Legalization of Coca Production In Bolivia Essay

Legalization of Coca Production In Bolivia - Essay Example Morales has made discrimination and oppression experienced by Bolivia's indigenous groups a top priority in his presidency (Brea). Since the early 1990s, the United States of America has put pressure on the Bolivian government to reduce the amount of coca leaves produced for refinement by the international drug trade. Cocaine is one of the many ingredients in the coca leaves. In 1995 the livelihood of one out of eight Bolivians was dependent on coca, with Bolivia the world's largest grower of coca after Peru and Columbia. Hugo Banzer, who was Bolivia's president at the time, developed a plan to eradicate the coca plant (Evo 9.3.3.1-2). Between 1997 and 2000, the production of coca fell from 45,800 hectares to 14,600 hectares. The eradication program has been funded by the United States with an average of $150 million a year (Evo 9.3.3). The focus on farmers rather than traffickers created worsening external economic conditions for peasants who had depended on coca production for their livelihood. Evo Morales began a campaign to oppose the eradication of the coca leaf crops. He was elected to the Bolivian Congress but was expelled in 2002 because of his association with anti-eradication factions. However, in 2005 he was supported by coca farmers and became president of Bolivia. His position was "zero cocaine and zero drug trafficking, but not zero coca or zero cocaleros (coca growers)" (Evo, 9.9.3.4). The Culture of Coca In determining whether Evo Morales should be encouraged or discouraged in his efforts to end the eradication of coca, the reasons for his efforts need a background in the use of the coca leaf itself. Coca has long played an important role in the culture of the Andeans, mainly as a chewable health supplement. The coca leaf contains many essential nutrients in addition to its well-known mood-altering substance, cocaine. It is rich in proteins and vitamins and grows in regions where other food sources are scarce. The energy boost from the cocaine in the leaf is very functional in areas where oxygen is scarce and extensive walking is necessary. Chewing coca leaves continues to be common in the high-altitude mountains of Bolivia (Coca 2.2; Oomen par. 11). It is further used as a spiritual substance by Andeans. It is the contention of the United States that the eradication of coca throughout the world is an important step in the effort to eradicate the production of cocaine and the illegal trafficking of cocaine. The policy of the international community-most often represented by the UN drug control agency, the United States Ambassador and to a lesser degree, the European Union representatives-has been more harmful in the Andean countries than in Europe, with violence, human rights violations and corruption. In Europe, the effort to close down the coca production is not so strictly advocated as in the United States. One representative of the European NGO Council on Drugs (ENCOD) offered awareness in 2003 of the effect of "fumigating 260,000 hectares of coca and opium to such an extent that farmers will be unable to grow anything in these fields for the next 15 to 20 years" (Oomen, par. 2). In the 1980s, the coca farmers in the Chapare (Bolivia) witnessed how US forces were organizing coca ine transportation instead of fighting coca cultivation. It was Oomen's concern that the

APA citation Activity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

APA citation Activity - Assignment Example The citation requires surname of the author, followed by date, both within brackets. The works-cited page shall have full details of this particular source, starting with the surname of author. In case, there is no author then the title of the source publication must be mentioned in brackets. If there is no date available on the publication, then â€Å"nd† must me mentioned, along with the author surname, with a space after the coma. An example of such citation is given here. (In-Text Citations: The Basics, nd) â€Å"Current trends have shown an increase in volunteer work throughout the nation. According to the organization ‘Americas Promise’ (2011), current volunteering numbers are the highest they have been in 30 years. The Organization also claims that compared to the preceding generation, middle-aged Baby Boomers have been volunteering at higher rates than ever before. Survey from this organization revealed that the proportion of senior volunteers, aged 65 and over, has risen to 64 percent, since 1974. (Americas Promise, 2011)† â€Å"In order to achieve and maintain career success, potential employees must possess basic knowledge and applied skills for the workplace. According to The Conference Board (2010), half of surveyed employers say workforce readiness is also the responsibility of potential employees (para. 3). New entrants should not rely solely on what they have been taught in college, but rather try and learn on their own as well. In recent years, it has become apparent that most college graduates do not write at a proficient level. According to the Conference Board nine out of ten employers say writing is very important for four-year college graduates (Conference Board, 2010, para. 3).† â€Å"New entrants should not rely solely on what they have been taught in college, but rather try and learn on their own as well. In recent years, it has become

Leadership in organisations during post-recession period Essay

