Analysis of Asian Union - Essay Example

?Introduction Asian Union is a UK based company that works with a group of other companies around the world to provide Travel & Tour Services, Freight Services and Money Transfer (Asian Union, 2011). The company focuses on the Asian Markets and in this quest, it works with numerous partners to provide the best of services that links the UK, European Union and North America with Asia and the Pacific. Asian Union was registered and commenced operations in the year 2008 and its first account was presented in the year 2009 (Asian Union Express & Travel, 2011) . However, it has a history that dates back to several years before its opening in the 2008. Asian Union is a Limited Liability Company and it operates three main branches and units which act independently under the corporate banner. The Travel and Tour unit focuses on providing holiday, ticketing and travel services for clients in the UK and it has connections with airlines, hotels and other hospitality institutions in Asia and North America to provides clients good traveling and holiday services. There are numerous airlines around the world that partner with Asian Union to provide good carrier services to clients who need them. The Freight Service is provided by Western Freight Services which is a subsidiary of Asian Union Ltd. The Freight Service includes air and sea transport of goods and services for a wide customer base. It arranges for both regular and irregular products to be shipped and flown to different destinations around the world. The freight service also includes custom clearance and distribution of goods to their final destinations around the world. Asian Union also runs a money transfer agency that partners with Western Union to provide the best money transfer services for clients. This service targets people sending money to Asian countries that have exotic currencies that are often not available in the UK. Targeted countries for their service include: Afghanistan, Pakistan, China and India. The company seeks to grow a distinct money transfer service that will incorporate all the customized needs of various destinations in the Asian region of the world. Asian Union is located on West Hendon Broadway. It is a suburban section of Northwest London that is a popular spot for many travel and tours as well as financial institutions. This section is known for the collectivity of the travel industry as well as international linkage businesses like freight services and money transfers. Find below an extract of the map of the Hendon area of London for further analysis: Point A: 174 West Hendon Broadway London NW9 7AA, UK. West Hendon Broadway is an elite street on London that is close to various affluent neighbourhoods of North London. There are at least 15 travel and related-service providers that are located within a 1-mile radius around the location of Asian Union Ltd. The location adds up to the competitive strengths of Asian Union Ltd since it is also highly accessible from various parts of London, and there is a thriving Asian community living just a few miles away from its location. Situational Analysis Asian Union Ltd is affected by numerous elements of the business environment. Each of these components of the external environment has some influence on the operations and activities of Asian Union and it affects the profitability, survival and growth of the business by posing some kind of threat or acting as some form of opportunity for improvement. These environmental factors can be analysed using the PEST model. Political Anti-Money Laundering UK's new Anti-Money Laundering Laws (AML) which seeks to prevent criminals from transferring funds from illegal activities has a major influence on the money transfer service that Asian Union transfers. Also, Anti-Terrorism laws makes it impossible for Asian Union to deal with certain blacklisted persons. Under this law, Asian Union cannot transfer over ?10,000 from a given customer without asking for the customer to disclose the source of funds and tax returns on the amount. Opportunities: This will ensure that Asian Union remains compliant in discharging its services in the United Kingdom. This will prevent Asian Union from becoming labelled as a collaborator in crime. Threats: In spite of its effort to eradicate illegality, the requirement to report certain transactions and/or make further enquiries about suspected illegal fund transfers will significantly reduce the company's market share. This is because some illegal immigrants and funds from other activities that might not be very detrimental in the society cannot be transferred through Asian Union. This will therefore mean that they will lose a significant amount of potential customers and this will affect Asian Union's profitability. New UK Freight Rules New UK freight rules requires that cargo being taken in and out of the UK to some selected countries (including some Muslim countries like Pakistan) are double-checked due to suspected terrorist activities. This will mean that the area that Asian Union specializes in will come under unfair pressure and scrutiny and customers might end up having to waste more time and/or spend