Case study Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words - 9

Case study - Essay Example On the pricing side, it is necessary to know what the prices should be, and what the price customers are willing to pay is. The company should be in a position to offer value addition to products and services, in order to enhance sustainability, and sustain a strong and consistent customer base. Products need to be designed according to the requirements of the customers, and the materials should conform to quality and pricing standards. After the transformation of the raw materials into finished goods through the manufacturing processing, these are packed and shipped to the various customers. It is important that the company receive relevant feedbacks from the manufacturing, suppliers, logistics and most significantly from the customers. It is necessary to offer the most economical and competitive prices to the customers, by reducing costs and increasing margins to the optimum level and also ensuring high quality products through satiation of the demands of the customers. The demand and supply aspects of the company should be continually increased, so as to be able to offer enhanced supplies for catering to a large demand for the products and services offered to the customers. (Produce best product, lowest cost). The Manugistics views are that there should be an integrated approach to the supplier relationship management and the supply chain management by strengthening pricing and optimizing revenue generation. It is therefore to be ensured that increased levels of demand side and the supply side of marketing are aimed at; thereby the pricing and optimization aspects could be taken care of. However, it is necessary to have complete knowledge about the customers’ profiles, including segmentation of markets based on the ‘ability to pay’ concept. (Produce best product, lowest cost). The best product mix provided to product locations

Evaluate the training Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Evaluate the training - Essay Example iduals to provide better customer services, there are some sound principles that the evaluation process must be based upon and some four levels of evaluation that need be considered. Sometimes trainers fail to address the importance of having the evaluation process fit the specific standards and levels of training. Drawing generalizations from a single evaluation design fails to identify the strengths and weaknesses of training given there are different objectives. Level one- results/impacts: this level measures the effectiveness of the evaluation initiative. While this level is the most difficult to consume while compared to the other three, it is evidently the most important as it underscores the whole process. Measurement of results of the learning process might be looked at in the following perspectives: Level three, on the other hand, looks at leaning in the extent to which the learners were able to improve their knowledge and skills and where they also had a change in attitudes after going through the learning process. The last levels measure how the learner perceives and maybe react to both the learning and performance process. The level, known as motivation, makes use of attitude questionnaires passed out after the completion of the learning

Coping With Stress Among University Students Education Essay

Coping With Stress Among University Students Education Essay Abstract Stress is purely a fact of nature to anyone in this world. Stress is the impact of forces from the outside or inside world heartwarming the individual (Dryden, 1996, p.52). Different individuals react to stress in ways that touch the individual, in addition to, their environment. This paper will seek to investigate how the use of exercise affects the level of stress among university students. Respondents for the study will be University students from all faculties. University students are famous to have a high propensity to stress experience. Background Overview University education system has been changing every day due to emerging needs of higher education. For instance, most public universities are regarded as research universities due to the amount of research being undertaken in those universities. University students, therefore, bump into high pressure with the modification of the education system. Consequently, the exam-oriented scheme in many universities lead to anxiety among scholars since the students is forced to ascertain that getting good grades in the examination aids them to be a decent frontrunner and acquire a respectable job in the future. Problem Statement The researches which have been done in the past were conducted to investigate the factors that influence the level pressure among scholars. However, there has been no any study that verified and compared the designated important aspects towards selecting the foremost aspect that sway the level of anxiety (Dryden, 1996, p.34). In addition, the study carried before has been piloted only other levels of education other than university education. Therefore, this research will try to successfully investigate the effect of exercise in coping with stress to university students. Therefore, the problem statement for this investigation can be spawned as: à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã…“how does the use of exercise help in coping up with stress among university students?