KAPLAN International Pathways: Gatwick Airport (Case Study Sample)

Instructions:

Assessment Task Information
Assessment title: REPORT Assignment 1: Individual Report
Module Name: Marketing in the Operational Context
Module Code: IY413 January 2021
Tutor’s Name: Steven Durrant
Assessment will be set in: Week 11 – w/c 26th April 2021
Assessment is due in: Week 15 – w/c 24th May, 2021 (via Turnitin on the VLE)
Assessment weighting: 30%
Assessment Task Instructions:
Core Task:
Choose one of the following companies as your case study:
Higgidy Ltd
Gousto
Caffè Concerto
Gatwick Airport
Water Aid
You must focus your case in the UK context and carry out an analysis of the marketing environment
including PESLE and Five Forces Analysis for the chosen company. Using your knowledge of Operations
theory, you should then explain how the company’s meets its commercial challenges.
From understanding the company’s marketing and operational environment in the UK you are required to
produce a written report to evaluate the effectiveness of the company’s marketing and operations
practice. You are also expected to provide recommendations where possible to help the company
improve their marketing mix and performance. The aim of the report is to be an advisory resource for the
business.
Structure:
Eight sections to be completed, as follows:
Section 1: Introduction - 200 words maximum – introduce the company the report is written for, identify
the country and industry, and outline the purpose of the report;
Section 2: Macroenvironmental Analysis – max 500 words – apply PESTLE Analysis theory;
Section 3: Microenvironmental Analysis – max 300 words – apply Five Forces Analysis theory;
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SWOT analysis table – Summary of Macro and Micro environmental Analysis
Section 4: Operations Practice – max 400 words – apply the 4 V’s Theory and consider how the chosen
company maintains efficiency, effectiveness and economy in its operations - max 400 words
Section 5: Evaluation of Marketing Practice – max 200 words – critically analyse and evaluate how
effective the company’s operations has been, using specific and relevant data as supporting evidence;
Section 6: Recommendations – max 200 words –provide specific suggestions for the company to
improve their marketing and operations to respond to any changes in the marketing environment as
analysed in Section 2, 3 and 4;
Section 7: Conclusion – max 200 words
Section 8: Reference list (not included in the word count)
Theory and/or task resources required for the assessment:
You must conduct secondary research for this assessment finding relevant sources independently, in
addition to the resources listed in your module handbook.
Your report must include application of PESTLE Analysis, Five Forces Analysis, Marking Mix
and 4 V’s theories in the context of the chosen business to showcase your understanding of the
topics studied in Themes 1-3 of the module.
Assessment reference style:
You should refer to a minimum of 10 relevant sources for your report. Minimum 2 sources should be
printed texts. Please refer to your module handbook for a list of useful resources.
You must include an UWE Harvard style reference list at the end of your report. A full bibliography is
NOT required.
Expected word count:
You are expected to write between 2000 and 2200 words, following the specific structure outlined above.
Learning Outcomes Assessed:
The following learning outcomes are assessed in this task:
1. An ability to identify how changes in the business environment will impact on the operations philosophy and
marketing mix of a business
2. An ability to compare and contrast the buying processes in business-to-business and consumer markets
3. Demonstration of an understanding of buyer behaviour and market analysis
4. Development of a marketing plan to compete in a market specified
5. An ability to apply marketing and operations theory to case studies, demonstrating an understanding of possible
conflicting needs of stakeholders and possible solutions for resolving these different demands.
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Submission Requirements:
You must type your assessment in Verdana font 11, with 1.5 spacing.
You must submit the assessment electronically via the VLE module page. Please ensure you submit it
via Turnitin on the IY413 UBIC VLE.
Assessments submitted after the submission deadline may incur penalties or may not be accepted.
Assessment Mark:
The assessment will be marked using the following five marking criteria:
• Theory and application (weighting 30%) – how well you addressed the report task, how you
developed your ideas and how you showcased your knowledge and correct application of theory
• Analysis, Synthesis and Evaluation (weighting 30%) – how well your organised your ideas in the
report using theory and data from your research, how well you used your general knowledge of
business and management to critically evaluate the effectiveness of business practice and
relevantly recommend solutions to issues
• Research Skills (weighting 10%) – how well you used printed texts for presenting theory and how
well you used secondary from other sources to support your theory application and other ideas in
your report, and how relevant your sources were to the topic and the task of the report
• Academic Skills (weighting 20%) – how well you used English language to express your ideas in
the appropriate style, whether there were any grammatical or vocabulary errors and whether you
formatted your report appropriately
• Referencing Skills (weighting 10%) – how well you followed the required referencing convention
You will receive a % mark in each of these categories and your overall mark will be calculated as the
average of the four. The overall mark will be a percentage (0-100%).
Assessment Feedback:
Your tutor will mark the assessment and provide you with a written feedback sheet. You can use this
feedback to guide your further learning on the module.

