SWOT Analysis for Flight Centre (Essay Sample)

SWOT Analysis for Flight Centre
Name:
Institution:
Date:
Table of Content
Introduction_______________________________________________________________ 3
Issues Identification_________________________________________________________ 3
Critical Discussion on Issues Identified On the Operations of Flight Centre Corporation___ 3
Strengths of Flight Centre Corporation____________________________________ 3
Weaknesses of Flight Centre Corporation__________________________________ 4
Opportunities of Flight Centre Corporation_________________________________ 5
Threats of Flight Centre Corporation______________________________________5
Conclusion_________________________________________________________________6
SWOT Analysis for Flight Centre
Introduction
Flight Centre is one of the leading travel agencies in Australia. It has enjoyed great operational success since its establishment in 1981. The tremendous growth and sustainability of flight Centre is attributed to its success-oriented culture, which has helped it cope with the changing demands of the market over time. This paper will comprehensively analyze the marketing strategy as well as the operational system of flight Centre Company using the SWOT model of analysis.
Issues Identification
From the analysis of the operations of Flight Centre through the SWOT model, several issues are identified. The issues are classified into strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that the corporation faces. The weakness of the company is the lack of close supervision of company’s operations. The threat that Flight Centre Corporation faces is high levels of competition from companies offering similar services.
Critical Discussion on Issues Identified On the Operations of Flight Centre Corporation
Strengths of Flight Centre Corporation
The Flight Centre Corporation has a number of strengths that have developed it into the successful company it is today. The first strength of this company is its organizational structure. Flight Centre Company has a well-outlined organizational structure, which defines its operations and leadership. The organization structure of the company is such that it has seven staff that makes up a team or family, which runs the store. Six to seven families combine to form a village. Moreover, about 15 villages join to form a tribe, which is headed by a ‘nation leader.’ As a result, a single tribe brings approximately 150 staffs together. All these employees work as a team, as they consult each other to exchange relevant ideas with intentions to enhance organizational efficiency. As Bohm (2009) suggests, teamwork is pivotal for successful business operations, and Flight Centre Corporation has capitalized on that.
The second strength of the Flight Centre Corporation is the size of its operations. It is clear that by 1995, the Flight Centre Company had amassed 300 stores in different countries of the world. The company further expanded its operations to increase its revenue from $1 billion to $14 billion between 1995 and 2012. It also has a large number of employees (13000) in all its stores across the world, who serves its customers with high levels of professionalism.
Effective management system of the Flight Centre Company is also among its major strengths. Its senior management conducts annual meetings with the company’s key stakeholders including airlines, cruise companies and customers with aims to monitor the changing trends in the market. Due to that, they had developed 34 brands of the company’s products to meet the ever-changing demands of its customers across the international markets.
Weaknesses of Flight Centre Corporation
The main weakness of the Flight Centre Company is the lack of close supervision of its operations, especially with the fact that it has expanded to run stores in 11 countries of the world. The management of the company conducts only a single market-monitoring meeting with important stakeholders per year. Conducting several meetings (about two to three), which aims to monitor the situation in the market will guarantee better performance, as it will help in the development of timely solutions to the changing situations in the market.
Opportunities of Flight Centre Corporation
The Flight Centre Corporation has an opportunity to expand its operations in many countries in Europe and the rest of the world. Currently, the company is operating in 11 countries of the world. Hence, it still has hundreds of countries in which it can establish its stores with intentions to expand its clientele and returns.
The company can also develop more brands to meet the specific demands of its international customer-base. With Flight Centre Corporation trading in 34 brands, it still has an opportunity to develop more brands in order to give its customers a wide range of options from which to choose. Referring to Pahl & Richter (2009), the development of many brands helps to cope with...