...STRATEGY Compulsory formative assignment RYANAIR – THE LOW FARES AIRLINE CASE STUDY SummaryThe study case invites us to assess the success of Ryanair’s strategy in a highly competitive environment. For this purpose, we will successively evaluate its competitive positioning, its internal competencies, and its sustainability. We will conclude that Ryanair had followed until 2009 a low cost strategy, that its key resources and competences did satisfy such strategy in 2009 and that its principal competitive advantage, namely its position of leader of the low cost airline market, can be regarded as sustainable. | 1484 words (excluding tables) Introduction Ryanair was created in 1985 by Tony Ryan as a conventional airline company aiming at operating flights between Ireland and London. In 1991, financial difficulties led to its transformation into a low cost carrier, with Southwest Airlines as a model. Michael O’Leary was appointed as the Chief Executive Officer of the company soon after. Since then, the company has experienced rapid expansion. It was floated on the Dublin Stock exchange in 1997 and quoted on the NASDASQ in 2002. In 2009, traffic reached 66,5m passengers with a fleet of 232 Boeing 737-800, 41 bases and profit was over €318 m. The study case invites us to evaluate the success of Ryanair’s strategy in a highly competitive environment. For this purpose, we will successively assess its competitive positioning, its internal competencies, and its...
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...Dogfight over Europe: Ryanair Group D Competitive Strategy Dogfight over Europe: Ryanair (A) This case addresses the airline industry’s context after World War II until late 1980. The case is mainly focused on Ryanair’s entrance to the airline market and its road to expansion. Brief description of airline industry context: Initially, the main players was Europe’s national governments, as a result of merging small private-owned airlines into national “flag carriers” (service focused on international routes from each nation’s capital to colonies). The aviation advances in the WWII aftermath made air travel much more affordable. A new player, United States, soon became a dominant force in the industry as they have free competition on international routes contrasting with public, “flag carriers” in Europe. To prevent this predicted dominance, IATA emerged and “pooling agreements” become a common resource to create entry barriers. Later on and as a result of the collapse of European Empires, most profitable target routes were mainly to North America and private charters airlines took advantage of their discounted charges to put Europe’ system of regulation in pressure. Despite some attempts of IATA to contradict this trend, heavily regulated and fragmented airline industry collapsed and the liberalization of the European airline industry took place in late 1980s as a combination of OPEC oil embargo and Single European Act, predecessor from an agreement to the abolition of “pooling...
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...Case Study – Dogfight over Europe: Ryanair Business Landscape Item | Description | Impact | Government Intervention | Market Deregulation: * Free to set fares * European airlines to fly any route between EU countries * Any intra-country route between two European cities | Open for new competition | | European Union eliminated duty free sales on intra-EU flights | Has to pay duties | Ryanair Challenges & Strategy Description | Cashflow problem, Funded by Ryan Family | Strategy | Low cost carriersCost side: * Cut loss-making routes * Eliminate in-flight amenities (such as: free coffee and snacks) * Renegotiate labor contract (e.g: flight attendants pay is a function of duty-free sales and the number of flights they flew, “Luv” – pay based on productivity) * Stop distribution of meal vouchers to travelers whose flights delayed by bad weather * Stop using “air bridges” that linked parked planes to airport terminals * Reduce travel agents commission from 9% to 7.5% * Serve at secondary airports * Use other parties to handle ground operations * Not allow check baggage throughRevenue side: * Ticket, in-flight sales, car rentals, charter sales * In-flight duty-free sales, beverage, and snacks * Lease space behind seat-back trays and headrest to advertisers, exterior of plane with a corporate logi, in-flight magazine published with full advertisement | Routes | * 150 flights per day, 13 locations in UK, 4 locations in Ireland, 16...
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...Master in International Business, Intake 7 London Corporate Web Communications http://www.ryanair.com Martin Sentis 11 Martin Sentis MIB 7 – Group B Table of content INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................. 3 BUSINESS OBJECTIVES AND BUSINESS MODELS ............................................................................... 3 Presence ........................................................................................................................................ 3 Pricing ........................................................................................................................................... 3 Revenue......................................................................................................................................... 3 Exchange type ............................................................................................................................... 4 How does the Internet add value? ................................................................................................ 4 Rappa’s business model ................................................................................................................ 4 AUDIENCE PROFILE ........................................................................................................................... 5 WEB EVALUATION......................................
