic at hub airports, Ryanair could widely increase the second-level airport utilization rate of China Southern Airlines. This would result in punctual rates and leave a good impression on the customers. Besides, China Southern Airlines also provides Ryanair with its sselling platform: online booking or using agencies all over the country. . 5 Summary To sum up, before Ryanair decides to enter the Chinese market, it should anticipate some problems that may happen during the process. Then, based on an overall consideration of various factors, Ryanair should plan to invest in the form of a joint venture with China Southern Airlines. The next step wold be Ryanair’s market targeting emphasis on self-funded travellers, cus tomers who would like to visit families or friends and general business customers. At the same time, flight time should take two hours. Ryanair must keep an eye on this group’s customers’s demands.After that, it should look to the high level, the low level, average level and different period price principles to set up flexible and appropriate air-ticket prices. As to marketing, Ryan air should coordinate the relationship with mass commuication, local authorities and China Southern Airlines. Only combining the strategies listed above can Ryanair achieve global optimization and obtain long term development. 5. Conclusion The entry into the Chinese market is an essential step of Ryanair’s expansion plan outside Europe.In this way, it is inevitable that Ryanair will face a rare chance for development as well as tough challenges. Therefore, this paper firstly summarized Ryanair’s own competitive advantages and showed why Ryanair possessed the capability to ext end its low-cost business in China. On the basis of this, Ryanair must have a profound and thorough understanding of the new market, for instance: current policies and laws of aviation, Chinese customers’ consumption concepts and behaviours, and the differences between China and other European markets.Hence, the next section objectively amplified on the internal and external environments with SWOT and PESTEL analyses. On the whole, although in some aspects Ryanair is still subject to Chinese aviation regulations and laws, owing to the fact that aviation develops at high speed and given the domestic market’s huge demand, the Chinese aviation environment is suitable for low-cost airlines existence and advancement. In accordance with the environmental analyses, specific business strategies to enter China are proposed.At first, Ryanair should adopt a joint venture to cooperate with China Southern Airline. Only in this way can it reduce entry risks and restrictions from the government. Then, on that premise, Ryanair should set up a market target strategy, pricing strategy and marketing strategy in detail. Ultimately, Ryanair will fulfill its purpose of entering Chinese aviation smoothly and achieving success there. In this study, there still exists a problem to be considered