Freedom Fighters free essay sample

The British colonial authorities derogatorily called the great leader as Father of the Indian unrest. He was also conferred with the honorary title of Lokmanya, which literally means Accepted by the people (as their leader). Tilak was one of the first and strongest advocates of Swaraj (self-rule) in Indian consciousness.  As one of the founders of the Non-Aligned Movement, he was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the 1930s and ’40s. Nehru established parliamentary government and became noted for his â€Å"neutralist† policies in foreign affairs. The son of the wealthy barrister and politician Motilal Nehru, Jawaharlal Nehru became a leader of the left wing of the Congress when fairly young. Rising to become Congress President under the mentorship of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, Nehru was a charismatic and radical leader, advocating complete independence for India from the British Empire. He is often referred to as Shaheed Bhagat Singh Born to a Jat Sikh family which had earlier been involved in revolutionary activities against the British Raj, Singh, as a teenager, became an atheist and had studied European revolutionary movements. We will write a custom essay sample on Freedom Fighters or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page He also became attracted to anarchism and marxist ideologies. He became involved in numerous revolutionary organizations. He quickly rose through the ranks of the Hindustan Republican Association (HRA) and became one of its leaders, converting it to the Hindustan Socialist Republican Association (HSRA). She was not allowed to adopt a successor after his death by the British, and Jhansi was annexed. With the outbreak of the Revolt she became determined to fight back. She used to go into the battlefield dressed as a man. Holding the reins of there horse in her mouth she used the sword with both hands. Under her leadership the Ranis troops showed undaunted courage and returned shot for shot. Considered by the British as the best and bravest military leader of rebels this sparkling epitome of courage died a heros death in the battlefield. The first name that comes to mind is that of the famous Rani Laxmibai of Jhansi. His response to her fiery speech brought into her life the impact of a visionary who saw in her oratory and brilliance a leader of the future. The period from 1917 to 1919 was the most dynamic phase of Sarojinis career. During this time, she campaigned for the Montagu Chelmsford Reforms, the Khilafat issue, the draconian Rowlett Act and the Satyagraha. When Gandhi launched the Civil Disobedience Movement ,she proved a faithful lieutenant. With great courage she quelled the rioters, sold proscribed literature, addressed frenzied meetings on the carnage at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar. In 1930 when Mahatma Gandhi chose her to lead the Salt Satyagraha the stories of her courage became legion. After Gandhis arrest she had prepared 2,000 volunteers under the scorching sun to raid the Dahrsana Salt Works, while the police faced them half a mile up the road with rifle, lathis (canes) are steel tipped clubs. The volunteers wildly cheered when she shook off the arm of the British police officer who came to arrest her and marched proudly to the barbed wire stockade where she was interned before being imprisoned. Freedom struggle was in full force and she came under the influence of Gopalakrishna Gokhale and Gandhi. She was a leader of Womens Satyagraha for which she was imprisoned. She helped her husband in the cause of Indigo workers in Champaran, Bihar and the No Tax Campaign in Kaira, Gujarat. She was arrested twice for picketing liquor and foreign cloth shops, and in 1939 for participating in the Rajkot Satyagraha. Born to Gokuladas Makharji of Porbandar. Kasturba married Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) through arrangement. They were both 13 years old. At that time, she was illiterate, and so Gandhi taught her to read and write — a potentially radical move, given the position of women in India at that time. When Gandhi left to study in London in 1888, she remained in India to raise their newborn son Harilal. She had three more sons Manilal (1892), Ramdas (1897), and Devdas (1900). In 1906, Mohandas Gandhi decided to practice brahmacharya, and the couple became celibate. Although she stood by her husband, she did not always easily accept his ideas. Gandhi had to work hard to persuade her to see (and agree to) his points of view. Kasturba was deeply religious. Like her husband, she renounced all caste distinctions and lived in ashrams. Kasturba often joined her husband in political protests. She traveled to South Africa in 1897 to be with her husband. From 1904 to 1914, she was active in the Phoenix Settlement near Durban. During the 1913 protest against working conditions for Indians in South Africa, Kasturba was arrested and sentenced to three months in a hard labor prison. Later, in India, she sometimes took her husbands place when he was under arrest. In 1915, when Gandhi returned to India to support indigo planters, Kasturba accompanied him. She taught hygiene, discipline, reading and writing to women and children. Kasturba suffered from chronic bronchitis. She became an active member of Congress Party after marriage and participated in public processions during the Salt Satyagraha. She was arrested on the charge that she was a vagrant and hence not released in 1931 under the Gandhi-Irwin Pact which stipulated release of all political