...... ~ HarvardBusinessSchool 9-395-019 Rev. January 24, 1997 Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation As Charlie Mayfield, vice president of Marketing for Steamboat Ski & Resort Corporation (SSRC) in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, looked out of bis office and saw the lines at the ticket windows on a warm, sunny day in March 1993, he smiled to himself. SSRCwas having its best year ever and had maintained its position as one of the premier North American ski resorts. SSRCwas not, however, immune to the difficulties faced by the ski industry. First, Mayfield was concerned about the trend among customers of coming to Steamboat and other ski resorts and spending fewer of their vacation days skiing on the mountain, preferring instead to participate in other wintertime activities such as snowmobiling. Second, while skier days1 had continued to increase in Colorado over the last several years, the number of skier days in the entire United States had actually decreased. Furthermore, Steamboat's share of the Colorado skier market had steadily decreased since 1990. FinaIly, Mayfield was concerned about Steamboat's low percentage, relative to other resorts, of visitors who intended to make a repeat visit to the resort. In the 1991-92season, the percentage of Steamboat destination skiers intending to make a repeat visit to Steamboat declined to 55%; other resorts, such as the group of Disney Resorts, claimed as high as a 90% repeat visit rate. These trends, combined with Steamboat management's...
Words: 5231 - Pages: 21
...Full Length Research Paper Branding satisfaction in the airline industry: A comparative study of Malaysia Airlines and Air Asia Kee Mun, Wong* and Ghazali, Musa Faculty of Business and Accountancy, University of Malaya, 50603 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Accepted 23 March, 2011 Brand is crucial in differentiating the superiority of products or services over others. This is an exploratory study examining the differences in brand satisfaction between Malaysian Airlines (full service airlines) and Air Asia (low cost airlines) in Malaysia. 350 usable questionnaires were obtained from respondents in the two main airlines terminals in Kuala Lumpur. Exploratory factor analysis revealed seven brand satisfaction dimensions which are tangibles, price, core service, reputation, publicity, word-of-mouth, and employee. Generally, respondents were not satisfied with all brand dimensions of both airlines. The level of brand dissatisfaction is also higher for Malaysian Airlines compared with Air Asia. Air Asia was perceived better than Malaysian Airlines in price, publicity, and word-of-mouth. On the other hand, Malaysian Airlines was perceived better in tangibles, core service, reputation, and employee. The paper highlights some of its theoretical, managerial and marketing implications to the development of airline industry. Key words: Airlines, branding, satisfaction, Malaysia Airlines, Air Asia. INTRODUCTION The world airline industry has gone through a rollercoaster ride for the past...
Words: 10614 - Pages: 43
...Executive Summary This report focuses on the use effective pricing strategies to maximize profits from F1 ticket sales. We believe this to be an important objective for the F1 management given high costs of hosting the F1 race each year. Effective pricing strategies can help to recoup the cost of the race and possibly even generate revenue for the organizers. The first part of this report focuses on the effectiveness of existing price strategies such as perception based pricing, price discrimination, bundling and discount management. Our analysis suggests that the F1 tickets in Singapore are wrongly priced as it fails to capture perceived benefits such as having a city track and being the first ever night race. It is, however, too late to reset the price as the reference point has been established. Next, we argue that while the use of price discrimination has increased the total revenue from ticket sales, the extensive use of early-bird based pricing has reduced the effectiveness of discount pricing. While some bundling strategies currently in place, we believe that more can be done to increase the perceived value and to capture greater market share. We have provided suggests for this in section 7. We further evaluated the use of discount management for quantity purchases and conclude that the use of high discount (≈15%) for greater quantity sale will only be financially justified through high volume sales. Finally, we propose several solutions to increase F1 revenue yield...
Words: 3864 - Pages: 16
...QUARTERLY CLASSIC HOTEL RATE FENCES Discounting in the Hotel Industry A New Approach Here’s the case made ten years ago for an approach to discounting that provides a rational method of price segmentation. The hotel industry is just now getting it. BY RICHARD D. HANKS, ROBERT G. CROSS, AND R. PAUL NOLAND T hree busy executives approach a hotel’s front desk, check in, receive their room keys, and head for the elevator. On the way up to their rooms, the topic of room rates comes up. As it turns out, Roy is paying $20 more than Jeanne, while Jennifer is paying $18 more than Roy. Yet all three are staying in essentially the same type of room. Those of you familiar with yield management already have figured out that this hotel’s yield-management system is in top working order. These three guests—all staying on the same night in similar rooms—have received different rates. You might be thinking that those rates are based on their differing needs and willingness to pay. You might also conclude that some logical factor differentiates those guests, something like flexibility in arrival dates or differences in when they booked their reservations. 94 Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly Your conclusions would be wrong. These three guests booked their reservations on the same day, through the same source. What differentiates these guests has nothing to do with supply and demand, their needs, or their willingness to pay. The difference...