Leadership in organisations during post-recession period - Essay Example Furthermore, there are predictions that in the next 5 years the rapid economic growth of China would suffer a major setback, while some expect India and Brazil to face similar economic slowdown at the same time. Increased globalisation in finances and trade has led to increased integration, which in turn has acerbated specific economic conditions globally, creating greater challenges for business firms. The main challenges for organisations arising from the current economic crisis are: Achieving success in developing economies is not as easy as before and making profits from fast growing markets is increasingly turning more difficult as costs are increasing, there is greater competition, and even the fast developing economies are now slowing down owing to global recession (Ernst & Young, 2011); Divergent markets: Owing to globalisation, as the organisations enter markets having different business culture and environment and varying prospects they tend to face various challenges assoc iated with increasing functional and management complexities (Ernst & Young, 2011); More importance are being attached to dynamic policies, which are largely unpredictable, shows a sign increasing protectionism is creating serious challenges for the organisations. Business firms are also expressing increasing concerns over sharp increase in taxes as governments try to acquire greater revenues to make up for the public fund deficit (Ernst & Young, 2011); Talented people and specialised workers are becoming increasingly difficult to find. Organisations all over the world are finding it increasingly difficult to locate the right candidates and there is scarcity of good leaders and specialised workers (Ernst &... Leadership in organisations during post-recession period A few years back when large companies faced the prospect of losing their stronghold within the arena of domestic markets, they simply searched for fast developing economies in order to make higher profits. Currently, owing to widespread economic globalisation and the looming financial downturn, there is a significant slowdown in economic growth, rise in stiff competition, increase in operational and management complexities and a significant shortage of skilled/specialised workers within key markets, which is turning into a major challenge for various business organisations. Many of the experts have predicted a fresh economic downturn by the end of 2012 primarily initiated by debt defaults in Eurozone (Ernst & Young, 2011). Furthermore, there are predictions that in the next 5 years the rapid economic growth of China would suffer a major setback, while some expect India and Brazil to face similar economic slowdown at the same time. The challenges faced by the organisations during recession makes it necessary for one to take into consideration the various leadership and negotiation skills that are necessary to steer business firms through the difficult period and prepare them for an economic upturn. In this context, some experts have contended that favourable economic conditions create a management and operational environment that is lax in nature, which is tightened up during economic recessions.

APA citation Activity Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

APA citation Activity - Assignment Example The citation requires surname of the author, followed by date, both within brackets. The works-cited page shall have full details of this particular source, starting with the surname of author. In case, there is no author then the title of the source publication must be mentioned in brackets. If there is no date available on the publication, then â€Å"nd† must me mentioned, along with the author surname, with a space after the coma. An example of such citation is given here. (In-Text Citations: The Basics, nd) â€Å"Current trends have shown an increase in volunteer work throughout the nation. According to the organization ‘Americas Promise’ (2011), current volunteering numbers are the highest they have been in 30 years. The Organization also claims that compared to the preceding generation, middle-aged Baby Boomers have been volunteering at higher rates than ever before. Survey from this organization revealed that the proportion of senior volunteers, aged 65 and over, has risen to 64 percent, since 1974. (Americas Promise, 2011)† â€Å"In order to achieve and maintain career success, potential employees must possess basic knowledge and applied skills for the workplace. According to The Conference Board (2010), half of surveyed employers say workforce readiness is also the responsibility of potential employees (para. 3). New entrants should not rely solely on what they have been taught in college, but rather try and learn on their own as well. In recent years, it has become apparent that most college graduates do not write at a proficient level. According to the Conference Board nine out of ten employers say writing is very important for four-year college graduates (Conference Board, 2010, para. 3).† â€Å"New entrants should not rely solely on what they have been taught in college, but rather try and learn on their own as well. In recent years, it has become

U.S. Role Against Somalian Pirates Research Paper

U.S. Role Against Somalian Pirates - Research Paper Example Somalia’s eastern coastal areas and Gulf of Aden are the major areas in which Somali pirates base their operations. Multinational naval force including warships from America, Britain, India and Australia are currently patrolling in Somali coastal areas in order to avoid further mishaps. However, the threats from the pirates are increasing day by day even though UN Security Council and other countries did everything possible to counter the threats from the pirates. Being the sole super power in the world at present, America has definitely a major role to play in Somali pirate issue. It should be noted that America is currently conducting war on terror in Iraq and Afghanistan. Many people have the belief that Somali pirates definitely have some close connections with Islamic terrorists even though it is not proved yet. Under such circumstances, America should give more emphasize to the Somali pirate issue so that its counter terrorism efforts would be more meaningful. This paper analyses the role of America against Somali pirate issue. Warner pointed out that â€Å"Given Somalia’s proximity to one of the world’s main sea lines of communications