Geographic Limits to Global Labor Market †MyAssignmenthelp.com

Question: Discuss about the Geographic Limits to Global Labor Market Flexibility. Answer: Introduction The royal Caribbean international is an cruise line brand that was found to Norway with its base in Miami, Florida in the United States. The cruise brand is owned by Royal Caribbean cruises limited. The line currently operates 25 ships which six additional ships already in order. The cruise ship also controls 21.9 percent of the cruise market all around the world. In addition, ships all around the world have branded names that end with of the seas like the empress of the seas. This practice began in 1991 and has been able to attract customers all around the world(Ahmed, et al., 2016). The company has invested so much in their customer care segments to ensure that people subscribing to the ships have the best customer experience. For example there is the Royal Promenade which includes the Voyager class, the oasis class and freedom class ship, this is a centerline promenade that has a long multi-deck atrium featuring a pedestrian mall, restaurants and shops(Gruca Rego, 2005). These promenades are also used as entertainment venues where the cruise ship hosts parades and dance parties for customers. The voyager class ship for example is 118.9 meters long and 121.9 meters long for the freedom class ships. Also in there is a dynamic dining which was introduced in 2015 that replaced the main dining on the quantum class ships. Those ships that have dynamic dining also have not featured in the main dining room. Currently it is the third worlds largest cruise line operator in the world. Currently reports indicate that the cruise has 43 shops with the capacity to 105, 750 berths. The cruise ships are reported to carry over 5 million passengers in a year with an estimated occupancy rate of 105.6%. the company is also one of the biggest employers with a total of 64,000 employees in their cruise ships. Around 86% of their employees are also covered by collective bargaining agreements(Terry, 2011). Literature review According to Anderson, et al. (2004), guest satisfaction is the heart for any service based industry. Anderson, et al. (2004), adds that the main purpose of marketing in any service industry is to ensure customer satisfaction with regard to their needs and wants. When a company is able to satisfy its customer it become essential for the industry since a satisfied customer will mean that the company is going to be rewarded on their favorable behaviors. In particular, marketing researchers have also discovered that when there is an increase in guest satisfaction, the firms will be rewarded with favorable behavior(Luo Homburg, 2007). There is also enough evidence that suggests when a company is able to enhance guest satisfaction, it will drive the company to higher profitability. This in turn increases the willingness of customers to pay more for the services and make a positive recommendation and the use of their services repeatedly. In this manner the company will also develop loyalty to the company. in addition, empirical evidence from the companies also suggest that guest satisfaction plays a very important role in generating long term advantages for companies with regard to sustained guest profitability and loyalty. There has also been a lot of attempts by researchers to define and clarify the meaning of guest satisfaction in the cruise ship service industry. in this regard, a lot of definitions on guest satisfaction has been provided by researchers. Gruca Rego (2005) for example looks at guest satisfaction on the side of being able to fulfil the response in which the level of services related fulfilment is still pleasant or unpleasant. Also Luo Homburg (2007) describes guest satisfaction as the post purchase evaluation that is made with regard to the decision to purchase a decision. Also Liu, et al. (2015) looks at guest satisfaction as an assessment that is made with the guest experience or the product wa s good as it was expected to be. Also with regard to a study that was conducted to examine guest satisfaction in the service industry, guest satisfaction was viewed as being a cognitive assessment of services or the quality of amenities and other guest oriented elements in relation to customer experience. Guest satisfaction is a very important aspect in marketing, this has attracted a lot of researchers from the travel and tours industry who have come up with various theories that aim at explaining the idea of guest satisfaction(Anderson, et al., 2004). With the use of such theories, like the expectancy theory, cognitive dissonance and contrast theory, industries are in a better position to understand the needs of their customers and be able to package their products in this line. Behavioral Intentions When looking at a theory like the Reasoned Action, behavioral intention is among the motivational factors with regard to volition behavior which is correlated to the behavior itself. In this manner the rate of relationship among the actual actions and behavioral intention will receive a much stronger criticism from researchers(Terry, 2011). It is also important to note that behavioral intentions are also widely used as a rational factor to determine future customer behavior. For example this can be used to determine the relevance of patronage intentions with regard to employee willingness to return to the positive word or mouth(Anderson, et al., 2004). Here behavioral intentions are also defined as the probability that a customer is going to execute a particular action in the future. When the behavioral intentions are favorable to the company, the it means that the guest will execute a positive word of mouth like saying good things about the company and recommending the company to his or her peers, the customer may also decide to pay for premium services after being satisfied with the ordinary services(Liu, et al., 2015). The unfavorable behavioral intentions will occur in the event that the customer was disappointed with the services. It is important that the cruise ship exercises activities that will ensure positive behavioral intention for the business to ensure loyalty, profitability and low guest turnover. The cruise industry is provided customers with a lot of positive aspects with regard to vacationing and leisure. The industry offers customers with the ability to increase personal knowledge of the world. The is a more cultural diverse knowledge