more money. Opportunities: Asian Union can consider focusing on shipping and providing courier services to other parts of the world that requires less stringent checks. This can diversify risks, increase leverage and bring in some more revenue. Threats: The stringent requirements of businesses shipping to Asian countries to scrutinize the cargo of some customers can make some Asian customers to find other ways of either buying goods and services in their home country without using freight or courier services. Other customers can even consider investing their funds in other intangible ventures to avoid having to freight goods using cargo services like Asian Union. This can impact adversely on the survival of Western Freight Ltd, the subsidiary of Asian Union that handles cargo to Asian countries. Travel & Tour Laws There are now some new tough measures that the UK government takes for its citizens and businesses that seek to operate in some high risk Asian nations like Afghanistan, Yemen and Pakistan. Since Asian Union focuses on helping UK citizens and residents to holiday overseas, these new Home Office Laws that sets limits to the places UK tourists in these countries can go, there is a chance that Asian Union might be affected adversely. Opportunities: Asian Union can specialize in providing tourism and added services like security for clients who desire to tour these high risk nations. In this direction, Asian Union can be seen by the potential customer base as a business that provides high security services to UK visitors to high risk nations. This can become a strong marketing tool that can make Asian Union a preferred travel and tour partner. Threats: The blacklisting of nations that Asian Union focuses on can affect the perceptions people might have about Asian Union. This is because it might be seen as a company interested only in no-go areas and this will prevent it from expanding. Economics The Credit Crunch The UK has been hit by unprecedented financial hardships. This is because of the global financial meltdown and credit crunch that hit the country's financial institution and caused individuals to lose their jobs and also get into financial challenges which led to the London riots and other protests. Threats: The financial crises means that the purchasing power per person and business in the UK has been adversely affected. This means there will be fewer people travelling and fewer people sending money or goods overseas since they cannot afford it. This will mean that the income that Asian Union makes will be adversely affected and there will be the need for Asian Union to spend more in terms of advertising to capture a share of the existing markets. Opportunities: The credit crunch however means that more businesses will seek to expand overseas. This will mean that Asian Union can diversify its operations and focus more on helping British businesses to do business overseas. It can therefore expand its overseas operations and earn more revenue from its partners that operate in the Asian markets. Asian Crises Several countries in Asia have gone through some forms of crises that have affected their economies. For instance there have been various Tsunamis that have hit different parts of South East Asia in the past few years that has affected tourism infrastructure and this has also hit the economies hard. In Japan, the Fukushima disaster has caused the economy to slow down in various forms. Opportunities: The disasters and crises give room for various forms of aid to be sent to these countries. This therefore means that Asian Union can come up with various cargo arrangements with disaster support organisations so that disaster relief and similar items can be shipped to parts of Asia that have gone through different hardships. Also, there is the chance for various campaigns to be ran that will enable Asians living in the UK to send remittances to their families in affected regions easily. This can boost the revenue streams that will accrue to Asian Union Ltd. Threat: The destruction of the tourism institutions and other economic infrastructure in Asia will mean that there will be fewer people visiting these hotspots in Asia. Also, economic challenges can cause various customers in Asia to recline in their demand for the services that Asian Union renders. Social Globalisation Globalisation refers to the harmonisation of standards and the internationalisation of policies and systems around the world (Stephens, 2010). Globalisation has caused nations in Asia to use the same standards as that of the United Kingdom. Due to this, things that are in fashion in the UK are also in fashion in Asia. Opportunities: First of all, this allows Asian Union to get a wider market because almost everything that is of use in the UK can be forwarded to different parts of Asia where they operate. Also, harmonisation has supported the major money transfer partner that Asian Union works with, Western Union to reach the remotest parts of Asia that were cut off from the rest of the world a few years ago. This therefore means that Asian Union can reach a stronger proportion of the Asian Market because of the harmonisation of international