through the Gulf of Aden, Somali fishermen, unrestrained by a functioning coast guard or navy, seized the opportunity to engage in maritime piracy starting in the 1990s†.... In fact, it is difficult for Somali government to establish law and order in the country when people are suffering a lot from poverty and unemployment. Terrorists know this fact very well and they can easily establish links with Somali pirates. In other words, America cannot stay away from the Somali piracy issue if they like to end war on terror successfully. Terrorists are now establishing their bases in Somali like poorly governed countries. America should realize this fact and respond properly to this issue. Operation Enduring Freedom, a military mission by the US and coalition partners in response to the attacks of September 11, 2001, contained a naval component. As their mission was essentially a counter-terrorism mission, it initially had no intention to take action against pirates. The area of operations of Task Force 150 however included the area off the coast of Somalia (Fink & Galvin, 2009, p.382) Terrorism in any form cannot be justified even if it may have some credible reasons. For example, Somali pirates are looting or attacking the ships passing through its coastal lines because of poverty in their country. Same way, Islamic terrorists attack innocent people in order to save their belief or religion; as proclaimed by them. In any case, it should be noted that taking the life and property of another person is illegal and unethical. Terrorists and pirates cite many reasons to justify their activities. In short, Somali piracy should be dealt as a form of terrorism and United States should interfere more meaningfully in this issue. â€Å"Some nations act as part of an international organization, such as NATO and EU, and others act individually, such as China, Russia, India and Pakistan, while others take part in multinational coalition operations,

Global economic Essay Example for Free

Global economic Essay Executive summary The current essay demonstrates the scenario of Indian economic crisis in 2014. Causes and impact to India was talked in the first section; influence on other economy especially to Australia was analyzed and Stolper-Samuelson Theorem was applied in section 2; similar situations in history were mentioned in the third section. 1. Describe its causes economic or non-economic (2% for creativity). In 2014, many emerging economies are facing liquidity crisis, especially India. It was the aftermath of the US QE exit. The QE is the monetary policy applied by countries like US, UK, and some EU members, that to expand the money supply and leverage; it was an effective short-term fix to boost investment and economy growth, yet when it became too long, it caused negative influence in both domestic and the global economy. Indian economy is highly dependent on foreign capital inflows, and most of them are the cheap money brought from countries with QE policies. With vast investment, the India government spent a lot on infrastructures and manufacture plants that the government kept a deficit account these years. Deficits became problematic when investment capitals stopped. Economically, short of money directly make those on-going projects unfinished; quitting QE will appreciate foreign currencies like USD while make the India currency Rupee comparably depreciate; when Rupee is weaker, there will be inflation in domestic commodity price. Non- economically, delay or stagnation of projects along with weak Rupee drove a loss of confidence on India economy, bear stock and gold market caused the equity and houses prices dropped,. India is exposed under financial crisis bought by deep troubles at home and abroad: weak Rupee performance due to comparably strong dollar; market gloom due to foreign investment withdraws; domestic commodity price surge due to inflation caused by currency devaluation; GDP growth slowed and Indian government is facing questions on its creditability and huge deficit account. Below charts show the economic effects of how QE policies in the rest of the world affected India and caused financial crisis: First of all, when foreign currencies (like USD) tapered the investment injection to India (S0 to S1, q0 to q1), Rupee devaluated (as more Rupee need for 1 dollar, r0  to r1); as Rupee devaluated, price of imported goods increased, higher cost shift the aggregate supply leftwards and caused higher price level (P to P1) and lower real GDP (Y to Y1). 2. Describe its impact on world trade and commodity prices, and use the Stolper Samuelson theorem to predict the effect on income distribution in Australia. As mentioned above, stagnation of foreign investment and weak Rupee caused slower GDP growth and higher commodities prices. Devaluation of Rupee makes Indian government even harder to repay its deficits, which in turn affected all the economy activities globally. As one of the two superpowers in Asia, India has considerable economic influence over Australia. Indians are less rich compare with the rest of the world; therefore less Indians would come to Australia for study. Education market is negatively affected and there will be job losses or even closing down in education sector in Australia. As a net energy importer, India has large demand for Australian energy products, especially for coal (for coal is the main energy resource in India). Comparably strong Australian dollar makes Aussie products less favored by India, expect the mining products, for those are necessities. According to Stolper-Samuelson theorem, assuming full employment and free labor mobility, as the demand for mining products stay steady while demand for luxury products or other non-necessities slowdown, there will be different changes in mining and other sectors. For mining as a capital-intensive industry, selling price increase will increase capital and rent costs, but lower the real wage; on the other hand, labor sectors like agriculture and services