dates back to 1935, with the business for hiring touring caravans. Slowly but steadily, the Baxter’s advanced their business to incorporate designing and manufacturing of caravans as well. This was soon followed by the opening of specialist retail shops that would sell clothing, equipment and related supplies. Soon, the boom of travel agencies inspired the Baxter’s to set off with twenty travel shops across UK.  Diversification strategies led to the development of Parque Montana in Tenerife in 1988 and over the years, housing complexes with amenities were developed in Playa de las Americas. After 20 years of successfully running the business in time-sharing mode, the company has shifted to fractional ownership of projects.

As Brian Baxter is appointed the General Manager of the property side of the business and also to head the Fractional Ownership Division, leadership responsibilities have been shifted to his shoulders.  The first step that Brian has planned is to gauge the current position of the company, in every possible aspect.  Although the company has seen the best of times, and has flourished ever since its existence, a sound strategic planning is required at this stage and as many changes are expected in the business, the need for an integrated plan has become focal.  A consultant has been hired to collect and assess the challenges their business is facing on the whole.

The purpose of this case study analysis is, therefore, obvious.  A situational analysis has to be conducted to see the company’s current position. This will include the time-cost-scope baseline analysis, assumptions of the current analysis tools employed by the company, the present organizational structure and the immediate changes that are to take place in the recent future. The analysis will also take into account the widespread businesses running across UK and Europe and study their progress over the years and analyze where they are headed.

Following the situational analysis, portfolio analysis will be conducted and the strategic planning will be carried out and the SWOT analysis will be utilized for that purpose.  The strengths and weaknesses of the organization need to be pointed out, the opportunities need to be availed and threats at hand need to be realized and overcome. After accounting for the actionable assumptions, the objectives need to be properly put up, that is the results that this organization seeks over the next five years.  The strategies, as to how these objectives can be achieved, will then be set out.

The underlying principles of this case study analysis will help in focusing on the mission. The need to conduct the strategic planning is important at this stage when the Project Developments have quieted down.  With the retirement of Sir Albert Baxter, and many other loyal employees, a dire need for structural change and hiring of new skills has become imperative.  With the planned closing down of the hiring caravans division of the company, a significant change will take place in the organizational structure. To prevent the stagnancy of the net profit ratio in the future, the business and its portfolio need to be managed in a proper manner. Also, new methods and advancements need to be incorporated into the business to face the challenges of the developing world, wherein the use of technology in the business is a prime feature.  Strategic plans need to be made to raise the customer population through proper branding and advertisement. These plans are very crucial to the business.

In a nutshell, this analysis will break down the planning process and troubleshoot the challenges step by step. Finally, the results expected to be achieved by implementing these strategies will be addressed.

 

 

CASE BRIEF

The situational analysis involves analyzing and monitoring the past trends, keeping an eye on the current situation and envisaging the future situation. This process includes the analysis of various environments like the cooperative, competitive, economic, political, and social and the legal environment.(J. Paul Parker & James H. Donnelly Jr., 2001)

Tourism has been contributing handsomely to the economies of various countries, which include UK, Spain and Portugal. The trend for ‘holidays’ being enjoyed in these places has not receded.  Albert and Robin Baxter founded their company in 1953, and their focus was to hire caravans for the touring purposes for the UK holidaymakers. This hiring business benefited them and they enjoyed quite a modest growth, in both business and reputation.  The Baxter’s proved to be innovative entrepreneurs, who soon realized that the tourists would enjoy customized caravans. A&R Baxter started designing and manufacturing their very own caravans to suit the size of the touring families or groups, with varied specifications.  This business of selling caravans has flourished wonderfully and has reaped quite some profit for the organization. According to the A&R Internal records, trends for refitting, central heating and double glazing to upgrade owner caravans are escalating and can be a potential business in the future.

However, the business for hiring caravans experienced a downward drift over the years. This, unfortunately, was not noticed until this case study was conducted.  The policy decision to stop the hiring of touring caravans with immediate effect is crucial and will be carried out as a part of the implementation of the new strategies.

Another business that is seen to be diminishing slowly is the Baxter’s Camping and Caravanning shops.  The trend in buying less from these shops, leading to the decreasing profit, should be accounted for as the consumer spending evolves from year to year.

