The Development of Package Tours and Long Haul Destinations Essay Example

The Development of Package Tours and Long Haul Destinations Essay Package holidays have developed over time, these package holidays have grown with the increasing need of tourists. Package holidays include accommodation, transport and catering. After World War II in 1949, there was an appearance of the first jet airline. Entrepreneurs realised that there was a need for planes to transport passengers; this saw old military planes being transformed into charter flights. One of the first entrepreneurs was Vladimir Raitz, who in 1949 set up his own travel company called Horizon Holidays. He used a DC3 to carry thirty-two passengers to Corsica; this was the first package holiday, however, airfares were expensive, which meant that people continued to travel by steamship. Horizon Holidays in the meantime continued to grow by offering charter flights to Palma, Malaga and Tangiers. It was only in 1952 that airlines introduced the first tourist fares and in 1958 the first economy fares were offered. We will write a custom essay sample on The Development of Package Tours and Long Haul Destinations specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on The Development of Package Tours and Long Haul Destinations specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on The Development of Package Tours and Long Haul Destinations specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer During the 1960s there was a growth in the amount of people who were travelling. People were able to afford holidays and employers offered paid holiday leave. It was during this time that more people became involved in the travel and tourism industry, and it became harder for tour operators to make a profit. As tourists began to book holidays, both the hoteliers and the airlines began to demand money in advance. On the other hand, to attract more customers, more money was spent on brochures and publicity. This forced tour operators to turn to banks for loans to cover the time between holidays being planned and sold. Bigger tour operators were able to convince hoteliers to build ski scrappers to accommodate more people, it was at this time that tour operators realised that aircrafts had to be improved and safety records had to be increased in order to attract more customers and overcome their fear of flying. During the 1970s more and more people were comfortable with flying, which saw the Transport Licensing Board receive more applications for route licences to transport their customers. It was in 1974 that there was a recession, which saw the price of oil double; the result of this was in the short term some countries saw a decrease in their visitor arrival figures but in the long run there was a rise in the number of inclusive tours sold. This was a shift, away from hotels to cheaper self-catering accommodation. In the 1980s there was a rise in exchange controls, which allowed tourists to travel for as long as they wanted without running out of money. Employers continued to give their employees paid holiday leave, which led to the expansion of winter sun and winter ski markets. There was also a growth in the city breaks market and long paid holidays and cheap airfares led to an increase in long haul package holidays. In the 1990s tourists had become more aware of package holidays and what was included, therefore they were expecting more e.g. quality hotels. People were also more conscious of environmental issues e.g. in May 2002; the Balearic Islands introduced a Euro per day eco-tax. There has also been an increase in eco-packages for tourists (World Tourism Association). Smaller specialist tour operators have found it difficult to compete with the bigger countries that offer cheaper prices. Long haul destinations are destinations that are more than five hours travelling time from the UK. Originally long haul holidays were considered a luxury, as it was expensive and time consuming to get to the destination and at this stage only wealthy tourists were able to experience long haul holidays. Over time, charter operators began to introduce scheduled flights on long haul routes and they used large modern aircrafts, which were capable of flying long distances without re-fuelling. With an introduction to these charter routes, they were able to offer cheaper airfares, which contributed to the growth of long haul holiday destinations. There was also a growth in self-catering resorts at the long haul holiday destinations. As tourists are prepared to sit on longer flights and in some cases transfer flights, they are reaching out to different long haul destinations. Three key long haul destination holidays are: * North America (USA and Canada) * Australasia (Australia and New Zealand) * Caribbean (Jamaica, St. Lucia and Barbados) They all have proved to be very popular with the British tourists. Kenya is another leading destination that offers safaris, beach holidays or a combination of both to tourists. Technological Innovations in the Travel and Tourism Industry: In the travel and tourism industry between the 1950s and today, there have been a number of technological developments. The two main areas involved are: transport technology and communication and information technology. Through improvements, transport technology has revolutionised passenger travel. Today a large number of passengers are transported by aircrafts, ships and trains quickly, safely and cost effectively. Technological advances and aircraft design, after World War II has seen air travel become a mass-market. The potential for air travel through the development of the jet engine meant that travel was fast, comfortable and affordable. It saw the joining of the tour operator and inclusive tour/package holiday become one e.g. Thomson Holidays Ltd offer combined transport accommodation, meals and resort services as one. The Boeing 707 jet airline service was first introduced in 1958 and has seen many improvements up to now, which has resulted in improved transport and has opened the market to foreign holidays. The foreign market was