industries, shrink foreign demand results price cuts, which wage level also decreases yet capital and rent costs rises. Below charts show how the Stolper-Samuelson Theorem applies on the interactions between capital/rent and wage costs. The green line represents the labor-intensive industry (marked as L, like agriculture) and the orange line represents the capital-intensive industry (marked as C, like mining); when there’s a price increase on capital-intensive products, the curve shifts rightwards (to C1), capital/rent cost increases (r to r1) while wage level decreases (w to w1); when there’s a price drop on labor-intensive  products, the curve shifts leftwards (to L1), capital/rent cost increases (r to r1) while wage level decreases (w to w1); Moreover, weak economy in India may promote talent immigrations for skilled labor (e.g., from IT industry) moving to Australia. Economically, increased abroad labor supply would lower the wage level in Australia, which may cut costs of producing and make Australian goods and services more attractive to the rest of the world; Non-economically, gathering of professions will boost technology improvement, that would have Australian more competitive; on the other hand, a surplus of labor supply may cause social problems like unemployment and high government payment on unemployment insurance. 3. Document any historical crises that might be relevant for your answer (4%). The current India financial crisis is somewhat similar to many cases in the history. The 1929 Great Depression started after the â€Å"Black Tuesday† of stock market crash in 29 October; astonishing unemployment rate had got many people lost home and the depression lasted until 1933 (America’s Story). The Great Depression is very representative because it was caused by many typical indicators like subprime bubble burst, capital rupture, unbalanced industrial structure, and pessimistic over future economy (Bemanke James 1991). One thing different is that the Great Depression results commodity prices drop where the 2014 India crisis results inflations. The price level increases while GDP slowdown could be explained as India’s high dependency on foreign investment and the vulnerability of Rupee. Part 2 Executive summary Drug policy can change supply and demand curves. Penalizing supplying reduces equilibrium quantity and raises equilibrium price while penalizing users reduces both. It is found that different policies have their advantages and limitation. An example in Singapore indicates death penalty for suppling drags but some disagree regarding social perspective. There is an ongoing debate about drugs prohibition by government. Advocates  believe prohibition can reduce drugs trafficking and use, so that lower crime, improving productivity and increasing people’s health. Opponents believe prohibition has only modest effects on trafficking and use while causing many problems such as numerous other negative side effects and increased crime and corruption. One issue in this debate is the effect of drugs prohibition on government budgets. Prohibition entails direct enforcement costs, and prohibition prevents taxation of drug production and sale. Understandably, thus, some politicians, commentators, interest groups, and citizens have embraced unconventional approaches to closing fiscal gaps, such as legalizing drugs. The enforcement costs would be negligible and governments could levy taxes on the production and sale of drug. Also, government expenditure would decline and gains in tax revenue. The figure analyses the market for drug if there were no government intervention. The equilibrium would be at point A, which price P1 and Q1. Total revenue of sellers and total spending by buyers would be the area of the rectangle P1*Q1. The other figure shows the effect of a government effort to restrict supply through any of several methods, including vigilant customs inspections, arrest and stiff penalties for drug dealer, or efforts to reduce drug traffic from producing countries like Thailand. The decrease in supply is represented by a leftward shift of the supply curve, establishing a new equilibrium at price P2 and quantity Q2. All this suggest that supply restrictions if they successfully reduce the equilibrium quantity of drug and will also raise its equilibrium price. Similarly, based on the inelastic demand for illegal drugs, has led many economists to advocate the controlled legalization of most currently illegal drugs. Others advocate a shift of emphasis in the war from decreasing supply to decreasing demand. Policies that might decrease the demand for illegal drugs and shift the demand curve leftward include stiffer penalties on drugs users. The figure shows a policy of reducing demand. As the demand curve shifts leftward, price falls from P1 to P3, and quantity demanded falls from Q1 to Q3. This would lead to total expenditure on drugs decrease and can  contribute to a low crime rate by drug users and make the drug industry less attractive to potential dealers and producers. Opponents to the policy of full legalization Opponents believe that the legalization of drugs would increase use, lad to more experimentation by youth, and exacerbate the existing deleterious effects that drugs have on society (Smith, 2011). They are of the opinion that government subsidization of addicts would have crippling effects on the economy. They also feel that legalization would help to create a large black market for drugs. The point of view is that dealers will still be involved in crime and violence and those users will still need to support themselves by engaging in criminal activity, thus, it will result in even larger prison populations. Basically, they believe that the legalization of drugs would lead to increases, not reductions, in crime because there would be more addicts and because of the aforementioned black market (Wilson, 1990). Also, they believe the legalize drugs would have devastating effects on public health, the economy, quality