Financial risk is the risk a corporation faces due to its exposure to market factors such as interest rates, foreign exchange rates, commodities and stock prices. Financial risks for the most part, can be hedged due to the existence of large, efficient markets through which these risks can be transferred. This is unlike operating risk, which is associated with more manufacturing and marketing activities. Operating risk cannot be hedged because these risks are not traded.
In GM’s case they used a passive hedging policy in which they hedged 50% of all significant foreign exchange exposures arising from cash flows associated with ongoing business. Passive hedging is used by highly risk-averse companies that would like to be completely certain of their future cash flows through hedging a significant portion of their risk exposure. This can be achieved by locking in a specific price either through long- term contracts between a supplier and buyer, or through a derivatives contract such as futures, forward or swaps, which are available on most leading commodity exchanges. In the case of GM, they used forward contracts to hedge exposure arising within six months. GM’s longer-term strategy is that of options, which allows them to either buy or sell in the spot market without necessarily being committed to hedge contract. But such a method imposes a heavy hedging cost in the form of option premiums which have to be paid up front at the time of hedging.
The hedging strategy that I have chosen is that of Southwest Airlines strategy over the past decade. Up until the 3th quarter of 2008 they enjoyed 69 straight quarterly profits dating back to 1991. In 2008 Southwest had over 70% of its fuel needs hedged at around $51 a barrel. Using an...
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...mpany overall. They do not take the calculated risks that other foreign auto manufactures have done in the past and they have been very slow in implementing any kind of fuel efficient cars. Southwest has proved to be a very wise and smart player in the airline industry, even though they posted losses in the past 2 quarters, this does not overshadow the 17 year streak, which has allowed them to expand more than any other airline in the industry. Southwest would be my preferred business to work with.
Bibliography
1: http://www.kellogg.northwestern.edu/research/fimrc/papers/jet_fuel.pdf
2: http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=271669
3: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/steffy/6063444.html
4: http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6631782.html
Resources
http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/travel/2008-07-23-southwest-jet-fuel_N.htm
Southwest airlines is one of the most widely respected companies among those profiled by Firms of Endearment. They are recognized for having one of the best corporate cultures, which is emphatically encouraged from the top down. Southwest’s model clearly exemplifies the concept of servant leadership, and we will elaborate on how this creates a firm of endearment.
This is the historic background of an American Airline company called the Southwest Airlines Co. based in Dallas which still exists and operates with great success between 57 cities in 26 states of the US, by over 300 airplanes , providing primarily short-haul, high frequency, point to point, low fare service . Through this essay we will see an analysis of the company’s advantages and disadvantages through a SWOT Analysis. We will try to localize the problems of the company at the time and in the case of a future expansion, and we will try to give a number of alternative solutions and chose one of them. The Southwest Airlines is a company that has done its first movements in the airline world in 1971 after many efforts for its opening through legal battles with competitors that did not believe that there was any particular reason why the another airline company should exist among all the others already existing. The different things that the new airline company provided were many and very interesting. The idea started from two friends Rolling King, and investment advisor, and Herb Kelleher, his lawyer, who met in order to discuss the idea of Rolling King for a low-fare, no- frills airline to fly between three major cities in Texas. The outcome of this discussion was in reality the decision of the two men to go for something that they believed would work, even though they were not positive about that. After all the legal battles between the two men and the airline companies of Texas at the time who believed it was not necessary for another airline company to enter the market, battles that prevented the operation of the company for three whole years, Southwest Airlines Co. had become a reality. Other legal battles followed in the future that justified the Southwest Airlines but left the company broke, while during the first year of its operations made losses and the earnings for the next half a year were balancing with costs. Gladly the recovery came soon and by 1978 Southwest Airlines was one of the most profitable in the country. Later on, Southwest Airlines Co. managed to provide airline transportation in eight more cities in Texas and dominated the Texas market, with low prices and frequent departures. Today the Southwest Airlines Co. is a very big domestic airline company, the fourth in the US. We will now have a small analysis of the company’s environme...
The seventh largest major domestic airline in the United States (US), Southwest Airlines, is commonly known or referred to as a low-cost carrier. Southwest Airlines is the only major airline that provides short-haul, point-to-point service in the United States. In fact it was the first airline of its type ever started; it has become the archetypical low-cost airline. The idea has proven itself so well, that other start-up airlines have based their company strategies upon the basics of Southwest. Today, there are two other low-cost air carriers (the other two airlines are considered national airlines and not major airlines) that are actively and aggressively competing with Southwest Airlines for business and profit turning. The three American low-cost air carriers are currently posting profits even in light of the US economy’s current state of affairs, with Southwest Airlines first, JetBlue second, and Air Tran third, in profits. How is this possible when the major six airlines are reporting losses of millions and millions of dollars each quarter? The answer to this question begins about 30 years ago.
Despite its growing domestic network, the company didn’t offer international flights until July 2014, and even then, it only offered limited destinations (“Southwest Corporate Fact Sheet,” n.d.). Furthermore, the company’s reliance on a single aircraft is cause for concern. Southwest Airlines was also weak with technology utilization initially but has since turned this into an asset, as described later. Finally, the company has a limitation with providing customer perks due to its low-cost operations (Ross & Beath,
Southwest Airlines strategy of focusing on short haul passenger and providing rates as low as one third of their competitors, they have seen tremendous growth in the last decade. Market share for top city pairs on Southwest's schedule has reached 80% to 85%. Maintaining the largest fleet of 737's in the world and utilizing point-to-point versus the hub-and-spoke method of connection philosophy allowed Southwest to provide their service to more people at a lower cost. By putting the employee first, Southwest has found the key to success in the airline business. A happy worker is a more productive one as well as a better service provider. Southwest will continue to reserve their growth in the future by entering select markets only after careful market research.