that can also broaden the choice of business. international travel in this manner has continued to impact in the running of business all around the world. Employees and executives have also increased their knowledge with regard to legalities, knowledge, politics and cultures(Anderson, et al., 2004). This kind of knowledge is good at improving the corporate structure when it comes to financial sales, and marketing management practices with regard to personal fulfilment. In this manner, the cruise industry presents a perfect direction of this enhancement(Argerich Cruz-Czares, 2017). This is because cruising and leisure travel is continued to impact on the lives of different world economies around the world. This is possible through integration and expansion of regional sales, markets, supply and demand all around the world. With regard to the above market research different sampling procedures will be explored in the methodology. With regard to the above case, the market research will employ different data collection methods to gain the required sample. This will include both the primary and secondary data. According to Argerich Cruz-Czares, (2017), secondary data looks at the data which has existed and is already been examined by other academics on the subject. Argerich Cruz-Czares, (2017), adds that relevant literature is one that looks at different sources like newspapers, journals and books. Part of the data collected for this market research was from newspapers and published reports regarding the company performance in different areas of guest satisfaction. However, the most important part of data came from the primary source. This is the raw data that is collected using a survey based questionnaire or interview(Argerich Cruz-Czares, 2017). A survey based questionnaire is usually important as pr ovides the research with a much needed quantitative data. In addition, interviews that are done during the research also provides more information on the subject. In this regard, it was important that both the qualitative and quantitative data be used in the research. Administration Plan During the sampling plan, the researcher made use of a self-administered internet questionnaire to collect raw data from the sample. There will be a semi structured questionnaire which will be prepared by given to 200 customers who have been using the Caribbean cruise ships for more than two years(Argerich Cruz-Czares, 2017). The researcher will also contact the customers through their email obtained from the management , and especially those that have raised complaints to the administration. It is important during this time that the researcher clearly indicate to the customer what the research is all about and that it is not harmful to him or to the organisation. In this regard, customer rapport with the researcher is easily created(Argerich Cruz-Czares, 2017). In this research the questionnaire consisted of 25 questions which are mean to find out the impacts of customer oriented services at Caribbean cruise ships and how the company can improve to gain guest satisfaction(Argerich Cruz-Czares, 2017). The length of the questionnaire is estimated at 10-20 minutes. A Likert scale was important in the questionnaire and consisted of the following variables : Very Good-4, Satisfactory-3, Poor-2, Very Poor-1. The questionnaire also had open ended questions to allow for the respondent add more information they feel necessary. During the marketing research on the sample, interviews were also carried as a way of collecting data that is related to the operations philosophy of the cruise ship. Qualitative interviews according to Argerich Cruz-Czares, (2017), also depend to the rapport between the interviewee and the interviewer which will be used to join the construction of a dialogue between them. This technique is applied well during the interview and the managers and quest complaint department were the samples chosen for the interview method. Some of the issues that were asked in the interview included the level of competency in royal Caribbean. This is because it is one of the main determinant of increase in guest satisfaction. Factors of competency also play on the commitment by the managers to improve levels of guest satisfaction(Luo Homburg, 2007). Other factors that were looked at include customer management, ability to deal with interfering cases, managing disputes in the cruise ship and the ability to focus on the guest as the most important part of the ship(Luo Homburg, 2007). The other focus looked at globalization. The questionnaires also looked at how the cruise ship makes decisions with regard to globalized business environment. This is a very important part of the sample as it will be able to provide the company with more personal touch information regarding customers and the services at the cruise ship. All these issues were captured in a sampling plan that consist of every department working in the ship, especially those in the hotel and hospitality department(Terry, 2011). This was important as it will enable them shape up a good marketing program to that will enable an increase to the number of customers coming in to the cruise ship. Some of the ethical considerations will be to write introductory letters to all the sample respondents including those that will be interviewed. A confidentiality clause will also be included in the research to assure the respondents that the market research is purely meant to improve services for the cruise ship business. References Ahmed, Z. et al., 2016. Country-of-origin and brand effects on consumers' evaluations of cruise lines.. International Marketing Review. , Volume 19, pp. 279-302. Anderson, E., Fornell, C. Mazvancheryl, S., 2004. Customer Satisfaction and Shareholder Value. Journal of Marketing, 68(4), pp. 172-185. Argerich, J. Cruz-Czares, C., 2017. Definition, sampling and results in business angels' research: toward a consensus.. Management Decision, Volume 55, p. 310. Gruca, T. Rego, L., 2005. Customer Satisfaction, Cash Flow, and Shareholder Value. Journal of Marketing, 69(3), pp. 115-130. Liu, C., Chou, S., Gan, B. Tu, J., 2015. How quality determines customer satisfaction". The TQM Journal, Volume 27, pp. 576-590. Luo, X. Homburg, C., 2007. Neglected Outcomes of Customer Satisfaction. Journal of Marketing, 71(2), pp. 133-149. Terry, W., 2011. Geographic limits to global labor market flexibility: The human resources paradox of the cruise industry. Geoforum, 42(6), pp. 660-670.