of life, culture and society as a whole. Opponents to the policy of penalizing use There are some arguments that against the drugs uses. For example, the failure of prohibition to prevent consumption of illicit drugs shows that existing policies do not work. It would be preferable to use the money saved by ending prohibition to provide more drug rehabilitation centres and more drug education. More than this though, prohibition creates a powerful supply vacuum which can only be filled by criminals. The consequence of this is less safe drugs (from adulteration), violence and stronger organised crime elements. Moreover, by criminalising drug users, prohibition needlessly removes people from potential employment and use to society and possibly creates criminals out of people who wouldn’t otherwise be so inclined. Some illegal drugs are no more dangerous than the legal drugs of alcohol and tobacco. On the other hand, proponents of medical drugs such as marijuana argue that it can be a safe and effective treatment for the symptoms of cancer, AIDS, multiple sclerosis, pain, glaucoma, epilepsy, and other conditions. They cite dozens of peer-reviewed studies, prominent medical organizations, major government reports, and the use of marijuana as  medicine throughout world history (Barton, 2007). Opponents to the policy of penalizing supply All criminal and civil penalties against production, distribution, sale, and possession would cease because the policy might impose drugs specific regulations and taxes if in a legalized drugs regime, as occurs now for alcohol and tobacco. This would affect government budgets such as government would save the resources currently devoted to arresting, prosecuting, and incarcerating drugs producers and consumers (Holland, 2010). Also, government would collect tax revenue on the production and sale of legal drugs. The tax rates on drugs might be the same as those applied generally, or they might be higher, as with alcohol and tobacco. Miron (2005) indicates that drugs such as Marijuana legalization would reduce government expenditures by roughly $8 billion annually and would generate tax revenue of approximately $2.4 billion annually if drugs were taxed like all other goods. Opponents to the policy of penalizing both use and supply Criticisms of the current drug policy are varied and come from a wide variety of perspective. For example, current policy is not meeting its goals of reducing illegal drug use or its consequences. Demand for illegal drugs has not been reduced in vulnerable population or in the general population as evidenced by recent significant increases in illegal drug use among high school seniors (Inciardi, 1999). The high percentage of illegal drug use among arrestees indicates that current policy significantly contributes to criminal behaviour among drug users. This suggests that drug law simply criminalize a medical and public health problem and ask the legal system to deal with what it is, in fact, unable to affect a medical condition. Also, the drugs can be used in medicine to treat the various diseases that people have. Singapore, where is a Southeast Asian island city-state, is facing the rising of drug consumption and healthcare costs problems. The government of Singapore constitutes a range of severe polices to solve these marijuana problems. Acutely Singapore is close to the Golden Triangle opium production  region, which is the 2nd largest opium production centre in the world, as well as a major transport hub. Hence it is a transshipment point for illicit drugs, as well as minor market given the relative affluence of society (TheRealSingapore, 2013). Therefore, the drug demand will always remain, as will drug trafficking, due to Singapore status as a transport hub. In fact, the social mechanisms are harmed by the drug due to the crime, also the individual health are damaged by the marijuana (TheRealSingapore, 2013). For the actual policy on marijuana in Singapore, according to international business time 2011, Singapore, like much of Southeast Asia, has very draconian laws, particularly with respect to drug trafficking. Sometime, the drug trafficking often leads to the death penalty. In my opinion, I disagree with the death penalty due to the drug trade refer to the opponents to the policy of penalizing supply above. In Singapore, it is the penalizing supply only. For example, any adult convicted of trafficking at least 15 grams of heroin, 30 grams of cocaine or 500 grams of cannabis, faces mandatory death penalty (international business time 2011). So far, estimates that at least 400 people have been executed in the island since 1991, mostly on drug-related convictions. Thus, Singapore has very small population about 5-million population; it has one of the world’s highest rates of executions per capita (international business time 2011). In addition, Singapore has defended its drug policies. In 2009, The UN Human Rights Council strongly disagrees that States should refrain from using the death penalty in relation to drug-related offenses. However, Singapore protects their drug policy that the death penalty has become major policy to deterring drug (international business time 2011). One of the reasons why someone refuses the analysis of economic to solve this problem is that the drug problem is not only the economic problem but also the social and health problems. Although using the economic analysis to deal with the drug problem that it can give the government maximum financial benefits, it will badly influence the health problem of people. Also the rate of social crime will increase due to the drug trade. According to Buddy (2013), the drug increase alertness and physical activity. Marijuana use causes short-term memory loss, decreases sperm and testosterone production  in men, and may disrupt the menstrual cycle and cause miscarriage and stillbirth in women. To sum up, the drug trade brings the negative social and health problems more than the economic benefits.

