<p>This dissertation extends the empirical industrial organization literature with two essays on strategic decisions of firms in imperfectly competitive markets and one essay on how inertia in consumer choice can result in significant welfare losses. Using data from the airline industry I study a well-known puzzle in the literature whereby incumbent firms decrease fares when Southwest Airlines emerges as a potential entrant, but is not (yet) competing directly. In the first essay I describe this so-called Southwest Effect and use reduced-form analysis to offer possible explanations for why firms may choose to forgo profits today rather than wait until Southwest operates the route. The analysis suggests that incumbent firms are attempting to signal to Southwest that entry is unprofitable so as to deter its entry. The second essay develops this theme by extending a classic model from the IO literature, limit pricing, to a dynamic setting. Calibrations indicate the price cuts observed in the data can be captured by a dynamic limit pricing model. The third essay looks at another concentrated industry, mobile telecoms, and studies how inertia in choice (be it inattention or switching costs) can lead to consumers being on poorly matched cellphone plans and how a simple policy proposal can have a considerable effect on welfare.</p> / Dissertation

Global sourcing strategies are becoming important with respect to more globalized world and changing global market. Nowadays, profitability is more complex subject for companies. Moreover, if we come through the airline companies, it will be more confused issue to achieve. Customers are getting knowledge about pricing strategies of different types of aviation industry and this makes customer segmentation more important.Coping with that challenging business requires strong skills on sourcing strategies in human resources, airport and aircraft choices. Hence one of the biggest airline companies was chosen as a case company to observe these strategies.Increasing of flights for all over the world causes more polluted environment. Hence, airline companies need to be more responsible for environmental issues. Sustainability in that business is motivated by customer and related policies. Chosen case company was also reviewed with respect to its corporate social responsibility.According to this thesis a lot of work can be done in order to a get a brief idea for the global sourcing strategies and corporate social responsibility. Authors were discussed that subject and observed its applications in a world-wide airline company. It can be supposed as a well-prepared study with literature review and related reflections.

This diploma thesis addresses the topic of frequent flyer programs for small and medium enterprises. The goal of this thesis is to analyze BlueBiz, the Air France-KLM frequent flyer program for small and medium enterprises, and to propose improvements for this program. The theoretical part consists of an introduction to marketing, commercial communications, and loyalty programs; the analytical part deals directly with the frequent flyer program BlueBiz. The analytical part introduces the airline companies Air France-KLM, and provides an analysis of BlueBiz terms and conditions, an analysis of the competitors' programs, analysis of program's communications and an analysis of BlueBiz awareness. The results of all analyses are summarized in a SWOT analysis, which creates groundwork for designing program's improvements.

Background and problem discussion: Society's increased concern about environmental pollution, the greenhouse effect, climate change and human rights violations have inspired business practices that take greater account of social responsibility. This has led to the fact that since 2017 it is mandatory for companies of a certain size to report non-financial information on how they deal with social and environmental issues in a sustainability report. An industry that has high pressure to report how they work for sustainable development is the aviation industry, but previous studies show that there is uncertainty about how to report sustainability and that it has led to a lack of quality in the reports. Purpose: The purpose of the study is to examine and add understanding of quality in sustainability reporting. The study also aims to compare sustainability reports over time and examine if the quality within sustainability reporting has changed. Method: This study uses a comparative and longitudinal research design. The study is based on a qualitative research strategy with quantitative elements using a qualitative content analysis. An encoding scheme is used to assess the companies' sustainability reports. Results: The study's empirical data shows that the quality of the sustainability reports within European airlines has improved considerably between 2015-2018, but there is still room for sustainability reporting to develop. Through a review of the companies‟ sustainability reports, you can see a clear direction that the sustainability reports are showing more and more similarities in terms of quality, and the companies have focused most on improving the reporting of trends over time as well as their performance in environmental issues. / Bakgrund och problemformulering: Samhällets ökade oro kring miljöförstöring,växthuseffekten, klimatförändringar och kränkningar av mänskliga rättigheter har inspirerattill affärsmetoder som tar större hänsyn till socialt ansvar. Detta har lett till att det sedan 2017 är obligatoriskt för företag av en viss storlek att redovisa icke-finansiell information kring hur de bemöter sociala och miljörelaterade frågor samt utmaningar i en hållbarhetsrapport. En bransch som har hög press på sig att redovisa på vilket sätt de arbetar för en hållbar utveckling är flygbranschen, men tidigare studier visar att det råder en osäkerhet kring hur man ska hållbarhetsrapportera och att det lett till en bristande kvalité på rapporterna. Syfte: Syftet med studien är att undersöka samt tillföra förståelse för kvalité inom hållbarhetsredovisning. Vidare syftar studien till att jämföra hållbarhetsrapporter över tid och undersöka om det skett någon förändring gällande hållbarhetsredovisningens kvalité. Metod: Denna studie använder sig av en komparativ samt longitudinell forskningsdesign. Studien utgår ifrån en kvalitativ forskningsstrategi med kvantitativa inslag där en kvalitativ innehållsanalys används. Ett kodningsschema används för att undersöka företagens hållbarhetsredovisningar. Slutsats: Studiens empiri visar att kvalitén på hållbarhetsredovisningen inom Europeiska flygbolag har förbättrats avsevärt mellan år 2015-2018, men det finns ännu stort utrymme för hållbarhetsredovisningen att utvecklas. Genom en granskning av bolagens hållbarhetsrapporter ser man en tydlig riktning mot att hållbarhetsredovisningarna visar alltmer likheter kvalitetsmässigt, och bolagen har lagt mest fokus på att förbättra redovisningen av trender över tiden samt deras prestationer inom miljömässiga frågor.

