Convenient Travel: Organization Background

Convenient Travel: Organization Background

In 1999 in the state of Utah, Convenient Travel was incorporated. Convenient Travel is an electronic commerce company that conducts business with its customers primarily on the Internet. Convenient Travel is an organization that focuses on specific travel markets in Mexico and the Caribbean. The organization has maintained constant financial growth since its foundation in 1999, except in 2001. Its current year growth has surpassed over the prior year and the revenue growth rate has also excelled over the prior year. Convenient Travel is a small organization with seven employees, eight shareholders who hold ownership and five shareholders who serve on the board of directors. The company promotes that almost all employees participate in a profit sharing plan. In addition, the organizations annual revenues are in the millions and company profitability and productivity are elevated. Convenient Travel offers mainly hotel booking services to Mexico and the Caribbean to its customers. Specifically, they sell hotel booking arrangements, transportation transfers and customized tours to travelers from the United States, Europe and Asia (Pedersen & Paper, 2007).

General Business

Convenient Travel describes themselves as a pure play electronic commerce travel company. A pure play organization means that they conduct all of their business on the Internet. The organization offers several Web sites to travel locations in Mexico and the Caribbean and then they book the hotel reservations, airport transfers and transportation services, customized travel packages, and tours and charter services through the Web sites. Convenient Travels main objective is that they are focused on a market niche through offering packaged customized tours. Convenient Travel relies on the relationships they develop with the targeted hotels; transportation services companies, airlines, and tour and charter companies in order to provide the best service to their customers. The organization targets its vendors based on their reputation within the travel industry regarding value, price, customer service, and the capacity to serve their customers (Pedersen & Paper, 2007).

Management Structure

The organizational structure of Convenient Travel is a relatively flat. Meaning that the company has only seven full time employees and everyone has direct access to everyone else in the organization. This structure reduces organizational politics and bureaucracy and creates direct relationships among employees. The employees spend time with each other on a daily basis and also spend time with each other's family outside of the business. The company is directed by the board of directors, which has five members including the president of the company. The president of Convenient Travel runs the day-to-day organizational operations. In addition, the company also contains three main employees groups known as customer services, technical development, and business development (Pedersen & Paper, 2007).

Financial Position and Challenges

The Convenient Travel organization is currently a financially secure company, but the organization did face some challenges in the aftermath of September 11th, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Centers in New York City. As a result of the September 11th, 2001 attacks the Convenient Travel organization's revenue fell significantly and the drop in revenue forced the company to impose important changes. These changes include managing costs more efficiently and a corporate reorganization. Additionally, the Convenient Travel organization also had some financial difficultly resulting from the hurricanes Emily and Wilma in 2005. The organization resulted in such a drastic cut in business because the hurricanes hit the Yucatan Peninsula, which is the primary market for travel for the organization. As a result of changing travel market, Convenient Travel is a more flexible, adaptable, and prepared organization. "The president's plan involved a innovation management that drew upon an astute understanding of the potential of information technology, the existing corporate climate, and the economic outlook and potential of the travel industry" (Pedersen & Paper, 2007, p. 77). This strategic plan that the president developed helped the Convenient Travel organization survive the difficult times of the travel industry and provided the organization distinct future goals (Pedersen & Paper, 2007).

Competition

The Convenient Travel organization is an electronic commerce business that conducts the majority of their transactions with their customers over the Internet. As a result of their organizational structure, Convenient Travel is considered to be an Internet travel provider. "The organization competes with many of the most easily recognizable Internet travel provides including Expedia.com, Travelocity.com, Orbitz.com, and Priceline.com" (Pedersen & Paper, 2007, p. 73). Convenient Travel has established a competitive advantage by focusing the majority of their market share on customers traveling to Mexico and the Caribbean. Meanwhile, most the their competitors have an extremely diversified market share focuses on many different travel markets including destinations within the United States and around the world (Pedersen & Paper, 2007).

Strategic Planning

The strategic planning involved within the Convenient Travel organizational revolves around establishing and maintaining relationships between aspects of the travel industry. The organization founders have been working in the travel industry for over twenty years and the boards of directors have a combined experience and relationships within the travel industry for over sixty years. The company's competitive advantage also revolves around the excellent reputation of the employee's dedication to the organization's growth within the travel industry. Another aspect of Convenient Travel's strategic planning process is their image of professional and technological advancement within the travel industry. The organization's goal is to lead the travel industry in technological advancement and the creation of technology related industry products and services of superior quality. In addition to the organizational strategic plans is the development of employee's skills and personalities that best meet the needs of the company's diverse customers'. Employees at Convenient Travel have the opportunity to receive various rewards system including "point-driven bonus plan for base employees and a shareholder distribution plan" (Pedersen & Paper, 2007,