Robert Sanga

Robert Sanga

Tuesday, November 21, 2023

No More - Myanmar terrorists from the sky

 Written by Sui Than Sanga

 

Myanmar Air Force keeps on terrorising fellow citizens for decades. It’s one of the most destructive air forces use against civilian by any governments across the globe since the first Burma (Myanmar) military coup on 02.03.1962. The level of destructions, this air force has caused, were described in personalized detail by Dr. Maung Zarni “Myanmar Military’s Acts of Terrorism from the Sky & Savage Beheadings on the Ground” (Dr. Maung Zarni, 2023). Sadly, most of these aircrafts were purchased from Russia (NHK World-Japan, 2023), and most of these bloody Burmese pilots – terrorists from the sky were trained in Russia (Irrawady, 2022). The aviation fuels were supplied by big companies like ExxonMobil, Thai Oil, PetroChina and Rosneft (Amnesty International, 2022). However, these Myanmar terrorists from the sky days are number because no freedom loving people across the globe will tolerate them.

Even thought, Myanmar armed force commander in chief – Maha-lo-ma-ta Sithu Min Aung Hliang (MAH) may continues trying to follow up footsteps of previous dictators U Ne Win (Britannica Biography, 1911-2002) & U Than Swe (90 year old) by taking military coup on 01.02.2021, none of his plans will be accomplished. The common people have more than enough of daily abuses by arm forces instead of protecting them. The civilians are more organised than ever before (8888 uprising – NPR timeline, Civil Disobedient Movement – CDM, Thai PBS, 2022) and later on organised to various groups, People Defence Forces (PDF – US Institute of Peace, 2022).  Even Russian president Vladimir Putin must think twice before providing help to MAH, because Russia has been condemned by the world for invasion war in Ukraine. Russia may find a stronger alliance with BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) in term of economy (BRICS, October 2023), but the country will not able to recover huge amount of economic losses due to war with Ukraine (Aljazeera – Russia-Ukraine war list of key events, 2023).

Chinese President Xi Jinping interest to provide assistant to MAH is almost done. China has a big ambition in developing much faster land ways transport than seaway system (rail line from China to Myanmar, EurAsia Review, 2023). This is, in addition to extracting natural gas from Myanmar to China (Shwe Gas Project – 4,5 trillion cubic feet of gas - NS Energy). These very ambitious projects could not be realized in accordance with plans due to poor leadership of Min Aung Hliang (MAH). He could not even accomplish destroying China Scams Online Gambling located at Kokang, Myanmar (Channel News Asia, 2023). The Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army (MNDAA) has to take care of these scams, capturing MAH stronghold in Shan State.

The brotherhood bound between Mizoram state of India, and Chin state of Burma (Myanmar) goes beyond economics interest of central government of India (Economic Times, 2023) under the leadership of Narendra Modi (Bhartiya Janata Party – BJP) government. India has a long tradition of extending help to Bangladesh (A revisit to Indian role in Bangladesh Liberation war, Haider, Z. – 2009), to Sri-Lanka (Padmaja Murthy, july 2000) and to Nepal (Government of Nepal, 2023). Various freedom fighters from Chin, Kachin, Karen, Kayin, Sagaing, Rakhian & Shan will not give up fighting for freedoms along with all democratic forces/alliances across Burma/Myanmar in cracking down Myanmar terrorists from the sky (Operation 1027- CNA, 2023). The recent developments in all these states have shown that there will be no more Myanmar terrorists from the sky – one day!

 1)       “Myanmar Military’s Acts of Terrorism from the Sky & Savage Beheadings on the Ground” (Dr. Maung Zarni, 06.03.2023) https://forsea.co/myanmar-militarys-acts-of-terrorism-from-the-sky-savage-beheadings-on-the-ground/

2) NHK World-Japan, Myanmar in Turmoil: Myanmar Junta building up its air power with Russian help (Janaury, 2023) https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/en/news/backstories/2184/

3) Irrawaddy – Russian military pilots visit Myanmar as junta steps up air strikes (February, 2022) https://www.irrawaddy.com/news/burma/russian-military-pilots-visit-myanmar-as-junta-steps-up-air-strikes.html

4) Amnesty International, 2022:  “Myanmar: Investigation reveals aviation fuel supply chain linked to war crimes” https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/11/myanmar-amnesty-aviation-fuel/ 

5) U Ne Win (Britannica – Biography https://www.britannica.com/biography/U-Ne-Win

6) 8888 Uprising, August 1988: https://www.npr.org/2013/08/08/210233784/timeline-myanmars-8-8-88-uprising 

7) Thai PBS, 2022: https://www.thaipbsworld.com/myanmars-longest-lasting-civil-disobedience-movement/

8) US Institute of Peace, 2022: Understanding the People’s Defense Forces in Myanmar

https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/11/understanding-peoples-defense-forces-myanmar 