Words: 5542 - Pages: 23
...THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY: Trends, Challenges, Strategies John Wensveen, Ph.D. Dean, School of Aviation Dowling College New York, USA www.dowling.edu President, Airline Visions www.airlinevisions.com The University of Sydney Faculty of Economics and Business Leadership and Policy Seminar Series Sydney, Australia 23 February 2010 Presentation Objectives • Provide background on the global industry • Present a regional analysis • Discuss current and future evolvement of the industry (trends) • Discuss challenges and strategies impacting the industry • Discuss the new breed of airlines • Discuss why airlines fail and how to achieve success Background Section 3 Stages of Development Impacting the Airline Industry • • • • Regulation Liberalization Deregulation “Re-regulation” Phases of Industry Restructuring (resulting from Deregulation / Liberalization) • Expansion • Consolidation • Concentration Past, Present and Future Trends The Global Airline Industry 2012 2010 2008 Time 2006 2004 2002 2000 1998 Survive Adapt Recover Rethink State of Industry “Scenarios” • • • • • SARS 9/11 War Financial Crisis of 2008, 2009, 2010… What to prepare for… – – – – Globalization Change in international political landscape Distribution of natural resources (oil, gas, water) Internal conflicts (shifts in power) and unintended consequences and unintended consequences of good intentions Public and international perception War Terrorism Continued financial issues – – –...
Words: 1944 - Pages: 8
...298–318 Firm financial condition and airline price wars Meghan Busse∗ A firm that knows that cutting price may trigger a price war must weigh present versus future gains and losses when considering such a move. The firm’s financial situation can affect how it values such tradeoffs. Using data on 14 major airlines between 1985 and 1992, I test the hypothesis that firms in worse financial condition are more likely to start price wars. Empirical results suggest that this is true, particularly for highly leveraged firms. The article also explores which firms join existing price wars and finds that a firm is more likely to enter a price war the greater the share of its traffic on routes served by the price-war leader. 1. Introduction Economists’ explanations for price wars differ from those of other observers of the airline industry. Most economic models of price wars, which apply more generally than to the airline industry alone, have emphasized the role of fluctuations in demand. Changes in demand alter the expected profitability of undercutting a tacitly collusive equilibrium; depending on the assumptions made, the models predict that price wars occur either when demand booms or when it slumps. Industry insiders, meanwhile, identify the financial troubles of an individual carrier as an important motivation in initiating the fare cuts that trigger price wars. For example: [Mark Daugherty, airline industry analyst for Dean Witter] said weaker airlines are willing to risk losses with low...
Words: 12544 - Pages: 51
...NONLINEAR PRICING STRATEGIES AND MARKET CONCENTRATION IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY A Dissertation by MANUEL A. HERNANDEZ GARCIA Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY August 2009 Major Subject: Economics UMI Number: 3384249 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI 3384249 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This edition of the work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1346 NONLINEAR PRICING STRATEGIES AND MARKET CONCENTRATION IN THE AIRLINE INDUSTRY A Dissertation by MANUEL A. HERNANDEZ GARCIA Submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies of Texas A&M University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Approved by: Chair of Committee, Steven N. Wiggins Committee Members, Li Gan James Griffin Steven L. Puller Head of Department, Larry Oliver August 2009 Major Subject: Economics iii ABSTRACT Nonlinear Pricing Strategies and Market Concentration in the Airline Industry. (August 2009)...
Words: 15948 - Pages: 64
...Chapter 2: How Airline Markets Work...Or Do They? Regulatory Reform in the Airline Industry Severin Borenstein and Nancy L. Rose October 2008 Severin Borenstein is E.T. Grether Professor of Business Administration and Public Policy at the Haas School of Business, U.C. Berkeley (www.haas.berkeley.edu), Director of the University of California Energy Institute (www.ucei.org), and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (www.nber.org). Address: Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-1900. Email: borenste@haas.berkeley.edu. Nancy Rose is Professor of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (econwww.mit.edu) and a Research Associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research. Address: MIT Department of Economics, E52-280b, 50 Memorial Drive, Cambridge MA 02142-1347. Email: nrose@mit.edu. Nancy Rose gratefully acknowledges fellowship support from the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation and MIT. We thank Andrea Martens, Jen-Jen L’ao, Yao Lu and Michael Bryant for research assistance on this project. For helpful comments and discussions, we thank Jim Dana, Joe Farrell, Michael Levine, Steven Berry, participants in the NBER conference on regulatory reform, September 2005, and seminars at University of Toronto, Northwestern University, University of Michigan, UC Berkeley, and UC Davis. This paper is forthcoming as Chapter 2 of Economic Regulation and Its Reform: What Have We Learned?, N.L....