prisoners. Other women co-prisoners refused to leave the premises unless she was also released and gave in only after Mahatma Gandhi intervened. A public agitation secured her release. In 1932, she was held prisoner at the Tihar Jail where she protested the indifferent treatment of political prisoners by launching a hunger strike. Her efforts resulted in an improvement of conditions in the Tihar Jail but she was moved to Ambala and was subjected to solitary confinement. She was politically not very active after her release. Her father Upendranath Ganguly hailed from Barisal district of Eastern Bengal but settled in the United Province. He was a restaurant owner and a very adventurous man. Mother Ambalika Devi was the daughter of Trailokyanath Sanyal,a renowned Brahmo leader who wrote many beautiful brahmo hyms. Upendranath Gangulys younger brother Dhirendranath Ganguly (D G) was one of the earliest film directors. Another brother Nagendranath, a soil biologist was married to Rabindranath Tagores only surviving daughter Mira Devi though they got separated after sometime. Her sister, Purnima Banerjee was a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. On August 8, 1942, the AICC passed the Quit India resolution at the Bombay session. The government responded by arresting the major leaders and all members of the Congress Working Committee and thus tried to pre-empt the movement from success. A young Aruna Asaf Ali presided over the remainder of the session on 9 August and hoisted the Congress flag at the Gowalia Tank maidan. This marked the commencement of the movement. The police fired upon the assembly at the session. Aruna was dubbed the Heroine of the 1942 movement for her bravery in the face of danger and was called Grand Old Lady of the Independence movement in her later years. Despite absence of direct leadership, spontaneous protests and demonstrations were held all over the country, as an expression of desire of India’s youth to achieve independence. Aruna Asaf Ali was awarded International Lenin Peace Prize for the year 1964. She was awarded India’s highest civilian award, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1997.

Analysis of Pricing and Distribution Strategy at British Airways The WritePass Journal

Analysis of Pricing and Distribution Strategy at British Airways Introduction Analysis of Pricing and Distribution Strategy at British Airways Introduction Company’s outlookPricing Strategy Distribution Strategy Evaluation Conclusion and Recommendations  ReferencesRelated Introduction British Airways is the flagship airline carrier for United Kingdom, formed in 1974. With significant presence at Heathrow, Gatwick and London City with over 20 million people living within commuting distance. BA has a fleet of more than 238 aircrafts in service as of March 2010 and flies to 41 different destinations in America, 9 in the UK, 67 in Europe, 16 in the Middle-East and South-Asia and 7 in the Asia Pacific region, carrying around 32 million passengers between 2009 and 2010 as well as operating a large air cargo business alongside. BA, American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas form the Oneworld airline alliance which is now the third largest airline alliance group. In 2011 BA merged with Iberia forming IAG with 408 aircrafts flying to 200 destinations and carrying 55 million passengers and allowing the two companies to enhance their presence in the market whilst retaining their own brands and allowing their customers to benefit from a larger network of travel (iairgroup.com/ 2011). Company’s outlook British Airways sees itself as a vital link for trade and investment, specialising in short to medium length international journeys which has seen revenue of  £8 billion in 2009/10. This figure is down 11% on the previous year due mainly to price of fuel and the recession. BA’s main activity revolves around passenger travel which accounts for 87% of 2009/10 revenue, supposed to 7% from cargo and 6% from other means. The acquisition of Iberia in 2011 has allowed BA to increase its capabilities in the cargo market and diversify their operations. Both companies float on the Spanish and UK stock markets as one under IAG, which floated in late January 2011 at 282p a share; this has dropped to a price of 224.3p per share as of 4th April 2011. The future for British Airways and IAG will be largely affected by its ability to weather the downturn, but with its promise of drastic expansion and a strong market share within the European market (3rd biggest by revenue) (www.bbc.co.uk/new s 2011) Pricing Strategy British Airways prices its products in a way that allows consumers to decide the level of services they want. For example return flight to New York, purchased online is  £376 in economy yet consumers pay a huge increase to  £2728 for the same flight, (www.britishairways.com 2011) but in first class. BA’s premium and medium strategies offers superior quality for greater price allowing the airline to compete with other quality airlines such as Virgin and American Airlines, and base price on customer valuations The price â€Å"is set higher than others to reflect better product quality and exclusivity.