Virgin Group is led by a charismatic leader, Richard Branson who was described as an architect of the 20th century during a campaign organized by Apple. At the organizational level, Richard Branson is responsible for the accountability and managerial decision-making activities for the group's entities. Each group operates independently in terms of values set by Richard Branson; however these values are similar across the other entities in the Virgin Group. This creates a strong corporate culture where the employee support is sought through a policy of stock options, bonuses and profit sharing. Thus, its leader intervenes in the strategic execution of the group's objectives. Branson plays a major role in marketing and promoting his group which he is passionate about. As a matter of fact, Branson is considered to be the best self-promoter in the corporate world
[...] The group is extremely efficient, through Branson's management style and his vision to bring together the key success factors contributing to the colonization of a previously unexplored area of activity by its employees. By empowering its managers, giving free rein to their spirit of initiative and enterprise, Richard Branson promotes the autonomy of its subsidiaries. The development scheme of the group is to bring awareness of the Virgin brand and its financial partners in the market. As a new entrant, Virgin could afford to go beyond the codes of the market and offer unique and superior services at lesser cost (discounted prices) in order to challenge the established giants. [...]
[...] Improving the performance of the subsidiaries The Virgin Group heads a number of subsidiaries which are divided into branches. This strategy has created 270 companies under the Virgin Group. However, these companies can be grouped into eight major subsidiaries whose areas of activities are either complementary or directly competitive. Virgin Group's main strategy was to focus on specific industries which prevail under the following conditions: In highly competitive areas of business, Virgin's strategy would revolve on selling services and products at lower prices (Price-War). [...]
[...] There were several incidents of railway accidents and the Virgin rail users were not happy with the services, which saw a tremendous drop in attendance. However, with the implementation of new strategies and introduction of 75 new high-speed trains got Virgin Rail back on track which saw profits in the year 2002. The Virgin Group puts in a lot of trust in its group managers and assigns them greater responsibilities. This enhances the morale of the overall Virgin Group's workforce. [...]
[...] Brand Virgin is an international group based on a brand: The Virgin brand has a universal appeal and covers all activities of the group. This risk is relatively important, for example the poor performance of Virgin Rail in England has influenced the results of other group subsidiaries. In addition, the policy of expansion of the group and its presence in various sectors of business without apparent links may lead to a dilution of the brand. Scattering in different markets is a risk in terms of brand awareness and its identification. [...]
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