EXECUTIVE BRIEF
This essay utilized Cathay Pacific Airways as the model organization to review its present public relations strategies and management and how they dealt with critical situations. From the analysis, key trends in the public relations strategies and management of Cathay Pacific Airways were then identified, how they worked and their effectiveness in dealing with critical situations were ascertained. The paper then moved on to assess these public relations strategies and management with regard to their suitability to critical situations, during which the internal capabilities of these public relations strategies in relation to the company mission and vision being followed by Cathay Pacific Airways was determined also. An overall analysis of the public relations strategies and management of Cathay Pacific Airways was also conducted to assess and compare the capabilities of these public relations strategies with those of others. Gaps in the public relations strategies and management capabilities of Cathay Pacific Airways were then identified.
Finally, several choices of strategies to improve the public relations strategies and management capabilities of Cathay Pacific Airways as effective means in critical situations were recommended and evaluated in terms of appropriateness to the issues reviewed, feasibility in carrying out the options and acceptability within the key stakeholders and decision makers. Several key implementation issues related to managing strategic change were also addressed as well.
INTRODUCTION
In the last five years, the airline industry has seen so much activity in terms of massive changes in the landscape of airline companies. These changes range from mergers and acquisitions to changing consumer tastes and finally, to different marketing strategies. These activities are expected to continue over the course of the next ten years.
Cathay Pacific Airways is one of the leading companies in the world’s airline industry in terms of the volume of sales and profitability. It has also one of the widest connections among other international airline companies made possible through global networking.
Cathay Pacific Airways uses the name of both the company and its mainstream airline service label, and this public relations strategy has allowed the company to pursue an integrated marketing approach directly related to the company name.
However, the main questions remain. Does this public relations strategy produce more effective results than the others in terms of gaining company name recognition? Do the adopted public relation strategies allow differentiation in the culture of the corporation to influence consumer choices?
Statement of Purpose / Hypothesis
Strategy selection in corporate public relations is made thru a review of literature, consultation with stakeholders, budget limitations, target audience, key messages, and the organizational goal.
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE
A. Company Mission / Corporate Objectives
Cathay Pacific Airways aims for sustainable growth as a broad market leader in the airline industry as well as for segment leadership. In both cases, the services of Cathay Pacific Airways will play a crucial part. The company is able to establish its broad leadership usually by acquiring other strong airline companies and their services, which are then combined into a new, larger company. Offering training to its employees, improving the company operations, and the introduction of new technologies then reinforces the positions of Cathay Pacific Airways. This practically results in economies of scale that is able to create a distribution network for both the local and international airline services of the company. If a market is already in the control of other airline companies, Cathay Pacific Airways devotes its attention towards the development of a premium segment with its various airline services.
The mission of Cathay Pacific Airways is to secure the growth of the business in a sustainable manner, while at the same time constantly improving the company’s profitability. The strategy to achieve this involves four elements:
B. Target Market / Segmentation
Segmentation is a key factor especially in markets where a broad leadership position has yet to be fully developed. In these markets Cathay Pacific Airways strives for strong positions especially in the premium and specialty segments.
Good examples here include Cathay Pacific Airways’ leading position in the airline industry in Hong Kong as well as the recently established market in China. In both examples, Cathay Pacific Airways shows its desire to establish autonomous growth through expansion to various distribution networks as well as growth through acquisitions.
STRATEGIC OPTIONS
Deriving from the analysis between the airline industry, public relations management and capabilities of the airline company involved, many strategic options would become imperative. It is therefore essential to evaluate these strategic options as to whether they are appropriate to the issues addressed, whether they are feasible enough to be implemented and their acceptability to key stakeholders.
A. Business Level Strategy
There is definitely a need to reconcile both the inside-out and outside-in capabilities. While Cathay Pacific Airways’ public relations management strategies involve focusing on their core competencies with market position following its resource base, the company will be put into a disadvantageous position should they choose to neglect both the macro as well as airline industry environment. Therefore, Cathay Pacific Airways has to be aware of the latest public relations management changes, as well as changes in political, economic, legal and even demographic trends in order to develop the outside-in capabilities, such as airline market sensing, customer linking, channel bonding and technology monitoring.
