It is a great strategy for the Singapore Airlines company to concentrate on strengthening the brand of the subsidiaries, SilkAir, Scoot and Tiger airways in order to ensure that all the different market segments are covered. The company is also cost-effective which is able to make it have a competitive edge over its competitors (Heracleous & Wirtz, 2010). The company’s strategy of purchasing a stake in Virgin Australia and entering in to a joint strategy with SAS is a great strategy. The company is increasing its penetration into the market and through these companies they will increase their sales. Through the new relationships it has reduced the competition and increased the market share. It is also wise to ensure there is no cannibalization between the related companies where some serve the same market segment and eat into each other market share. When this occurs it does not increase the overall market share of the group. Thirdly, there is a lot of co-operation between the subsidiaries in production that will assist to cut costs and boost sales.
Social Responsibility Components
There is the danger of the group becoming a strong supplier in the market with its subsidiaries and joint ventures. It may gain monopolistic attributes which the management may use to take advantage of the consumers. Monopolies are price setters. The company however has a social responsible role to ensure that they are efficient to control costs in order to offer fair prices. It will push the company to gain a sustainable competitive advantage by being innovative and inventing technologies and processes that are efficient in cost cutting. Secondly, the business should engage in healthy competition and not use unscrupulous methods to gain market share from its competitors. There is cut-throat competition and high costs of production which can make the managers use desperate measures which may be unethical. This should be avoided and the managers should use the pressure positively to be innovative and creative to increase their sales.
Four Lens Model of Worldview Development
Ethical dilemmas
There are ethical dilemmas that arise from viewing each item through the different lenses. In the area of business profit, businessmen are interested in making money. They are interested in monetary rewards however it is important for the business to do not only what is legal but what is right. Business practices should be ethical (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2008). In the area of social responsibility, managers are concerned about the public image of the company and not really the contribution they make to the society. They may want to be recognized and applauded whenever they do charitable acts. However, it is good for the business to be great stewards of the resources that they have. They should serve the stakeholders well.
In the area of affirmative action, individuals fight for their rights. The culture in business circles may be to treat people differently. The staff feel discriminated against from getting promotions, higher pay or more responsibilities due to their physical or religious features. However, the right thing to do is to enrich the jobs of all people especially the minorities, in order to empower them.
Certain businessmen may view taxes as disruptive and aim to minimize or limit what they pay through unscrupulous means. However it is a business discipline that should be conducted well. They need to be accountable to the regulatory bodies.
Off-shoring is viewed by business as just a process yet there may be ethical dilemmas where the staffs in other countries do not have good working conditions. Global companies want the offshore offices to be wholly micro-managed and may neglect supervising operations to ensure that ethical practices are being observed. It is important for the parent company to ensure that there is a need for off-shore businesses and that all subsidiaries and that wherever they are, the staffs are treated equally.
References
Ferrell, O., Fraedrich, J., & Ferrell, L. (2008). Business Ethics: Ethical Decision
Making and Cases. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Heracleous, L., & Wirtz, J. (2010). The Globe: Singapore Airlines’ Balancing Act. Web.