Introduction

Business strategy is a lifeline of any business and without which it is very difficult for the business to survive for long run. Every organisation requires an effective business strategy that will cover all the important aspect of the business (Bryson, 2011). The ECB College Business Strategy Assignment report will discuss about the case study EasyJet where there is a detailed discussion of the company’s detailed discussion and its unique business strategy. The report will discuss in detail about the case study as well as it will also discuss various concept of business strategy that includes understanding the strategy planning process and various aspect of it. Further it will discuss the method of formulating the new strategy which will also cover the stakeholder review. In the next section the report will discuss about the evaluation and selection of strategy with regards to the case study. Finally the ECB College Business strategy assignment report will discuss about the strategy implementation.

Task 1 : Strategic planning Process

Explain the context of EasyJet’s business strategy as well as the terminology used in their strategy formulation process.

• Mission statement of EasyJet: - The company is established as a cost effective organisation which sell cheap and affordable air flight tickets. To achieve cost effective business strategy the company adopted various strategies which help them to reduce the cost and provide cheap air tickets without affecting the profitability of the company (Bryson, 2011).
• Vision statement: - EasyJet is among those few companies which also introduced the facility of internet booking in April, 1988 (Bryson, 2011). Almost 90% of people book ticket online and EasyJet has become one of the biggest internet retailers in the world (Bryson, 2011).
• Objective of the company: - the main objective of the company is to provide a safe, easy and affordable airline to the customer (Jackson, 2011). The model adopted by the company is quite simple and hassle free and manages the cost very effectively (Johnson et al, 2011).
• Core competencies of the company: The Company has promoted the concept of no frills strategy (Jackson, 2011). According to this strategy, the company eliminates all those activities which contribute in the increasing the price of the service. EasyJet believed in eliminating all the luxuries like cosy sitting and no lunch policy (Bryson, 2011). To promote the no frills policy the company has also promoted ticketless travel. Under this strategy, the company send the detail of the ticket on the email (Jackson, 2011).

Outline the stages involved in strategic planning.

Strategic planning is very essential aspect of the business and it is continuous process which helps in improving the organisational performance (Jackson, 2011). Strategies help in achieving the goals set by the organisation and gives the direction to the management about how to go forward. The stages involved in strategic planning are discussed in detail as follows: -

1. Preparation: the first stage is related to preparation and most crucial step in strategic process. In this step, the company should focus on developing effective vision and mission statement. The company should also analyse different situation which a company can face and should be prepared for it (Jackson, 2011). The foundation of developing manager the strategy takes place in this process.
2. Planning the strategies: planning before executing the actual process is very important and to establish effective plan, the company have to make an extensive research on various issues like recognising the need in the market, analysing the strength and assets of the company and also allocating the resources for the organisation. A rough copy should be prepared and the copy should be sent to the people in the organisation for the feedback (Jackson, 2011). All type of feedback should be welcomed and the company should pay attention to the feedback and change the wherever it is required.
3. Implementing the final strategies: this stage is very crucial stage where the plan has to take place in real. It is very essential to communicate the plan to the people so that they become clear about main motive of the plan and how it should be executed. After effectively communicating the process to the staff then the plan should be implemented. Implementation requires continuous supervision by the management so that it can take place effectively (Jackson, 2011). Supervision helps in improving the step at every stage. The continuous monitoring and reporting of the functions help the top management to understand all the loopholes and the management which are required in the organisation.
4. Review and revise: this stage basically involves reviewing the complete process of strategic planning. The planning ensures that the plan is updated from time to time and it should be revised on fixed amount of time (Holmes, 2011). This stage helps in continuous progress of the company because all the steps are continuous reviewed.

Discuss the planning techniques used by EasyJet.