Words: 29903 - Pages: 120
...___________________________________________________________________________________________ English - Or. English DIRECTORATE FOR FINANCIAL AND ENTERPRISE AFFAIRS COMPETITION COMMITTEE DAF/COMP(2014)14 Unclassified AIRLINE COMPETITION -- Background Paper by the Secretariat -18-19 June 2014 This document was prepared by the OECD Secretariat to serve as a background note for Item IX at the 121st meeting of OECD Competition Committee on 18-19 June 2014. The opinions expressed and arguments employed herein do not necessarily reflect the official views of the Organisation or of the governments of its member countries. More documents related to this discussion can be found at http://www.oecd.org/daf/competition/airlinecompetition.htm. English - Or. English JT03358883 Complete document available on OLIS in its original format This document and any map included herein are without prejudice to the status of or sovereignty over any territory, to the delimitation of international frontiers and boundaries and to the name of any territory, city or area. DAF/COMP(2014)14 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction ................................................................................................................................................. 3 1. Features of the airline industry ............................................................................................................. 4 1.1. Liberalisation of the air transportation industry .......................................
Words: 29874 - Pages: 120
...POSITIONING STRATEGY WITH A NEW IDENTITY: A case study of VIETNAM AIRLINES by Le Hong Dac A research study submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master in Business Administration Examination Committee: Dr. Truong Quang (Chairman) Dr. Clemens Bechter Dr. Lalit.M.Johri Nationality: Vietnamese Previous Degree: Bachelor of Economics University of Agriculture and Forestry HoChiMinh City, Vietnam Scholarship Donor: The Government of Switzerland Asian Institute of Technology School of Management Bangkok, Thailand August 1999 Acknowledgement I wish to express my profound gratitude and great appreciation to my advisor Dr. Truong Quang for his valuable guidance, advice and encouragement throughout the research study. Special thanks are extended to the other members of the Examination Committee, Dr. Clemens Bechter and Dr.Lalit.M.Johri for taking interests and giving valuable suggestions to improve the content of this study. Deep appreciation and thanks are also extended to Mr. Luong Hoai Nam, Mr. Trinh Ngoc Thanh, Mr. Duong Tri Thanh, Mr. Mai Quoc Tuan, Mr. Nguyen Thuong Hai, Mrs. Nguyen Thi Minh Yen and Mr. Le Dinh Tuan of Vietnam Airlines Corporation for providing me the desired information and data for this research study. I fall short of words...
Words: 27680 - Pages: 111
...subsistence allowance paid to the cabin crew, and landing fees, which do not depend on the number of passengers, but will not be incurred if the flight is cancelled. Variable costs, which vary with the volume of traffic carried, have traditionally been quite low in the airline industry. They include ticket commissions, baggage handling, and cabin amenities including food and beverages, among other passenger-related costs. With the recent spate of cost cutting, where ticket commissions to travel agents have been eliminated by the major airlines (with the exception of Southwest Airlines), a cap of $100 commission on international flights, and drastic reductions in the quantity and quality of meals, variable costs have gone down. To counter the effects of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. airlines have reduced fares to lure back lost passengers. As a result, load factors for 2002 are estimated to be around 72 percent, but the breakeven passenger load factor has risen to 81 percent, so losses for 2002 are estimated at $9 billion. (3) Thus there is a tremendous imperative to fill up the planes, even with marginal low-fare passengers, as long as they clear variable costs. All of this is possible, because the airline passenger market consists of segments with different price elasticities of demand: business travelers who travel on corporate accounts, fare-sensitive pleasure travelers, business travelers flying on their own accounts, children...