9) BRICS (October, 2023) - https://www.investopedia.com/terms/b/brics.asp#:~:text=BRICS%20refers%20to%20certain%20emerging,counterbalance%20to%20traditional%20Western%20influence

10)  Aljazeera – Russia-Ukriane war list of key events, 2023) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2023/11/20/russia-ukraine-war-list-of-key-events-day-635

11)  Shwe Gas Project – 4,5 trillion cubic feet of gas - NS Energy: https://www.nsenergybusiness.com/projects/shwe-gas-project/#

12) EurAsia Reviews (2023) https://www.eurasiareview.com/13102023-a-rail-line-from-china-to-myanmar-analysis/

13) Channel News Asia, 2023 “Commentary: Fighting cybercrime to win China’s favour has become a common goal in Myanmar’s civil war” https://www.channelnewsasia.com/commentary/china-scams-online-gambling-myanmar-civil-war-3921861

14) Economic Times, 2023 https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/small-biz/trade/exports/insights/india-myanmar-bilateral-trade-may-rise-significantly-once-rupee-trade-settlement-mechanism-is-established-eepc/articleshow/100933839.cms

15)   Haider, Z. (2009). A Revisit to the Indian Role in the Bangladesh Liberation War. Journal of Asian and African Studies, 44(5), 537-551. https://doi.org/10.1177/0021909609340062

16) Padmaja Murthy, july 2000, https://ciaotest.cc.columbia.edu/olj/sa/sa_jul00mup01.html

17) Government of Nepal, 2023 (India-Nepal Relation, https://mofa.gov.np/nepal-india-relations/#:~:text=Trade%2C%20Transit%20and%20Investment,India%20have%20invested%20in%20Nepal.)

 18) Operation 1027- CNA, 2023: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mrrKdWC-JdY&list=LL&index=5


Sunday, April 16, 2023

"Tro og praksis"

Av Robert Sanga Haungo

Dato: 16.04.2023

 

Tro og praksis henger sammen. Eldste David A. Bednar valgte flere skriftene blant annet, Paulus og Alma da han holdt en tale for lærere i Kirkens skoleverk med tema om «Søk lærdom ved tro» i februar 2006. Apostelen Paulus har definert tro som «visshet om det en håper [og] overbevisning om ting en ikke ser» (Hebreerbrevet 11:1). Alma erklærte at tro ikke er en fullkommen kunnskap, men at når vi har tro, håper vi «på noe som ikke er sett, [men] som er sant» (Alma 32:21).

 

Selv om vi ikke kunne delta møtene i Kirken hadde vi anledning til å bruke «Kom, følg med meg – for enkeltpersoner og familier» for å etterleve, lære og undervise Jesu Kristi evangelium i pandemien perioder (COVID19). Det er stor velsignelse å kunne bruke disse ressurser i kombinasjon med prestedømmet hjemme. «Livestream» muliggjøres at vi kan høre talene direkte fra Kirke, deltar aktiv i generalkonferanse gjennom internett, bruker det vi ble veiledet til i vårt daglige liv.

 

«Og hvordan kan det være min kirke hvis den ikke kalles ved mitt navn? For hvis en kirke kalles ved Moses navn, da er den Mose kirke, eller hvis den kalles ved et menneskes navn, da er den et menneskers kirke. Men hvis den kalles ved mitt navn, da er den min kirke hvis den er bygget på mitt evangelium» (3 Nephi 27: 7-8). Som Herren anbefalte Jesu Kristi Kirke av Siste Dagers Hellige er bygget på Jesu Kristi navn. I 1842 skrev profet Joseph Smith Kirkens «Trosartiklene» gjennom åpenbaring. Det inneholder Kirkens grunnleggende tror på Gud den evige Fader og på hans Sønn Jesus Kristus, og på Den Hellige Ånd. Trosartiklene gir stryker i tro, bedre forståelse av Kristiforsoning, evangeliet prinsipper, og ordinanser til både Kirkens medlemmene og til alle som oppsøker sannheten.

 

Tror i praktisk handler om både Åndelig og timelig ting. Matteus 25:31-41 oppmuntret oss til å tilby hjelp til de som er fattige, ensomme, fremmed og syke. Slik lyder Herren ord «Sannelig sier jeg dere: Det dere ikke gjorde mot ‘en av disse minste, det har dere heller ikke gjort mot meg.»


Lære og pakter 89 veiledet oss med visdomsord ikke bare for å holde kroppen ren og psykisk frisk, men også å være sparsomt med mat. Kirkens beredskap system har hjulpet både Kirkens medlemmene og ikke medlemmene som ble rammet av naturkatastrofer, fattigdom, sult, krig, konflikter, og mange andre utfordringer av ulike årsaker. 

