Services Offered
The Tussauds group like any business out there offers a range of services. They offer:-
- Entertainment
- Educational visits
- Hospitality
- Safety & Security
But the question is how are they doing this? Well, entertainment is being provided through there thrilling and exciting theme parks, as they have over 1.9millon guest attending a year, not forgetting the seasonal events which take place. The educational visits would be done at the London Planetarium, as this venue is involved in the science fields. Hospitality is met by the hotels, food and other services that are available. Most important security, the Tussauds group know that there customers would want feel safe and secure with in the Tussauds barriers, so the Tussauds group has over 100 security grads for each of there venues and over 500 CCTV’s that cover every little corner.
Key Stakeholders
A stakeholder is individuals, business or groups who have a direct interest in the business. There are two types of stakeholders, internal and external. The difference between the two is that an internal stakeholder is individuals who are working or own the business and external stakeholders are individuals or groups outside the business who have interests in the business.
Madame Tussauds stakeholders are as follows:-
Internal Stakeholders:
- Owner
- Directors
- Employees / Staff
External Stakeholders:
- Customers
- Competition
- Government
- Pressure Groups
- Local Community
Employees
Madam Tussauds employees have a very large interest for the company’s success as they involved in the company’s welfare and also receive their income (salary/money) by working for the business. It will also help them to gain a secure future and by them being employed helps them with their future pension.
Directors
The directors would have a very close eye on the business as, they will be accountable for any loss or any damage that could or would happen to the company. They also have shears in the business so again this would be a key factor to look out, in what venues the company is making more money and why.
Owners
Again I would say that the directors and the owners have the same view on the business and would work together in all matters.
Customers
A customer’s interest in Madam Tussauds will be related to the goods or service that the business produces. Madam Tussauds customers are the millions around the world who visiting there various venues. The customers want reliability, quality, continuity, speed of service (or in others word it may be that they customers want value for money.)
Competition
Madam Tussauds have a many rivals and competitors, but as the company is doing so well, any competition that comes its way are crushed away. The competitors would have a key interest as they would want to know why and how Madam Tussauds are doing so well. And try to either come to their standards or be better.
Government
The government would want to know how much the company is making and if the company is up to date with there tax. They will also have an interest in the health and safety issues to see if the business is abiding by the laws.
Pressure Groups
There may various pressure groups that may want to get involved with this business, but the most common one which I think that would be involved is the health pressure groups, as these venues are only feeding people junk and most importantly the younger ones who have a very lovely day out and then have to eat a lode of junk which has a big effect on them on the long run.
Local Community
The local community can benefit from the business being successful in a number of ways this could be:
- Reputation - the area may have a good reputation because of local businesses.
- Employment - a large number of the community work for the business. If the company goes bankrupt then a large number of the community will loose their jobs.
- Economy - Madam Tussauds are a large company and their for will bring a lot of economy.
Other benefits for the local community are organisations that the business may provide; this could be charity work and jumble sales to help raise money for local schools and even local health centers.
The Tussauds Mission Statement
The Tussauds mission statement is “To dazzle visitors with the most captivating city center attraction in the world and the most diverse and exciting portfolio of the theme parks in Europe”
The question is, are they achieving there main goal? Or is it there just to look good? Looking back at the annul report of the company and the performance of the company, I can state that the company has achieved there mission statement, as you can see on the table below:-
Although the increase is not so vastly up hill, never the less there was an increase in sales, which means that the business has been successful, and for the business to good they need customers, which means they must be doing something right to attract such vast number of guests, but you can also see that from about December 2003 the performance is getting stationary, which could and will be a worry for Madame Tussauds and they may need to start thinking about new ideas to up hold the business. As also illustrated in the graph below:-
Changes That Can Be Made
After looking closely into the business I think that Madame Tussauds can make a few changes as the performance rate is starting to get steady, from December 2003 the business looks like they are at a stationary pace, which means business is not as well. What do they need to do? First and for most they nee to look at what areas they are not doing so well? What attraction are declining in guest and why?
Madame Tussauds need to expand their ideas further; at the moment they are Europe’s No1 visitor attraction business as well as one of the world’s leading leisure and entertainment companies. But they don’t have venues in many of the tourist’s location such as South America, Asia, etc. Opening venues in such location will be a great up beat boost for the business.
As they already have a good reputation, advertising won’t be as essential, as it would have been if people never knew who they were. The aim will be to create something for that people are not expecting, something mind blowing, a Madame Tussauds specialty.