opened as these planes/aircrafts could carry more passengers quickly and cost effectively over longer distances. Other transport technology includes rail and ferries e.g. Eurostar, PO Ferries, Hover Speed and Brittany Ferries. They have all improved their services and lowered their prices. Smaller airline companies, such as; Ryan Air, Easy Jet and Go offer low price tickets in order to retain a market share. Communications and information technology has allowed major airlines to use computers as soon as soon as they became commercially available in the 1960s, to try and automate reservation operations. The British Overseas Airways Co-operation (BOAC) took the first step towards computerisation and they developed the Electronic Reservation System (ERS). IBM and Sperry Univac were working with emerging database software to try and improve on the Passenger Airline Reservation System- (PARS). Later, IBM developed the International Passenger Airlines Reservation System (IPARS) to accommodate the growth of international air travel. Computer Reservation Systems (CRS) and Global Distribution Systems (GDS) revolutionised airline tickets, package holidays, hotel accommodation and other travel and tourism products. GDS were developed from individual airline reservations, which have merged/amalgamated into four major global reservation systems; they are, Sabre, Galileo, Amadeus and World Span. This has allowed co-operations such as, Thomson Holidays Ltd to operate throughout the world and develop partnerships with agencies and tour operators. The CRS have given airlines an advantage as it allows travel agents to use reservation terminals to book seats, which means there is an increase in seat sales for the airlines and a reduction in the operating expenses. On the other hand, travel agents have a competitive advantage, as it is quicker and cheaper to make an airline reservation by a computer terminal than by telephone. The development of the Internet and interactive digital television, has allowed consumers to make their own travel purchases, because of this many airlines, tour operators and travel agents now have on-line bookings. Changes in Socio-Economic Circumstances: Since World War II there have been many factors, which have contributed to the growth of the travel and tourism industry. They are: An increase in the time available for travel activities- legislation dictates that employees are entitled to a paid holiday once a year. In 1951 sixty-six per cent of manual workers were allowed two weeks paid holiday leave, by 1970 fifty-two per cent of workers had three or more weeks paid holiday leave and by the 1990s holiday entitlement had risen to four or five weeks per year. The entitlement of paid holiday leave has helped the UK travel and tourism industry to grow, as consumers now take short holiday breaks in addition to their main holiday. In the 1950s the average working week was fifty hours but now typical hours range from thirty-seven to forty hours per week. This allows workers more flexibility in their jobs and working hours. Increase in disposable income- disposable income is the money that the average person has left over once all the bills are paid. In the UK disposable income has risen, which has led to an increase in consumer spending on holidays and in the travel and tourism industry. The state of the economy affects the amount of disposable income that consumers have, in the 1980s there was an economic boom in the UK, which led to a demand for overseas travel but the early 1990s saw a recession in the UK, which led to a decrease in demand for tourism products. The column graph below shows the increase in disposable income in the UK: Source: Social Trends 31 Improved transport systems and mobility- the UK has a wide and varied transport network, which means that most people have access to some form of transport. This transport network has made travel and tourism facilities more accessible. Car ownership is responsible for the increase in tourism as it is a means of transport for domestic holidays in the UK. The Channel Tunnel has led to an increase in car holidays abroad and the improvement in road networks has allowed access to countryside leisure activities. The column graph below shows the increase in car ownership per household in the UK: Source: Social Trends 30 Changing Needs, Expectations and Fashions: Overtime the travel and tourism industry has gone through many changes, these changes have been dictated by changing customer needs, expectations and the changing fashions. Throughout the ages there has been an improvement in technology e.g. aircrafts have become faster and quicker, this has led to customers changing their holiday destinations from local places to exotic locations. In the 1960s, UK residents tended to have short holiday breaks, mainly at the seaside and holiday centres at this stage were very popular as they catered for all tourists needs e.g. accommodation, catering and leisure activities. As aircraft technology made air travel accessible and affordable for tourists, they started taking holiday breaks abroad and for longer periods of time. Tourists started expecting affordable holidays to destinations such as, Spain and Portugal, which led to the introduction of package holidays. As tourists travelled more often to short haul destinations, they started to develop a desire to explore further a field, which has led to increased long haul holidays. Tourists expectations of air travel and their desire to travel further in the quickest time has led to the improvements in aircrafts and the introduction of planes, such as the Concorde. Once tourists have reached their chosen holiday destination, they expect all their needs to be fulfilled. Different needs by tourists has led to different holiday packages being introduced e.g. full board, half board, bed and breakfast, self-catering etc. Tourists expect the place they are staying at to provide adequate accommodation (price paid is in line with board offered), the food provided is what tourists would like to eat and the activities offered encourage leisure and recreation.