“As measured by the average annual change in the Consumer Price Index, prices for goods and services increased 1.6 percent from 2009 to 2010 and the spending fell in 2010. This was the second consecutive year in which the spending had decreased.” (Consumer Expenditure Surveys – Annual News Release”. Bureau of Labor Statistics)

Also, according to the survey, only 50% of consumers plan to spend the same or more than 2011 compared to 70% in 2010. The focus seems to be shifting to enjoying the vacation but spending less.  New shops have been planned for in the next few years but the products and respective prices need to be revised as part of the strategic planning for a profitable business in the future. It is assumed that the prices at the Baxter’s Camping and Caravanning shops have a broad range but are, after all, fixed prices. These fixed prices are another reason to push the customer away (Sorensen H., 2009).No promotional packages, discounts and holiday offers have been reported and are another scenario that can be considered in the planning.  By creating this kind of environment, in which shopping is simpler but more exciting, A&R Baxter Shops can attract a large group of consumers to buy from their market (Christensen & Raynor, 2003).

The twenty Baxter’s Travel shops are undoubtedly the most pioneering outlets in the UK, and they specialize in providing the ‘flight-only’ business. However, another emerging trend of booking airline tickets online was ignored. The online travel sales figures have rocketed, as booking online from the comfort of one’s home became prominent. Where the experience of booking flights personally at a travel shop is enjoyable, the ease of online ticketing is foregone.  The graph below symbolizes the importance of the online travel market over the years.

As part of the strategic planning, the online factor has to be taken into account. Over the years, the net profit to sales ratio produced by the Baxter’s Travel shops has been on the decline and so a detailed SWOT analysis of the situation as to be conducted, to take into consideration all external factors contributing to this falling trend.

The A&R Baxter Company, with their 35 year of success and a healthy reputation, has a very strong foothold in the holiday solution business. A smart move was made when, in collaboration with a property development company, the Baxter’s built a holiday village complex in the Tenerife, the heart of tourist attraction. The national economies are greatly benefited by the tourists that visit them and the development of resorts and infrastructure aid in the tourist attraction from all over the world. As the economies of developing countries have grown, their own citizens have also become the new international tourists.

Parque Montana, which was developed on the Island of Tenerife, the largest of the Canary Islands, was sold to private buyers from UK, France and West Germany. It was wise to consider various options for the time-sharing model that would maximize the business and the profit earned from it. Time-sharing options like the Los Cristanios Model enabled the consumers to enjoy an affordable ‘home’ in Tenerife for a three months period. In this model, the consumer would be the co-owner of the apartment along with three more owners.  This particular model has targeted the individual market and has been widely accepted.

Developments in Playa de las Americas has made it the largest international tourist resort on the south side of the Tenerife Island. This has proved to be quite a successful project. The time-sharing model for Playa de Las Americas, the apartment could be bought for as many weeks per year. With the five star standards that are maintained at the property, along with an elite club environment with cafes and sports facilities, the annual management fee is crucial to have things organized.

Due to the mass acceptance of these time-sharing projects, eight such projects are still running with these time-sharing concepts for the last twenty years. Although the time-sharing options have made it affordable for all classes of people, the latest trend of fractional ownership seems to earn more profit. An in-depth analysis is to be conducted to choose between the number of consumers in the long run or the profits earned at the end of the year.

Basically, Fractional ownership is gaining much hype in the upper class. Fractional ownership caters to an affluent, desirable clientele that demands and is willing to pay for the superior vacation experience and potential investment benefits that fractional ownership of vacation home real estate offers. (David M. Disick, Esq., 2011) The chart below explains the differences quite explicitly.