à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚  Research Problem This study will be done to scrutinize and understand how exercise can be used in coping with stress to university scholars. Besides that, the study will also be inquisitive to how well exercise can be used to influence the level of pressure among university learners. This study will focus to discover the importance of exercise in coping with the level of stress among the students in the institution of higher education. Consequently, the research problem can be formulated as: Use of exercise in coping up with stress among university students. Research Objectives The following are the objectives of this study: To investigate the use of exercise (independent variables) in coping with stress among university students (dependent variable). To find out the influence of exercise to the level of stress among university student. Research Questions Since the research problem is extremely broad to be studied openly, the following are the research questions that will help to attain the research purpose for this investigation: 1. What are the effects of exercise to the level of stress among university student? 2. Is exercise helpful in coping with stress among university student? 3. How well can exercise be used in coping with stress among university students? Literature Review Stress is the attitude of strangeness between environmental necessities (stressors) and individual capability to achieve these necessities. According to (Dryden, 1996, p.45), stress is the nasty reaction from individuals who have to dangerous pressure. Pressure takes place when a person is handled with a situation that they recognize as overwhelming and cannot handle. Stress is recognized as a response shown by a diversity of peripheral happenings and can be treated as a positive or negative experience. Dryden (1996) defines stress as an order focused to the adaptive capabilities both bodily and emotionally. If these abilities can succeed the demand and take inclination in the stimulus concerned, then anxiety will become an optimistic force of incentive and vice versa is true. Stress is likely to hinder scholastic performance and influence nearly millions of students per year. According to Dryden (1996), stress is problematic to control due its random consequence on persons. Dryden (1996), through his research realized that students come across indication of desperateness, anxiety, and matter use. Stress in educational institutions can affect student negatively and positively if not well administered. Educational institutions have diverse job surroundings, as opposed to nonacademic. It is forecasted to have alterations in signs, aspects, and consequences of stress to students (Dryden, 1996, p.67). It is very beneficial to the society that learners be educated and gain the vital knowledge and proficiencies. This ensures that they make them add positively to the growth and development of the collective economy of any given country. Nevertheless, the complex academic environment rarely generates serious health difficulties to the scholars life. This tends to go contrary to the confirmatory gains that one would forestall after advancing from University. These students must, therefore, pay close attention to the various university atmospheres and frame an effective and proficient pressure management in the institution of higher education. University also ought to keep fit and stable academic atmospheres beneficial for improved learning, which is suitable, with regard to the students distinct requirements. Temperament of students poses diverse level of outlooks to students (Dryden, 1996, p.75). Methodology This section will focus on methods that were used to collect data needed to answer the research questions. This section focus majorly on: research design, sampling techniques and procedures, data collection tools and method of data analysis. Research Design According to Dryden (1996), a research design is the organization outline or a plan that is used to create answers to research problems. Research design is intended to produce arithmetical information about the feature that policy makers and investigators are interested in (Dryden, 1996, p.115). This research will use a descriptive design to collect information and carry out the survey. This kind of design is highly suitable to the kind of information to be collected in this research. Advantage Descriptive research offers investigators the prospect to use both finite and qualitative data in order to discover data and features about the phenomenon that is being investigated. Disadvantage Descriptive research usually has a subjectivity and error which is disadvantageous to descriptive research. From the subjectivity and error, investigator may pick what facts to use and snub data that do not follow to their hypothesis. Participants and recruitment The study cluster will include students from different faculties who were contacted via email to take part in the study project. The choice of students will be convenience sample of 130 university student. All students will be eligible to be selected for participation. The cluster will also have equal gender representation which is equal to 65 male students and 65 female students. This is accordance to the principle of equal representation in collections (Dryden, 1996, pp.115-117). The cluster will also try to have equal representation in all faculties. Sample In this investigation, the simple random sample will be performed as a methodology for this research paper. Data will be collected from a review of the population of scholars from every single faculty within the University (Dryden, 1996, p.111). The participants who will be filling in the survey will be from various