Other then that Madame Tussauds are doing an extremely good job of keeping people entertained through out the world.
Introduction to The Metropolitan Police
The metropolitan police are the largest of the police services that operate in greater London; others include the City of London Police, the British Transport Police, the Heathrow police and more.
This outstanding force was founded by Sir Robert Peel in 1829. The force started off with only 1,000 police officers who monitored a seven-mile radius from Charing Cross and had control over a population of less than 2 million.
Today, the Metropolitan Police Service has employed over 31,141 officers, 13,661 police staff, 414 traffic wardens and 2,106 Police Community Support Officers, and monitors an area of 620 square miles and a population of 7.2million.
The Service has been policing London for over 175 years. Since the establishment in 1829. Expectations of policing for the capital have changed dramatically. The mission for the police service and the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) is to tackle serious crime and dealing with security and counter terrorism issues. This is in addition to dealing with robbery, burglary, auto crime, traffic offences, assaults and all other crimes.
Aims & Objectives
The metropolitan police have many aims and objectives which they have to convene and also use these aims and objectives as guide lines to help them perform there day to day activates. The following are a few of may aims and objectives:-
Protecting the capital against terrorism Objectives:-
- To minimise the risk to life and property from terrorist activity in London
- To maintain an effective response to suspected and actual terrorist incidents
Reducing serious crime Objectives:-
- To reduce the level of gun-enabled crime
- To disrupt organised criminal activity of persons identified as Class A drugs suppliers
- To dismantle organised criminal networks and seize their assets
- To safeguard children and young persons from physical and sexual abuse
Promoting reassurance Objectives:-
- To improve neighborhood safety
- To reduce the level of robbery compared with 2003/04
- To improve our contribution to the effectiveness of the criminal justice system
- To recognise and respond appropriately to the differential impact of crime on people, taking into account their race, gender, sexual orientation, faith, age or disability
I think they have achieved much over the past year. Burglary, street and motor vehicle crime are all down for the second year in a row, fear of crime is down and public confidence is positive. Indeed, London is experiencing its lowest burglary rate ever and the number of robbery victims has reduced by 18,000 during the past three years. They have also achieved:-
- Total overall crime was reduced by 38,186 offences in London compared (November 2004 - October 2005) to the same time period last year.
- Overall sanction detection rates have risen to 16.6% compared (November 2004 - October 2005) to the same timed period last year.
- Racist crime has fallen by 6.7%, a reduction of 866 offences compared (November 2004 - October 2005) to the same time period last year. The sanction detection rate for racist crime has increased to 20.1% compared (November 2004 - October 2005) to the same time period last year.
- The sanction detection rate for burglary from April to October 2005 is 17.8% compared to 12.1% for the same time period last year.
- Motor vehicle crime has fallen by 9,602 offences or 6.6% compared (November 2004 - October 2005) to the same time period last year.
They have been effective, but to continue to be so, they need to become more efficient. I believe the objectives, targets and measures set above will enable the metropolitan police to continue to meet the changing demands and future challenges of policing the capital effectively.
Main Activities
Reducing the risk and fear of crime is a task for the police and the community working together. To achieve this they need the people who live here, work here and visit here to play their part in making life difficult for criminals.
The activity of police responsibility is:
- The saving of life together with the other emergency services;
- The co-ordination of the emergency services, local authorities and other organisations
acting in support at the scene of the incident;
- To secure, protect and preserve the scene and to control sightseers and traffic
- The investigation of the incident and obtaining and securing of evidence in conjunction
with other investigative bodies where applicable
- The collection and distribution of casualty information
- The prevention of crime
- Family relationship
- Short-term measures to restore normality after all necessary actions have been taken
Hate crime offenders operate from a position of perceived power. They believe society supports their views and gives them the power to attack ‘outsiders’ who do not share their faith, skin colour, or sexuality. Or to attack people they see as ‘weak’, such as the elderly or people with a disability.
There have been significant changes in the way London is policed. These include more input from external advisers; the setting up of Community Safety Units in every London Borough, with specially trained police officers dedicated to supporting the victims of violent and hate crime; improved training; and changing the way we record and investigate violent crime.
The police do not stand alone against crime. They work with diverse organisations and communities to help to achieve a culture of change. By proving that people are not afraid to name wrongdoers and report their crimes, and that wrongdoers have the full weight of the law to fear, they aim to make London a hostile environment for crime. Working together with London’s diverse communities, they can work towards eradicating crime. Where it exists, police remain dedicated to solving it.