Sample Argumentative Essay on Animal Testing

Sample Argumentative Essay on Animal TestingThere are many reasons why you might be interested in a sample argumentative essay on animal testing. There are many different things that you can say in this type of essay and you should use it to your advantage. If you have any question or you want to make sure that you are getting exactly what you want, you should see if you are using the right topic for the assignment. You will know whether you are on the right track with this and whether or not you are getting everything you need to write about.First of all, you need to realize that you are writing an essay. This means that you are not simply writing a report. This is a little different than writing a long dissertation or a report in high school. You are writing for a person to read. So you need to do something to make this person enjoy the essay you are about to write.In fact, there are many different formats to get exactly what you want. In fact, you can make a variety of things up t o get exactly what you want. For example, you can invent several different animals to discuss and then you can write about them. This is useful when you need to explain something very quickly. This can also be useful when you want to explain a new area that you haven't covered before.Another thing you need to consider is whether or not you want to go into more detail than you would normally use. It is helpful to use different ways to put things together. You can include a chart that shows how animals were used or you can include a chart that shows the number of animals used in the study. You can look at all the different animals used to develop cancer types. You can compare those to how the same animal was used to test for other drugs.If you include a chart of how animals were used, you can look at the different ways that they were used. You can compare the number of animals used in every test to the number of animals used in the test. You can also look at the way that the animals w ere used and compare the animals used in studies where animals were used for the whole test or used for just one type of test.In addition to using different ways to show how the animals were used, you should consider using some different words or just making a few changes to the wording of the sample argumentative essay on animal testing. This can help you when you are working on your thesis or you want to make certain that you are writing the best possible essay. Your professor may be able to help you with this as well. However, you should also make sure that you are following the essay topic rules in your college or university.Remember that you can get things that you want from this topic. This can be a very useful thing to think about. You will be able to write a good persuasive essay. You can learn how to write with this in mind.

US & Saudi Arabia essays

US & Saudi Arabia essays In the late 40s Herbert Feis, a United States State Department analysis, determined that a certain Arab nation in the Middle East has one of the greatest material prizes in world history: oil reserves. The United States government has bargained over $100 billion in military goods, services, and Cold War-era bases, compatible with U.S. needs, in exchange for the largest importation of this Arab oil from any other nation in the world. Since the end of World War II no other middle-eastern country has had more influence, connected more ties, or assimilated more partnerships with the United States than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has. Though the Saudi Arabian nation has been established on the Arabian Peninsula since the early 18th century, King Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Saud founded modern Saudi Arabia on September 23, 1932 under the constitution of the Holy Koran. During King Abdul Aziz Bin Abdul Rahman Al-Sauds reign the nation began a long and prosperous period of economic growth, thanks in part to the discovery of vast oil supplies located throughout the Arabian Peninsula. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia comprises almost four-fifths of the Arabian Peninsula, an area approximately one-third the size of the continental United States, and contains Islamic Holy cities of Mecca and Medina. Today, Saudi Arabia is ruled by King Fahd bin Abdulaziz, who has been a strong political influence over neighboring Arab nations since his reign began. In 1988 he initiated talks to put an end to the Iraq-Iran conflict, and was one of the first members to sign the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Also in 1990 during th e Persian Gulf conflict, he supported U.S. military action in the country in exchange for assistance in protecting the Saudi territory from being taken over by Iraq. King Fahd bin Abdulaziz has also openly showed support and backing for the Palestinian cause during the last decade. Saudi Arabi...