backgrounds for instance race, gender and educational level. The cluster will include students who will be studying in an extensive variety of educational disciplines and those who achieved a normal range of grade point averages. This survey will be entirely voluntary; nevertheless, it will be completed by all sampled students in the class. Advantage Sample random method is extremely representative if all issues participate. Disadvantage This method is not likely without whole list of population participants. It is also possibly uneconomical to accomplish. Not forgetting that it can be troublesome to isolate some participants from a group. Data collection Data will be gathered using self-administered 10 entries questionnaire which will seek to discovers the importance of exercise in coping with stress among university students. The questionnaire will also seek to find out how well exercise can be used in reducing the level of stress among university students (Dryden, 1996, p.117). It will take each participant a roughly 5- 10 minute to complete. The questions will be easy to answer, but there will be guidance to the respondents. This will ensure that they provide the required information and also provide accurate and relevant information. Ethical Implications Prior to any undertaking of the study, behavior research ethics committee application should be completed (Dryden, 1996, p.119). While doing this research, this form will be filled. At the time, of recruitment participant will be given the required information allowing them to decide whether to participate in study using a standard verbal script. If the respondents will be willing to learn more about the study they will be given a letter of introduction. An information sheet describing the study and what would be expected of them will also be provided. They will be made aware that any information provided is strictly confidential and in no way will they be identified in the research (Dryden, 1996, p.121). Individuals wishing to participate in the study will sign a consent form. It will be made known to them that if they feel at all affected or disturbed by the study; they are welcome to contact the researcher with their concern for further investigation. While doing publication of results obtained in the research, ethical integrity will be essential. Important ethical distresses will be considered while writing a document. Although there are risks of false publication, duplicate publication, plagiarism, writing, and probability for conflict of interest. Strategies will be established to prevent or discover ethical damages, and use of these approaches will heighten ethical honesty when preparing a final document for publication. Information therefore, given by the respondent in this subject will not be subjected to the above stated risk. Thus, respondents should feel free while giving out information. They are being protected from any risk.

Shakespeare In Love Essay -- Movie Film Movies Essays

Shakespeare In Love with Queen Elizabeth "Shakespeare In Love" dominated the Oscars in 1998 bringing home seven academy awards including best picture. At Consumnes River College, a film professor argued to his class that "Saving Private Ryan" should have won the award. The whole class, which I attended, obediently agreed. Only after studying Renaissance literature, I realize our mistake. "Shakespeare In Love" accurately portrays Renaissance England and the birth of English drama, which is the ancestor of American motion picture. Its combination of screenplay and acting accurately portrays the important figures surrounding young Elizabethan drama. However, despite representations of Will Shakespeare, Kit Marlowe, and Ned Allen, perhaps the most dazzling representation is of Queen Elizabeth. Even though the Queen’s character does not consume a leading role, England’s greatest monarch resonates throughout the film. One aspect of the film that proves this and pays homage to Queen Elizabeth is its fictionalized her oine, whose life coincides with that of England’s heroic Queen. Much of the audience may assume that Gwyneth Paltrow’s star character, Viola, merely symbolizes William Shakespeare’s "Juliet." However, the film’s original screenplay clearly establishes a link between Elizabeth’s character and Viola’s. First of all, both possess keen wit uncommon to woman of the era, which they use to belittle the male sex. When an aristocratic male attempts to court Viola and says that he has spoken to her father, she replies, "So my Lord, I speak with him everyday." (Shakespeare) This comical scene alludes to Viola’s quick wit and confidence, which symbolizes those attributes of the Queen. When Viola argues with the queen that playwrigh... ... The film inevitably becomes more interesting as the parallels between Viola and the Queen are drawn. Viola’s character represents the Queen’s courage, wit, and tragic love and other qualities. Furthermore, the fact that the Queen institutes poetry and art into her court illustrates her courage to rebel against the classic philosopher Plato who said, "Hymns to the gods and praises of famous men are the only poetry which ought to be admitted into [the ideal] state." (Plato 13) Because Queen Elizabeth believes in the power of art and since it flourished to America, it is fitting that modern art should honor her. This one aspect of "Shakespeare In Love" that honors England’s greatest monarch is a fabulous stroke of creativity. However, it is just one reason why the film deserves "best picture," for it contains other essential keys that also unlock Renaissance England.