source..

Content:

A Case Study of Gatwick Airport
Student's Name
Marketing in the Operational Context
Steven Durrant
KAPLAN International Pathways
State
Date
Introduction
Gatwick airport is a major international airport in England about 47.5 Kilometers south of Central London. The airport also goes by the name London Gatwick. In the 1930s, Gatwick became an aerodrome and only became an airport in 1958, where the ceremony was officiated by the Queen of England (Gatwick Airport Limited). Since its opening, this airport has made a significant difference in the transport industry in England, and it is known as the second busiest airport after Heathrow Airport. The airport has one runway that is 3316 meters long with a width of 45 meters. It also has south and north terminals that were opened in 1958 and 1988 consecutively. Gatwick Airport Limited added that it had seen its passenger growth for the past 60 years from about 186,000 to over 46 million in 2019. This report looks deeply into the marketing and operational environment of Gatwick Airport, the challenges it faces, and ways in which the company overcomes these challenges. This report further looks into the effectiveness of Gatwick Airport's various practices and includes recommendations to improve the business performance in various sectors.
Macro Environmental Analysis
Pestle Analysis
Political Factors
Brexit had significant effects on the airport business. For instance, Gatwick Airport believed that Brexit was enough reason for them to expand as this could balance the economy and the country's environment. Additionally, the coalition government in the UK will have various impacts, such as the introduction of new taxes to businesses.
Economic Factors
Gatwick's Airport operations significantly improved the UK's economy by contributing to the national GDP by 5.3 billion Euros in the year 2016 (Oxford Economics). This caters for 0.3% of the UK's total GDP. Statistics show that Gatwick Airport brings about 5.5 million visitors yearly who spend 3.9 billion Euros on goods and services, hotel meals, accommodation, and leisure activities. Unfortunately, the travel industry was majorly hit by the Corona Virus Pandemic as most countries were under lockdown. According to Office for National Statistics (2021), In the UK, the air passengers' arrivals dropped by 98.3% in April 2020 compared to the numbers in February 2020.
Social Factors
People love traveling to new places for leisure, which increases the number of passengers in airports. Unfortunately, for the year 2020, the Covid-19 Pandemic affected the social events as measures to fight the pandemic like lockdown were introduced. This affected Gatwick's numbers by more than 90%. People could not also attend celebrations such as Christmas and Easter holidays known to boost the air travel business.
Technological Factors
Gatwick Airport has invested heavily in technology features to improve passenger service and satisfaction. In 2016, an investment of 36 million Euros was made to create the biggest self–service bag drop technology worldwide (Jones 2018). Jones, 2018 added that this technology had increased the check-in capacity of Gatwick airport from 3000 to 4350 passengers per hour. Gatwick is also the first airport in the UK to confirm that it will use facial recognition technology in the future. (Kelion 2019). This technology is supposed to reduce queuing time, but the passengers would still be required to carry their passports. Adoption of the latest technology has improved airport safety. With the rise of terrorism worldwide, improving security systems and measures is paramount. In 2019, Gatwick airport lost 1.4 million Euros after a 36 hours' disruption following reports of drones sighting in the vicinity (The Guardian 2019).
Legal Factors
Policies laid out by the government affect businesses directly. In 2020, the United Kingdom government reviewed the Air Passenger Duty (APD) to consider how the tax could support Union and regional connectivity. The air ticket prices at Gatwick Airport are affected by the amount of tax required as APD is paid by airlines and is levied per passenger.
Environmental Factors
In 2017, the Airport Council International (ACI) Europe awarded Gatwick Airport with a carbon-neutral certification, and it became among the first airports to achieve 100% carbon neutrality (Haven Power 2018). The airport uses 100% renewable electricity to run its day-to-day activities. Additionally, the airport is prioritizing strategies such as identifying local carbon offsetting initiatives that will complement their current international schemes. The airport aims to expand its collaboration with partners on the adoption of low carbon initiatives too.
Micro Environmental Analysis
Five Forces Analysis
Threat of New Entrants