 

Det står i Moroni 10:05 «ved Den Hellige Ånds kraft kan dere vite sannheten i alle ting». Som medlem av den gjenopprettede Jesu Kristi Kirke ble vi velsignet med Den Hellige Ånds gave. Vår himmelske Fader visste at vi kommer til å slite med utfordringer, fristelser, svakheter, sykdommer, og til og med døden. Av den grunn ble vi velsignet med Den Hellige Ånd slik at vi kan ha styrke og Guddommelig veiledninger. Gjennom personlig åpenbaringer, fra Skriftene, og levende profeter kan enhver av oss forberede til uforutsigbart situasjoner og mestre dette jordiske livet.

 

Jeg er meget takknemlig til misjonærene, profetene, skriftene, gjengitte evangeliet, og den anledningen jeg har fått til å bli døpt i Jesu Kristi Kirke av Siste Dagers Hellige med riktig prestedømmet. Det er store privilegium for meg å kunne motta Den Hellige Ånds gave og tempelbegavelse. Det gir både styrke og gode veiledninger hver gang jeg oppsøker om hjelp. Livet mitt kunne vært helt annerledes uten skriftene, daglig bønn, ved å høre på talene fra Kirken, og min deltakelse i nadverdsmøtene. Jeg er veldig glad i å bli velsignet med familie, slektninger, venner, og for å kunne være aktiv i Kirken blant trofaste medlemmene i ulike byer i Norge og utlandet.

 

Jeg liker godt denne skriften fra Lære og pakter 65:2 «Guds rikes nøkler er overgitt til mennesket på jorden, og fra dette sted skal evangeliet rulle frem like til jordens ender, likesom stenen som rivers løs fra fjellet, men ikke med hender, skal rulle frem, inntil det har fylt hele jorden». Det betyr i praktisk at selve krig, naturkatastrofer, og global pandemien ikke kan hindre oppfyllelse av denne profetien. Amen.

 

Wednesday, November 9, 2022

"Port of Larvik - Competitive Advantages"

“What are current competitive advantages of Larvik Port for passengers transport to Denmark?”

 

Author: Robert Sanga 

                    

Introduction

Color Line AS is the main operator of transporting passengers from Larvik port to Hirtshals, Denmark (about Larvik port, 2017). It is a medium of interconnectivity between Norway and Denmark which can be further use as transit points of travel to rest of the world. The official website of Color Line AS explained that Color Line represents more than one hundred years of continuous line of traffic between Norway and Europe. However, it was the merger in 1990 of Jahre Line and Norway Line which led to the creation of Color Line AS.

 

The website of the company further introduce that after a strategic reorganization in 2008, company deploys a total of six ships on four routes linking seven ports in four countries: Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Germany. This strategic analysis will have overview of the company operations between the port of Larvik, Norway and Hirtshals, Denmark. It will narrow down to the important roles that the company plays for their customers.

 

According to Rothaermel (2017) identifying the vision, mission and values of a firm is important step in strategic management process. Color Line AS has stated the company’s vision in their official website “to be the best cruise and transport company in Europe.” This vision statement of the company highlight it ultimate missions of transporting both passengers and goods to Scandinavia and Europe.

 

One can learn more about the ethical value of the company by how they strategically manage to transport passengers and integrated it operations in delivering, warehousing and handling cargos and providing the need of their customer such as conference, hotel management, restaurants, retailing, and entertainment as well. This analysis will try to provide overview of not only the external environment of the company but also how they provide all these services at the right places, times and right cost to their customers. In addition to external and internal analysis, the description of the company, short summary of the main finding along with conclusion and recommendation for further study will be provided.

 

Research Question

The research question for this strategy analysis is “What are current competitive advantages of Larvik Port for passengers transport to Denmark?”  There are several other ferries and cargos operators from Larvik port to the rest of the world. However, this strategic analysis will specifically address competitive advantages of Color Line AS in transporting passengers to Hirtshals, Denmark as they are in charge of all operations at Larvik Port ferry terminal.

 

Theory Section

To answer the research question, Frankt T. Rothaermel (Strategic Management, 2017) and Michael E. Porter (Competitive Strategy, 1980) model of techniques for analyzing industrial and competitors and other relevance references will be used.  The external and internal analysis along with SWOT analysis with reference to Porter (1985) will be taken diligently. In addition, lecture notes from lecturer Jon Fossen-Thaugland (Strategy Management, 2017) will be used as to have a better overview of competitive advantages of Color Line AS. The relevance theories will be highlighted in analyzing each section of the contents of this paper.   

 

External Analysis

Lecturer Jon (2017) explained that PESTEL model of Rothaermel (2017) is important to use in analyzing the external environment of a firm. This can be used as a tool by leadership of a firm in mitigating threats and leverage opportunities. This literally means having good strategic plans in avoiding any threats a firm may encounter and taking any good opportunities in expanding and innovating the firm for future business opportunities.

 

The external analysis, focus on the macro environment, will eventually pave the way for competitive advantages of a firm in providing better services to their customers. This analysis will use PESTEL framework as to have a closer look at the Political, Economical, Sociocultural, Technological, Ecological and Legal factors affecting shipping business as shown in table below.

