Carnival Cruise Line - A MGMT 7160 Blog by Joshua Dixon Williams

    This chapter is a little bit difficult to talk about in terms of Carnival Cruise Line and Cooperation or Collusion because I have no idea if they do either. However, I can speak on the industry attributes that facilitate the development and maintenance of collusion if it were to happen in this industry.      First is the small number of firms in an industry. This is partially true. While there are a large number of cruise lines, there are a small number of main ones everyone takes. These are Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Norwegian. When looking at product homogeneity, this is true as well. All cruises are similar. The difference usually comes in how exquisite each one is. Carnival is probably the most affordable while Royal is the most expensive and nicest. While the prices different, cost homogeneity is similar as well. All three of the top cruise lines have different prices, but they aren't so different that it makes a huge difference in selection for c...

     I recently got to hear Christine Duffy, the president of Carnival Cruise Line, speak at an event in Memphis, TN. She actually spoke directly on the idea of flexibility at Carnival. She believes that Carnival, while always looking ahead, is quite inflexible when it comes to making quick decisions. While having a new program or new technology on a cruise is something they are always looking at, it often takes a long time to implement their newest ideas. This is due to the fragmented organization of their team. You have two different sides - shoreside and on the ship. You also have upwards of 30-40 teams across those two different sides. Therefore, things take a long time to change the course of the ship. Pun intended.      While Carnival may take a long time to adjust to new practices, they are flexible in the way they bring about new ships and remodel others. When looking at flexibility and actions, Carnival Cruise Line deploys the option to expand an...

    Carnival, along with many other brands, try to differentiate themselves within the industry they reside. Carnival has taken many steps to differentiate their experiences and their products. One of the major differentiation is the Carnival funnel. Everyone can tell which one is a Carnival ship due to the funnel shape on top of the ship. See the image below. Carnival Dream with funnel      Carnival prides itself on the funnel of the ship. No matter where you go, you can tell which is a Carnival ship from far away with the large Y-shaped funnel on top of the ship. This is the main product feature that Carnival tries to exhibit as most cruises hold the same thing. All cruises have restaurants, bars, movies, entertainment, and so much more. While all are a little bit different, they all have similar products. Another way Carnival differentiates its product is the location. Carnival is the cruise line that owns the most ships that do Caribbean voyages. Carni...

     Ted Arison founded Carnival Cruise Line on the idea that everyone should be able to cruise. Prior to Carnival, cruising was seen as something that only the elite could do. He wanted to create an affordable way for everyone to be able to cruise, so he created Carnival Cruise Line. Carnival still holds true to that belief today. Carnival is one of the cheaper cruise lines in the industry, allowing families to cruise all together. While other industry rivals have followed the same template of lowering costs, but Carnival continues to differentiate themselves through cost leadership.      The first aspect Carnival holds in Cost Leadership is volume of specialized machines. Carnival is the only company to own their own vessels. Therefore, they don't have to pay any type of loans or payment plans for their vessels. They also have the opportunity to sell their ships to other companies, providing them a source of income that competitors do not have.   ...

     While Chapter 5 had many interesting lessons in it about analyzing strengths and weaknesses based on the Resource-Based View, there were a couple of things in the Chapter that stood out as pertaining to Carnival Cruise Line. The first was institutional leadership as distinctive competence. It all starts with the top. Christine Duffy, President of Carnival, is the first female to hold the presidency of a cruise company. Since arriving at Carnival in 2015, she has implemented a family feel on the ships. Ships not only exude fun for everyone who works and travels on them, but Carnival has become a culture with an underlying mission of family. The company as a whole now recognizes many employees that serve both behind the scenes and on-board the ship. They think about the small things when it comes to treating every family like they are the only ones on board. Each ship has leaders and management that are fun, heart warming personalities that interact with families throu...

Overall, Carnival Cruise Line is in the travel industry. Their main goal is for travelers to have fun, explore, and choose fun everyday they are on the cruise. However, with the travel industry, there are so many different aspects. You have cruising, flying, driving, hotels, resorts, camping, and so much more. The travel industry has so many different aspects that it is hard to singularly define the kind of industry they have across the board. When looking at the overall industry, travel is a fragmented industry. Therefore, consolidation has worked in the major segments. Cruise companies such as Carnival have purchased many other companies to sit under their umbrella brand of Carnival Corporation. This has allowed them to influence the market as the largest cruising company in the United States. Other segments, such as airlines, have done the same thing. Delta and American have consolidated with many other airlines to be the two premier airlines in the United States. Due to these mov...

     Prior to reading Chapter 3, I naively thought this post would be specifically about environmental threats, meaning issues within the environment. Carnival has a lot, and that is why they try to be focused on sustainability in all that they do (as I discussed in my last post). The oceans, wildlife, and all other areas that Carnival travels to have a lot of eyes focused on them as environmental safety is a major concern for many people today. While I could have a whole post specifically about the environment, I think I will take it in a different direction to discuss threats to Carnival's economical environment, specifically analyzing Carnival using Porter's Five Forces.      When looking at the five forces framework, there is the threat of entry, the threat of rivalry, threat of suppliers, threat of buyers, and threat of substitutes that directly make up the overall aspect of environmental threats. When looking at Carnival Cruise Line, they sit wit...