 

Fractional Interests	Timeshares	Comments
Qualifying annual household income	Fractional interests: $150,000+PRC’s: $250,000+	$75,000+	Fractional owners are wealthier and better lending risks. Foreclosure rights are the same as in whole ownership.
Number of owners per residence unit	4 to 15 owners per unit (possibly as many as 20)	Up to 50 or even 52 owners per unit	Fractional owners have a higher financial stake. They are more willing and able to pay mortgage and maintenance costs.
Amount of owner use and vacation ambiance	From 12-13 weeks per year to as little as 2.5. 3-5 weeks is most common. People become acquainted; service is personalized.	Usually 1 week a year. (In some cases, 1 week every other year for those on a limited budget.) Traffic and wear and tear are heavy.	With fewer owners and less occupancy, fractionals are more relaxed, intimate, and “clubby.” They undergo less wear and tear.
Unique Selling Proposition	A financially smart alternative to whole ownership of a vacation home	An affordable alternative to staying at hotels and vacation rental properties	Fractional buyers often can qualify for whole ownership, but prefer not to be tied to just one destination.
Financial considerations of potential buyers	Buyers seek mid- to long-term increase in the value of their real estate and diversification of their portfolio as a hedge against inflation. Some may want rental income.	Buyers seek savings on the costs of their vacations and insulation from inflation in the price of accommodations for future vacations.	Re-sales of fractional real estate tend to track with sales prices of whole ownership vacation properties in the same market area.
Personal use vs. investment use	Both are important. Fractional ownership enables buyers to afford a higher quality of vacation experience and frees up discretionary funds for other purchases.	Personal use is of primary importance. Timeshares make possible vacations that might otherwise have been unaffordable or not a regular part of one’s lifestyle.	Fractional buyers want a very high-quality vacation. They also expect to benefit from the appreciation of their real estate investment upon its resale.
Exchange networks	Are growing in popularity, but fractional buyers tend to have already established an emotional attachment to the resort or city where they ultimately buy their fractional vacation property.	Many timeshare buyers are more interested in the exchange possibilities open to them than in the particular property where they happened to have entered the exchange network.	Since affluent fractional owners feel more loyal and connected to their “home” property, they are more able and willing to spend the funds needed to maintain it in excellent condition.
Re-salability	Original developer marketing costs: Typically 12-15% of sales price Can be resold through general real estate brokers (same as whole ownership).	Original developer marketing costs: Typically 50% or more of sales price Are difficult to resell. This is changing with the entry of specialty companies into the market	Original marketing costs do not translate into “real estate” value at resale. Investors steer clear of timeshare due to loss from original value at resale.
Sales methods	Often use low-pressure, “relationship sales” methods to build trust through repeated contacts with customers over weeks and months.	Often use high-pressure techniques to close a sale during a customer’s first visit to the property.	High-pressure sales methods are a reason many consumers choose to avoid timeshare sales offices.
Public image	Good. Is associated with responsiveness to environmental concerns and taking part in “the good life”	Improving. Trade associations are educating the public on the benefits of vacation ownership.	Laws protect consumers from misdeeds of early timeshare developers. Involvement of branded hotels has increased timeshare’s respectability.
Quality of property, amenities and service	Fractional ownership properties are often similar to 3- or 4-star hotels. PRC’s can resemble 4- or 5-star hotels.	Most offer standard resort-level service. Newer properties may reach 3- or 4-star quality.	Due to less wear and tear and owner commitment to property upkeep, fractional interests offer prospects of a profitable real estate investment.

 

Where fractional ownership is acutely rising in the US, it has not yet gained popularity in the UK Market. The Baxter’s shifted their focus to luxury retreats and targeted the higher net worth individuals. With new projects launched in London’s Knightsbridge, Paris, Italy and Barcelona, the Baxter’s have made grand investments in luxury apartments, which are no less in standard than 5-star hotels. In order to earn back from these developments, proper strategic branding and advertisement needs to be planned. External factors like competition from other companies will affect the fractional ownership business by a great deal so it is essential to pull the customers towards the Baxter’s properties. Not much competition has been spotted in Paris, but this can be considered as a possible future threat.

New locations need to be researched, with the upper class customer population in mind as the trend for Fractional Ownership gains popularity, along with the healthy reputation of Baxter’s. The standard should be maintained in the current apartments, in order to establish A&R Baxter as a trusted company in the coming years as well.