The UNIVAC Computer History and Development

The UNIVAC Computer History and Development The Universal Automatic Computer or UNIVAC was a computer milestone achieved by Dr. Presper Eckert and Dr. John Mauchly, the team that invented the ENIAC computer. John Presper Eckert and John Mauchly, after leaving the academic environment of The Moore School of Engineering to start their own computer business, found their first client was the United States Census Bureau. The Bureau needed a new computer to deal with the exploding U.S. population (the beginning of the famous baby boom). In April 1946, a $300,000 deposit was given to Eckert and Mauchly for the research into a new computer called the UNIVAC. UNIVAC Computer The research for the project proceeded badly, and it was not until 1948 that the actual design and contract was finalized. The Census Bureaus ceiling for the project was $400,000. J Presper Eckert and John Mauchly were prepared to absorb any overrun in costs in hopes of recouping from future service contracts, but the economics of the situation brought the inventors to the edge of bankruptcy. In 1950, Eckert and Mauchly were bailed out of financial trouble by Remington Rand Inc. (manufacturers of electric razors), and the Eckert-Mauchly Computer Corporation became the Univac Division of Remington Rand. Remington Rands lawyers unsuccessfully tried to re-negotiate the government contract for additional money. Under threat of legal action, however, Remington Rand had no choice but to complete the UNIVAC at the original price. On March 31, 1951, the Census Bureau accepted delivery of the first UNIVAC computer. The final cost of constructing the first UNIVAC was close to $1 million. Forty-six UNIVAC computers were built for both government and business uses. Remington Rand became the first American manufacturers of a commercial computer system. Their first non-government contract was for General Electrics Appliance Park facility in Louisville, Kentucky, who used the UNIVAC computer for a payroll application. UNIVAC Specs The UNIVAC had an add time of 120 microseconds, multiply time of 1,800 microseconds and a divide time of 3,600 microseconds.Input consisted of magnetic tape with a speed of 12,800 characters per second with a read-in speed of 100 inches per second, records at 20 characters per inch, records at 50 characters per inch, card to tape converter 240 cards per minute, 80 column punched card input 120 characters per inch, and punched paper tape to magnetic tape converter 200 characters a second.Output media/speed was magnetic tape/12,800 characters per second, uniprinter/10-11 characters per second, high-speed printer/600 lines per minute, tape to card converter/120 cards per minute, Rad Lab buffer storage/Hg 3,500 microsecond, or 60 words per minute. Competition with IBM John Presper Eckert and John Mauchlys UNIVAC was a direct competitor with IBMs computing equipment  for the business market. The speed with which UNIVACs magnetic tape could input data was faster than IBMs punch card technology, but it was not until the presidential election of 1952 that the public accepted the UNIVACs abilities. In a publicity stunt, the UNIVAC computer was used to predict the results of the presidential race between Dwight D. Eisenhower and Adlai Stevenson. The computer had correctly predicted that Eisenhower would win, but the news media decided to blackout the computers prediction and declared that the UNIVAC had been stumped. When the truth was revealed, it was considered amazing that a computer could do what political forecasters could not, and the UNIVAC quickly became a household name. The original UNIVAC now sits in the Smithsonian Institution.

John Quincy Adams Article Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

John Quincy Adams - Article Example One of his journal entries at forty-five is a statement filled with reflection upon a continuous personal struggle with insecurity as the country’s president passionately endeavored to resolve his own indifference in serving and shaping the American nation based on convictions established by his roots. To JFK, even if this meant desertion by the Federalist Party, his depicts a real story of unusual courage, a point when a reader shifts perspective from the common view of a heroic political figure but one may readily admit that the bravery shown through the profile of Adams is by itself justified. It truly takes a huge amount of courage to be able to convey imperfections across a multitude who are in typical recognition of flawless leaders only. One of his journal entries at forty-five is a statement filled with reflection upon a continuous personal struggle with insecurity as the country’s president passionately endeavored to resolve his own indifference in serving and shaping the American nation based on convictions established by his roots. To JFK, even if this meant desertion by the Federalist Party, his depicts a real story of unusual courage, a point when a reader shifts perspective from the common view of a heroic political figure but one may readily admit that the bravery shown through the profile of Adams is by itself justified. It truly takes a huge amount of courage to be able to convey imperfections across a multitude who are in typical recognition of flawless leaders only. Daniel Webster As an ideal example of a man with an authentic word of honor, Pres. J. F. Kennedy paid tribute as well to Daniel Webster who did not cease at aiming to win favor for the cause of the Union while working to impede the natural course of the Civil War. Like the few other notable profiles, Webster occurs to be characterized in Kennedy’s creation as a man who deserves even the reverence of the modern world for taking grave risks in the act of unifying the States at the expense of his profession and the economy attached to it. In