Benihana of Tokyo Essay

Benihana of Tokyo has been very successful for the last 40 years since 1964. From a small restaurant, it has developed into a chain of themed restaurants. The success of Benihana has been attributed to the superb total quality management (TQM) process especially in maintaining the overall exotic ambience and the high quality food provided. All these strengths contribute to providing an unforgettable dining experience to its consumers and are reflected in their ability to retain consumers which is shown in exhibit 4 such that 65. % of their customers are return customers. Benihana is able to minimize cost effectively without affecting the quality of food and service provided. From Exhibit 1, total costs of sales are kept to 35-45% of total sales. Their attempt to reduce operating costs is also reflected through a reasonable net profit margin of 0. 5-9% of sales. Benihana made use of floor space efficiently to decrease labor costs and rent. The elimination of the conventional kitchen w ith the hibachi arrangement allows the company to keep labor costs low and at the same time, give huge amount of attentive service. This boosted its dining experience, through constant interaction with consumers. Benihana also focuses on setting up their businesses in areas with high traffic, especially in the business district areas. Rent is usually higher in these areas. By using floor space more efficiently, Benihana is able to serve more consumers during peak period and allow for more sales to cover the higher rental costs. The concept that Benihana adopts is that consumers are served at their tables with freshly prepared food by the chef. By only providing 3 menus to consumers, this reduces food costs and wastage. Benihana’s lower food costs are also reduced through the use of fresh ingredients, where storage is minimized. The main process flow of a Benihana restaurant is different from a typical restaurant. In Benihana, the orders for the soup, salad and beverages taken by the waiter while the order for the main dish is taken directly to the chef. This allows Benihana to quicken the process flow, and make it more efficient, as it eliminated the waiting time in ordering and receiving their orders. As the food is freshly prepared, the production flow is very short as there is limited movement to the food being moved from the storage area to the tables where food is being prepared. As food is being served on the spot after being cooked, this allows Benihana to maintain their quality of the food, and this satisfies consumers as shown in their feedback in Exhibit 4, where food is the main highlight of Benihana restaurants. Benihana is also able to reduce labor costs through the use of a simple management structure in each of their restaurant. In addition, chefs and waiters would clear the dishes and set the table for the next customer, unlike the use of cleaners in typical restaurants. This also reduces labor costs. Benihana success is also attributed to their TQM system where the management also emphasizes the importance of quality control in every employee’s responsibility. They emphasize quality in their inputs like the high quality food provided, and the sources of food are also selected carefully. Benihana also highlight quality in the process of serving their food to their consumers. However, the management of Benihana also faces problems despite their raving success. Their attempts to go into franchising didn’t go as planned as Rocky was unwilling to give up its control, and he felt that these franchisees were not well equipped with the experience and knowledge to run a food business, especially one that relates with Japanese culture. In addition, Bill Susha, the head of Operations for Benihana recognizes that if Benihana wants to continue to expand, it will face higher costs in terms of rental as well as shortage of well trained employees. Although Benihana has been proven that their uniqueness cannot be replicated easily by competitors, critics have been predicting that the uniqueness of Benihana is only a fad and it will not last. As Benihana is providing not only products, but also the service, they should continue to emphasize and improve on their TQM, as in this industry, employees are key input sources and by implementing TQM, there will be positive impacts on the service being delivered.

Economic Effects on Easyjet

Coursework Two: Written report evaluating and commenting on the recent developments in monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policy in the UK and abroad and how these impact on easyJet With the new coalition Government of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats gaining power in 2010, and almost immediately calling an emergency budget, as the Conservatives promised, declaring their primary objective is to reduce the deficit there have been many changes in fiscal policy and reversal of plans by the Labour Government, there has also been changes in the exchange rate which will have considerable impacts all over the world.Additionally the Bank of England has looked to make use of monetary policy. All of the changes in the UK, and in Europe will have an impact on easyJet (as easyJet only flies in Europe). The objective is to identify the changes in macroeconomic policies in the UK and abroad, using data and information from The Bank