Another very vital area to consider is the organizational structure. With the retirement of Sir Albert Baxter, tentative re-positioning of Sally French, George Pender’s retirement in two years time, re-positioning of Joe Martin, Jim Douglas’ retirement and resigning of Kelly Smith, and Brian Baxter being appointed as the General Manager, the whole organizational structure has to be re-designed.  Of course, major changes will take place as the Hiring Sales Division will be closed down as part of the new plan. New design staffs have to be hired in order to bring about innovation and fresh ideas for the design and manufacture of caravans. IT professionals need to be included in the structure and their positions decided to keep systems managed and also to aid in the program development of the online travelling.  Fractional ownership Divisions will be increased as new projects are launched in more locations.  A complete strategic plan needs to be coined as the sales of the camping shops needs to be re-vamped as well.

With the growth in eco-friendly campaigns and go- green awareness, A&R Baxter’s should plan to incorporate environmental policies into its business. By introducing a number of recycling initiatives both on the properties and throughout the company’s offices, the organization will hold a position of being responsibly green. These measures are also environmentally conscious and cost effective, and enable the company to make a position in the social and welfare society.

The Key External and Internal Factors need to be considered in order to utilize the best tools and techniques and develop an appropriate strategy for them:

Key External Factors:

Opportunities:

• Increase in the number of tourists
• Tourists attracted by newly designed caravans and equipments
• Increasing trend of owning property, mainly by fractional ownership
• Increasing trend of holidays
• Increasing trend of travelling by air

Threats

• Increasing number of travel agencies, and those employing online booking
• Various resorts and hotels included in travel packages
• Cheap rent-a-car options available
• Other property businesses running as competitors
• Economic conditions dampening tourists’ plans

Key Internal Factors

Strengths

• Years of good reputation and experience in caravans business
• Strong foothold on the property business, with good quality projects
• Until now, very loyal employees who have worked for many years and understand the company well
• Multiple diversification strategies employed over the years that has helped the business grow
• Great operating efficiency and use of capital assets
• Continuous new project development and enhancement

Weaknesses

• Lack of research and development programs
• Lack of sales advisors for the shops
• Lack of advertising programs

Studying the above Case brief, and analyzing the environmental factors, the problems and plan of analysis can be made possible. Further analysis, strategic planning and possible outcomes will be discussed based on the current situation described above.

 

 

PROBLEM STATEMENT AND PLAN OF ANALYSIS

The main issue for this study lies in the challenges that the company faces and may face in the years to come. With the continuous expansion of the Baxter’s business, the net profit of the organization has become constant, instead of increasing. Thus, a refined and well-organized strategy needs to be employed to overcome the challenges the organization faces in the form of competitors, and internal and environmental changes.

There is a dire need for a sound plan of action to boost the business conditions and improve recognition of the company by re-branding. Also, technological advancements need to be incorporated to spread successfully and overcome the competition by staying ahead in all aspects. Unless we change our approach to handling the problems, we will continue to be stuck in the present situation.

A mixture of both qualitative and quantitative approaches will explore and examine the current situation and lead the plan of analysis in the correct direction.

The plan of analysis will commence with a SWOT Analysis, where the Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats mentioned in the Case Brief will be explored.

 

 

Strategic Management

By identifying the needs of the organizations according to the demands of the environment, in such a way that the organization’s mission is achieved, a successful strategic management process can be accomplished.

Strategic planning is part of the strategic management process and it comprises of the following tasks:

• Defining the business and developing a mission,
• conducting SWOT analysis (internal and external strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats)
• defining an appropriate and direct business statement,
• bridging the mission with the strategic goals, and
• Coining strategies or courses of action.

 

1. Defining the current business:

A vision and mission statement needs to be coined for the organization.  Sir Albert Baxter will be deciding on the two statements, with opinions and suggestions from Brian Baxter and the consultant.

The vision was focused on ‘caravans’ over a period of time, and it then shifted to ‘holiday solutions’.

2. Conducting SWOT Analysis and Audits:

To facilitate the strategic external/internal audit, a SWOT analysis has to be conducted.

