Thesis

danielsan122

Hello there

I am a Chinese student doing a thesis on how to reduce overheads in a business.I am using Ryanair as an example.

Can anyone give me some information on how they effectively do this or if you can point me to some books or websites etc ?

Cheers.
P

swanvill

Hi P,
In order to cut costs in your business you have to understand the business, where your costs are coming from and what is driving them.

When you start your exercise you should look at expenditure and you should ensure that you understand why something is being done and what it is costing you. I will give you some examples of what I have done in the past.

1) Mobile phones – Here I divided mobile phone users in three categories the first had access to everything, the second had accessed to only Irish numbers and premium text numbers were barred & the third they had no texts and just pre-agreed phone numbers.
2) Staffing – Examined rosters and ensured that only the minimum amount of staff was rostered and ensured that overtime was cut to a minimum. We eventually reduced headcount by use of technology (machines don’t ring in sick or look for bonus payments on weekends) and changing work practices.
3) Applied a strict controls on procurement so nothing over €100 could not be bought without a purchase order and more importantly we would not pay the supplier unless under €100 or had a PO number.

Cost control is a big area when considering Ryanair you could always just focus on how they have tight rosters for planes or how they seek to maxmise revenue or maybe the area of fuel hedging which they got wrong in 2006 I think.

Sean.