of England, the European Central Bank, the Institute for Fi scal Studies, the Budget, the easyJet corporate report and other various economic sources.The Main Objectives of Government macroeconomic policy are; sustainable economic growth, stable low inflation, low level of unemployment, and a good position on the balance of payments. It is that final policy that the coalition Government has declared most important.With the deficit growing year on year, with little sight of changing, and as such they have used fiscal policy drastically recently as, especially the Conservatives in the coalition Government, have looked to reduce the budget deficit with across the board cuts (totalling six billion Pounds) in Government spending, this coupled with the various tax rises are extreme measures which seem necessitated by the extreme economic times we are in. Many believe these actions will lead to a double dip recession, one which it could take the UK many years to recover.The Government also increased VAT on the 1st of January from 17. 5% to 20% (the highest it has ever been). Although George Osborne (speaking to the BBC on the 4th of January) thinks â€Å"targeting VAT is more progressive than increasing income tax or National Insurance† many still believe VAT is a very regressive tax, meaning it is more of a burden on those households with lower income. This graph (compiled by the Institute for Fiscal Studies) shows how the poorest 10% will be hit much harder than the other 90%, seeing a percentage loss of net income more than double that of the richest 10%.This is because VAT is on goods including necessities, which means a rise in VAT will not deter people from purchases of said goods, so VAT will have a large impact on their percentage net income. Although overall a rise in VAT will have cost the richest 10% more, as their net income is considerably larger they have to capacity to cope better with the rise, and will cause a smaller decrease in their net income. Another rise is in fuel tax, â€Å"Given that each pen ny increase in fuel duty raises an extra ? 00 million for the Exchequer, it is easy to see why the chancellor is tempted to hike rates,† said the foundation's director, Professor Stephen Glaister. The Government have increased fuel duty by 0. 76p on petrol and diesel, and the rise in VAT will mean another price increase. The AA estimates that â€Å"these increases combined will add approximately 3. 5p to the cost of a litre of both petrol and diesel. † According to HM Tresuary budget report 2010 â€Å"The most urgent task facing this country is to implement an accelerated plan to reduce the deficit.Reducing the deficit is a necessary precondition for sustained economic growth. † As such another part of the recent fiscal policy changes in the UK was announced in The Budget, that public sector net borrowing would remain at 4 per cent of GDP in five years time, the structural deficit would be 2. 8 per cent of GDP by 2014-15, while the structural current deficit woul d be 1. 6 per cent. They also set that public sector pay would see a two year freeze, apart for those earning less than ? 1,000 a year, this is an attempt to stop the rise in wages for the thousands working in the public sector, which will save the Government paying more and more each year and thereby help to reduce the deficit. Yet public sector employees will be hit hard by this policy, as inflation rises – their wages will not, meaning inflation will have a devastating impact on their net income as real prices rise, and taxes are increased. This will lead to public sector employees to purchase less, and thus provide less chance of growth which is one of the main macroeconomic objectives.However corporation tax will be reduced from 28 per cent to 24 per cent, a reduction that will be spread over the next four years from April 2011. This may encourage businesses to expand as they are paying less tax, which could lead to a decrease in unemployment (one of the primary macroeco nomic objectives) The budget also released a plan to â€Å"reduce the main and special rate of capital allowances to 18 and 8 per cent respectively in April 2012. Also capital gains tax will be increased to 28 per cent for higher and additional rate taxpayers† (The Budget), so the higher income households will have to pay a higher than ever before tax.The Government also intends to freeze council tax for 2011-12 by working with the local authorities, this potentional freeze on council tax will help the poorer level income earners, and could help them to escape the poverty trap. An increase in tax for the higher level income earners will not only provide more money for the Government – in an attempt to reduce the deficit – it will also improve the image of the main party in power; the Conservatives whereby they are seen as more favourable to the higher level income earners in the UK.Another policy instated is, what the Treasury call, â€Å"a reversal of the most damaging part of the planned increase in National Insurance Contributions† by instead of reducing it as Labour had planned, they are raising the threshold by ? 