Internal	External
Strengths ·         Years of good reputation and experience in caravans business ·         Strong foothold on the property business, with good quality projects ·         Until now, very loyal employees who have worked for many years and understand the company well ·         Multiple diversification strategies employed over the years that has helped the business grow ·         Great operating efficiency and use of capital assets ·         Continuous new project development and enhancement	Opportunities ·         Increase in the number of tourists ·         Tourists attracted by newly designed caravans and equipments ·         Increasing trend of owning property, mainly by fractional ownership ·         Increasing trend of holidays ·         Increasing trend of travelling by air
Weaknesses ·         Lack of research and development programs ·         Lack of sales advisors for the shops ·         Lack of advertising programs	Threats ·         Increasing number of travel agencies, and those employing online booking ·         Various resorts and hotels included in travel packages ·         Cheap rent-a-car options available ·         Other property businesses running as competitors ·         Economic conditions dampening tourists’ plans

 

3. Define the appropriate Business and Mission Statements:

On the basis of our situational analysis, new directions will need to be realized.

With much thought put into the business and the quality of products and services that it is providing its customers with, a very specific vision statement has been devised.

Vision: To make living a holiday experience

This vision statement will make it clear to the company itself and also to its customers that with A&R Baxter’s; one can expect a luxurious life, on or off holidays.

The mission of A&R Baxter’s is to basically provide a better living alternative to people where they may bask in the beauty of nature whenever they want. The A&R Baxter’s want to provide comfort and convenience to the customer. Therefore, the mission statement coined for the organization is:

Mission: To diversify the business to suit more classes of customers and spread worldwide in order to provide the true holiday experience to its valued customers.

4. Bridging the Mission with the Strategic Goals

The actions that need to be followed in order to achieve those strategic goals have to be written down.

5. Coin the Strategies to Achieve the Strategic Goals
6. The strategies are a plan of action and these actions join the company’s present condition, with its desired position.

In this step, the organizational environment has to be evaluated, and quantitative targets have to be set. A performance analysis is conducted to estimate the future condition if the current situation persists (Boyd, 1991). Finally, the strategic choices are listed down. The Strategic choices to be made should be smart ones. Devising from the SWOT analysis, the following choices have to be made:

• Shutting down of Hiring Caravan Sales Department
• Improvement of the technologies incorporated in the business and focusing on the IT implementations, like introducing online booking for travelling
• Advertising of other products / services and re-branding of Parque Montana
• Re-structuring the organization chart, with retirements underway and also closing down of certain departments and introducing new positions

The next step will be the Strategic Implementation, which will be discussed in the next chapter, and comprises of two steps:

• Implementing the strategy

This is when the planned strategies are put into motion. The actual implementation will require all of the management functions to be applied: planning, organizing, hiring/re-positing of staff, leading, and controlling.

• Evaluating the performance

It is possible that the implementation does not go as planned, in which case the performance needs to be evaluated on a regular basis. Strategic control keeps the company’s strategy up to date.

Approaching the Strategic Planning

It is not mandatory to stick to one particular strategic business model for the company. It is better and more effective if the business development models are changed frequently as per thr requirements and changing conditions.

From the many planning models available, the ones chosen to approach the desired result were:

A Scenario Planning approach will be undertaken and then integrated with the Issues-based Model to address the issues and reach the goal.

Based on the different scenarios considered, a plan can be made such that the possible and probable future states can be thought through. This kind of planning is known as the scenario planning. (Schoemaker, 1995)

In the Scenario Planning Model, the following steps will be followed:

• External forces and their related changes which will affect the organization will be evaluated
• The future organizational scenarios for each change in force will be studied, in terms of best case, worst case or reasonable.
• Potential strategies to respond to the scenarios will be devised.

After the strategies have been formulated for the changes detected via the above mentioned model, the issues-based model will then target the issues in the following manner:

• Identify the issues
• Brainstorm to address the issues
• Compile issues into a strategic plan document
• Monitor implementation of the plan and modify as required

Research Methods

As seen beneficial, the qualitative and quantitative methods are combined and primary and secondary data will be used. Therefore, the approaches and strategies for this case study will be ‘mixed’ and ‘matched’. (Saunders, 2003)

The advantage of using multi-method is that it enables triangulation, where different data collection methods are used to ensure that the data is clear. Another advantage is that it helps cancel out the ‘method effect’ which would result if a particular method was used.

Quantitative Method:

Quantitative data would be used for this research. The quantitative method of data collection is based on mathematical means. The data that is collected from the sources is interpreted and analysed in terms of figures that help readers to understand the research outcome (Landy and Conte, 2009). This method brings the clarity in the research and reduces the vague facts (IIan, 2004).