† (Brassington and Petitt, 2003: 1106). However in recent years the arrival of low cost carriers and economic turmoil forced BA into providing a low cost formula to remain competitive. The first step towards this was in generating ancillary revenues by introducing a fee per one way flight for passengers booking a seat in advance for all seats except first class. (GMID 2011) Even in the low cost formula, BA are still upholding their image of quality and good customer service as unlike the low cost carriers, where ancillary revenues are the money makers with food, drink and priority boarding all costing extra, BA still provide some level of on board service in the cost of their product. Despite the introduction of a low cost formula, British Airways generally bases prices on perceived value of its brand, and aims to deliver product quality leadership strategy. (www.britishairways.com 2011) The executive club encourages loyalty to the airline and rewards consumers with double airmiles, priority boarding, additional baggage allowance and access to the BA lounge as well as giving the appearance of high quality and good value. However BA recently lowered the price of their business class ticket due to the recession. It has been recognised the company has had to reduce the price of its business class tickets, to remain competitive alongside such competition as Virgin, who have helped battle down the price, along with it’s cliental that have become less willing to pay higher prices during economic hardship. This has help attract more customers, smaller businesses in particular, who are able to do deals and meet contacts around the world. (Times Online 2011). An excellent strategy that has allowed BA to get away from just large organisations and into the smaller/medium sized business market (GMID 2011) is their Face to Face campaign which, on submittance of a business plan, small/medium sized businesses can apply for free business travel. The marginal cost of one more passenger is relatively small, as the majority of costs are largely in fixed costs of running the flight (cost of aircraft, fuel, airport duties etc.). According to Chris Tarry, transport analyst for Commerzbank Securities, BA’s selling cost per passenger in March 2002 was just 10.9% of its average ticket price (insights.org.uk 2011). This allows BA to sell tickets at lower rates when demand is less and higher rates during peak season. For example an economy class ticket to New York would normally be  £376 return but almost doubles over the peak bank holiday period of the Royal Wedding at  £616 (www.britishairways.com 2011). The airline aims to get as many people on the plane as possible, even at a lower price, and make some profit, than the plane taking of near empty and making a loss. Distribution Strategy British Airways tickets are available to purchase from travel agents physical locations and online via their websites, and through BA’s dedicated website, travel shops and reservations staff. With e-commerce radically changing distribution strategies (Solomon et al, 2009), BA and various other airlines are trying to reduce costs to ensure they continue to effectively compete against other players within the airline industry and still provide each customer with their superior service by eliminating their use of various ‘traditional intermediaries’ (Solomon et al, 2009) within their distribution channels. Globally 20% of British Airways tickets are now sold via ba.com, with 54% of these online bookings accounting for their total short haul sales stated by docstoc (2010). It’s recognised from these statistics that the convenience of purchasing airline tickets online is attractive, due to the ability to securely acquire a flight ticket without leaving the comforts of your own home, as well as that purchasing tickets direct from BA.com is significantly cheaper than leading travel agents, for example an economy class ticket flying from London to New York can be purchased for  £368 straight from BA where as Expedia offer the same flight for a staggering  £432.10. However, there is still an area of the market who enjoy purchasing their airline tickets from travel agents physical locations, this is due to travel agencies providing the customer with the same options as to the airline website itself, in such areas as seat preferences, along with the additional personalised service w hich the customer is able to discuss the range of options available to them when booking all areas of their holiday, be their hotel or hire car. An attempt to create a more direct distribution channel process, BA also provides the recognised ‘travel agent’ service options to its customers, through offering a range of hotels, car rental and various other holiday package choices. The various options available to consumers when purchasing BA airline tickets are either through travel agents, or alternatively buy their ticket straight from the BA website, travel shops and reservations staff. It’s seen that prices do vary depending on where tickets are purchased, for instance if a consumer were to purchase their ticket directly from BA’s website, they would commonly pay a lower price, due to the direct business to customer distribution channel, eliminating the need for BA to pay commission to travel agents which is ‘traditionally between 8% and 10% of the ticket price’ (tourism insights, 2002) and for the use of Global Distribution Systems (GDS). GDS is used by airlines to sell flights, through connecting both the airline and the travel agents to sell the tickets. Airlines pay GDS to connect them to travel websites and travel agents to enable their flights to be sold via these organisations, GDS segment fees average at around ‘$10 to $12 per booking’ (tourism insights, 2002). With BA’s distribution costs accounting for 16%-17% of the cost of selling each ticket, no wonder they want to reduce distribution channels to help become more competitive in the growing