Q- Actic North by Kirsty Walton

2025-06-03 08:17:57 UTC

The newspaper article has claimed that AN has caused environmental damage to the north artic by flying guest in from around the work which affect their brand image. As it has a strong reputation as sustainable enterprise and is a key factor on influencing the customer demand.

HedgehogHub — 2025-06-03 08:22:33 UTC

The article claims that they have caused environmental damage by flying guests around the world, which is in contrast to their policies and cultural objectives of promoting sustainability. There is no argument that travel by plane causes environmental damage, however the extent of the claim saying they cause a 'negative net effect' can be disputed as it could be measured, so we would need to establish and measure the facts.

2025-06-03 08:23:19 UTC

The news article claims that AN has a 'net negative' impact on the environment, due to the damage caused by flights to the Arctic. This conflicts with the company's main goals of teaching guests how to reduce their own carbon footprint. These claims, whether true or not, will leave a sour taste in the mouth of the general public, who will think it is hypocritical to teach about environmental sustainability, without being sustainable themselves.

OpD

2025-06-03 08:24:51 UTC

The operations director agrees with the article as they believe that AN cannot claim to be a sustainable business whilst flying customers out from all over the world. They put forward a compromise by suggesting to pull out of the US market and only fly customers short hall. Although this may be seen to be doing something, short hall flights are still bad for the environment and we don’t know the number of people from US vs Europe. It may not have an overall effect on damage to the environment.

2025-06-03 08:27:35 UTC

The operation director has stated that the it cannot claim to be sustainable enterprise whilst flying customers from around the worked into environmentally fragile artic region as this doesn't fit in with their sustainable policies. The director has decided that they should be seen do something that is beneficial to environment which can be seen as manipulating their customer because their profit are highly affected by the customer demand.

2025-06-03 08:29:46 UTC

The operations director would like to withdraw from the US market immediately in order to improve their negative environmental impacts. Whilst this is likely to improve their carbon footprint, the business is currently making a loss WITH access to this market. Removing 20% of their sales is likely to only make this worse and they are unlikely to breakeven in 2024 if they were to stop the long-haul flights from the US. The board also need to consider the fact that there will be customers in the US that likely already have purchased tickets with AN to go to the Arctic. If the board were to cancel their flights and offer a refund, some customers may feel dissatisfied and it could cause further negative press for the company. There is also the risk of the company making their marketing mix less diverse by only selling tickets in Western Europe. This makes their business operates inherently more risky as attitudes towards Arctic travel from Western Europe could change and as their only market, this would have a detrimental impact on the business's profitability.

HedgehogHub — 2025-06-03 08:30:21 UTC

The operations director states themselves that they cannot be sustainable while flying guests around the world. A sustainable company is one increases stakeholder value by applying sustainable practice throughout its operations and activity. This means sustainability isn't just about the environmental impact but can be used more broadly. Both long-haul flights and short-haul flights cause environmental damage so ceasing long-haul flights would have less environmental benefits than the public might think.

FD

2025-06-03 08:34:31 UTC

The Finance director disagrees with the operations directors idea to cease long-haul flights as AN would drop far below break even levels. AN could become a going concern as it could be making extreme losses. A forecast should be put together to determine key sensitivities of stopping US customers from travelling so the Board can make an informed decision. There should also be consideration as to the effects of the company becoming insolvent on the environment and social effects. There may be local reliance on AN for income which would stop.

2025-06-03 08:35:24 UTC

Finance director has disagreed with the operation director as they have said that they have a responsibility to their shareholder and the profit will be affected significantly by a loss of 20% of their customers. They may need to tackle the sustainable issue from a different perspective as this would lead to them facigng a going concern issue. It is a going concern as they have stated that it will be insolvent from the social costs. They could look into more sustainable ways to flying guest to the north eurpoean artic which would allow them to retain the occupacy rates in their lodgers. They could reinforce the environmental and social project that it does in the noth euopran artic region so that the customers are aware of the work they are doing to fulfill their sustainable policies.

HedgehogHub — 2025-06-03 08:36:38 UTC

FD suggests that loss of US customers would put the future of the company in doubt. There is no evidence of this however so a we should look at the alternative scenarios and the forecasted cashflows for those scenarios. The consequences of the business failing should also be looked at from a sustainability aspect. This could be the effect it has on the local community such as loss of employment, as well as the impact on shareholders sustainability and social contributions.