 

PESTEL Analysis table

Political

Economic

Sociocultural

Technological

Ecological

Legal

Trade (de) regulations and litigations

3

The economic growth rate

3

Social stability in ship operating countries

2

Speed and capacity of the ships

3

Fuel and air pollution control system

3

New laws and regulations

3

State monopoly

2

Levels of employment

3

Socioeconomic class

2

Use of innovative technology

2

Natural environment

2

Court decision

2

Interest group and lobbying

1

Price stability

3

Population characteristics: age, gender, nationalities, religion

3

Innovation in maritime technology

2

Global warming

2

Industrial regulations and tax policy

3

Public relation

2

Currency exchange rate

2

Sociocultural bounds of countries

2

Communication technology

2

Sustainable economic

2

Table (1) PESTEL grading explanation 3 is most important and 1 less important

 

Political factor: Lecturer Jon (2017) explained that political factors are processes and actions of government bodies. Firms can shape this factor through: lobbying, public relations, contributions and litigation.

 

Norway is one of Scandinavian countries and a member state of European Free Trade Association (EFTA). According to EFTA official website, “EFTA is the intergovernmental organization of Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland, set up for the promotion of free trade and economic cooperation between its members, within Europe and globally.” This trade alliance which is a result of political factor contributes the economic growth within these regions and globally.  It’s in fact, a landmark alliance for shipping companies.

 

As a part of political factors, public relations with shipping companies play important roles. The maritime industries have to maintain good relationship with the publics as to generate more income and provide transparency of their business.

 

Economical factor: It’s largely related to macro-economic level said lecturer Jon (2017) with reference to Rothaermel (2017). He has pointed out some examples of growth rates, levels of employment, interest rates, price stability and currency exchange rates as well. This indicates the economic growth rates in general which further contributes for opportunities and threats for shipping companies around the world. After all, shipping companies are depending on the economic growth rates of the countries in which they are providing services.

 

Sociocultural factors: Lecturer Jon (2017) explained that it’s all about society’s cultures, norms, and values. They are constantly in flux and differ across groups. In accordance with demographic trends it can present opportunities and threats to a firm. A business analysis can group population characteristics related to age, gender, family size, ethnicity, sexual orientation, religion and socioeconomic class.


Sociocultural bound between communities, societies and countries are important for shipping business. It is these factors that contribute for the growth of passenger and cargos transport between port to port and even at the international level.

 

Technological factor: Lecturer Jon (2017) lecture presentation stated that it’s related to application of knowledge with regards to create new processes and products. Innovation in both process and product technology are very important in this competitive world. The same is applies to maritime technology. There are very high competition among ports and shipping companies when it comes to technology.

 

Almost every firm tries to develop new technology in order to have competitive advantages. The same apply to the ports as well. Several ports around the world had been expanded, developed and renovated to meet customers need. This will in turn gives the port better competitive advantages and be in a position to accommodate more ships in an environmental friendly manner. Some modern ports have not only have the capacity to refuel different kind of fuels to the ships but also modified to provide electricity on board. This reduced the fuel consumption of the ships while in port and thereby creates a better environment.


Ecological factor: 
It’s mainly related to environmental issues. Lecturer Jon (2016) explained that this factor can provide business opportunities as it relates to natural environment, global warming, and sustainable economic growth. This means that those who are good at innovations will certainly create better environmental friendly products and services than their competitors. This in turn will give them better business opportunities.

 

Port authorities around the world concern about the environmental impact of vessels. That’s the reason why they have high focus on green technology. Never the less, the cost of innovating and developing environmental friendly ports and vessels are expensive issues.


Legal factor: 
The legal factor basically implies the official outcomes of political processes. The people representatives make laws in the parliament and when it becomes law, the court takes responsibility over how it’s practice and follow up in real life. The maritime laws play a crucial role when it comes to registration of the ships, flag of the ships, sale and purchase of ships, prevention of pollution from the ships, the taxation system and so on. These laws are to protect and prevent from any wrong doing by maritime sectors and their stakeholders. They can also act as preventive measurements from accidents, air and sea pollutions.

 

Key drivers of change

The above PESTEL analysis has shown the external environment of maritime industries at the macroeconomic level. The main key drivers of change in term of political factor are trade regulations and litigations because they can change the trading pattern which can further have effect on economy. Countries affected by economic sanction can no longer trade freely. The economic factor is also crucial for maritime business. If there is low economic growth rate, low level of employment and price instabilities then it will be difficult to do business. In term of socioeconomic factor population characteristics is important. Umar Burki (Supply Chain Management, 2016) had rightly pointed out that logistics go to the major population where the demand for transport is great. In term of technological factor, speed and capacity of the ships decide the transport time and the volume of the cargos. The ship having high speed and big capacity will be the winner in this very competitive maritime industry. Fuel consumption especially use of clean fuel and air pollution control system are the driving factor in term of ecology. When it comes to legal factor, new laws and regulations along with tax policy are key drivers. Maritime industries have to follow both national and international maritime laws.  