The advantages enjoyed by Cathay Pacific Airways may come in the form of increased revenues. Knowing what the market demands and the latest trends could help the company fully exploit its research and development capabilities to come out with airline services which are not only cost-effective but also high in quality. The strategic option can even be used as marketing tool where the focus is on staying close to the airline’s customers and listening to their feedbacks. On the flip side of the coin, there will be a huge mobilization of resources involved, and the associated risks bestowed on Cathay Pacific Airways.
Nevertheless, the mentioned strategic option seems the most practical in the wake of globalization, since there is a sudden shift towards a more integrated and independent world economy. The key stakeholders too should not have any objections so long as Cathay Pacific Airways’ core business is not threatened. By virtue of the company’s centralized control of its business, it is being expected that major barriers should not exist in carrying out such an option except additional time may be required given the scope and span of the airline’s operations.
Understanding the strategic importance of public relations strategy and management is something that Cathay Pacific Airways has to be familiar with. This airline company normally practices a centralized and globally scaled configuration of operations and capabilities. This allows information dissemination to be retained.
B. Network Level Strategy
There are various strategic options available for Cathay Pacific Airways. These are enumerated as follows:
· Tie up with various local airline companies
· Collaborate with major competitors
· Alliances with leading airline service suppliers
RECOMMENDATIONS
A tie-up or merger with various local airline companies offers tremendous benefits in terms of access to their public relations management policies, infrastructure and even their resources. However, Cathay Pacific Airways must not lose sight of its core competencies while pursuing these tie-ups. Otherwise, the image of this company might be put in jeopardy.
Meanwhile, the collaboration of Cathay Pacific Airways with its major competitors can be seen as a ridiculous move at first. However, upon close examination, this move could pave the way for this company to improve even more its public relations strategy management. The bottom line is both sides would be able significantly gain in such an alliance. Cathay Pacific Airways’ strengths in service development combined with the public relations strategy management capabilities of their competitors can transform them suddenly into an unbeatable force to reckon with. One possible setback, however, is the differences in the cultures of the airline companies involved. Another possible setback could be whether any of Cathay Pacific Airways’ competitors has the need to form alliances.
The third option also focuses on alliances, but this time with either one of the suppliers specializing in airline products and services. The benefits of these alliances should outweigh the costs in the long run.
In terms of appropriateness, all three options are able to directly address the current issues mentioned. However, the question remains whether Cathay Pacific Airways could be able to implement any of these options, and whether these options can be acceptable to the key stakeholders. Any merger or alliances may also involve the sharing of expertise. This company has traditionally relied on the inside-out approach. It is important to note that any merger transactions would have many implications on the company’s values and culture as well as the resources. The key stakeholders definitely would be concerned with such options and need to be convinced of the positive aspects. Somehow, Cathay Pacific Airways will be able to overcome this barrier in managing strategic changes in the process of implementing any of the above mentioned strategic options.
CONCLUSION
The results of the analysis carried out on the public relations strategy management of Cathay Pacific Airways indicated very significant effects, even amidst the threats of unrest. Therefore, we could conclude that the public relations strategy management of Cathay Pacific Airways could still be expected to improve faster than average.
The review of the company’s public relations strategy management capabilities and resources revealed very little inconsistencies regarding their overall strategies. This is coherent with their traditional inside-out approach. However, the need to reconcile both the inside-out and outside-in approaches becomes imperative now for the company.
The analysis among the airline industry environment as well as the public relations strategy management and capabilities of Cathay Pacific Airways revealed certain gaps, most of which are biased towards the environment. However, these gaps paved the way towards determining a number of recommended strategic options to secure the competitiveness of the company.
Also, Cathay Pacific Airways has to find a balance between adherence to internal forces within the management and to the changing forces of the environment in order to implement such strategic options.
Credit:ivythesis.typepad.com
0 comments:
Post a Comment