Following is the detailed discussion of planning techniques: -

1. The planning techniques used by EasyJet are scenario planning under which the developing manager, instead of sitting and trying to forecast the future tries to reduce the current risks and uncertainties and plan everything as per the situation (Holmes,. 2011). The manager recognizes the important situations which have the potential to reap big profits and that can work under various conditions. The approach mainly focuses on the target group and plans all the strategies on the basis of the situation and market demand. Therefore, the approach focuses on the situations prevailing in present and planning all the activities as per the situation. The planning involved analysing the situation and then deciding the targeted customers.
2. Trans active planning: - this planning was basically propounded by Friedman and the main focus of the approach is the target audience while setting goals and further planning and aiming various activities of management. The approach is demand driven. The basic philosophy which is involved in this planning process is the people in the decision making of the planning process. Therefore, knowledge and experiences play a crucial role in this type of planning.
3. Advocacy planning: - the meaning of advocacy is directly related to the development and this is why, advocacy planning approach is reaction to an issue or a problem. This is type of planning has proved to be very successful which help in eliminating intensive activities or plans and promote activities which are challenging and are in public interest.

Task 2: Formulating a new strategy

Conduct an environmental audit for EasyJet

The Environment audit of a firm is done to understand the environment in which an organisation works and it helps in formulating the strategies by gaining better understanding of the business (Rothaermel, 2013). Organisational audit can be done by conducting SWOT analysis which is discussed in detail as follows: -

Strengths 1.      The flight’s main destinations are whole Europe which makes it an effective and attractive choice for flying (Rothaermel, 2013). 2.      The company follow a single model which results in reduction in training and supervisory costs. 3.      The company is first among introducing e-tailing which directly eliminates distribution costs (Rothaermel, 2013).	Weaknesses 1.      The company does not come in the category of having a frequent flier programs. 2.      Due to no frill strategy, the customer is highly sensitive to any additional taxes or charges (Rothaermel, 2013). 3.      Large dependency on two suppliers which can be a risky affair.
Opportunity 1.      The academy opened by EasyJet can be a major source of income. 2.      Brand awareness can also be increase by giving more emphasis on EasyJet hotels and EasyJet holidays. 3.      Various other and new fleets can be leased out especially during the time of low season (Rothaermel, 2013).	Threats 1.      The government policies are strict especially in aviation regulations. 2.      The customer has a high bargaining power (Rothaermel, 2013). 3.      Many major players are also entering into the business (Rothaermel, 2013).

PESTLE is very effective technique to understand the customer and the market. Various benefits of this technique are discussed in detail as follows: -

1. Political: government influence and their interference in the economy and decision of various businesses are political factors (Rothaermel, 2013). The company success is largely dependent on the fact that the how liberal the government policies are in a country and on the basis of which the company performance can be easily calculated (Rothaermel, 2013). In EasyJet, the government policies are more related to the factors which affect airlines business as the company believes in the free competition and minimal roadblocks leads to betterment of functions and also ensures smooth transactions in this industry (Rothaermel, 2013).
2. Economic: the economy of any country is very crucial for the smooth functioning of the smooth functioning of the business. The overall performance of the economy of a country directly impacts the organisations performance working in it (Hrebiniak, 2013). Various economic situations like inflation, recession and many more are also impact the company way of determining the prices of the product or services. The economic factors can be inflation rate, interest rate and foreign exchange rates. EasyJet is located in British which are based in London Luton airport (Rothaermel, 2013). The company is claimed to be one of largest airline company in the country. As far as economy of the country is concerned, it is strong enough to make EasyJet a successful company (Rothaermel, 2013).
3. Social: social factors are more related with the factors which influence the cultural environment of the business (Hrebiniak, 2013). The features which impact the social environment are cultural trends, demographics, population analysis, changing attitude and behaviour of the consumer etc. In British the social factors are quite strong and working in favour of EasyJet. This is why the company is flourishing and the company is in demand (Rothaermel, 2013).
4. Technological: technological factors basically promote vast innovation and creativity by introducing new technology and techniques to do things more efficiently. Regular technological advancement helps in improving and upgrading the business functions to the next level. All this also helps in taking the business to new heights (Rothaermel, 2013). New technology affects the operations of the company and sometimes even change the way the company functions. It is very significant for every company to invest time and money in introducing new technologies (De Vries, 2011). That is why EasyJet is also investing a lot in improving their technologies so that they can further improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the business and make the function more cost effective (Rothaermel, 2013).
5. Legal: sound legal system is very important for every kind firm as it helps in addressing the issues easily and efficiently (De Vries, 2011). Events like discrimination on the basis of various grounds can be easily avoided if the company have proper legal system at place. The legal laws and regulation cover various points which work in favour of the business like consumer law, labour law and health and safety laws (De Vries, 2011).
6. Environmental: these days it has become very important to give take environmental factors into account and make the business eco-friendly (De Vries, 2011). These factors play a pivotal role in the industries like tourism, agriculture or any type of farming (De Vries, 2011).