 


Main opportunity and threats

 

The political, economic, sociocultural, technological, ecological and legal factors can contribute opportunities and threats for maritime industries and to the ports as well. Trade agreements between nations and continents, economic growth rate, price stability, population level around the world as well as regulation on air pollution and governmental taxation policy can give good trading opportunities. At the same time, political instability, terrorism, pirates, cybercrimes, bad weather, accidents, ship machine break down, unstable markets and even the new players coming up can be regarded as threats to maritime industries.


It’s important to note that by having good external analysis one can prevent certain threats and take up the opportunities that the industry may have at present and for future. 

 

Summary

Rothaermel (2017) model of PESTEL tool deals with external analysis of a firm. The above analysis of maritime industries gives some overview to the question of external environment. All the points need to be considered in strategic planning. Those plans need to be applied and act upon by shipping companies and the port authorities in order to have a better performance and have insight view of any threats and opportunities they may encounter in the future time to come.

 

Porters Five Forces

Michael E. Porter (Competitive Strategy, 1980) has developed five forces in determining competitive strategy and attractiveness of the market. This assignment will use his well-known five forces model: 1) Threat of New Entrants, 2) Bargaining Power of Buyers, 3) Threat of Substitute Products or Service, 4) Bargaining Power of Suppliers and 5) Rivalry among Existing Competitors. This assignment will have a closer look at each one of them as follow:

 

1) Threat of New Entrants

Porter (1980) identified threat of new entrants as the risk that potential competitors entering an industry. This risk can be high when there is a low level entry barrier. These barriers can be capital requirements, government policy, customer loyalty, availability of products and services. The barriers differ from company to companies. And when these entry barriers are high, threat of new entrant is low. Though there is relatively high barrier of entrants, the maritime industry is a very competitive industry. This means the industry is competing among the existing operators and to the new comers as well.

 

 2) Bargaining Power of Buyers

Supplier of cargos, traders, passengers and consumers can be regarded as buyers of the products and services from the shipping companies. Their bargaining power is limited but due to competitive nature of the industries, the buyers can always choose other shipping lines which provide either a better service or lower cost. Therefore, the bargaining power of buyers is relatively low.  

 

3) Threat of Substitute Products or Service

Lecturer Jon (2017) explained that products or a service outside an industry meeting the needs of current customers is known as threat of substitute. When it comes to intercontinental transport in a large quantity, threat of substitute is low in maritime industry. That’s because seaway is the only solution as it provide cheaper cargo rates and better interconnectivity than any other medium of transport. As a result of this, the threat of substitute products or service is low.

 

4) Bargaining Power of Suppliers

Porter (Competitive Advantage: Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance, 1985) explained that “Suppliers can exert bargaining power over participants in an industry by threatening to raise prices or reduce the quality of purchase goods and services.” It’s true with regards to supply of products and services.

 

There are many ferry operators, cruise ships, cargos ships, tanker ships and shipping companies around the world. They can be regarded as supplier of different services to their customers. Bargaining power of suppliers is relatively high for seaway transport operating in a particular region. It’s they are specialize and can have monopoly in certain areas.

 

5) Rivalry among Existing Competitors

Competition between different shipping industries in Scandinavian, across Europe and around the world is very high especially when it comes to passengers and cargos transport. That’s because it’s lucrative business. It involves with all the major stakeholders of shipping industry. Because of government regulations, it’s not easy to organize a big shipping pool in certain countries. This increases healthy competition among the shipping companies.

 

Key Forces impacting profit potential

From the above Porters Five Forces analysis, one can easily identify the main key forces impacting profit potential. Bargaining power of buyers can be high if a shipping line provide bad quality services and take longer time in transporting products. Their customers can then buy or switch their loyalty toward other operators. Threat of substitute is low shipping companies provide the best solution for large volume cargos covering long distant. However, it’s important to note that competition among shipping companies is high. At the same time bargaining power of supplier can be high because of high volume of transport requirement in certain countries. The shipping companies need to pay attention to their rivalry in order to have superior performance over their competitors. By doing so, they will certainly increase their profit potential. The issue is that this requires large amount of investment in term of innovation, technology and to have high speed with larger capacity ship.

 

Main opportunity and threats

The world is interconnected by different medium of transport. Shipping play a very important role for this as over 80% of world cargos are transported by ships (Cathrine Bjune, Ship Operation, Autumn 2016).  Therefore, maritime industry has a unique position. However, it’s important for the company to maintain quality control with regards to their products and services. Bad weather, accidents and technical failure of ships are some of the threats that shipping companies have to consider in their operations. In addition, rivalry among the shipping companies, economic growth, pattern of trades and their customer royalty can affect their daily operation.     