It is evident that the greatest strength that Southwest Airlines has is its financial stability. As known in the US airline industry, Southwest is one of those airlines who are consistently earning profits despite the problems the industry is facing. With such stability, the corporation is able to make decisions and adjust policies, which other heavily burdened airlines may not be able to imitate.
Since 1987, when the Department of Transportation began tracking Customer Satisfaction statistics, Southwest has consistently led the entire airline industry with the lowest ratio of complaints per passengers boarded. Many airlines have tried to copy Southwest’s business model, and the Culture of Southwest is admired and emulated by corporations and organizations in all walks of life. Always the innovator, Southwest pioneered Senior Fares, a same-day air freight delivery service, and Ticketless Travel. Southwest led the way with the first airline web page—southwest.com, DING, the first-ever direct link to Customer’s computer desktops that delivers live updates on the hottest deals, and the first airline corporate blog, Nuts About Southwest. Our Share the Spirit community programs make Southwest the hometown airline of every city we serve.
Like in the case of Ryanair’s Chief executive officer Michael O’Leary, after September 11th he invested heavily in aircrafts as the prices dropped dramatically following the attacks. Airlines are notable for hedging to protect fuel costs. Hedg...
However, it seems their portfolio diversification of businesses are becoming their major problems and not really give the benefit of diversification for its investor. This issue arises because Wesfarmers has some weakness in managing its business as collective portfolio, they instead assume to be more focus on Coles. As for improvement and support the corporate objective to deliver long term shareholders return, we advice Wesfarmers to manage collectively its businesses, keep maintaining its financial management aligned with its objectives and value. Furthermore, acknowledging its exposure to financial risks, we motivate the company to be strategic in using different types of derivatives instrument to mitigate or prevent financial risks, such as options, forward contracts and swaps (e.g. commodities swap contract). Regarding the business acquisition plan, Wesfarmers may also consider to use deal-contingent derivative contracts to hedge risk that may occur during pre-acquisition
Southwest Airlines has always proudly identified themselves as a low cost airline. They have successfully been able to incorporate Human Resource management, merger and acquisitions, financial performance and allocation of resources as part of their corporate strategy. When it comes to the meat and potatoes, Southwest Airlines has implemented a corporate value-creating strategy. Ultimately, because of this strategy, Southwest is surpassing its competitors and gaining a larger share of the market. Furthermore, this strategy is adding perceived value to its products and services by taking advantage of the economies of scope (Bradley, 2016). The airline’s business units can take advantage of their differentiation by lowering their cost structure. For example, Southwest Airlines 714 fleet consist of only one type of aircraft, the Boeing 737. The advantage of having one type of aircraft is extremely cost efficient as the airline only has to train mechanics to repair one type of aircraft and they only have to store parts for one type of aircraft therefore lowering overhead and human resources expenses which translates into lower fares to its passengers (Southwest,
The mission of Southwest Airlines is a dedication to the highest quality of service delivered with warmth, friendliness, individual pride, and company spirit (Mission…, 2007). The company also provides opportunities for learning and personal growth to each employee. Creativity and innovation is very important and highly encouraged, for the purposes of improving effectiveness. Employees are to be provided the same concern, respect, and caring attitude within the organization that the employees are expected to share with the customer. Southwest Airlines was initially created to be a low-cost alternative to high price of intra-Texas air carriers (Freiberg, 1996). Southwest’s fares were originally supposed to compete with car and bus transportation. It was a little airline, and it would withstand the test of time. As a discount, no-frills airline, it would provide stiff competition for larger airlines. Their strategy was to operate at low cost, offering no food, no movies, no first class, and no reserved seats. They created their own market and provided increased turnaround times at the gate, by avoiding hub-and-spoke airports and opting for short-haul, direct flights. Through this market approach, Southwest has a majority of market share in the markets they serve.
Southwest has comprehensive strategy and they work with harmony. They are low cost airlines which make the customer feel like royalty. Southwest have a winning strategy is proven by their profit year after year even thought they had economy crisis. Since 1973 Southwest reported a profit each year even when they lost billions of dollars from the year 1980 to 2009 because of the low operating cost strategy, low fares and customer service. Since the start of Southwest they have stay faithful of keeping low cost across the industry. Their value in corporate culture reflected through their prices and customer service.
It all started in 1971, when Rolling King and Herb Kelleher decided to challenge the existing rut of charging high prices for air travels. They considered the railways and roadways their competitors and decided to offer cheaper travel for smaller routes. The company was incorporated in 1967, apart from initial entry troubles, Southwest has been the only US airline to have earned profits since 1973. The eccentric company’s outlandish way of conducting themselves has been the sole reason for Southwest Airlines to succeed in a highly competitive and packed industry.
Finance theory does not provide a complete framework for explaining risk management under the fluctuated financial environment in which firm operates. Hence, for corporate managers, they rank risk management as one of their top priorities. One of the strategies to reduce risk is by hedging. This paper will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of hedging risk using financial derivatives.
Operational risks are risks that may occur in the day to day activities, which may involve the process, systems, or people. Strategic risks are those risks involved with strategy. Positioning ones’ company with the right alliances and competing with fare prices will help affect future operational decisions. Compliance risks involve the many legislations and regulations a company must follow. The results could lead to high penalties and a company’s reputation could take a hit. Lastly, financial risks are always being monitored because oil, fuel, and currency rates are constantly fluctuating. By monitoring the fluctuating rates determines fare cost and balancing of the budget. “Like in any other industry, the risk exposure quantifies the amount of loss that might occur from any particular activity” (Genovese,