Quantitative data would be obtained by conducting surveys and by gathering information from executives and businessmen to find out about the inclination towards holidays and properties.

The different types of data that can be collected to analyze are

• the interval variables, in which we collect data involving the age and income of people in a particular area
• Dichotomous variable, in which a simple yes/no answer will be collected

The data will be collected through a questionnaire and will then be coded and presented in an appropriate way, through charts, tables and descriptive statistics in Chapter 4.

Sampling Size

The questionnaires would be sent to the Senior Executives of various companies and other business entrepreneurs in order to know their views and experiences about their choices on holidays, luxury and travel. The sampling size of the research is 100 executives of various firms.

The information needs to be collected in a systematic manner and it is important to decide who to ask and why a particular section of population is selected.

Qualitative Method

The design used for this research is based on qualitative methods of data collection.  This method of data collection is used for the limited sample. The benefit of this method is that, it has the ability to study those variables that usually get ignored in quantitative methods of data collection (Saunders, 2003). Moreover, the information that is collected from qualitative method cannot be generalized as it proposes results in one particular area (Stirling, 2001).

The sources for gathering qualitative data are online journals, EBSCOHOST, Jstor, Emerald and Google Scholar.

The qualitative approach to this research will be closely associated with an inductive approach and using the interpretivist model that will allow the existence of multiple and subjective perspectives.  In this method, knowledge will be created rather than looking for it in the real world.

For example, a study of how sales has changed over a period of years  – fact finding from financial statements and these will be expressed in a chart showing sales figures over time.

Theoretical analysis will help analyze the situation more effectively, as employing the inductive approach and investigation will help generate theory from the research. (Stirling, 2001)

Information Technology Management

Information systems have vastly affected the business processes of organizations around the world. IT has been openly accepted, welcomed and incorporated in the businesses. Information systems work to and, almost always, succeed in speeding up the process, simplifying the process of work, provide innovation and even make scientific exploration an easy task.

The information volumes are increasing relentlessly and with this rapid increase, the challenges of managing this information and making valuable use of the information are increasing as well.

How can Information Systems help?

The birth of a global economy, development of industrial economies, transformation of the business enterprise, and the materialization of digital firms make information systems an integral part of business today. Information systems have become the foundation for carrying out business today. It won’t be wrong to say that achieving strategic business goals and surviving in the competitive market has become impossible without extensive use of information technology.  (Dave Chaffey, Steve Wood, 2004)

The ways in which Information Systems are contributing are:

1. Operational excellence. Information systems improve the work efficiency and help to achieve greater productivity and profitability.
2. Innovative products and services.Information system is a major tool for firms to bring in creativity and innovation in their products and services. It also helps develop the business models to strategize how to produce, deliver and sell a product with greater net profit.
3. Customer/supplier intimacy. Information systems help in maintaining and retrieving information better and thus the customer / client bonding is made stronger by keeping in mind their preferences that are on record.
4. Improved decision making. It is possible to make real-time and valuable decisions with the help of Information Systems. IT makes it possible to manage huge amount of data such that it is easy to store, access and manipulate.
5. Competitive advantage. Improved performance and being easy to approach and respond gives any organization an upper hand and takes it ahead of any competition in the market.
6. Day to day survival. Everything is becoming automated now and businesses need to be ahead in the IT to be able to stay ahead and move on with the world and growing technological needs.

Although information technology has become more of a commodity, when coupled with complementary changes in organization and management, it can provide the foundation for new products, services, and ways of conducting business that provide firms with a strategic advantage.

 

The Porter’s Five Forces Model of Competition

According to Porter, the nature of competition in any industry is personified in the following five forces:

1. Threat of new potential entrants
2. Threat of substitute product/services
3. Bargaining power of suppliers
4. Bargaining power of buyers
5. Rivalry among current competitors

With the employment of Information systems, the organization can overcome these five forces:

• Threat of new potential entrants – By creating Brand Loyalty, it is possible to combat the threats of potential competitors. By staying ahead in technology, and moving with the consumers, the organization can earn credibility and stay connected to its customers. Staying updated and constant interaction with the customer will ensure brand loyalty.