21 a week in April 2011. This will also lessen the burden on the poor, and thus with more available incomes they will spend more, which will be an injection into the circular flow (where the flow of payments in an economy is a circular flow, with injections and leakages, the injections being Government spending, investment etc, and the leakages primarily being saving).Europe was also been impacted by the recession over recent years, and their fiscal policy must try to combat its negative effects. Before the Recession, many countries in the EU had a large structural deficit. There was an inability to meet fiscal targets, for example the political pressure against tax increases and spending cuts. One country which has particularly been affected is Greece, with the EU average debt as a % of GDP at an already staggering 78 . 2%, Greece’s is at 122%. They have been hampered by powerful unions which gained considerable public sector wage increases without corresponding increases in productivity.Greece has also struggled to raise taxes and decrease Government spending. The depth of the recession has worsened the Government fiscal position much more quickly than expected; tax receipts have fallen while spending on unemployment benefits has increased dramatically. In Ireland they plan to tighten fiscal policy by more than 4% of GDP next year. However economists (Simon Tilford, Centre for European Reform, November 2010) debate whether a tightening of around 1. 5% in 2011 will derail the UK's economic recovery.Governments usually run a deficit in bad times, and a surplus in good times, yet in these times of recession Germany is running a budget surplus, by making necessary wage adjustments and increases in taxes as they are performing much more strongly than expected. Although The Bank of England was nationalized in 1997 by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown, meaning the Government no longer had control over the Bank of England, fiscal policy will have a large impact on the economy and how monetary policy is conducted.The primary tool of monetary policy is the use of interest rates. However in the UK the base rate was  left unchanged at 0. 50%  in the January meeting, the 22nd month in a row. The news of an economic slump, the UK economy contracted 0. 5% in the final three months of 2010,  has reignited fears of a double-dip  recession  and has reduced the likelihood of an early rate rise. Yet two  of the 9 MPC  members voted for a rise in the base rate at the January meeting, a rare split decision. However due to an inflation rise in December the CPI rapidly rose from 3. % to 3. 7%, chances of an early rate increase to control price pressures has raised. The Bank of England predicted in February 2010 that inflation would be at 1. 5% by the end of 2 010, which is far of the actual rate of 3. 7%. The MPC must now hope that price pressures will ease so it can stick with low rates and avoid stagflation. However it may be out of their control; global commodity prices have been, and still are, rising fast and Source tradingeconomics. com are now pushing up the cost of UK exports.The idea of increasing the base rate will encourage saving (a leakage from the circular flow) which will help to decrease spending and therefore inflation. However this could be met with a reduction in growth, or even the economy shrinking. Failing to raise the base rate would seem counter intuitive as the Government CPI target is 2% and inflation it at 3. 7%, well above the 1% band. The Bank of England decided to employ quantative easing by pumping ? 200bn into the system in an attempt to kick-start the UK’s economy.But the GDP shrunk by 0. 5% in the last quarter of 2010, so this policy does not seem to be helping growth. The MPC predicts inflation w ill continue to rise past 4% in the coming months which will encourage higher pay demands and could start up a wage/price spiral, the rising expectations of inflation means people/workers expect prices to continue to rise, so they are unlikely to accept pay rises less than the expected inflation rate because they want to protect the real purchasing power of their incomes, and this pattern continues.Monetary policy is greatly restricted in Europe due to the Euro, being a member of the Euro means that individual countries face limitations such as an inability to employ quantative easing or alter the base rate to affect the economy (this is one major factor in why the UK has not joined the Euro, and that the Coalition Government has stated that while they are in term they will not join the Euro). As such the European Central Bank (ECB) has power over setting the base rate, which since 5/7/2009 has been 1%, almost as long as the UK has been at 0. 5%.The ECB states â€Å"maintaining pri ce stability is the primary objective of the Eurosystem and of the single monetary policy for which it is responsible. † This is laid down in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, Article 127 (1). Yet prices in the Eurozone have been very unstable in the past years. However Germany has seen strong signs of improvement, but t this could actually hamper the rest of Europe’s growth. The CPI measure of inflation is rising at an annual rate of 2. 