standards. Threats: Due to internationalisation, other competitors can easily grow and expand to markets that Asian Union exclusively controlled. This will mean that competition will increase since international players from around the world (America, Asia, Middle East and China) can easily enter the markets without barriers and seek to control the customer base that Asian Union might have gathered. Population Growth in Asia Although China has successfully cut down its population, other Asian countries continue to experience a population boom. India is now set to overtake China in the next few years in terms of population and other nations like Indonesia and Pakistan are fast growing. This therefore means that more and more potential customers are available and it gives Asian Union the opportunity to grow and serve a wider market base. Technological Use of Information & Communication Technology In today's world more and more people are using sophisticated information transmission systems like electronic means of communication. The growth in ICT means that there are more options available to Asian Union to communicate with a wider range of partners than it did in the past. There are now cellphones and other e-commerce tools that can be used by more partners to ensure that they are able to expand their scope of business. Opportunities: There are more options for business expansion through good communication in the form of better and faster access to funds, communication with freight partners and provision of travel and tour services. Threats: The threat is that more businesses can easily become competitors of Asian Union. This is because there is a greater ease in setting up similar companies that will target Asian customers from the UK. Summary of Opportunities and Threats Opportunities 1. Quality control through Anti-Money Laundering Laws 2. New UK freight rules ensure that safety of staff and reputation of staff of Asian Union 3. The credit crunch serves as a motivator to enable Asian Union to expand into new markets in Asia and around the world 4. Asian disasters gives room for the business to re-structure to support relief and development based organisations. 5. Globalisation expands the markets and increases demand because more foreign entities want to do business with the UK 6. Population boom in Asia increases the markets 7. Information technology enhances business between Asian Union and its customers and partners Threats 1. Loss of customers because of Anti-Money Laundering Rules. 2. New freight rules might limit shipping and transactions with high risk nations, most of which are in Asia, the prime market of Asian Union. 3. The credit crunch limits the demand for Asian Union's services 4. Asian crises causes the company to lose potential customers to other regions of the world. 5. Globalisation allows new competitors to enter the market to compete with Asian Union in its traditional markets 6. The growth in Information Technology gives room for cheaper methods and means of business to be conducted by competitors of Asian Union. This can lead to the introduction of new entrants who might become formidable in the future. Marketing Analysis Consumers There are various consumers that are available to Asian Union for its three lines of business: ie Money Transfer, Freight, Travel & Tour. Since it focuses on Asian niches in its business, the customer base can be segmented in two formats 1. Individuals V Corporate Customers: This will include individual customers who might want to use any of the three services that they provide. Individuals like Asians living in the UK might want to remit their families back home. This can be done through the Asian Union Money Transfer. Individuals might also want to ship some items like cars and household products and secondhand goods to their families and friends in Asia. These groups of people form part of the market that Asian Union targets. Corporate entities like businesses might be preferred by Asian Union for the forwarding of freight and cargo. This is because such consumers might want to transfer logistics to aid in their operations. Potential customers include trading businesses, petrochemical businesses, mechanical entities and the like. Another group of corporate customers might want to undertake group tours and business travels and this is one of the main sources of revenue for Asian Union. 2. Geographical/Regional: Segmenting the Asian market into national and regional lines can help Asian Union to serve its clients who have links to Asia better. In the eyes of most people around the world, Asians are a big family. However, in reality, Asians are very different and each class of Asians have different tastes and preferences. Therefore Asian Union has segmented its customers based on five broad zones: Indian subcontinent, Central Asian, China, Southeast Asia and the Far East. Indian subcontinent includes Pakistani, Bangladeshi, Indian and Sri Lankan business links. This targets tourism, money transfer and shipping to these countries. Central Asian Operations focuses on customer needs in Afghanistan, Iran and the United Arab Emirates. The China unit focuses on China and related countries