 

Summary

Porters (1985) Five Forces model deals with external environment of a firm. It’s similar to Rothaermel (2017) PESTEL analysis. The difference is that Porters model takes deeper analysis to products and services of a firm. Combination of these two models give a good overview of  any firm, including maritime sector in answering how to improve, when to take action, how to do it and why it’s important to make such measures to have good competitive advantages over their main competitors.

 

Internal Analysis

Lecturer Jon (2017) noted precisely that internal analysis is all about the core competencies of a firm. It is, in fact, a unique strengths of a firm embedded deep within a firm. It’s a way for a firm to differentiate its products and services from their rivals. As a result of which a firm can create higher value or offer products and services at lower cost to their customer. However, these two concepts are difficult to combine even though there are some ways to do it. A firm has to either give value for their products or lower the cost of products.

 

VRIO analysis

Basically, VRIO model of Barney (1991) deals with internal factor of a firm. According to the journal he wrote published by Texas A & M University, “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage” VRIO literally stand for a) Valuable, b) Rare, c) Costly to Imitate, and d) Organized to capture value. Lecturer Jon (2017) in his class further explained that these can be group into tangible and intangible of a firm resource. The following table (2) will have a closer look at some of Color Line AS resources in term of tangible and intangible.


Table (2) Color Line AS Resources

Tangible

Intangible

Human resources

Culture

Deploy total six ships

Knowledge

Finance capital

Brand equity

Equipment’s

Reputation

 

Lecturer Jon (2017) further explained that tangible resource has physical attributes and intangible resource are invisible and has no physical attributes as shown in the table (2). All these resources can be further break down, for example human resources into gender, level of education, work experience and so on. The internal resources of Color Line AS in accordance with VRIO analysis is shown in table (3).

 

Resources

Valuable

Rare

Costly to imitate

Organized to capture value

Competitive advantage

Tangible

Financial resources

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sustainable competitive

Physical capital

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Competitive parity

Organizational

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Competitive parity

Intangible resources

Human Resources

Yes

No

Yes

Yes

Competitive parity

Network capital

Yes

No

No

Yes

Competitive parity

Reputation

Yes

Yes

No

Yes

Competitive parity

 

Table (3) VRIO Analysis


a) Valuable because Color Line passenger transports ferry which operates from Larvik to Hirtshals was built in 2007 at Aker Yards, Turku Finland and registered in Norway. The ship has maximum service speed at 27 knots and 33500 Gross Register Tons (GRT). It has total 11 decks and can carry 1929 passenger and 764 cars. The ferry has great potential of making money for future time to come which will eventually increase profits.


b) The ferry is rare because it’s not that kind of ferry that every shipping company in Norway owns.  To have such ferry, it requires innovation; qualify human resources, capabilities and a huge capital investment. In fact, Color Line at Larvik has a unique structure and a high speed.


c) Color Line ferry at Larvik is costly to imitate. Fjord Line has ferry similar to Color Line which operates from Kristiansand to Hirtshals. However, it has different structure and design. It will not be possible for Color Line to sale their unique ferry for imitation.


d) Color Line organized it ferry to capture value because it has a good coordinating system between commercial line and technical line. Those who are employed in commercial line and technical line work hand in hand and support each other as a team. However, it’s possible to imitate it company organizational structure in capturing value.


e) Color Line at Larvik has sustainable competitive advantages toward their main competitors Fjord Line and Stena Line. It’s because the ferry has a distinct characteristics in term of tangible and intangible resources as shown in table (2) & (3).

 

Identify core competencies

Color Line has a rich historical background of operating ferry to Scandinavian region. According to their official website “Color Line’s parent company, Color Group ASA (formerly Color Line ASA), was established in 1990. However, our roots in the ferry business go back over 100 years.” This means the company has a lot of experiences in providing ferry services to their customers, especially for those who are living in Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Germany. Therefore, it safe to say they have core competencies in handling passengers, providing services and sale different kind of products to their customers at the right time, right place and relatively cheaper cost. They even provide free tickets and sale duty free products for 30% discount to their loyal membership card holder. Moreover, they know their customers need and have capability of recruiting new royal customers.

 

Identify their competitive advantage

The ferry between Larvik and Hirtshals has a unique position in term of location, speed, good timing of departure and arrival. Passenger can takes the ferry departing from Larvik port at 08:00 AM and arrives at 11:45 AM, Hirtshals port or the other route which departs at 17:30 and arrives Hirtshals at 21:15.  And then return to Larvik from Hirtshals either at 12:45 PM which arrives 16:30 PM or depart at 22:15 PM which arrives Larvik at 02:00 AM. Their customers have options to enjoy just a day tour or holidays trip to Denmark. They even have integrated system with hotels, restaurants, recreational parks both in Norway and Denmark for those passengers who like to stay a little longer.  Their customers can buy delicious foods on board and overnighting places including foods at their desire destinations in advance. This can be quickly done as the same time as they buy their ferry tickets.