Ryanair External Analysis

Ryanair External Analysis Ryanair is an airline company which is well known for its low cost airline service in Europe. Ryanair was founded in 1985 by Christy Ryan, Liam Lonergan and noted Irish businessman, Tony Ryan. It has its head office in Dublin Airport in Ireland. The company which was running in loss was restructured in 1991 by Michael OLeary with no-frills, low-cost service which yielded profits to the company. It operates more than two hundred and twenty Boeing 737-800 aircrafts from 40 bases all over Europe, which is the largest airline company that carries millions of passengers every year. Revenue where raised from $231million in 1998 to $843 million in 2003.It showed considerable profits from  £48 million to  £239 million over the due course. The company yielded revenues of  £ 2,713.8 million during the financial year which ended March 2008, which is an increase of 21.3% compared to year 2007.The other revenue provide to Ryanair where car hire, travel insurance, etc which account to 16% of the total revenue. So the major vision of the company is to be the leader in the low fare airlines in Europe. The objective of the Ryanair airline company is to be the number one company in terms of customer service. EXTERNAL ANALYSIS: In the environmental scanning process we are going to see the external analysis. The PESTEL is an macro environmental scanning tool. The PESTEL which is known as Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, Leagal. Let us discuss the factors in detail. (P)olitical Factors: The major political factors that affect the Ryanair are the pressure which is caused from the trade unions especially Pilot trade unions. The act of terrorism is another major political factor which will affect the airline service with increased time delays for security services. The landing charges is another important factor which influences politically. Due to the high landing fee in Stansted, Ryanair has decided to move routes from the Stansted to Gatwick (which is providind lower landing charges). Also the EU which has abolished the sales of duty-free items also causes major impact. (E)conomic Factors: The major economic factor is the unstable conditions in the fuel prices which affects the airline companys growth. Ryanair estimated that fuel bill is set to increase  £732m (in the financial year 2008) to  £1.01bn which had affected the profits down to  £235m between 2008 and March 2009.Further the weakening of the Pound value(GBP) also influences a lot on the growth of Ryanair. The recession and increase in the inflation rates have also affected the growth. The taxation issues are a very important factor which affects the economic growth of the company. (S)ocial Factors: The major social factors is the increase in travelling lifestyles of the people which affects the business of Ryanair .There are a variety of people who will prefer different ways of travelling and comfort. The increasing population which will be focusing on the health and fitness safety measures provided. So this will make the company spend a lot on the security service. Further the ageing population needs more leg space and health safety measures implementations. (T)echnological Factors: The new bigger planes with good modern technologies are required for the huge passenger traffic. So this in turn affects the economy of the company. The other important factor is the internet. The online ticket booking has increased from the year 2001 which made the company invest more on the outsourcing of these operations. Further the new technology planes with less fuel consumption are very important focus to buy in the situation where the fuel prices are increasing. (E)nvironmental Factors: The most important environmental factor which affects the companys revenue growth is the carbon emission and green house issues. So this makes the company to upgrade its existing planes to less carbon emission and less noise producing new technology planes. Further the carbon emission schemes differ between countries which in turn increase the taxing policies, so this also affects the economy of the company. (L)egal Factors: These include the EU regulators and the regulations which in turn reflects in the companys growth. The health and safety measures are also one of the legal factors in which case the passengers might sue the company for any accidents occurred . Further the landing charges varies between the countries which causes the company to pay more for landing in some bases. INDUSTRY STRUCTURE: For the industrial analysis we use the Porters Five Forces. In this picture L-LOW M-MEDIUM H- HIGH Considering this porters five forces the bargaining power of customers and the suppliers will be low because the airfare is already low which is quite reasonable. The threat of the substitutes will be medium which might depend on the relative price and quality of the substitutes. The threat of new entrants and the competitive rivalry is very high. For example the major competitor for Ryanair is the EasyJet airline which offers low price airfare with good customer service. This is described as below Market Segmentation Positioning Of Ryanair: Ryanair targets the people belonging to the middle class. It offers best low airfare with attractive packages. Even Ryanair offered free carriage of skis and snowboards to passengers flying to the Alps on September 2009. This even made people more happy to choose Ryanair for their travel, whereas their rival British Airways stopped their passengers from carrying their skis Positioning Of Ryanair: 1. Premium 2. Premium/ Competitive 4. Competitive 5.Competitive/ Leader 1. Excellent 2. Excellent/ Average 4. Average/ Acceptable 5. Acceptable 1. Original 2. Original/ Customized 3. Customized 4. Customized /Basic 1. Restricted 3. Restricted/ Selective 4. Selective/ Universal 5. Universal 1. Prestigious 2. Prestigious/ Respected 4. Respected 5. Respected/ Functional 1.Comprehensive 2.Comprehensive/ Standard 3. Standard 4. Standard/ Minimal PRICE QUALITY FEATURES AVAILABILITY SUPPORT REPUTATION Resource Resources of Ryanair: The resources are known as the tangible and intangible assets that a firm uses to choose and then implement them in strategies. The capabilities are the skills that the firm uses in order to bring its resources to bear the ongoing things. The Resources of the Ryanair are Physical Resources Ryanair operates a fleet of 232 new Boeing 737-800 aircraft. Ryanair has 41 bases and more than 1100 routes across 26 countries, which is connecting 153 destinations. Even the company has ordered 82 new flights which will be delivered within 3 years of time. This shows the companys rapid growth and expansion. Financial Resources The major financial resource like the number of flights that the company yielded is from the low cost airfare. The financial resources of Ryanair is quite strong when compared with its rival Easyjet which is shown in the table below Human Resources Ryanair currently has a crew of around 7000 people and carries around millon more than 58 million people in the year 2008.   