• Threat of substitute product/services – if the substitutes available in the market are rare, then the profit earned for that product can be high. With information systems, the trends of the market can be studied and any possible threat of substitute product / service be recognized at an early stage.
• Bargaining power of suppliers – With appropriate use of Information systems, the risk of receiving threats from strong suppliers can be avoided. The organization should always be on top of the market, in terms of recognizing the most profitable suppliers and avoid any form of forward integration.
• Bargaining power of buyers – by utilizing Information Systems, threatening buyers can be kept in check.
• Rivalry among current competitors – by using information systems to find out and explore the needs of global customers, and staying updated with these changes, this threat can be countered. Also, avoiding fixed costs by planning promotions and sales as per the market environment can also be achieved with the help of Information Systems.

The CRM Enhancement by the Information Systems Implementation

Customers cost much more to attract than to retain, therefore it is vital to prioritise spending accordingly. An analysis of the customer’s behavioural characteristics needs to be done. The results collected from the churn probabilities and characteristics, as well as prospective new customers will provide a solid foundation for the decisions on the marketing and branding media, the CRM Programs and new services / product design (like the design of caravans for sales)

The customer base was then segmented on the basis of age, affordability, vacation preferences and country of choice. The result was a number of customer segments with similar behaviour and choices. These groups were distinct and identifiable by their demographics and preferences, and therefore highly useful for the design of targeted marketing campaigns.

The Analysis and its findings are discussed in the next chapter.

Usage of Internet in creating business opportunities and distribution channels

If the business needs and values are analyzed, it is found that internet will provide real value to the organization. Internet has become the best source for advertising and branding and word spreads like fire on the internet. Having the business online will definitely help develop new business opportunities and improve the operations of the organization. Moreover, having a website of the organization will give accessibility to the customers and help the organization reach to the audience easily with any kind of updates. The customers will be up to date with all the products and services, ready information and services may be offered.

The internet will help the organization expand the markets and by conducting online polls and surveys, realize potential geographic areas of investment.  Also, private and secure communications between the organization, its staff and the valued customers can be ensured. By introducing information systems in the organization and using the internet, the online booking for the travel agency can be made possible.

HR Management

                The Human Resource Management is an essential area of the plan. Attracting, selecting, training, assessing, rewarding of employees and keeping them performing efficiently is an important area for an organization’s successful running.

Certain skills need to be mastered by the Human Resources department:

• assessment,
• program design, development, and evaluation
• marketing of HRD programs,
• cost/benefit analysis, and
• Facilitation of learning.

Career development programs will have to be planned for the hired personnel and training scorecards will be maintained.

The HR analysis will be an ongoing process and will involve the competency based career planning.

Ethical Issues

During the course of the researches undertaken and methods employed to gather and analyze data, human interaction is unavoidable and with that comes the issue of Ethical dealing. Ethical and moral questions will be confronted as the boundaries in societies will shift and potential actions will be classified as ‘right’ or ‘wrong’. (Melanie Mauthner, Maxine Birch, 2002)

When we begin our ethical decision-making process, we should consider each of the following issues: Profits of the Research Responsibilities concerned Risks involved, be they Physical or Psychological Deception possibilities Reducing Risk and/or Minimizing Harm Informed Consent Privacy or confidentiality ·         Summing up of Results

Ethics relate to the moral choices affecting decisions, standards and behavior. It seems difficult to cover all possible moral choices but is an essential element of a successful research. The following points need to be considered:

1. How and when to interview people (Fox, J., C. Murray, et al, 2003)
2. Identify the stakeholders for the ethics analysis – potential employees, research participants
3. Accessing confidential information in the course of research
4. The type of risk from research, its potential impact (low, medium, high), its probability (unlikely possible, probable) and the strategies required to reduce the undesirable impacts
5. Informed consent — know your research and how data is handled
6. Objectivity – mode of collecting information (recording / forms) keep in mind possibilities of failure in data collection
7. Whether to employ a practitioner researcher or internal researcher

This is an important part of the case study and cannot be ignored because during this research, we make contributions to the organization. Those who agree to be a part of our studies actually help us in achieving the larger goals that we have set and planned. These partners in our research deserve to be treated well. Our ethical guidelines help us to think through how we can do high-quality research while treating our research participants with respect.