 

They give a high level of discount to their loyal customers. These discounts come as additional discounts to duty free products. It’s possible to earn bonus points through their membership. Color Line has direct contact to their customer through e-mail. They use this to send advertisements and seasonal discount products. They provide entertainment for kids on board. Captain kid and his associates on board are attractive for children traveling along with their parents or guardians.

 

Main strengths and weaknesses

Color Line ferry at Larvik itself is one of their strengths. Like mentioned earlier it’s valuable, rare, hard to imitate and well organized. Unlike any stores on land, Color Line can provide duty free products to their customers. In addition, the ferry tickets are much cheaper and even free for some customers who obtain discount coupon offer on board. They give such free tickets offer to their customer who bought duty free products for more than NOK 800,-.


According to Statistikk Sentralbyrå (SSB, 2016), population of Vestfold County was 247055 as per January, 2016. This consists of Norwegian, immigrants, refugees, children, youth, men and women of all ages. Population number of young men and women is relatively high in Vestfold. It’s a good sign for maritime business especially with regards to passenger transport.


The employees are well organized within the company and outside the company as well. They have well connection to labor organizations beside their own company. This means they all get their monthly salary in time, health insurances and bonuses. These are good for the employees but it will not be easy for the company manage in time of economic crisis. 


The Super Speed 2 ferry is a big investment and their investment is actually one of their strengths and weaknesses. It’s their strength because the return on their investment is good and at the same time weakness because the exit barrier is very high.

 

Summary

By using VRIO model of Barney (1991), one can identify Color Line main resources, core competencies, competitive advantages, main strengths and weaknesses as mentioned above. They can use these for identifying further improvement. The most important part is their relation with customers. After all it’s how they will make money for future time to come.

 

Value chain analysis

Michael E. Porter (Competitive Advantage, 1985) had rightly pointed out that “Competitive advantage of a firm cannot be understood by looking at a firm as a whole. It stems from the many discrete activities a firm performs in designing, producing, marketing, delivery, and supporting its product. Each of these activities can contribute to a firm’s relative cost position and create a basis for differentiation.”


Lecturer Jon (2017) further explained value chain is internal activities a firm engages in when transforming inputs into outputs. Each activity adds incremental value. These activities can be divided into primary activities which directly add value and support activities which add value indirectly.

 

Value Chain Analysis table (4)

Support Activities

Primary Activities

Research and Development

Procurement for duty free products

Human Resources

Transport of goods and passengers

Accounting & finances

Marketing

Procurement of goods

Sale of duty free products

Ship design & technology

Integrating with hotels and restaurants

 

Identify primary and secondary activities

As shown in table (4) Value Chain analysis, the primary activities of Color Line ferry between Larvik and Hirtshals can be identify as procurement for duty free products, transport those products on board, marketing, sales of duty free products and ferry tickets and ship operations and integrating with hotels and restaurants for their passengers. All these activities add value to the ferry which makes them earn money.

 

The secondary (support) activities are research and development, information system, human resources, accounting, finance, ship design and technology. These activities do not directly makes them earn money but contribute for profit margin. For instant, because of research and development, Color Line was able to build their present Super Speed 2 ferry. This in turn generated profit to the company and contributed a quick and comfortable medium of transport for their passengers.

 

Identify key activities in the value chain

From the above already identified primary and secondary activities, the main activities in the value chain system are procurement, marketing, sales of products, services and ferry tickets, managing information system, human resources, accounting and finance. They are equally important and without these activities, Color Line can have problems in their operating system. For example, if the procurement department does not do their job well in combination with warehousing department, then there will be shortage of products on board. This will lead customer’s dissatisfactions which will automatically reduce their volume of customers.

 

Main opportunity and threats

Larvik port has well connection with both train and bus system across Norway. This makes them accessible to buy different duty free products such as various drinks, meats, clothing’s, electronic goods, and toys for children and so on. The same apply to the other end of the port which is located at Hirtshals. A good transport connectivity to their ports is one of their opportunities. In addition, passengers have easy access to their terminal and from their ports it’s easy to travel to other part of the country and to the Scandinavian and Europe as well.

 

Communication system failure can be identified as one of the biggest threats in value chain system. For example, if Color Line websites breakdown, it can lead to reduce sale of tickets which automatically will decrease customers. The purchasing power of their customers is their strength which can be weaknesses as well. It’s because they are depending their business on their customers.  

 

Summary

The value chain analysis is important part of Color Line’s ship operation as mentioned above. It’s about how they take care of their business. These activities need to innovate, plan and act upon by those who are responsible for it. By doing so, Color Line will have a better margin of profit and at the same time contribute to the economic growth of the communities and societies they serve in the regions.

