How effective has their ‘crisis communication’ been? • Are their marketing practices in line with the rest of their approach to operational approach? • Analyze the structure of United Airlines •
This week we peel away the outside layers and look inside the organization with an assessment of United Airline’s internal environment.
Remember, the goal is to:
• First – locate, convey, and explain the KEY information critical to understanding these elements of the organization
• Next – assess those findings and make a definitive and evaluative determination as to their strategic impact on UAL as an organization.
The applicable elements to consider in the preparation of the internal environmental evaluation include the following:
• organizational culture / human resource management processes
• financial management
• marketing efforts
• organizational structure
• Analyze the culture / human resource management processes at United Airlines
• Is it strong or weak?
• Does it help the company or is it a liability?
• What role does the culture play in creating (and/or sustaining) the competitive advantage(s)?
• Are they effective at acquiring, growing, and retaining talent?
• Are there practices in place (potentially connected to the culture) that help to build an effective organizational team – or is the organization nothing more than a collection of employees?
• Analyze the marketing practices and management of United Airlines
• Do they understand (well) their customers – worldwide?
• What trends do they need to be aware of – and do they market (well) to those trends?
• How effective has their ‘crisis communication’ been?
• Are their marketing practices in line with the rest of their approach to operational approach?
• Analyze the structure of United Airlines
• In its current form, understanding the need for strategy/structure connectivity
• Is it effective in supporting the strategic initiatives?
• Should any changes be made to the structure – given their current strategy – to create a better strategy/structure connection?
• Analyze the financial situation of United Airlines
• Compute the applicable key financial ratios for United Airlines and compare the results to either (both) industry standards and their competitors
• Liquidity and profitability • Quick ratio
• ROI • Gross profit
• Debt to equity • Operating expense ratio
• Inventory turnover ratio • Earnings per share (EPS)
• How effective is United Airlines comparatively?
• Are there any changes to United Airlines’ financial management practices that would help to better manage the financial position of United Airlines?
Perform a VRIN test on these internal elements of United Airlines’ operations
• In your opinion, and based on your analysis so far, what is/are UAL’s competitive advantage(s)?
• How/what would you describe United Airlines’ current business model to
Think through the answers to these questions – and then logically organize your researched findings, your support, your evaluations, and your conclusions.
Summarize and transmit your findings in a memo to the CEO