all eloquence, D. Webster expressed his determination to pursue his undaunted convictions toward the preservation of the Union to the extent of not receiving a due acknowledgment after tedious hours of dedicated speech and as if he were constantly at the frontline of the stiff rivalry between the irreconcilable South and North. One evidently identifies in his case one of JFK’s most admired traits, as firmly standing for what the man co nsiders as his sense of fervent and unbreakable truth. This had been adequately manifested in Webster’s manner of persuasion in tone or his astounding presence of spirit and verbal delivery that could be felt spontaneously radiating from out of a solid core or a well-integrated whole where mind and heart are a single entity so that audience at the time acquired the impression that ‘he looked like one, talked like one, was treated like one, and insisted he was one (Kennedy 53).’Â  

Library Information Studies (course)-Describing and Analysing Assignment

Library Information Studies (course)-Describing and Analysing Information Resources(Unit)-Dublin Core Metadata - Assignment Example Dublin core metadata is useful in many in various institutions such as libraries, government institutions, scientific research centers, web page, authors, business requiring more searchable sites and corporations with vast knowledge management systems. Meta data serves the same functions in resource discovery as cataloging done by resource to be found by relevant criteria. Identifying resources and resources together and also helps in distinguishing dissimilar resources and giving local information about a book, web page or an album. The following are some of the core importance of Metadata. This is according to the book (Understanding Metadata pages1-2) that has carefully been examined.ORGANISING ELECTRONIC RESOURCE; a number of web-based resources grow exponentially, aggregate sites or portals are increasingly useful in organizing links to resources based on audience or topic. This is an important aspect for mp3 albums’ such as the one we are looking at in this paper is there anybody out there also WebPages and e ­-libraries where one can read a book like The Thief. (Andrew, 2012) defined metadata schemes, shared protocol, and crow walks between schemes, resource across the network can be searched more seamlessly. Elements such as identifier are important in a metadata schema for interoperability and that is why it is present in books. DIGITAL IDENTIFICATION; most Meta data schemes include elements such as standards numbers to uniquely identify the work or object to which the metadata refers. The location of a digital object may also be given using a file name, URL (Uniform Resource Locator), or some more persistent identifier such as PURL (Persistent URL) or DOI digital object identifier. Persistent URL identifiers are preferred because object location often change, making the standard URLS (therefore the metadata record). Here elements such as the copyright, help in digital

The Alliance Between Renault Nissan Marketing Essay

The Alliance Between Renault Nissan Marketing Essay In the age of globalisation companies are trying to cope with consequences of this historical process. Scholars in this field have noticed that companies could either merge or conclude an alliance to cope with globalisation. The scholars, however, differ among themselves as to which is better, alliance or merger. By being global a firm would have a better chance to enter a new market, and increase both its global market share and global competitive advantage (Shenkar,2008,p.303,332). The two processes differ in terms of their meanings and the reasons for choosing one of them rather than the other. International mergers are when two firms from different countries, and have their own capabilities, agree to integrate in order to create a stronger core competency in the global market (Shenakr2008:303). However, strategic alliances are contracts between two parties from different countries, when they agree to cooperate in order to do a particular task(Charles, international Business, p.411).This shared task cant be realised and create a value unless the two parties work together(Andrew, Strategic alliances, P.404).(I can delete this phrase) In the case of Renault-Nissan, it is preferable to have an alliance than merger for many reasons. Charles Hill (int. business:412) claims that Alliances, would facilitate more than mergers the entrance for companies to new geographical phases where there are some restrictions on foreign investments. (Comprehensive cases,p. 312)the two companies had their own capabilities in their own market. Renault for instance, already existed in Europe and North America, and was well-known for its design and marketing. At the same time Nissan was the powerhouse engineering in Japan, Europe and North America. Therefore, there was a good chance for Renault to Enter the Japanese market where there are many barriers from the Japanese government. Synergy however, is vital for alliance. According to Shenkar( 2008: 333) alliance would be more rational when the two firms look for further synergy in their financial, technological aims. He adds, this alliance would provide the two parties with complementary resources and capabilities(HSenkar, 2008). This synergy between two companies was the key element for choosing Nissan-Renault alliance. According to Chosn, the manager of the alliance: we said from the beginning that we were not looking for a merger, but rather to get greater value from synergy between the two companies (Emerson, the interview). According to Chosn, the reason for choosing alliance rather then merger was that both companies were looking for turnaround. Although alliance was more risky than merger, yet they chose it because they thought it would give them more opportunities to develop.