low fare airline industry, especially due to the ‘travel and tourism industry fast becoming the biggest growth industry in e-commerce payments,’ (docstoc, 2010). Evaluation Overall it is clear that British Airways are aiming for a much more direct distribution channel. They are investing huge amounts of money in improving their online services to try to encourage people to buy online rather than at the extra cost of the middle man travel agent. This also allows the airline to gain vital information about their consumers and their wants and needs, allowing the company to differentiate and target their services appropriately. This will ensure they enhance their competitive market position, through enabling them to provide special offers to different customers, for example in the form of special discounts, special seats with more leg room and passes for their lounges, allowing them to build better relationships with their customers.   The high growth in e-commerce selling in the travel and tourism market is further proof of how important it is for BA to perfect this particular method of distribution. The lower costs from eliminating a middle man, includi ng both online and shop based agents will also allow the firm to appear more competitive in comparison to low cost carriers (LCCs). The introduction of ancillary products and reduction in price of business class tickets has been key in promoting the price competitiveness of the airline alongside the strong brand image of quality and reliability. The low marginal cost of an extra passenger also gives the airline the ability to lower costs depending on the demand for their product at the time of year; this means that BA can offer their business clients lower prices when it is not peak season such as school holidays. Conclusion and Recommendations By providing more ancillary goods and a reduced cost of the seat, BA will give consumers the options of what they want and become more competitive with the LCC’s, who are extremely popular for short haul flights. For example providing the option to charge extra for food and drink or extra baggage on short haul flights as well as an all inclusive option. Many of the LCC’s only distribute tickets online. To uphold BA’s strong brand image it’s important for them to stay accessible through other distribution systems as many of their more wealthier cliental who spend the most via business and first class tickets, may desire a travel agent. By marketing their online travel agent services they may be able to increase their current 20% online distribution. This will provide a more direct channel to their customers allowing them to market events such as the BA January sale, flights to cheaper destinations and cheaper times to fly that consumers may otherwise be unaware of. Marketing the executive club more effectively to new customers and ensuring that by being a member, consumers actually receive some benefits, they’re likely to remain loyal and recommend the airline. BA could also improve their services by providing questionnaires to passengers. For example, on long haul flights when consumers are more likely to fill them in, and providing a reward – such as a draw for a bottle of champagne. By doing this the company will be able to find out if consumers choose them for their prices, customer service, quality or the routes that they operate under and use this to market the company accordingly. It is clearly important for BA to remain competitive with the LCCs by providing an alternative to the high quality and high price product they currently provide but still keeping their high quality image and providing a service that current, loyal customers expect. Effective online distribution and optional ancillary products are key in achieving this alongside accurate customer research from current and potential consumers. The airline should continue to use their low marginal costs to their advantage when promoting the airline to businesses and off peak travellers.   References Balmer, J.M.T, Stuart, H Greyser, A.S (2009) Aligning Identity and Strategy: Corporate Branding at British Airways in the Late 20th Century, CALIFORNIA MANAGEMENT REVIEW VOL. 51, NO. 3 BBC News: bbc.co.uk/news/business-12265332 [Accessed 4th April 2011] Brassington, F, Pettitt, S (2000), (2nd Edition) Principles of Marketing Harlow, Prentice Hall British Airways (2011) www.britishairways.com [accessed 19th March 2011] British Airways (2011) Buy Travel [Online] britishairways.com/travel/fx/public/en_gb?eId=111011timestamp=0315023921 [Accessed 15th March 2011] Docstoc (2010) Visa Case study: British Airways come buy with me –worldwide airline offers worldwide online protection [Online] docstoc.com/docs/26949398/britishairways [Accessed: 6th March 2011] Expedia (2011) Flights [Online] expedia.co.uk/pub/agent.dll [Accessed 15th March 2011] GMID portal.euromonitor.com.chain.kent.ac.uk/Portal/ResultsList.aspx [Accessed 7th March 2011] Insights (2011) insights.org.uk/articleitem.aspx?title=The+Changing+Face+of+Airline+Distribution [Accessed 20th March 2011] International Airlines Group (2010) iairgroup.com/   [Accessed 4th April 2011] Solomon, Marshall, Stuart, Barnes Mitchell (2009) Marketing: Real People, Real Decisions. Essex, Pearson Education Limited. Times Online (2011) http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/transport/article5477962.ece [Accessed 17th March 2011] Tourism insights (2002) The Changing Face of Airline Distribution [Online] insights.org.uk/articleitem.aspx?title=The+Changing+Face+of+Airline+Distribution [Accessed: 6th March 2011]