Business-Virgin Atlantic Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Business-Virgin Atlantic - Essay Example Virgin Atlantic customers mainly vary dependent on the operational routes. However, statistics have showed that the bulk of their customers come from the UK. The distribution of the UK customers is approximated to be 60% and the rest is constituted by worldwide customers. The business has categorized its customers dependent on the class they fly. It has the smallest group of customers under Upper Class passengers who are mainly business persons aged 35-45. The second group of customers flies under Premium Economy; customers flying here are fairly split between business and leisure flyers. The last grouping is the Economy passengers who constitutes the largest grouping of the Virgin customers and encompasses flyers from most socio economic groups (Tillmann 235). The leisure and business travelers remain the target customers for the airline business. Virgin Atlantic has, since inception, aimed to run a profitable airline that people love to fly as well as being a competitive employer. It has cultured its objective to include the three main stakeholders who are the business shareholders/owners, its customers and its employees. Therefore, given this primary objective, it is safe to argue that the company’s desired position is ensuring profitability, creating the right environment and impression so that customers look at it as an airline of choice in providing the right employment environment. Business Audit-Value Chain Value chain was first utilized and detailed by Michael Porter in his book Competitive Advantage. It is a summary of a business activities and their link to the competitiveness of the business. In brief, value chain looks at every single of the major activities a business undertakes. It then looks at the value each of these activities adds to the competiveness of the business/organization. In using value chain to audit a business, it is vital that one distinguishes between primary activities and support activities. Porter termed primary activit ies as those which are directly linked to the creation or delivery of a service. These are categorized as inbound logistics, operations, outbound logistics, marketing and sales, and service. Support activities are those that provide the drive to ensure effectiveness of the primary activities which include human resource management, procurement, technology development, and infrastructure. In auditing Virgin Atlantic, it is vital that one first identifies the particular activities falling under each of the five primary activities. These are identified as inbound logistics which are data on customers, trend analysis, and supplier relations. Virgin Atlantic has since inception maintained clear records on their customers and their schedules. This has ensured that the airline understands fully the customer cycles as well as their preferences a factor which helps in meeting their expectations. The airline has also streamlined relations with its suppliers, mainly, Airbus and Boeing who prov ide the aircrafts. This has ensured that their aircraft demand is met either through direct purchase or lease. This is a factor which boosts its service delivery. Operations include all the ensuing activities in enabling services. These services include proper reception in airports, proper service