(Emerson, the interview). However, despite the advantages Nissan-Renault gained from the alliance, they faced challenges. One of the challenges is whether the alliance would lead to an increase or decrease in the price share (Ernst Halvey, When, p. 48).This was a real challenge for Nissan, whose share price fell when it entered the alliance.(Comprehensive cases). Furthermore, the two companies had a challenge of cross-culture problems. However, with their ability to focus on the work objective they were able to succeed. 508 Renault before and after alliance The alliance between Renault Nissan, as indicated by the results in March 2004, was an outstanding paradigm of a successful alliance around the world. However, before 1999, the prospective of forming an alliance between these two firms was not such rosy. From Renaults point of view, various factors were strengthening the former opinion. Firstly, (Morosini P. Dec 2004) Renault was recovering during 1996 and 1998-9 turning losses of US$680 million into combined profits of US$1.65 billion. Moreover, the failure to merge with Volvo in 1995 had left its mark on the company and any further attempts to a new alliance were confronted distrustfully. In addition, the fact that both firms were playing a dominant role in the auto industry of their countries was indicating that a potential alliance was going to collapse in a decision-making stalemate. Nevertheless, the supporters of the latter argument were gainsaid. The mutual benefits that they were going to absorb from the alliance laid aside the potential problems and both parties focused on the success of the alliance. This was a crucial challenge, which they managed to handle by learning to trust each other, be truthful and honest during the negotiations. Additionally, (Bartlett C., Ghoshal S., Beamish P., 2008) by forming joint study teams, in order to test their companies ability to work cooperatively, they minimized the cultural stereotypes and set the base for exploiting joint synergies. The two companies were so complementary in terms of geography, product ranges and personality that inevitably the future was foreboding promising. Besides, this process gave Renault an advantage over competitive suitors such as Ford and DaimlerChrysler, which focused only on finding synergies on past and current advantages rather than on a prospective productive future. On this basis, Renault, through the alliance with Nissan, achieved to gain international structure which enabled it to deal successfully with the changes which were taking place on the world automobile stage. Thereby, Global synergies and the expansion of its production to foreign , until then, markets like Japan, North America and Asia enhanced its potential and made it a countable member in the auto industry. 357 Nissan before and after alliance Nissans history starts from the early of 1933. Nissan is a Japanese automobile manufacturer which achieves, through the years to have strong market presence in Asia and US. Except for the fact that Nissan was a highly emblematic symbol of Japans industrial strength, had also a number of strong points such as technological and engineering competence, and also was good at making large cars. In late March 1999 Nissan and Renault sign an agreement for a Global Alliance. Aim for this agreement was to provide an advantage and achieve profitable growth in both companies. However, Nissan was nearly bankrupt and faced significant debt problem when the alliance formed. One of the major reasons for this debt and financial difficulty was the fact that Nissan invested a lot of money in different companies and this has a result, Nissan not be in position to invest money in the company and its products (Ghosn, 2002). Therefore the company for a long time did not have any profit and this made the debt for Nissan in 1999 to reach the US $22 billion. Furthermore, during the same year (1999), the domestic market share had fallen from 17.4% to 13%. Have in mind this and after that Daimler Chrysler and Ford refused the idea of a partnership and broken of the alliance talk with Nissan, the company resorted to the strategic alliance with Renault, where both companies had clear idea of what they wanted. The alliance was vital for the two companies as Nissan needed Renaults cash in order to reduce its debt problem and Renault wanted to learn from Nissans success in US and Asia which was essential for the expansion in its market. During the period of social initiation process, of six months, many advantages arose over competitors as they carried out static analytical evaluations and they focused on finding collaborations based on their past and current strengths rather than on jointly future. In order to accomplish this, Nissan had change significantly to redeem its profitability and competiveness. First Nissan quit the investments in other companies, in other words the keiretsu which is a Japanese traditional rule that requires all the companies in Japan to have long-term purchasing relationship, intense collaboration and frequent exchange of personnel and technology between companies and selected suppliers (Okamura, 2005). The personal management also had changed and whereas Nissan in the past appraised their employees based on the period that they were working for the company, now they changed the criteria of evaluation by looking on the performance of each employee. Further they set up a common language i.e. English and they have created nine Cross-functional teams. By the implementation of the above changes, Nissan manage to cut down in purchasing cost, to reduce suppliers, to close overlapping outlets and plants and finally to reduce the work force. Through the alliance of Nissan and Renault, the benefits that arose were obvious and determinant. Transparent benchmarking allows two culturally