Departure punctuality has increasingly gained attention over the last few years. This development is due to the realization what important role this issue plays in the economics of the airline industry. Punctuality is not just a sound performance indicator but also allows airlines to differentiate themselves from their competitors. In addition the issue holds a significant potential for cost savings. For this reason many airlines have started special programmes to improve their punctuality performance, and so did Lufthansa. However, despite this increasing attention, outbound punctuality levels have not yet reached satisfactory levels. Therefore, this study aimed at contributing to this process by identifying potential ontime performance improvements at the Lufthansa station at Frankfurt Airport. As an underlying framework, a Human Factors approach was chosen. Central issues in the focus of the study were the individual perceptions and attitudes towards punctuality by the relevant front line staff. In order to examine these issues a survey among the Flight Managers, Assistant Flight Managers, and Section leaders was carried out. The results of this survey were then put into correlation with the delay statistics published. The results of the survey indicate a potential lack of communication among the front line staff as well as between them and higher organizational entities. Moreover, certain distrust towards the delay statistics became evident. Although the staff members seem quite well motivated, they feel a lack of commitment by their superiors. In addition, the survey gathered some interesting ideas for punctuality improvements held by the front line staff members. Besides very concrete topics for discussion, the central outcome of the study was the recommendation to analyze all relevant processes at the Lufthansa station from a Human Factors perspective in order to improve the communicative situation. Moreover, the study suggests introducing appropriate incentive schemes in order to promote better on-time performance. Altogether these should result in a noticeable improvement of the punctuality situation at the Lufthansa station.

<p><strong>Frågeställning: </strong>Hur skiljer sig lågprisflygbolagens strategier jämfört med de traditionella, vilken är den vinnande strategin?</p><p><strong>Huvudsyfte: </strong>Genom utvalda teorier<strong> </strong>och nyckeltal jämföra och se skillnader mellan flygbolagens strategier och hur det påverkar lönsamhet och utveckling<strong>.</strong></p><p><strong>Metoder: </strong>En jämförande studie baserad på sekundärdata på fem stora flygbolag för att hitta olikheter i strategier. Främst används bolagens årsredovisningar, vetenskapliga artiklar och relevanta teorier för insamlandet av data.</p><p><strong>Slutsatser: </strong>Biljettpriset inom flygindustrin blir en allt viktigare faktor att anpassa sig efter för överlevnad på marknaden. Lågprisflygen har genom kostnadsreduceringar genom enklare bokningssystem, mindre personalstyrka, avlägsna flygplatser och enhetlig flotta kunnat sätta lägre priser än de traditionella. Detta innebär att effektiviteten har ökat och detta sätter press på de traditionella flygbolagen att kostnadsreducera och utveckla servicen ytterligare för att ha en chans att klara konkurrensen. Marginalerna har blivit mindre vilket pressar ner lönsamheten inom industrin. Traditionella flygbolag behöver anpassa sig efter de nya kraven och omstruktureringar är nödvändigt.</p> / <p><strong>Problem formulation:  </strong>How does the low price airlines strategies differ from the traditional airlines strategy, which is the winning strategy?</p><p><strong>Main purpose: </strong>With chosen theories and key figures see the differences between airlines strategy and how it affects profitability and development.</p><p><strong>Method: </strong>A comparing study based on secondary data from five big airlines in order to find differences in strategy. Mostly the companies' annual reports, scientific articles and relevant theories are used for the collection of data.</p><p><strong>Conclusions: </strong>It is becoming more important to adjust the ticket price on air travelling to survive on the aviation-market. Low-price airlines have been able to lower the ticket price through cost reductions with easier booking systems, smaller workforce, less attractive airports and a uniform fleet. This productivity increase is forcing the traditional airlines to reduce their costs and improve their service to deal with the competition. The marginal's are getting smaller and profitability is getting lower. Traditional airlines have to adjust after the new demands and restructures are needed.</p>