2%. That's not as high as the UK, but it's above the European Central Bank's (ECB) target for the first time in two years.As Germany is the most important and influential economy in the Eurozone when it comes to setting monetary policy, it means the ECB will have heavy pressure to raise the base rate this year, regardless of how the rest of the region is performing. Which is ironic as when the euro was introduced the base rate was set to a level to suit Germany’s sclerotic (rigid and unresponsive) economy that was still dealing with reunification. But the cheap money turned the strongly-expanding countries, such as Ireland and Greece, into smaller and floundering economies.The UK has operated a free floating exchange rate since September 1992, meaning The Bank of England has not intervened in the markets to influence the Pound’s value. This means that the Exchange rate is purely market determined which leads to many fluctuations, just in the period from August to January displayed in the graph below. A floating rate can be a tool of macroeconomic adjustment – for example a depreciation in the Pound should increase the net export demand and therey stimulate growth.However the BoE would hope the gains from a lower exchange rate are not dissolved in the inevitable higher wage demands or export prices. The countries inside the Euro Zone are hoping for a more competitive exchange rate to create an injection of demand into their struggling economies. Floating exchange rates offer a degree of adjustment, so as is the situation now a large trade deficit puts downward pressure on the exchange rate which will help the export sector and control the demand for Euro’s to Pound Sterling imports as they become relatively expensive.Having no exchange rate target means that short term interest rates can be set to meet domestic macroeconomic objectives such as growth or low inflation. However with a floating exchange rate there is less currency stability which can discourage Date (2010-11) Source x-rates, composed on excel trade and investment, this is one of the reasons why currencies were locked within the Euro Zone for the Euro. Any changes in the prices of imported goods and services will have a  direct effect  on inflation. The Euro is also a floating exchange rate, meaning it’s fluctuations in relation to the UK have considerable affects.An appreciation of the exchange rate (as there has been in January against the Euro) reduces the sterling pric e of imported consumer goods and durables, raw materials and capital goods. The effect of a changing currency on the prices of imported products will vary by type of import and also the  price elasticity of demand  which is affected by the degree of competition within specific markets. All companies will be affected by these policies, both UK and abroad, and easyJet is no exception. The current price of jet fuel is â€Å"$897 a metric tonne compared with $681 a metric tonne a year ago†, easyJet stated in January 2011.This increase in fuel tax and price will cost easyJet ? 1. 17 extra per than in 2010, and is expected to double the losses of the company to approximately ? 140 million, as it will for all companies in the airline market. As for the VAT rise, easyJet have announced they may be able to save millions of Pounds in VAT by registering its new budget holiday company outside Britain, with Lowcost Travel, expected to be in Switzerland. This means they will avoid VAT under the Tour Operator’s Margin Scheme. This could save easyJet ? 0 million in VAT for the next three years. Most European markets saw losses or declines in January with concerns that China will raise interest rates again to slow down economic growth in Europe, and easyJet suffered alike with a fall of 16. 19 percent in the FTSE250 after they predicted heavy losses in the first half of 2011. easyJet announced in January 2011 that it, as all other airlines, was hit by the severe weather in Europe in December 2010 and strike action by French air traffic controllers, coupled together this cost easyJet ? 31 million,. asyJet is also set to close its cut services at Luton Airport by a fifth (which sees 5 million passengers each year) with a view to transferring them to profitable bases in continental Europe. The airline also initially price flights from European destinations in Euros, but customers can choose an alternative price in sterling. However, the price in sterling is set at a lower rate, this is because easyJet decided not to use the Mastercard or Visa rates that the most retailers use, and instead set the interest rate themselves – at a much lower level.Generally the difference between the actual exchange rate and what easyJet offer can be anywhere between 2% and 6%. This generates a lot more income for easyJet by exploiting the exchange rate at the right time, yet it can been seen as a hidden cost, which would not impress easyJet’s customers, and in the long run could actually lose them customers. Elasticity of demand measures how a change of the quantity demanded is affected by an income or price of another good change.As the airline market demand is elastic businesses must be careful with changing prices and must be sure that by decreasing their prices they are still able to increase their market share. easyJet have achieved this, by coming in with very low prices and gaining market share. Another problem facing easyJet is that pas senger duty tax increased from ? 10 to ? 11 in November 2010, which again cost easyJet millions. However, despite these setbacks, the airline said revenue in the final three months of 2010 â€Å"was up 7. 5% to ? 