Capabilities Of Ryanair: The capabilities of the Ryanair are the lowest airfares and the quickest turnaround time. Their innovative strategies on the cost reduction and the principle of No Frills are also an added advantage. They also focus on particular segment of market with some clear offers. They also have the large brand awareness. Ansoff Strategic Direction Matrix: The Igor Ansoff direction matrix helps the firms to decide on the possible ways to grow the business in the existing or new products , in the existing or new market. In this way we get four possible combinations. They are: Market Penetration Product Development Market Development Diversification These are describes in the picture below So by using the combinations from Ansoff , the Ryanair company seems to have successfully penetrated into the airline market by offering its customers with a very Low Airfare . Here the product which means the various services offered by Ryanair in the flight . The most significant one is the Low Airfare pricing offered to the passengers. Hence their market penetration is very strong and successful and also their product developed very well because of the low pricing of the air tickets. So naturally this made the company to become the largest low fare carriers across the Europe . This also influenced the development of the company in the airline market with the purchasing of many Boeing aircrafts with modern facilities. Further the company has expanded its routes to more than 1100 in more than 26 countries with 153 destinations. This is the major development in the airline market which attracted more customers. The company recorded the largest passenger carriers with 58 million pass engers travelling during the year 2008. This expansion made them to be more popular internationally which in fact required the divergence of employees and culture. So these have diversified the management and people they operate and made them to successfully unite them together. This is the major factor which made them to further penetrate and result in the product development to the existing and new markets. Hence the Ryanair here maintains B2C which yields them more profits. This also helps them to make a good customer relationship and also give them a reliable low priced air tickets. This makes the company Ryanair to be the leading Low airfare carriers among the European airline companies. Hence the low pricing strategy of Ryanair have targeted on the middle class people but with very basic services. Cost Reducing Strategy: The Ryanair follows the most effective strategies which is the cost reducing strategies. This cost reducing strategies helps the company to achieve the desired targets of low cost airfare. These are achieved by five major aspects. They are: Fleet Commonality Contracting the services to third parties The charges in airport and route policy Managing the staff and productivity costs Managing the marketing cost Fleet Commonality: The Ryanair has only the new Boeing 737 flight models which help the company in reducing the costs spent on maintenance such as obtaining the spare parts and also the training costs .This is the major advantage to the company to maintain single model of the air fleet which even increases the travel line security with new technology flights. Even these will help the company to save the fuel consumption and these flights are more fuel efficient and also maintain good safety. This also helps them in scheduling the fights and assembling the crew members. Contracting the services to third parties: The Ryanair has outsourced the services to third parties. They made deals with Hertz car rentals and hotels. So in this fast moving world people prefer to go for these good services along with their trips in order to save time and money. In this way they earn ancillary revenue of 16% of the profit. Further apart from the Dublin airport where they have their crew members to serve, the remaining airports they have contracted to the third parties to serve the ticket handling. In this way they also escape from the direct exposure of the potential disputes. The charges in airport and route policy: Since the Ryanair sells the tickets on its own, there is no activity of the agents required most often. So there is no necessity for the agent commission. So the company saves upto 15% on the agency commission. In order to reduce the airport landing fees, passenger landing fee, etc the company select the secondary and the regional airports which in turn increases the passenger throughput. Managing the staff and Productivity cost: The Ryanair follows the principle of paying the salary to their employees based on their performance. This is one of the best practices the modern companies are following these days to increase the work force performance and which in turn bring good revenue to the company. Hence they follow the modest salary policy. This in turn increases the productivity. Further most of the pilots are recruited when they are young pilots cadets which makes the company to train and make short term deals with them. Even the cabin crew should pay for their uniforms to be clean. Managing the marketing cost: The Ryanair in order to reduce the marketing costs it makes most of the marketing on its own without the travel agents. So it saves a lot in the agent commissions. Further the company spend a reasonable amount of money in advertising. The advertising tools used are like the newspapers, company website and also television. Porters Value Chain: The porters value chain is a chain with various activities for the company operating in a specific field. It has various varies Primary activities like the Inbound Logistics, Operations, Outbound Logistics, Marketing sales, Service. The other part is the support Activities which consists of administration infrastructure, Human Resource Management, Technology part and the Procurement. These values are very important for the company to maintain its performance and get a good profit in turn. Here the very important value is the no frill service and which makes the company to offer a low cost airfare. The various value drivers and their costs are