 

 

Analysis and Finding

Scenario Planning, Analysis and Finding:

Scenario planning isn’t a task for someone to complete in isolation. It was imperative to mobilize resources, engage interest and get people involved in the process. This was a big challenge as there weren’t many resources to discuss the planning with. Also, in compliance with the ethical issues, many of the customers wanted to stay discrete and did not attend some meetings. The main constraint was that the customers were spread out and the personnel were limited and exercise conducted in each location consumed a lot of time. (Copeman, 2006)

The valued customers of A&R Baxter’s were involved in the planning and the Key Messages are recorded in the Appendix.  The feedback then collected would prove valuable. Analysis of the scenario planning aided in creating the scenario matrix

High Impact / Critical

Predictable	Growing competition from well-established organizations and other upcoming and developing companies	The migration of customers Staff turn-over	Uncertain
	Staff training, promotions, salary revisions Advertising / Branding of the fractional ownership	Increasing power of the media Changing household structures

Low Impact

The proposed solution will include the following:

• A plan to target the high impact and predictable scenarios
• Create scenarios to understand the uncertain situations better
• Monitor the low impact, yet predictable scenarios
• Review those uncertainties that are of low impact

A Scenario Matrix is then formulated to put down the axes of uncertainty.  This will give a complete 360 degree view of the uncertain scenarios and prove helpful to create solutions for them.

Population People migrate to the place or come to the location more and more for vacation	Isolation People migrate from this place or choose other locations for their vacation
Efficient Performance The employees enjoy the company and perform efficiently until retirement	Unhealthy Staffing Employees have no incentive to work and leave the organization in short durations
Tourist Attraction The media attracts people from all around the world to come to the location	Competition The media takes the focus from this location to other places where the organization has no stake.
High-valued apartment structure The structure attracts people to buy fractional ownership	Modern Household structures The construction of the apartments seems old-fashioned to the people

After this Scenario matrix analysis, plausible situations have to be narrated and these should be spoken and written down to avoid any vague ideas. These should, however, revolve around the focus question which was what services need to be included over the next five years. The key priorities that were found were to target the existing customers and keep them bound to the organization by providing them with trust and valuable services.  Also, the potential customers need to be attracted by using proper branding and advertising. These priorities will be handled and the solution provided will be discussed in the next chapter.

Issues-based Analysis and Findings

The issues that were identified were:

• Restructuring the organizational structure

This was a great challenge as the Personnel and Administration Director was not a professional and had not much expertise in hiring or assigning positions to employees. This position was in itself under revision. A very serious exercise of Human Resource Management was conducted.

• Marketing

Another major issue analyzed was the marketing plan. The branding and advertisement of A&R Baxter requires time and money to be invested for advertising through the internet, and also through promotional activities.

It was found that the fractional ownership is not widely accepted in the UK, as it is in other part of Europe and the States. Much branding and advertisement and cost-benefits have to be portrayed to the population in UK to pull them towards investment in fractional ownership.

IT Analysis

The Porter’s Five Forces Model of Competition was applied to analyze the IT area. An in-depth analysis and study over the internet and research proves that many organizations are advancing on the basis of social networking. The trends are shown in the appendix. The organizations get close to their potential customers and then stay closer to the customers by keeping them updated with their news. Also, becoming a part of a network with the customers enables the organization to keep up with the changing trends and requirements of the customers (Porter, 1980).

By keeping up with the wish list of the customer, the organization will be able to build brand loyalty. This will eradicate the threat of potential new threats.

By advancing technologically, the company can keep up with all the plausible products and services that can come up as a substitute. For example, the travel agencies that A&R Baxter was running are no longer an area of investment, as online travel bookings have increased in popularity. Diversity is the key here and innovation is required each time there is a new technology in the market. The customers need services that are reliable and fast, and the latest development in the IT will aid in this achievement.

It has been found from research over the internet that mass population spends more of their time browsing on the internet. Advertising through websites has gone a long way and by always staying in the consumer’s sight enables the companies to sell their products better.