54 million compared with the same period a year ago†. easyJet announced in November 2010 that profits have been â€Å"boosted by a rise in passenger volumes and the group said it will pay its first ever dividend in 2012†, the airline’s chief executive, Carolyn McCall, said â€Å"We therefore intend to commence the payment of an annual dividend based on a dividend cover of five times. † The airline said passenger numbers grew 8% in the full-year to the end of September to 49 million, while profits totalled ? 154 million in the period – against ? 55 million a year earlier. asyJet’s have continued to strengthen with â€Å"market share gains across Europe particularly London Gatwick, Paris Orly (easyJet grew capacity by 22% in France i n 2010) and CDG and Geneva† (easyJet corporate reports, January 2011). Additionally in response to growth in Germany, easyJet carried on refocusing its offering, and increased capacity on key business routes out of Berlin. The total fleet plan over the period to 30 September 2013 is as follows: | easyJet A320 family| Boeing 737-700| GB Airways A320 family5| Total aircraft5| At 30 September 2010| 182| 8| 6| 196| At 30 September 2011| 202| 2| –| 204|At 30 September 2012| 214| –| –| 214| At 30 September 2013| 218| –| 2| 220| Note 5: Four ex-GB Airways A321 aircraft exited the fleet in November 2010. Source: easyJet corporate reports, Jan 2011 By eliminating the Boeing and ex-GB Airways sub-fleets it will reduce costs by simplify operations. easyJet plan to complete this by 2012 and they project cost savings of around ? 30 million each year. They are also set to work with the EU on consumer rules to make sure that they have the right balance between the benefits that low costs brings to consumers over its costs to the industry.The air traffic control strike in 2010 was caused by the economic pressures facing Europe and union concerns about the Single European Sky programme, and easyJet â€Å"expect disruption to continue in 2011† and â€Å"will press for measures to be put in place that alleviate the impact of these strikes and push for faster reform. † (easyJet corporate reports). There has recently been a saturation in the European and UK airline market. Competitors have mimicked easyJet’s strategy and have introduced competitive brands with similar price strategies that have increased competition, and decreased market share.The airline market is best classified as having a monopolistic competition market structure, whereby there are many firms will similar, yet differentiated services. Some companies have contrasting services; easyJet and British Airways for example, one with a strategy to keep costs as low as possible by stripping out almost all non-essentials of air travel (ranges in class etc) and one, BA which offers a higher level of service with a higher cost. It also has many business with similar plans and ideas; easyJet and Ryanair for example.The Herfindahl Hirschman Index (HHI), which measures the degree of competition in one market for the airline market, and is 0. 070210776 (see attached excel document for details). This means that the market is unconcentrated; this indicates that the market is unlikely to have adverse competitive effects, as no companies have a monopoly power. In conclusion, the fiscal policy employed by the coalition Government will have long reaching affects across the economy, including the airline market.It will also have drastic affects on the population, with many tax rises; VAT and fuel in particular, which will reduce the level of net income for all households. However the rise in the National Insurance threshold will be very positive for the low er income households. As for businesses, the reduction in corporation tax over the next four years will be a welcome policy, yet almost all companies will be affected by the rise in fuel tax, particularly the transport market – easyJet.The Bank of England will soon have to look further into raising the base rate, the historically low level of 0. 5% will not help any savers (although it helps those with large mortgages, loans etc. ), and when they decide to raise the rate it can help combat the continually increasing level of inflation. The exchange rate is left as a free-floating, which it will be for the foreseeable future. This is like almost all countries, so the market controls currencies, which will periodically rise and fall, and deal with the level of imports and exports and their competitiveness. asyJet will undoubtedly suffer great losses due to the fuel rises, which are expected to continue to rise as oil becomes a more scarce resource the supply falls – whic h will increase the price. They have plans to deal with VAT, and are looking to cut any unnecessary costs across the board to cope with these rises. The further strikes planned by the ATC for 2011 will again cost easyJet millions, but they believe they will be better equipped to deal with these problems.Any unpredictable, or problems outside their control, snowfall of December and the Icelandic volcanic ash clouds will also cause considerable losses, yet there competitors (and imitators) will see similar losses so it will be highly unlikely that easyJet become less competitive as the airline market continues to combat numerous problems. References Financemarkets. com HM Treasury Budget The European Central Bank website The Bank of England website The easyJet annual, and corporate reports Tutor2u The Institute for Fiscal Studies tradingeconomics. com x-rates. com The Economist