Background: The airline industry is unique and fascinating. It was protected through government controls until the early 1980s. However, due to deregulation policy the industry opened to free competition. As a result, collaborations and alliances were formed and low budget airlines were able to enter the market. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to present the current stage of the European airline industry by investigating the strategies of Ryanair and SAS with the help of strategic management tools. Procedure: Two companies were chosen, Ryanair as a low budget airline and SAS as a mature airline. The investigation was based on secondary data found in financial -, annual -, business - and company reports as well as in independent analyst reports and on the Internet. Results: Ryanair’s and SAS’ strategies differ a lot. While Ryanair is focusing on lowest costs it is able to offer low fare tickets but also puts effort into increasing service. On the other hand, SAS’ complicated situation in the weak industry leads to many strategic adjustments. Its diverse choice of prices and services underlines its current instability. Concerning the European airline industry, moves toward consolidation are observable. The industry is reshaped

After the deregulation of the airline industry new actors entered the market and among them were the low-cost airlines. These actors are not involved in the same traditional airline alliance used by the traditional airlines to strengthen their position on the market. Little research has been made regarding the benefits for low-cost airlines to engage in strategic alliances. The purpose of this thesis is to evaluate if low-cost airlines benefit from engaging in strategic alliances or collaborations, and identify possible alliance configurations. To fulfill the purpose we have used a qualitative method and case studies. Interviews with respondents from two low-cost airlines as well as an airline industry field expert were used to gather information about the thesis subject. We have concluded that the low-cost airlines in this study benefit from engaging in strategic alliances. The low-cost airlines are using vertical as well as horizontal alliances principally to gain cost-reduction or efficiency benefits. Both cases were against traditional airline alliances due to the high costs involved, and the fact that they do not share the same motives for alliances.

No description available.

Following the Globalization trend, the policy of Deregulation, Open Sky and BOT had been implemented into the transportation industry in Taiwan. This new policy created the dynamics for transformation both in the Airlines Industry and Railway Industry. The new transportation policy lead to the establishment of E-Airways and T-Rail. This research concentrated on the case study of Operations Readiness Strategy implemented by E-Airways and T-Rail respectively based on the academic theory of SWOT and Five Force Model. E-Airways Case Study covers the strategic items on the establishment of Operations Core Competence, Flight Networks, Innovation of Economy-Deluxe class, Marketing Channel and Airline Strategic Alliance. T-Rail Case Study refers to the Operations Readiness Strategy implemented to import the core competence of High Speed Rail. This research reached the conclusions: 1.To confirm academic theory to be applicable for the successful model of both E-Airways and T-Rail case study; 2.To confirm same strategy model to be applied for different industry; 3.To confirm the strategic competence to be created; 4.That Cross verification of SWOT and Five Force Model will lead to solid strategy. 5.The successful model of E-Airways case study with analysis on the operation readiness strategy is available as reference for any potential airline operator after merge & acquisition of existing airlines. 6.The successful model of T-Rail case study is available as reference model for any ¡§next one¡¨ national HSR (High Speed Rail) Project.