Words: 13887 - Pages: 56
...STRATEGIC ALLIANCES IN THE GLOBAL AIRLINE INDUSTRY Abhishek Goel1 Abstract Strategic alliances are common to any industry. Their presence is felt quite significantly in the airline industry. Starting in the US in 1978 deregulation of airline industry has since brought about sea changes in functioning of the industry. This paper attempts to understand the developments and strategic alliances that have occurred in the airline industry since deregulation. These strategic alliances exist in various forms and differ widely in scope and no consensus on classification was found. The advantages and disadvantages of strategic alliances with respect to the airline industry have been discussed. It is felt that the industry is getting increasingly concentrated. However, no conclusive remarks can be made about consumer welfare. “Airline Business Alliance Survey of 2000 reports that there are 579 alliance agreements in place, up from 280 agreements (more than double) in 1994 when the survey was first conducted. Five major alliances (Star, Oneworld, Qualiflyer, Sky Team, and Wings) account for some 60 percent of all air travel.” (Mason, 2002) The lines above make the issue important enough to understand the phenomenon that is guiding the industry. Almost a decade back Oum, Taylor and Zhang (1993) argued that the airline industry will be marked by strategic alliances and these alliances will be global in nature. The guiding factors will be several that include formation of blocs, resource...
Words: 12277 - Pages: 50
... Introduction Corporate finance Investment policy How the firm spends its money (real and financial assets) Financing and payout policy How the firm obtains funds (debt, equity) and disposes of excess cash 4 Balance sheet view of the firm Assets Liabilities Current Liabilities Current Assets Long-term debt Fixed Assets 1. Tangible 2. Intangible Shareholders’ Equity 5 Introduction, cont. But we also need to understand… Capital markets Types of securities (stocks, bonds, options…) Trade-off between risk and return Pricing Taxes and government regulation 6 Financial markets Firms Curr assets Fixed assets Debt Equity Financial Markets Individuals Financial Intermediaries Government 7 Introduction, cont. Finance is really about value Firms Projects and real investments Securities Common characteristic Invest cash today in exchange for cash (hopefully) in the future Central question How do we create value through investment and financing decisions? 8 Types of questions Investment and financing decisions At the end of 1999, GM had $11.4 billion in cash. Should it invest in new projects or return the cash to shareholders? If it decides to return the cash, should it declare a dividend or repurchase stock? If it decides to invest, what is the most valuable investment? What are the risks? 9 General Dynamic Major contractor in the defense industry Doing well...
Words: 2967 - Pages: 12
...In April 1992, Disney opened the door of EuroDisney at 30 kilometers east of Paris. During that time, it was designed to be the biggest and most impressive theme park that Disney has ever built in the world. Before the EuroDisney, Disney has built up theme park in California, Florida and Japan. When Disney saw the success of Tokyo Disneyland, they wanted to build other theme parks outside America and after choosing from over 200 potential sites included Spain, Italy and Greece; Paris was the chosen one. The management of Disney has expected to receive the same behaviour in EuroDisney as their Japanese counterparts in Tokyo Disneyland but they actually experienced the exact opposite of what they experienced in Japan. At EuroDisney, families were unwilling to spend the US$280 a day which was only to enjoy the attractions of the park with a milkshake and a hamburger. Staying overnight was not even in their mind as the prices were very high. Paris was chosen due to its location and also that it is the Europe’s most popular city for tourist destination. The management planned to received 11 million visitors and generate more than US$100 million during the first year but the attendance reached only 9.2 million and by summer 1994, they made a loss of more than US$900 million. The financial losses were so huge that the President had to put in place a rescue package to make EuroDisney back on firm financial ground. They had to revise their marketing plan and made new strategic and tactical...
Words: 1882 - Pages: 8
...Strategy Final: Is JetBlue's strategy conducive to sustaining profitability? Team: Grant Carter William DiSciullo Andrea Kalmans Professor McAfee April 9, 2002 1 Introduction In the April 1st, 2002 edition of Barron’s, a tag line in the “Marketweek” column reads, “Airlines and other money-losing companies.” 1 This tag line reflects the intense rivalry and the massive financial losses undergone in the airline industry in the past few months due to the economic recession and the 9/11 terrorists attacks. Amidst this airline industry malaise, however, JetBlue Airlines (”JetBlue”) launched service in February 2000 and generated over $41 million in profits in 2001.2 In this report, we explore the question, “Is JetBlue’s strategy conducive to sustaining profitability?” The answer is a resounding “Yes”. At the one thousand foot level, we believe that even in the unattractive airline industry in which companies try to differentiate on qualities other than price -- but in the end often compete on price -- JetBlue has a unique formula for success. It competes head-to-head with the majors, particularly Southwest Airlines (“Southwest”), on price, cost structure, features, and customer satisfaction. However, the company has carved a niche in which a “live and let live” strategy should prevail. Indeed, a rival attempting to bankrupt JetBlue may well cause more harm to itself than to its target. Airline Industry Overview Background At one time the airline industry resembled the utility...
Words: 4584 - Pages: 19