diverse companies to share best practises and also the common platform and shared purchasing strategy had delivered huge cost of savings. Noticeable is the fact that in order to preserver corporate identities they decide to remain as separate managements, separate brands and separate companies while every decision was affecting both brands. The operation recommendation which arise from this alliance case provide valuable elements on how two companies, that are in the same situation like Renault and Nissan which show strength in different competence and regions of the world (Nissan had strong presence in Asia and US while Renault had presence in Europe), can approach the growing and competitive auto manufacturing global market. Therefore the success of this alliance is also interrelated with the synergy among the two companies and the framework of equality help the transfer of knowledge between foreign engineering teams. Finally Nissan successfully achieve to jump from seventh most valuable automobile company in the world to the fourth. 656 Structure of Alliances The aim of this section is to study structure of the alliances between Renault Nissan and advice about the best possible structure in futures alliances. Strategic alliances are said to be a source of competitive advantage. However there is a growing concern over their failure rates. One of the major causes is the inability to implement the appropriate governance structure and management control systems in the newly formed association (Smith, 2008). According to the study most of the companies form an alliance management team which manage across the organisation using Cross-Company Teams, Cross functional teams, Steering Committees and Alliance Board. By observation, Renaults was interested in creating respect between two alliance partners and respectively followed an Andean civilization approach to work together for six months before forming an alliance. (Donnelly, Morris Donnelly, 2005). The social initiation process provided Renault Nissan an advantage over its competitors such as Daimler Chrysler. The later company did not experiment social collaboration to develop the ability of sharing knowledge and building trust (Deresky, 2008). Therefore the structure in Renault Nissan was the result of, what the companies experienced during the social initiation stage. They formed a new board having 5 members each from the host companies. Further to speed the integration and improve communication process they created Nine Cross-functional teams (CFT) and 11 Cross-company teams (CCT) (Donnelly, Morris Donnelly, 2005: 434). More importantly, these teams had a Chair person from Renault, Vice Chair person from Nissan or vice-versa. Moreo ver the CFT was limited to 10 members from different departments such as purchasing, manufacturing which ensured progress between these departments (Donnelly, Morris Donnelly, 2005). As a result the alliance was able to launch 22 new car models in the next three years and increase the manufacturing capacity in Japan. Moreover the CCT created efficient synergies. One of the examples of amalgamation process was in Mexico. Renault had left the market in 1986 and Nissan was facing overcapacity in1999. So alliance decided to put the managers from both the companies together and recognise synergy opportunity. In just five months Renault cars were being manufactured out of Nissan plants and the capacity utilisation of the plant increased from 56% to nearly 100%. In summary cross-company teams allowed Renault- Nissan to first go through a social initiation experience and then move into a formal framework of collaboration and knowledge exchange (Deresky, 2008: 318). Similarly cross functional teams enhanced the process of integration. Cooperative Operation In this part of report, we will discuss how close collaboration between two companies in operational level has resulted in synergy. The main sources of data in this part are Renault and Nissan official websites. Supply chain management is one of the areas of key concern for global car manufacturers (John Gattorna). Major players in Car Industry are looking for revolutionary methods of management of their suppliers. In Renault-Nissan case, RNPO or Renault Nissan Purchasing Organization is a unique joint organization responsible for integrating purchasing Strategy. As we will describe in next paragraph, as a result of mutual engineering efforts, Renault and Nissan cars can share components. This fact allows the alliance to combine their purchasing orders. Therefore, not only the cost of order has reduced but RNPO defines worldwide purchasing strategy and now it is accountable for full purchase of Nissan and Renault. (www.renault.com) Another area for mutual cooperation between two companies is engineering which could be a lesson for other car manufacturers to reach economic of scale and scope. The key difference in Renault-Nissan case is concentrating on designing and producing components of car jointly instead of developing whole car from scratch. The alliance achieves economic of scale by producing in larger scales and economic of scope by manufacturing components which are compatible for different models of both brands. Moreover, one of top priorities of MNC is to find a way to reduce RD cost as well invest in new technologies with lower cost. For instance, according to Renault website, the alliance helps two companies to invest in advance technology like hybrid vehicles. In conclusion firms should successfully integrate their complimentary competencies to standardize their purchase orders and components manufacturing. Therefore they can reduce their cost and achieve greater outcomes. The role of Corporate and National Culture Corporate culture is the combined beliefs, values, ethics, procedures, and atmosphere of an organization ().One of the important