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...Master’s thesis M.Sc. in EU Business & Law An analysis of the European low fare airline industry - with focus on Ryanair Student: Thomas C. Sørensen Student number: 256487 Academic advisor: Philipp Schröder Aarhus School of Business September 13, 2005 1 Table of contents 1. Introduction 1.1. Preface 6 1.2. Research problem 6 1.3. Problem formulation 7 1.4. Delimitation 7 2. Science and methodology approach 2.1. Approaches to science 2.1.1. Ontology 2.1.1.1. Objectivism 2.1.1.2. Constructivism 2.1.2. Epismotology 2.1.2.1. Positivism 2.1.2.2. Hermeneutics 9 9 9 9 10 10 10 2.2. Methodology 2.2.1. Types of research 2.2.2. Types of data 2.2.2.1. Quantitative data 2.2.2.2. Qualitative data 2.2.2.3. Primary and secondary data 11 12 13 13 13 14 2.5 Reliability and validity 15 3. Theoretical framework 3.1. The structure of this thesis 16 3.2. Theory on strategy and competitive advantage 3.2.1. The Positioning School 3.1.1.1. Theory on Porter´s Five Forces model 3.2.1.2. Theory of Generic Strategies 3.2.2. The Resource-based School 3.2.2.1. Theory on SWOT analysis 18 24 20 23 25 27 4. The low fare airline business model 4.1. Introduction 28 4.2. Differences between the LFA model and the FSA model 4.2.1. The service factor 29 29 2 4.2.2. Turnaround times 4.2.3. Homogenous fleet 4.2.4. Point-to-point travel vs hub-and-spoke travel 4.2.5. Higher seat density 4.2...
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...How did the deregulation of air transportation in Europe foster entrepreneurial behavior and innovation in the European airline industry over the last twenty years? Case studies: SAS Airline & Ryanair Master Thesis in Entrepreneurship and Dynamic Business Contexts Spring 2007 Supervisor: Håkan Bohman Entrepreneurship Master Program Authors: Gilles Helterlin and Nuno Ramalho Acknowledgements We would like to express our gratitude to all who have contributed to the realization of this Master Thesis. A warm thank to our supervisor, Håkan Bohman from USBE (Umeå School of Business), for his guidance, his precious help and his advises during the last months. To Mr. Lundvall, from LFV (Luftfartsverket), Mr. Valinger from Scandinavian Airline and Mr. Wilsberg from SAS Braathens, Jessica Eriksson and Thomas Pettersson from USBE, thank you for your availability, willingness in answering our questions and for their so precious collaboration with interviews, comments and suggestions. Thank you also Sweden for the wonderful moments we have spent here. We will never forget your nature (your elks), your cold winter (-30°C), your long nights in winter and your short nights in late spring!! It has been a great experience and adventure up there in Northern Sweden!! We will miss you… Finally we would like to thank particularly the Studentexpedition for its kindness, without forgetting our family and friends (from Sweden, France, Portugal and Greece) for their everlasting daily support...
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...* Word count or equivalent: 1000 (500 per answer) * Assessment criteria: * To identify the nature of operations management * To analyse the processes of operations management * To analyse management approaches to operations management * To apply operations management to gaining customers and competing * To examine the operational processes and life cycles * Knowledge/understanding of concepts (40%) * Ability to collect, synthesise and apply information (20%) * Ability to generate appropriate conclusions (10%) * Logical structure (10%) * Communication of information/literacy (20%) Introduction * What the question going to be answered is about * This essay aims to answer… and will refer to… and apply examples from the… industry * Body * Begin each paragraph with the main idea/ topic sentence * This tells the reader what the paragraph will be about * Make sure your reader understands the main idea by EXPLAINING or giving a definitions How to.. * Give some EVIDENCE to support your main idea – the evidence should be a direct quotation or paraphrase and supported by a REFERENCE. * CONCLUDE your paragraph by either * linking back to your main idea * linking forward to the main idea in the next paragraph Conclusion * Conclusions are often hard to construct as you want to do more than just repeat everything you have just answered. * Ensure that you reach an overall conclusion...