Services Offered
The Metropolitan Police is committed to giving the best possible service to victims of crime, and recognises the wide range of valuable services offered by Victim Support. The MPS will actively encourage victims to seek this support and provide the Victim Support Scheme with details of victims to facilitate future contact as appropriate. The various services are as follows:-
Key Stakeholders
The stakeholders for the metropolitan police are as follows:-
Internal Stakeholders:
- Home Office
- Directors
- Employees / Staff
External Stakeholders:
- Public
- Other Police services around the world
- Government
- Pressure Groups
- Local Community
Employees
All the policing staff has a keen interest in the organization because they are representatives. What they do even outside there working hours has an impact on the whole policing body.
Directors
The directors would have a very close eye on the organization as, they will be accountable for any loss or any damage that could or would happen. They have to make sure everything is going as planned. When something goes wrong they will have to have to make the public appearance to the press.
Public
The public’s interest in Met Police will be related to the service that is being given. Public are the millions around London who experience different types of situation on a day top day basis and rely on the police for help. The public want reliability, quality, safety, esurience and other services.
Government
The government is a key stakeholder as they profit from wages of the employees (tax), although they profit more from Madame Tussauds, the Met Police won’t be as rewarding as they are a non-profitable organisation.
Pressure Groups
There may various pressure groups that may want to get involved with this organization, probably most or all of them, because they would want to always try and get the best services possible. They will monitor each filed of the policing done.
Local Community
The local community can benefit from the organization in a number of ways this could be:
- Reputation - the area may have a good reputation because of local police.
- Employment - a large number of the community work.
Other benefits for the local community are organisations that the business may provide; this could be charity work, helping people, going to schools and other things.
The Metropolitan Police Mission Statement
The met police have published the following statements on there annul report, the internet and other resources.
Our Mission
- To make places safer
- To cut crime and the fear of crime
- To uphold the law
- Developing safer communities
- Securing the capital against terrorism
- Revitalising the criminal justice system
- Developing a professional and effective workforce
- Reforming the delivery of policing services
Our Vision
- To make London the safest major city in the world
Our Values
- To treat everyone fairly
- To be open and honest
- To work in partnership
- To change to improve
And finally they intend by working together with the local communities and partners to make London the safest major city in the world.
The met police are achieving there mission statement by trying to recruit people from all different types of ethnic backgrounds, religious beliefs and sexuality, so the force can be a more effective team. Because the met police are covering such a big scale of people, they also try to get assistant from the public were possible, so together we all can live in a safer London.
Changes That Can Be Made
The Metropolitan Police don’t really have external issues that need changing, rather internal issues that could be improved for a more efficient police force. Below are three points which I think the metropolitan Police can improve on:-
- Technology
- Uncertainty
- Communication
The reason I chose the three points specifically is because a incident which took place on the 7th July 2005, left hundreds of commuters in the darkness due to poor policing. The police need to ensure that the technology they are using is accurate and up to date. They could consider recruiting a team of people that deal with police technology on the go. Uncertainty is a big issue as this could put Londoners in a lot of danger, if the police don’t have a clue what is going on then what will the people of London do. That is why they should be ahead of the ball and in alert of what is going on before it happens. Finally communication, the police force should have a effective communication flow, because during the 7th July 2005 bombing, the police had made an open statement that there was poor communication. This sort of issues could lead to major problems. I think they should have there own network of communication where they always have someone on standby incase anyone tries to hack in.
If the above points are to be put in to consideration we would see a positive change in the police force.
Comparison of Both Organisations
Like every business The Tussauds Group and The Metropolitan Police are out there with a mission. They both are completely different business, in the sense where one is out there to make profit and the other one is out there to provide a service. Despite all the differentiations of the two, one thing which I have analysed and gathered from the information which I collected is that both businesses have one thing in common, and that is achieving what they set out to do.
Firstly The Tussauds Group, they are always ahead of the game, looking for new venues to add to the exciting ones they already have, always looking out for competitors, making sure that the existing venues are performing to the best of its abilities, giving customers an experience of a life time and last but not least operating the business successful with all the negative criticism which is being made.
The Metropolitan police are also doing what they do best. I would say the metropolitan Police have more negative criticism then any other business that’s out there. They have all the different pressure groups and have to face them on a day to day basis, despite all the pressure they still manage to keep London a safe place. Even to the extent, where in recent news they are discussing to merge all the different policing forces of London into one body.
Performance table obtained from http://www.tussauds.com/company_information/performance.asp?css=1
Information obtained from http://www.met.police.uk/about/mission.htm