issues raised in the Nissan Renault alliance is the management of two different cultures. While Renault strategy was liked western strategic orientation and Nissan was under the influence of corporate and national culture (Culpan.R,2002). Accordingly, the collective share of ideas and strategic management were effective and the employees of both companies could understand each other culture background, subsequently respect the identities of their colleagues as well as their values. Thus, Ghosn put cross- culture training programs for over 1500 employees from Renault to learn about the Japanese culture and 400 Nissan employees study the French culture (pooley, 2005).it was a first positive step in terms of creating a successful alliance of two different cultures. After presenting the French and Japanese culture, it was significant to understand their differ ences and how certain Hofstedes cultural theories (clenc, 2000) applicable to the case of Nissan and Renault. Japanese societies are well-known to be more collectivist and in opposite, French societies are based on individualistic efforts from employees. As the decision making process in Nissan was working the percept of groupthink, mostly the people who thought alike. Moreover, Nissan had a problem in terms of excess capacity that was based on an unofficial contract that existed between Japanese auto companies and their employees. Ghosn closed five factories and cutting some 21,000 jobs to broke this custom. He also took on the close network of relationships between auto companies and their suppliers, relationships denoted by a specific Japanese word, keiretsu (). An also after this situation as he employed new engineers in to the Nissan organisation, he decided to put English as formal language for company to deal with diversity of language spoken. In addition, in the Japanese cul ture, is not possible for a young employee to be manager for a colleague who is older in terms of age and seniority. However, the ECOs new system of promotion to begin restructuring the management process in company, was based on performance and efficiency, not employees age. As a result, the Renault-Nissan alliance has been hugely successful. There is broad acknowledgement by many at senior levels inside both companies that much credit for this must be given to their conscious effort to build cross-cultural understanding from the start. 396 Recommendations The success of alliance between Renault and Nissan proves that alliances can be a successful approach to expand globally. Therefore, we believe as a group that there are recommendations which could be taken into consideration, by any other car companies thinking to form a successful alliance to enter new markets. When two firms come to a decision of entering an alliance they should be aware of variations in cultures, languages and mentalities. This can be realised by understanding these differences and focussing more on the shared goals and objectives. In terms of operations, Renault Nissan can be used by other car companies in different ways. In supply chain management a similar organisation like RNPO can be established by other alliances to unify their purchasing orders and therefore reducing the cost of orders. In engineering we suggest for future alliances to focus on producing car components jointly instead of designing new cars entirely which failed in similar cases. By implementing the above strategies, the costs of RD can be reduced and higher output can be achieved by using shared resources. It is obvious from the case effective cross-culture management was one of the important key successes for the company. Thus, when two different companies spouse to work with each other in especial strategic alliance, creating a situation for managers and employees to learn about each other culture could be significant. Another step for developing corporate culture in this kind of alliances is making one formal language for employees to deal with diversity of spoken language. Moreover, determining shared values, knowledge and individual needs is important to create opportunities for future alliances. This can be achieved by following a social program similar to social initiation process of Renault-Nissan. Zaara Culpan. R, (2002) Global business alliances: theory and practice, Greenwood Publishing Group: United State America Pooley. J, (2005) The model alliance of Renault and Nissan: How to work successfully with overseas partners, Emerald Group Publishing Limited: Emerald Group Publishing Limited http://www.emeraldinsight.com/Insight/viewContentItem.do?contentType=ArticlehdAction=lnkpdfcontentId=1463638 Reference: Anu Kale, P., Dyer, J. Singh, H. (2001) Value Creation and Success in Strategic Alliances: Alliancing Skills and the Role of Alliance Structure and Systems. European Management Journal [Online], 19(5): 463 471. Smith, K. (2008) The relations between transactional characteristics, trust and risk in the start-up phase of a collaborative alliance. Management Accounting Research [Online], 19: 344 364. Deresky, H. (2007) International Management: Managing Across Borders and Cultures (6th Edition). New Jersey.Prentice Hall. pp. 312 319 Reference sophia Okamura, A. (2005). Beyond the Keiretsu. Article retrieved on November 2nd, 2006, from http://www.utofieldguide.com/articles/article_print1.cfm Ghosn, C. (2002). Saving the Business Without Losing the Company. Harvard Business Review. References marios: Bartlett C., Ghoshal S., Bearmish P., (2008), Transnational Management: Text, cases, and readings in Cross-Border Management, Fifth edition, New York, McGraw-Hill International Edition. Douin G., (5th April, 2002), Behind the scenes of the Renault-Nissan alliance, l Ecole de Paris, p.1-10. Morosini P., (Dec, 2004), Nurturing Successful Alliances Across Boundaries: Lessons from the Renault Nissan Case.