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...encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Not to be confused with other uses of the name "Skybus". Skybus Airlines | | IATA SX | ICAO SKB | Callsign SKYBUS | | Founded | 2004 | Commenced operations | May 22, 2007 | Ceased operations | April 5, 2008 | Hubs | Port Columbus International Airport | Secondary hubs | Piedmont Triad International Airport | Fleet size | 12 (63 firm orders at time of shutdown) | Destinations | 17 | Company slogan | Only birds fly cheaper | Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio | Key people | John Weikle (Founder) Mike Hodge (CEO & CFO) Kenneth L. Gile (President & COO) Charlie Clifton (Board of Managers) | Website | skybus.com | Skybus Airlines Inc. was a privately held airline based in Columbus, Ohio, United States.[1] It operated as an ultra low-cost carrier modeled after the European airline Ryanair, and aimed to be the least expensive airline in the United States. The business model was heavily reliant on flying routes where other airlines did not have direct flights, as Ryanair did in Europe, thus keeping competition to a minimum, and on flying into secondary airports, rather than heavily trafficked ones. The airline also sold advertising space on the interior and exterior of its aircraft, as well as selling merchandise on board. Skybus applied for operating approval on January 1, 2005,[2] received approval to operate on March 15, 2006,[3] and FAA certification on May 10, 2007.[4] It had been granted a waiver to begin...
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...| | | | | | |[pic] | | | | | |UCD School of Business | | | | | |Accountancy Subject Area ...
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...it such a big deal? Is this a good idea for JetBlue? Explain. When a privately held company makes its stock available to the general public for the first time on a securities exchange, this is known as the company’s Initial Public Offering (IPO). The IPO can consist of an initial issue of either debt or equity. The IPO process is also referred to as a private company “going public”. There are numerous benefits associated with going public. IPO benefits include enlarging and diversifying a company’s equity base, allowing cheaper access to capital, improving public image, attracting better management and employees through stock options, enabling transfer of company ownership through mergers/acquisitions, and providing increased financing opportunities (through equity, convertible debt, bank loans, etc.). IPO Process Executing an IPO is an extensive, time-consuming, and complicated process for the senior management team of a company. The main steps of the process are outlined below: • Hire an investment bank as an underwriter—the underwriters’ purpose is to negotiate ways to raise capital (by either debt or equity) and interface with the public. (In JetBlue’s case, the underwriter was Morgan Stanley.) • Begin to negotiate with the underwriters about all the required information that will be contained in the underwriting agreement. This information includes the amount of capital the company wants to raise, types of securities that will be issued, amount of share divisions,...
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... | |Business Strategy MHR 723 | |Monday evening 6:15 -9:00 | |Spring 2008 | Ms. Lori Cross Telephone : (608) 298-0058 Mobile : (608) 692-2000 e-Mail : lcross@bus.wisc.edu or lj_cross@msn.com Office : Grainger 4281 Office Hours : 4 - 6 (before scheduled classes) by appointment Course Description and Objectives Few leaders would disagree that a firm’s performance is directly linked with their chosen strategy and their ability to implement that strategy. Traditionally, books and articles on strategy have focused on the development of a strategic plan, based on situational and competitive analyses and forward-looking forecasts. In today’s world, these traditional methods are no longer sufficient to address rapidly changing environments and the challenge of executing global strategies. This course will explore the latest research and management techniques for developing a comprehensive integrated strategic plan and for managing implementation of the plan in dynamic environments. The key objectives of the course are: ...