Evaluate the significance of stakeholder analysis in the formulation of new strategies.

 A business is mostly affected by the stakeholder that is why it is very important to have a stakeholder analysis from time to time (De Vries, 2011). The stakeholder should be given extremely important place in business because it is because of them that a business reaches its fate (Yang et al, 2011). All the strategies should be formulated keeping in mind the interest of the stakeholder and which works for the benefit of the stakeholders. Below is the detailed discussion of significance of stakeholder analysis which contributes in the success of the business: -

1. Marketing Strategies: - stakeholders are the centre point on the basis of which a strategy is formulated and executed. Every company should take stakeholder in consideration in every decision making (De Vries, 2011). In fact strategy formulation starts at a pint where the company conduct a survey to understand the taste and preferences of the consumer and decide all the strategies on the basis of that. All the function are executed right from product development to marketing and promotion, and finally to selling are dependent on the stakeholder as these function largely dependent on the finding of the market research (Yang et al, 2011).
2. Motivating employees: - stakeholders are also employees who are very significant part of any business because they are the one who conduct any function and utilises other resources as well (De Vries, 2011). Analysing the role and function of employees is extremely important as it helps in understanding the mind-set of the employees (Yang et al, 2011). For effective result it is very important that the employees working for the company are extremely satisfied and happy. The company should everything to make employees happy and to reduce the rate of turnover and also to avoid poor working conditions (De Vries, 2011).
3. Corporate citizenship: - every organisation works in a society and it is essential that while working in the society the management keep in mind the betterment of the community in which they are functioning (De Vries, 2011). Working with integration and extreme honesty is very important to succeed in a business (Yang et al, 2011). It is also important to maintain a good image in the mind of the people and for this a company has to work for the betterment of the people and deals with the society issues sensitively (De Vries, 2011).
4. Formal partnership: - the company is made of various functions which require support system from various other companies or suppliers. Suppliers are extremely important as they contribute in making the final product which goes in front of customer (Yang et al, 2011). For the wide acceptance of the product, it is very important to understand that the every function big or small is crucial and important for the company (De Vries, 2011).

Task 3: Strategy evaluation and selection

Identify and evaluate the possible alternative strategies EasyJet may adopt.

EasyJet can adopt multiple strategies which can contribute a lot in helping the existence of the company to stay in the market for the long period of time. The strategies which a company can adopt are discussed in detail as follows: -

1. First thing is that the company should work on creating a cordial relationship with the stakeholders that includes employees (Zhang et al, 2013). The working environment of the company should be friendly and extremely cordial. In this type of environment, employees will be more satisfied and will be happy to work with the organisation because of which the company can sustain for the long period of time.
2. Creating an unforgettable experience can be another business strategy as it will motivate people to come back again to the same services (Zhang et al, 2013). Reduced price of air tickets should not only be the driving force because this makes customer very price sensitive. Customer should adopt the services of EasyJet because they like the services of the company apart from cheap air tickets (Mahlen & Clarridge, 2011).
3. The infrastructure development is very crucial which helps in further growth of the business (Zhang et al, 2013). Further the company can also develop a wireless internet connection which helps the customers to work and stay connected with the world and the connection must be free (Zhang et al, 2013).
4. The company can also include some discount programs for small and medium business enterprises (Mahlen & Clarridge, 2011).
5. As discussed in SWOT analysis, the company must work to develop some loyalty programs where the customer can get some added advantage.

