Luwingu plc, a company established some three decades ago in the Northern province of Zambia as a local enterprise, has now evolved into a big business with an international presence in Central Africa. Luwingu plc is in passenger transportation business. She started with some taxis thirty years ago and later on added the bus segment. The taxis business segment has performed exceptionally well mainly due to effective branding, its name being associated with lower fares but quality service. The bus segment has not done so well. This segment has frequently been criticized by the public for providing services which do not run on time. Comparative financial information relating to the taxi segment and the bus segment for the last two years are given below: 2018 2019 K000 K000 Turnover Taxis segment 570,000 678.000 Buses segment 410,000 423,000 Before tax profit Taxis segment 60,000 80,000 Buses segment 30,000 32,000 Continued 2018 2019 Capital Employed Taxis segment 750,000 790,000 Buses segment 530,000 640,000 Other performance indicators Taxis Buses Year 2018 2019 2018 2019 Number of customers carried 300,000 350,000 2,250,000 2,150,000 Passenger kilometer travelled 750,000,000 825,000,000 80,000,000 75,000,000 Ratio of staff to passengers: Ordinary 1 to 3 1 to 5 1 to 100 1 to 120 Business 1 to 4 1 to 5 1 to 20 1 to 25 Number of road routes operated 40 44 25 25 In. Note: The taxi segment sells seats as ordinary or business to its passengers. The buses segment alike sells ordinary and business seats to its passengers. The difference in price of the ordinary and business seats for both the taxis and buses segments reflect the level of comfort and service. An independent market consultants, consumer research results, predict a general increase in the number of taxi passengers by 5% in the next two years and a 7% increase for bus passengers in the next five years in the markets in which Luwingu is operating in. The research results further indicate that luwingus customers are specifically dissatisfied with the services offered by the buses segment in that punctuality of the services is poor. Required: Assess the performance of both the taxi and bus segments using the comparative financial and other performance indicators above. Offer suggestions based on this analysis on the ways in which the two segments can individually contribute to the growth of the company, Luwingu plc, as a whole.

Explain the term benchmarking and briefly discuss the process and potential benefits that can be obtained as a result of undertaking a successful programme of benchmarking. Expert Answer