The airport business has low threats to new entrants as factors such as capital needed are very high. Gatwick sits on 8 HA of land with many facilities such as airport hotels, lounges, and shopping facilities (Gatwick Airport Limited). Very few people/ organizations can afford the investment required to put up an airport and convince investors to put up businesses in the facility.
Bargaining power of suppliers
Additionally, the bargaining power of suppliers is high as Gatwick Airport depends on few suppliers due to the delicateness of the business. Airport industry suppliers are mostly engineering and Technology companies. Not many companies have services that match up the standards required by Gatwick Airport. Having a limited number of supplies can have them dictate their prices.
Bargaining power of buyers
On the other hand, the bargaining power of buyers for Gatwick Airport is low because the airport offers its services to many different customers, with none representing a large portion of their revenue. More than 50 airlines fly from Gatwick Airport (Woodley 2014). Additionally, the customers who use the airlines are many, and on a typical day, about 60,000 passengers pass through Gatwick Airport (Bland 2020).
Threats of Substitute Products or Services
As much as Gatwick Airport offers great services to its customers, it is not the only airport available in the UK. Its customers have the alternative of getting services from other airports. There are more than 60 airports in the UK, and this gives airlines a variety of choices. Also, train transport services are readily available. These factors, therefore, make the threat to substitutes high.
Rivalry among Competitors
Due to the many airports located in the UK, Competitors to Gatwick are many making the rivalry among the competitors high. Due to this, the airport has to keep up with the rivalry by reducing service costs and giving attractive offers to its clients through discounts. For instance, the airport customers are given up to 60% parking discounts when they book in advance (Mail Online).
SWOT Analysis
Strengths
Gatwick Airport is the second-largest airport in the United Kingdom and therefore can accommodate many airlines. Additionally, it has adopted the latest technologies in its operations, offering seamless services, which contributes greatly to the customer's comfort. It has also adopted sustainable and eco-friendly practices.
Weaknesses
Gatwick Airport is yet to have enough international airlines that travel to various parts of the world.
Opportunities
Gatwick Airport can offer air ticket discounts to its customers. Also, it can increase the number of flights per day to reduce the waiting time. Additionally, a third terminal can be constructed to reduce congestion in the airport.
Threats
Covid-19 Pandemic impacts are still being felt at Gatwick Airport, and there is no guaranteed time when these effects will end. Train transport is very efficient in the UK, and citizens may choose trains over airplanes.
Operations Practice
The Volume Dimension
Gatwick is the second biggest airport in the UK and also the second busiest. Due to the increasing numbers of passengers, the airport built a north terminal that is still under transformation to meet world-class standards (Graham 2018). Also, the airport has increased the number of hotels offering accommodation services as a response to the growing numbers of visitors that the airport receives. 4 – Star hotels such as Hilton, Hampton, and Sofitel are connected to either of the terminals. According to Bland (2020), Gatwick Airport has spacious waiting lobbies that facilitate the transfer of its passengers, who are over 60,000 on a normal day.
The Variety Dimension
Gatwick Airport offers a variety of services. With over 50 airlines, the airport offers various prices, from the most prestigious airlines to basic airlines. For instance, Emirates, one of the reputable airlines in the world, operates from this airport. Cheaper flights are also available, offering a variety of choices for customers.
The Variation Dimension
The airport also has hotels of different economic classes. Nevertheless, any business needs to understand that the demand for its products or services may vary on different occasions. The Covid-19 Pandemic hit the travel industry hard, and for the case of Gatwick Airport, its operations were reduced up to 98.3% (Office for National Statistics 2021). Gatwick Airport reported that due to the measures taken by the government like the 14-day quarantine rule for anyone visiting the UK, which makes tourism impractical. Gatwick Airport...

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KAPLAN International Pathways: Gatwick Airport (Case Study Sample)

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