United Air Lines
- This is a preview of the essay.
To view the full text you must login!
United's major stakeholders includes their employees and stockholders, who in a relatively unique situation, overlap more than in almost any other industry due to the fact that the unions hold some 55 percent of the stock in the company. As a result the employees are much more heavily invested in their company and therefore are perhaps the group with most at stake in the company as well as most of the power since they can negotiate on the labor level, but also influence decisions on the corporate level. Other shareholders are also stake holders as are most of the general public and many businesses which rely on United for transportation, especially those who live in areas not well serviced by other airlines; these groups however have little if any power to influence the organization in anything other than an economic sense. Finally, I would say that the federal government is a stake holder for several reasons, they are perceived to be responsible to keep the airline industry running and secure in the wake of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Centers, they heavily regulate the industry and bear some criticism if the contribute to a airline's downfall at this point in time, and as overseers and orchestraters of the general direction of the US economy it would be unwise of them to allow the airline industry to crumble or deteriorate due to its high need both in the private and public sectors, and its impact on the overall economy. Of all stakeholders, the feds have by far the most power as they usually do, but they justifiably seem reluctant to use it.
2) Far and away the two most significant environmental factors affecting United are the price of jet fuel and the aftermath of the terrorist attacks as relates to both the changing economic factors within the industry, and the public perception of flying in general. As oil prices rise and demand grows the refining capacity remains stagnant resulting in a huge upturn in the prices of oil related products, namely jet fuel. Since fuel is the airline industry's second biggest cost regardless of the price, when the cost goes up bottom lines suffer, especially since the downturn in business the last several years have made it much more difficult for the airlines to pass on those price increases to the customer. The other major factor, public perception, has been a huge factor in the decline of the airline industry since 9/11. With part of the public more afraid of flying than ever and the now stringent security measures being enforced, fewer people are flying, costs have gone up, and industry growth is negligible...