2025-06-03 08:37:48 UTC

The finance director is concerned with the profitability of the business if they were to move forward with the operating director's plans. They are correct to be concerned about the long term survivability of the business, were they to stop sales in the US as revenue will decrease and profit will be even lower than before. However, the finance director does little in way of offering solutions, for making the company more profitable and thus more likely to survive. They could have suggested alternative growth methods to increase profitability, such as market penetration into the European market, increasing sales in the region that has the least negative environmental impact. They could look into improving their transportation methods - to make them more environmentally-friendly. To be extra helpful, the FD could produce a report on the costs of implementing such a feature that could allow the business to improve it's carbon footprint, whilst being able to survive.

Actions

2025-06-03 08:39:11 UTC

AN should determine if there are other ways to offset carbon emissions from long-haul flights. To improve their reputation off the back of the article they should measure and publish their net carbon impact so customers can be reassured. Being transparent would help their brand and potentially stop future negative articles associated with having a net negative effect on the Arctic. Additionally, the Board should introduce measurable environmental targets to ensure they hold themselves accountable to being a sustainable enterprise.

2025-06-03 08:41:16 UTC

The AN board could look into alternative, more environmentally friendly methods of travel to the Arctic, perhaps by boat or smaller planes that produce less carbon emissions. This could allow them to reduce their carbon emissions, without sacrificing profits. They could measure their own carbon emissions yearly, as well as keep some internal statistics on transportation used - eg, what percentage of trips used boats as transportation? etc.

2025-06-03 08:41:36 UTC

Publish the environment project that is contributing in north artic so that the customers are aware of the work they are doing

Make a survey for the customer to be aware of the affect that the newspaper article is having on AN reputation

Compare their carbon emissions and energy used to their competitors to see if they have a competitive advantage as sustainability is a key factor to customer demand for AN.

HedgehogHub — 2025-06-03 08:42:04 UTC

Although the OD suggests stopping US flights immediately, it may be better to gradually reduce flights as it is more deliverable and measurable. It would also give time to find new customers in Europe as find possible alternative, more sustainable, modes of transport such as trains or boats. They could also promote an increasing aim to reduce their carbon footprint, by planting trees for example, to reduce the net impact.

2025-06-03 08:46:29 UTC

AN supports the local area by using local staff/suppliers and materials. They could measure the amount they use compared to staff/suppliers and materials that they have to import. If they use 100% locally sourced resources then this is amazing but even a high percentage shows their commitment to social sustainability in the local region. They also have a policy to support environmental and social projects in the Northern European Arctic region. Some information around this would be helpful in assessing their social sustainability. If they donate to local social projects, what percentage of revenue is donated?

2025-06-03 08:48:16 UTC

There is a concern on the economic sustainabity as AN is growing but it hasn't made profit. This could indicate that the social cost by using their sustainable policies is affecting their profit margins. The damage from the newspaper article has affected the business largely as they haven't been able to recover from it. The use of the local suppliers, staff and contractor could be the main course for this as they will have to train the staff to become highly skilled at their role. The cost for having a local supplier could be much higher than using an external supplier but this wouldn't match with their sustainable policies.

They may not have reached their target for the green finance funds, environmental charities from the ethical investor group which could look to withdraw their investment. This is a significant as the business will become insolvent.

2025-06-03 08:52:05 UTC

The business very much struggles with economic sustainability, they have made consistent losses and are hoping to breakeven in 2024, although this is unlikely as they need to address their environmental issues, which is likely to add costs and further reduce profitability. Measurements to help them assess their economic sustainability include - average selling price per year (could this be increase to increase revenue), contribution per ticket (could the costs per ticket be reduced to increase profit) and asset utilisation (ie how many assets are in use divided by how many assets do we have - this could identify assets that are not being used to their full potential and identify areas where the company could use these assets for more profit).

2025-06-03 08:55:30 UTC

The use of the local suppler, staff and contractor should be marketed for the business and should be in their online website if they have it.

An could make it aware of how significant the social projects in the north artic region are and what they are doing for the community so that it can increase the customer demand and occupancy rates