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...suggested three alternative generic strategies: “Cost Leadership”, “Differentiation” and “Focus”. He suggested that these three generic strategies are mutually exclusive and that a company can therefore only pursue one if it is to be successful. Trying to pursue two or more generic strategies at the same time, Porter suggested, would result in what he termed being “stuck-in-the middle”. Cost Leadership For this strategy to be effective, Porter suggested that in order to be sustainable a company should have the lowest cost in the industry i.e be the “cost leader”. The company pursues economies of scale, low-cost supplies, basic product designs and minimum service levels. Example of companies competing on low cost includes Aldi and Ryanair in the airline industry. According to Porter, a cost leader must achieve parity or proximity in areas such as product quality and design relative to its competitors for it to survive, even though it relies on cost leadership for its competitive advantage. This means that the cost leader can translate its cost advantage into higher profits than competitors. The principal danger of a cost leadership strategy is that it is essentially a finance based strategy. In addition, by definition, there can be only one cost leader in an industry and where several companies attempt to pursue this strategy there may be intense price competition and hence low profits for everyone in the industry. Differentiation Porter suggests that in a differentiation...
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...a plastic guitar-shaped controller. Players press colored buttons along the guitar neck to match a series of dots that scroll down the TV in time with music from a famous rock tune, such as the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” Players score points based on their accuracy. In November 2007, Harmonix released Rock Band, adding drums, vocals, and bass guitar options to the game. Rock Band has sold over 3.5 million units with a $169 price tag (most video games retail at $50 to $60). In 2006, Harmonix’s founders sold the company to Viacom for $175 million, maintaining their operational autonomy while providing them greater budgets for product development and licensing music for their games. Harmonix’s success, however, did not come overnight. The company was originally founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy in 1995, focused around some demo software they had created in grad school and a company vision of providing a way for people without much musical training or talent to experience the joy of playing and creating music. The founders believed that if people had the opportunity to create their own music, they would jump at the chance. Their software, which they eventually dubbed The Axe, provided basic music composition tutorials and allowed participants to use a joystick to improvise solos along to popular music tracks. They attempted to market their creation through an interface with Japanese karaoke machines, a demo package deal with Intel...
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...British Airways Carolyn Shepherd Dr. Neil Mathur BUS620: Managerial Marketing November 28, 2011 British Airways Summary of the Marketing Plan This report details a marketing plan for a full-service airline British Airlines. The marketing plan will address the class of consumers who prefer to use full-service accommodations. The marketing plan will use many of the market strategies, such as advertising through the media, flyers and the company website. The marketing plan will extend for a 12 month period and following will be an evaluation plan to be used on continuous bases. Company Overview-British Airlines The full-service airline offers high level of fixed and operating costs. Full service airlines operate with fixed cost and fixed products and service (Smith, 2002). The airline provides different types of services such as in-flight meal, travel assistant, lounge access, and many others services. The full service airline has faced much competition from the many low cost airlines on the market which are airlines that provide limited service for in-flights they are able to lower their costs of travel. The airline comes with many services including two class segmentations, online or direct travel agent, and others services. The carrier being one of the oldest airlines in the world continues to support the full service model despite the many low cost airlines...
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...a plastic guitar-shaped controller. Players press colored buttons along the guitar neck to match a series of dots that scroll down the TV in time with music from a famous rock tune, such as the Ramones’ “I Wanna Be Sedated” and Deep Purple’s “Smoke on the Water.” Players score points based on their accuracy. In November 2007, Harmonix released Rock Band, adding drums, vocals, and bass guitar options to the game. Rock Band has sold over 3.5 million units with a $169 price tag (most video games retail at $50 to $60). In 2006, Harmonix’s founders sold the company to Viacom for $175 million, maintaining their operational autonomy while providing them greater budgets for product development and licensing music for their games. Harmonix’s success, however, did not come overnight. The company was originally founded by Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy in 1995, focused around some demo software they had created in grad school and a company vision of providing a way for people without much musical training or talent to experience the joy of playing and creating music. The founders believed that if people had the opportunity to create their own music, they would jump at the chance. Their software, which they eventually dubbed The Axe, provided basic music composition tutorials and allowed participants to use a joystick to improvise solos along to popular music tracks. They attempted to market their creation through an interface with Japanese karaoke machines, a demo package deal with Intel...
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