The Reasons For Setting A Business

Virgin is a U.K-based company led by Sir Richard Branson and is one of the three most recognized brands in Britain. The company has a vast history of brand extensions – one of which is their launch of a wireless phone service in the USA. Dan Schulman has been appointed CEO of the Virgin

From 1968 to 2007, Richard Branson leads the Virgin group to become a conglomerate of more than 200 companies with business in music, airlines, rail transport, soft drinks, radio broadcasting and etc. (Grant 2005a:309) The Virgin Group followed many other companies during the 1950 to1980 period in adopting diversification as a mean for corporate growth. The boom of unrelated diversification of the early 1960s and 1970s was halted abruptly however by the failure of many large diversified companies (Grant 2005b:447). The simple action of bringing various businesses together under a single ownership itself was clearly not sufficient in creating shareholder value. The following years

1. Richard Branson's leadership style works for his particular role as visionary and figurehead of his diverse group of companies under the Virgin Group umbrella. However diversified the Virgin Group may be, Branson remains an essentially charismatic and transformative leader. His leadership philosophy is built on employee empowerment and stimulating employee satisfaction. In his own words, Branson states, ""Rather than focusing on mistakes, catch someone doing something right every day," (cited by Adonis, 2010). Likewise, Branson advises that managers "place greater emphasis on unearthing what their employees are thinking and feeling," (cited by Adonis, 2010).

As we know, Virgin Group is a multi-national conglomerate of the Virgin -branded companies that function globally in various industries. Today, Virgin-branded airlines comprise of: Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Virgin Galactic and Virgin America. In this analysis we will look at the primary resources and core capabilities of Virgin Atlantic, identify the purposeful areas of the airline’s organization, which primary resources and core capabilities are located and its position to the airline’s business strategy and its objectives. Furthermore, reviewing how each resource and capabilities are organized and reinforced in a way that aligns with the airline’s economic advantages, and what prospects exist to exploit the key capabilities of Virgin

According to  (1980), firms are under great pressure to have modern plans to be competitive and should have adequate capability to achieve their target market share. Virgin Atlantic Airways is among the most successful business ventures of the Virgin empire owned by Richard Branson. Its strategic development is rooted on the need to surpass competitors while balancing financial resources, increased revenue and maximum productivity. As stated, Virgin Atlantic Airways is a cut-price airline that based its success in serving the lucrative traveler segment of the North Atlantic market by providing outstanding and novel customer

This new territory caused the first major shift in the strategic thinking of Virgin as the airline was capital intensive and by 1985 airfares price war and the investment needs of virgin Atlantic (the airline) had taken its toll on Virgin finances with the result that publicly listed to raise more equity. Virgin’s music, retail, and vision business was brought together to form the Virgin Group and 35% of its equity was listed. Branson was not happy with this new arrangement because of the control that shareholders would hold on direction and this was not in keeping with his nonconformist style and also that he felt that his organization was misunderstood and undervalued by so called experts. The organization culture at Virgin was also at risk in this new arrangement and he seized the opportunity presented by the 1987 stock market crash to buy out external shareholders.

Richard Branson has proved his monumental visionary skills by persistently projecting his fantasies for the organisation and collaborating the resources to move in the direction of fulfilment of those fantasies. He inspires his workers to bring in new ideas and to think of their own thoughts and arrangements. This is exhibited by his routine practice of listening, reading and reacting to the suggestions and messages of his employees. Branson has been depicted as a personality who enjoys the difficulties, risks and challenges in business and the one who derives satisfaction to attain the apparently inaccessible targets. It is a part of who he is and he shows it through his leadership style.

Sir Richard Branson is a British entrepreneur. He was born July 18th 1950 in Blackheath, London. He is known as the founder of the Virgin brand and to be quite the adventurer. The Virgin brand consists of more than 400 companies and to mention some of those are Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Galactic, Virgin Trains and Virgin Mobile. He as a person has made several attempts to break numerous world records. Although he had to try 2 times, he broke the record in fastest Atlantic Ocean crossing with a boat. He also made a record when he crossed the English Channel in an amphibious vehicle. In general he is very flamboyant, e.g. he made a reality show where 16 contestants should do a lot of stunts, which could be to walk a line between two hot air balloons and business related challenges, in order to win 1 million dollars.

Richard Branson has been practically a household name in the U.K. for the past 20 years and is also well respected in the business world. He is the founder of the Virgin Group, known for record labels, cellular phones, airlines, and many other business ventures. He is responsible for a $5 billion empire consisting of over 200 different companies around the world. (ICFAI, 2002) Branson is also known for his unique character and leadership styles, one who is not afraid to take risks, and believes that people are the foundation to his company's success.

There are a number of traits that leaders need to have in managing their employees for purpose of effectiveness in a given organization. In trying to manage the activities of the organizations, there always arises a difference in the leadership styles that are portrayed by these particular leaders based on the organizations and the people that they lead. One of the leaders in the world who has demonstrated one of the best leadership qualities in the business world is Sir Richard Branson. Sir Richard Branson is the founder and the Chief Executive Officer of the Virgin Atlantic group and he happens to be one of the leaders who have made tremendous progress in the industry by leading his group to great successes. Sir Branson has always taken an active role in the process of selecting employees by selecting some of the best-qualified candidates for different categories.

The personal styles of leaders vary depending on the personality, and strengths of these leaders. The differences in personal styles are evident in the fact some leaders are extraverted and loud while others tend to be analytical and subdued. In several organizations in the modern society, leadership has developed to become more than position as these firms expect and seek for more. In the past two decades, Sir Richard Branson has been a common household name in the United Kingdom and a well respected businessman across the globe. He is widely known as the founder of Virgin Group, a company that produces cellular phones, record labels, airlines, and other business endeavors. In contrast, Branson is also known for his exceptional character and leadership style who believes that people as the basis for Virgin's success and doesn't fear taking risks. As a result of his exceptional character and leadership style, the company's leadership and management approaches have always received media coverage for its efficiency and track record of success.

Richard Branson demonstrates outstanding leadership qualities, which has reflected on his success in developing an investment business known as the Virgin Group. This company is an investment group that is greatly known throughout the globe. According to Branson, “a good leader never rushes in and jumps to rash conclusions before knowing all the facts — they delay judgment and first try to see the whole picture clearly (businessinsider).” An example of this quote is when Kozlowski invested in Wormald International, which displeased Fort because he wanted to concentrate on their shareholders and less about increasing the company’s strengths in the business industry (Tyco International). This means that Fort examines the possible outcomes that could happen if they make

This business model has the key understanding that the way in which the product is positioned and the experience provided travelling by virgin Atlantic, will ensure customers will travel again and again thus allowing them to achieve their long-term strategic objectives of increasing profits and shareholder values.

3) Does the Virgin Group, as a corporate parent, add value to its businesses? If so how?

In 1968 a guy named Richard Branson started the Student magazine and that was the starting of his revolutionary business career and from that time Branson did not have to look back ever. Now today Branson has the huge size of his business which is VIRGIN BUSINESS GROUP. This group owns more than 200 companies. “Branson” and “VIRGIN” is now a symbol of a famous brand all over the world.