• Select the best alternative strategy for EasyJet using appropriate criteria.

The best alternative business strategy to diverse the offering and create infrastructure for new segment of people which is elite class (Pinto & Pirola, 2011). The company should widen the horizon of the company and should also bring more diversity in the company. The company should create a business class seating or a whole new airline which completely focus on luxury and an experience for the customers for whom money is not a barrier.

Task 4: Strategic implementation

Analyse how strategies are implemented using the case study. You are required to take into consideration the roles and responsibilities, resource requirements, time scales as well as the suitable action plan for successful implementation.

Implementation is very crucial step because formulating the strategy is easy but applying it in real life is a challenge and if the company failed to implement strategies properly, the company will not be able to prosper (Chaffey & Ellis-Chadwick, 2012). Following are the points that a firm can perform in order to implement the strategy in the most effective manner: -

1. Effective communication holds an extremely important place in the success of the business (Morgan et al, 2012). So duties and responsibilities of the employees should be clearly communicated to them and organisation should try to remove any ambiguity in the mind of the workers (Morgan et al, 2012).
2. All the important resources which are required for the effective implementation should be at one place as it will help in making the process of implementation smoother and easier. A proper list of requirement should be made at one place and  management should supervise that all the needs are met on time (Morgan et al, 2012).
3. Time scales should also be given a lot of importance because it will help the company to achieve the task on time and also it will be done effectively. Not only this, it also brings discipline in the company and the employee will work in more organised manner (Morgan et al, 2012). For implementing a new strategy as discussed in report, the company should decide a time scale of a year time since the change is transformational in nature and require major shift in the working of the company (Morgan et al, 2012).
4. Target audience for implementing this new business strategy will be elite class people who will get to experience luxury and best services (Morgan et al, 2012).
5. Staff should make involved at every stage of implementation because they have to implement it and their involvement will make sure that the work is done in an effective manner (Morgan et al, 2012). Constant feedback from the employees should be taken from time to time as their feedback will be important which will help in bringing some effective changes in the business.

Conclusion

Organisation these days are creating a completely separate section for business strategy where employees can only brainstorm and work on creating the best business strategy for the business. Formulating the business strategy is not an easy process and at the same time implementing it is also very difficult process (Rothaermel, 2013). In EasyJet, the management understand that it is essential to understand the nerves of the consumer and decide all the strategies keeping the customer welfare in mind. The strategies should directly focus on the people and the target customer to whom the company serve. The best and most complex way to sustain and endure in this competitive environment is to devise strategies keeping in mind the needs and want of target customers (Holmes, 2011).The report have discussed in detail about various aspect of business strategy and also how EasyJet have formulated a perfect business strategy for the business which make it one of the best and biggest airline company in British.

Reference

Bryson, J. M. 2011. Strategic planning for public and non-profit organizations: A guide to strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement (Vol. 1). John Wiley & Sons. Jackson, J. 2011. Strategic planning. Every Child, Every Classroom, Every Day: School Leaders Who Are Making Equity a Reality, 54. Holmes, T. A. 2011. How to facilitate the strategic planning process. Rothaermel, F. T. 2013. Strategic Management: Concepts. McGraw-Hill Irwin. Hrebiniak, L. 2013. Making strategy work: Leading effective execution and change. FT Press. De Vries, J. 2011. The shaping of inventory systems in health services: a stakeholder analysis. International Journal of Production Economics, 133(1), 60-69. Yang, J., Elkadi, H., & Shen, Q. P. 2011, January. Stakeholder analysis in urban development: the application of stakeholder circle methodology and social network analysis. In CUPUM 2011: Proceedings of the 12th International Conference on Computers in Urban Planning and Urban Management. . Zhang, T., Cui, G., Kong, L., Yi, W., & Yang, X. 2013. Phase-modulated waveform evaluation and selection strategy in compound-Gaussian Clutter. Signal Processing, IEEE Transactions on, 61(5), 1143-1148.

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