like Hong Kong and Taiwan. The Southeast Asia examines customer needs in Myanmar, Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and similar nations that are within that area. The Far East Operations focuses on customers in Japan, South Korea and Australia. Competitor Analysis In the three areas of operations, Asian Union has competitors from various levels of business. Freight In the freight and cargo sector, Asian Union has global competitors like DHL, Fedex and UPS who have a worldwide reach and focus. These companies target larger companies and multinationals to provide services for them. Other competitors that specialize in the Asian markets like Asian Freight Solutions, Parcel2Go and Asian InterCargo prove to be very close contenders because most of them are also located on the Hendon Broadway and they vie with Asian Union for the same kinds of customers. Money Transfer There are small independent money transfer agencies like AsianFunds Direct that send money directly from UK to Asian countries. These businesses are independent and therefore gather their profits and use them to expand. As an agent of Western Union though, Asian Union is in direct competition with other outlets that provide Western Union services like post offices, banks and similar entities. Travel& Tours There are some global players that are popular and known all around the world like Sunseekers Tours which have operations all over the world. In terms of direct competition though, there are some entities that are very much specialized in the Asian markets like TransIndus UK, Travel Indonesia UK, Knoni Travel UK and Xplore-Asia that can stand up to the competition posed by Asian Union. Seven Ps Analysis of Asian Union Products: Asian Union provides services that are strongly skewed towards Asian consumers. They have enormous expertise and experience in Asia, so they provide services in local Asian dialects and also provide unique and specific needs and desires of international clients that want to penetrate into the UK. Price: The pricing of Asian Union is often low. They co-operate with cheap and no-frills partners as well as top-class entities. Asian Union has therefore segmented its prices in order to provide packages that are appropriate for a wide range of members of the potential market. Promotion: The promotions of Asian Union are often in the local dialects of the targeted audience. This is quite rare in the UK where most promotions are done in English. Rather, Asian Union uses the language that Asians can understand according to their origins. Also, for international customers, they provide promotional drives that are skewed towards specific needs of individuals and organisations that might need them Place: Asian Union operates in a suburb of the London that is highly accessible to various members of the Asian community. Although the location of Asian Union is quite small, it has modern and up-to-date technology and comfortable furniture to welcome different classes of guests. Asian Union also has an outlet over the Internet which is being developed to enable more long-distance businesses to be conducted. Processes: Asian Union uses real-time automated systems to process its orders and conduct its business. Due to this, Asian Union gets quick response and meet deadlines. Although customers need to come to their premises, Internet and Telephone are important points through which business is initiated. Physical Evidence: Asian Union has clear signage of its various partners at its premises and on its website. There is a good diagramatic representation of what they do and this creates a very positive impression to a potential customer. People: Asian Union is ran by qualified managers who have experience working in the travel and tour industry. They are supported by seasoned young and trained tour operators who are always willing to support in the attainment of objectives. Finally, they operate according to a high level of courtesy. Conclusion Asian Union is a small travel and tours, money transfer agency and freight forwarding business. It is located in a strategic point in the world and capitalizes on the various strengths that it has to promote co-operation with its international partners. Asian Union has global competitors and other smaller entities similar to it who compete with it for the same market share. Asian Union survives by taking up very competitive stands and this can be analysed through the 7Ps of marketing. References Asian Union (2011) Welcome to Asian Union Available online at: http://asianunion.co.uk/ Accessed: 22nd November, 2011. Asian Union Express & Travel (2011) Available online at: http://www.192.com/atoz/business/london-nw9/travel-agent/asian-union-express--travel-ltd/e3ec8283e964b26e702231529f8005b9fd101c23/ml/ Accessed: 22nd November, 2011. Google Maps (2011) Location of Asian Union Ltd, Available online at: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=51.577176,-0.237579&spn=0.028484,0.055189&t=m&z=14&vpsrc=6 Accessed: 22nd November, 2011. Stephens, Robin (2010) Internationalisation and Globalisation in the 21st Century Polity Press: London. Read More

 

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