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Ccl: Organisation And Organisational Culture

International Business Management

Carnival Cruise Lines: Organization and Organizational Culture
This paper presents my former employer, an American company Carnival Cruise Lines (CCL) which is part of the Carnival Corporation. Describing the organization of the whole corporation in general, the paper places a special emphasis on the strategy, organizational structure and culture of the CCL.

Carnival Cruise Lines is the flagship brand of Carnival Corporation & plc, the largest cruise company in the world with its 12 brands, including Carnival Cruise Lines, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Seabourn Cruise Line, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, Windstar Cruises, Cunard White Star Line, Swan Hellenic, Ocean Village, Aida, and P&O Cruises Australia. Carnival Cruise Lines was established in 1972 by Ted Arison, an Israeli immigrant. Started with a single ship, the Mardi Gras, the company has since grown into the most successful American cruise line. Nowadays, having 22 vessels in its fleet the company carries more than 60,000 passengers a week.

Strategic direction
Yet about thirty five years ago, when the cruise industry looked very differently, while it was targeting only wealthy customers, in his vision Ted Arison saw “…a vacation experience once reserved for the very rich [to become] accessible to the average person” (2008). Later on his company made a revolutionary change in cruise industry offering the products and services available to the mass-market. Ted’s vision has reflected in the corporate mission statement, which says: “Our mission is to deliver exceptional vacation experiences through the world's best-known cruise brands that cater to a variety of different lifestyles and budgets, all at an outstanding value unrivaled on land or at sea” (from Carnival Corporation official web-site). In pursuing its goals the company has built a “Fun Ships” positioning strategy based on a promise of fun – fun in everything: in dining, drinking, dancing, playing,...