identified for each of the value activity. Hence here for the Ryanair airline company the following are the identified values using the Porters Value Chain. Porters Generic Strategies: Michael Porter categorised the three general strategies that are to be used by the business firms in order to achieve competitive advantage. Hence these three strategies are defined in two different dimensioned they are the competitive scope and the competitive strength. The various generic strategies that the Ryanair company has chosen are the cost leadership, differentiation, cost focus, differentiation focus. The cost leadership is the major strategies used by the Ryanair which still makes it to the leading airline companies in Europe. The Ryanair maintains the low cost policy which is an advantage for its good market existence. Further it has made the people to choose the option of low airfare even in the existing market competition. Differentiation here is that it made their customers to be more satisfied regarding the low pricing airfare. Hence there it still retained the long run customer satisfaction regarding the airfare cost. The cost focus is mainly targeted on the people choosing low airfare travels. So the company has chosen the no frill strategy which still makes it more profitable in the markets. Even it has very cheap advertising concept which even adds more advantage. The reduced turnaround time and the various corporate partnership offers are also the competitive advantages of the company. The outsourcing of services in various international airports is also helpful to main tain its low cost airfare. Further the Ryanair follows the In-house marketing which also helps it to focus on low cost airfares. Even the company focussed on the narrow customer segment which will be including the Irish and the UK passengers who cannot afford to fly in expensive airlines. So the major goal of the company Ryanair is to provide the people with no frill service and low cost airfare all time. So Ryanair is the only company which has not yet revealed its strategic position. It has tried to mix up the focus and cost leadership together. So finally in 1997 the cost leadership strategy was being chosen by the company. This made the company more successful in its campaign. Hence the cost leadership is the best chosen strategies which make the company to be the leading one in the European airline industries. Hence this is the major competitive advantage the company has pursued. Conclusion: Hence from the above analysis the Ryanair proved to be the low cost airline which is confident of competing with its competitors in pricing. It is recommended that it should increase its services in the web which will yield more revenue these days. The Ryanair will surely make its successful way in Flying people withlow cost airfare. Critical Reflection: From the above discussed strategies the Ryanair airline company has achieved its goal of low cost airfare through no frill services. But still there are some areas that the company still need to improve in the strategic aspect. So based on the analysis we strongly recommend Ryanair to consider the airline expansion which is specifically the atlantic routes which is having the worlds 60% of air travel. Hence if it is moving on to the new market with this low cost airfare with some added services , then it will yield more profits compared to the present level. Further I recommend the Ryanair company to focus more on the following fields to improve its performance and which also yield good revenue to the company. Merging and Acquisitions Better reforms in human resource management Improving the market planning strategies Additional third party services Merging and Acquisitions: The merging and the acquisitions has become one of the major corporate-level strategies in this new millennium. Since the Ryanair is continuing to grow , it should make mergers or acquisitions with the companies in other countries which will rapidly increase its revenue. Even this will improve its capabilities and will also acquire more competitive advantage. Better reforms in human resource management: Since from the moment Ryanair started following its low cost airfare, it has sacrificed all its basic services. The company Ryanair does not seem to be valuing its people. Even it charges for the people for using the toilets. This made the pilots to oppose against this rules. There is a belief that the competitive advantage is also dependent on the human resource of the company. So there should be proper reforms in the human resource management .In this technological world the human resources are the only resources which will be bringing the sustainable competitive advantage. Improving the market planning strategies: The Ryanair should provide good customer services which in turn will yield good revenue to the company. So it should offer good airfare packages and promotions to the customers. This is the best way of improving the Core competence and will maintain its levelling in the competitive advantage. Further the company should also work out in holding the important air routes which will increase the revenue of the company. Further the expansion strategies are more important among the competitors. Further the Ryanair can give good low cost airline packages according to the various passenger population from different countries. This will helps the company to maintain a stable competitive advantage. The company should also provide the onboard entertainment services, Internet services and satellite television services. In online it can also sell some products with its brand name which is a good advertising strategy and also it will generate revenue. It can also reduce the charges imposed on over weight and extra luggages. The advertising strategies also should be made as digital marketing because the usage of internet has increased and people are more interested in booking tickets through online. So this digital marketing should be more effectively carried out which would increase the revenue of the firm. Additional third party services: The Ryanair outsourced the services to the third parties. Even still there are complaints from the passenger for the catering services in the plane. The company doesnt offer food free of cost inside the flight for the passenger. So it can also consider these recommendations to serve the passenger with food at a minimum charge. This will place the company more stable position among the competitors. Further the company can out source this catering service to a third party which also help the company to offer good service to the passengers.