 

SWOT analysis

It was first developed by Albert Humphrey (Stanford University, 1960-1970) by using data from many top companies. Lecturer Jon (2017) explained that it’s a framework that allows managers to synthesize insights and obtained from an internal and external analysis to derive strategic implications. Literally it stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT). These can be further divided into internal and external factors of a firm. Strengths and weaknesses relate to internal factors and Opportunities and Threats relate to the external factors of a firm.  

 

 

Table (5) is SWOT Analysis for Color Line AS.

Strength

- Super speed ferry with high capacity

- Over 100 year of ferry services

- Well organized between commercial and technical

- Professional human resource’s

- Strategic location of ports

Weakness

- High barriers of exit

- A huge capital investment takes long time to get profit

- Depending on their customers for their business

- Low profit margin compare to long distant cruise ships

- Fuel and products price instabilities can affect it business

Opportunities

- Large number of passengers to be served

- Good economic growth in Denmark & Norway

- Great potential of increasing profit margin

- Political and socioeconomic stabilities in the regions

Threats

- Ship machine break down & accidents

- Bad weather and natural disasters

- New laws and regulations on air pollutions

- New players, cybercrimes, terrorisms and conflicts

Summary of main findings

The above table (5) SWOT analysis, sum up some important points on internal factors i.e. strengths and weaknesses, external factors with regards to opportunities and threats for Color Line AS. They should use their core competencies wisely in strengthening their internal strengths. This will enable them to work effectively in targeting their customers. More marketing campaign by using mass communication medium such as Television (TV), Radio, YouTube, Facebook, Newspaper and through tourism industry will certainly increase their customers.

 

Benchmarking of major cruise ships can contribute in strengthening their market potential which is regarded as external factors. In case of new player coming up, they will have to consider it as a threat, and eventually find ways to protect their market share or merge with them if it’s actual. They also should have preventive measures on terrorisms, cybercrimes, machine breakdown and accidents. Sick leave and conflicts among employees are one of the internal weaknesses of a firm. For this reason, regular health check up at the interval time should be done. Having reserve employees could be a solution to this if the problem persist.

 

As mentioned above, the company must have certain measurements to overcome their weaknesses. This will enable them to be stronger, more trust worthy in the eyes of their customers which will eventually benefit their business. They have to not only focus for their own benefit but alos for contributing something good for a larger public.

 

Conclusion/recommendation

My main findings on research question “What are current competitive advantages of Larvik Port for passengers transport to Denmark?” sum up competitive advantages of Color Line AS, operating between Larvik and Hirtshals ports. The company lives up to their vision, mission and value in providing valuable services to their customers. To maintain their current competitive position, I would recommend strengthening their internal and external weaknesses as shown in the above analysis by using different models of strategy analysis. This will enable them to achieve their own vision “to be the best cruise and transport company in Europe.”

Suggestion for further study

My assignment covers cover up Color Line AS passenger transport between Larvik and Hirtshals ports only. More research needs to be done as to know better about Color Line passenger transport in Scandinavian regions. Base on this, my suggestion for further study is “What are the current competitive advantages of Color Line for passenger transport to Scandinavian regions?”

 

Literature/reference list

About the Port of Larvik. (2013, October 14). Retrieved October 01, 2017, from http://www.larvik.havn.no/about-the-port-of-larvik/category396.html

Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management,Texas A& M University, 17(1), 99-120. doi:10.1177/014920639101700108

Burki, Umar (Spring 2017), Supply Chain Management lectures notes, University of Southeast Norway (USN), Campus Vestfold, Norway.

Bjune, Cathrine (Autumn 2016). Ship Operations: Master in Maritime Management, HBV Publishing, Horten.

European Free Trade Association |. (n.d.). Retrieved October 10, 2017, from official website: http://www.efta.int/

HMS / ISPS Guide of Larvik Havn. (n.d.). Retrieved October 06, 2017, from official website: http://docplayer.me/2639631-Hms-isps-veileder-larvik-havn.html

Rothärmel, F. T. (2017). Strategic management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Education.

Jon Fossen-Thaugland (Stratey Management power point presentations, Autumn- 2017), University College of Southeast Norway, Campus Vestfold, Norway.

Jurevicius, O. (2013, October 21). (“Is the VRIO Framework a Key to Competitive Advantage?”)  Retrieved October 02, 2017, from website: https://www.strategicmanagementinsight.com/tools/vrio.html

Porter, M. E., & Strategy, C. (1980). The Michael E. Porter trilogy, Competitive Strategy, Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors.  New York: First Free Press Edition.

Porter, M. E., & Strategy, C. (1985). The Michael E. Porter trilogyCompetitive Advantage, Creating and Sustaining Superior Performance. New York: First Free Press Edition.

Statistisk sentralbyrå (SSB, 2016), Tabell - Tettsteder. Folkemengde og areal, etter kommune. 1.januar 2016. (n.d.). Retrieved October 07, 2017, from official website: http://www.ssb.no/286024/tettsteder.folkemengde-og-areal-etter-kommune.1.januar-2016