Doctorat en sciences sociales, politiques et économiques / info:eu-repo/semantics/nonPublished

Revenue Management (RM) is the practice of managing perishable assets by control-ling their availability and/or prices with an objective to maximize the total revenue. Seat inventory allocation falls in the purview of quantity-based RM. The liberalization of the aviation sector and the subsequent entrance of the low-cost carriers saw an ever-increasing customer base for the airline industry. Given the large number of buyers, firms were free to decide the price at which they would sell tickets. The low-cost carriers started to follow a third degree price discrimination and segmentation of the market, charging a higher price to the market with a relatively inelastic demand. Although a lot of work has been done in the area of seat inventory allocation under a monopolistic market scenario, we realized that not a lot of work had been done in a competitive market scenario. This thesis considers the problem of seat inventory allocation and pricing in a duopoly where each of the competing airlines have two fare-classes. We consider the possibility that the same fare-class may be priced differently by the two competing airlines and allow for the over flow of passengers between the airlines in the same fare-class. In the first part of our work, we develop a non-linear mathematical model for setting the booking limits for one of the two competing air-lines such that the revenue earned is maximized. We consider over flow of passengers from one airline to another in the same fare-class in response to a price differential and compare the results obtained from our model with the standard Expected Marginal Seat Revenue (EMSR) model under a monopolistic scenario. The results show that our model gives higher revenues than that obtained from the EMSR model. In the second part of our work, we consider a non-cooperative game between two competing airlines with price cutting as the strategy to increase their demand. Through numerical computations, we identify the pure strategy Nash equilibrium. From the results, we conclude that Nash equilibrium is achieved only when both the airlines follow the same pricing strategy indicating that individual price cutting will not be beneficial. This also indicates that unless the competitors enter into a cooperative coalition with each other, they would not benefit from deep discount offers. In the third and final part, we prove theoretically the existence of pure strategy Nash equilibrium in a two airline, two fare-class problem with price sensitive over flow of customers in the same fare-class that was computationally analysed earlier. The strategy / strategies at which Nash equilibrium is achieved are identified. We show that Nash equilibrium is only achieved when both the airlines price identically. Hence, our thesis concludes that differential pricing does not hold any significance for the competing airlines from an operational perspective.

Organizations specifically the airlines industry are increasingly facing the challenges of operational efficiency measurement. During the last years enormous attention has been given to the assessment and improvement of the performance of productive systems. However, literatures show that there are limitations of the existing models to measure efficiency uniformly and exhaustively across the airlines. The problems are due to lack of the technical efficiency measuring model which unifies and integrates different measuring models into a single model.Therefore, this thesis investigates assessment of the operational performance of world major airlines by employing integrated comparative models to address the above problems. In this study, technical efficiency is addressed among many performance issues by using three types of modes of performance measurement: a non parametric one, represented by Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and; a parametric one, represented by Stochastic Frontier Analysis (SFA) and the Balance Scorecard (BSC) which is a strategic management tools. Unlike most of the previous studies, this study integrates the BSC concepts into DEA and SFA model. To evaluate technical efficiency of major international airlines, the study use panel of unbalanced data for the year 2007-2014 to make integrated comparative analysis. The research project incorporates seven leading variables and four lagging variables taken from BSC concept to implement into the DEA and SFA. All the three models of performance measurements have their own strength and limitation if they are used alone. But if the three models are integrated and combined together, they would yield better comparative and quality of efficiency assessment. Therefore, the study primarily developed a model beginning from the theoretical framework assumption into building of a unified comparative model of integrated comparative operational efficiency assessment of airlines. The research design and methodology uses secondary data collection i.e. annual reports and business reports of airlines which are collected from the airlines own website. The huge amount of financial and operational data cannot be collected by using primary data collection method as it would make it practically impossible and expensive. So by employing secondary data collection method saves time, money and a panel data can be accessed and generated easily. Hence, from 100 world major airlines population which are ranked by revenue, simple random sampling is used to select 80 samples airlines for this study. First, the BSC identifies the input and output variables. Next, the DEA model ranks the efficiency measurement, identifies the slack variables and benchmarks the airlines. Third, the SFA model identifies technical efficiency, the random error and technical inefficiency. Finally, the technical efficiency estimates obtained from the two techniques are analyzed comparatively. The research makes further analysis of particular case of the Ethiopian Airlines in relation to the most efficient and inefficient airlines and in comparison of the regional analysis. After extensive tests have been conducted, ‘Balanced Frontier Envelopment’ model is developed. According to this model, it is a paramount to measure efficiency with combining the strength of three models together and gives better results than the previous one or two combined models. The developed and integrated strategic model enhances measuring of the operating technical efficiency of airlines. This model benefit the airlines industry in many ways such as minimizing the cost and maximizing profit through managing technical efficiency which lead into the success of the airlines. From the model perspective, therefore, result of DEA model is much higher than the result of SFA model. DEA model is easier to manipulate than the SFA model because the former does not need the functional form while the later requires a functional form. Furthermore, according to the efficiency finding of the study, first, the European regional airlines are relatively more efficient than the rest of regions in the world. Second, the North America regional airlines are the second more efficient regional airlines in the world. Third, the Ethiopian airlines are the most efficient in Africa when we compare among Egyptair, Kenyan Airways and South African Airways. Fourth, high revenue does not necessarily leads to the technical efficiency of the firm. / Business Management / D.B.L. (Business Leadership)

The airline industry has grown rapidly over the past few decades, recording a ten-fold rise in passenger numbers and a fourteen-fold increase in cargo volumes. This growth has created overwhelming value to airline passengers, employees, suppliers and the broader economy. Unfortunately, this industry has been affected by terrorism attacks, wars, revolutions, pandemic fears, earthquakes, volcanoes, failing economies and skyrocketing fuel prices all of which have negatively impacted on profitability and resulted in intense competition. Consequently, airlines have spent the last decade in survival mode having to adapt to harsh changes. Air Zimbabwe, a state-run organisation which operates in this highly regulated and turbulent industry, is faced with numerous micro and macro environmental challenges and has been purposively selected for this study. According to company statistics, the airline’s annual passenger uplifts have declined from a peak of over 1 million in the 1990s to less than 200 000 in 2011, with revenue generation declining in correlation. Whilst Air Zimbabwe has experienced depressed demand for its services, competitor airlines are recording brisk business. The aim of this study was to investigate how a struggling organisation, which operates in a turbulent environment, can improve its competitiveness and profitability by better understanding the impact of industry role players and adapting organisational strategies to industry variations. This study examined, from the point of view of the industry players themselves, the extent to which customers, suppliers, competitors, regulatory authorities, substitute products and new entrants have impacted on the competitiveness and profitability of the airline. Major findings reveal that an organisation cannot operate in isolation and be competitive or profitable, but constantly needs to analyse the industry environment in which it operates in and to amicably interact with other industry role players. The research outlines the need for competition in certain areas and cooperation in others. / Business Management / M. Com. (Business Management)

by Ko Wai Kwan Vivian. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 114-116). / ABSTRACT --- p.ii / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS --- p.iv / LIST OF TABLES --- p.vii / Chapter / Chapter I. --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / The Aviation Industry - The Target Customers --- p.1 / Major Functions of Airline Advertisements --- p.7 / Purpose of Study --- p.9 / Chapter II. --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.10 / Chapter III. --- METHODOLOGY --- p.15 / Content Analysis of Airline Advertisements --- p.16 / In-depth Interviews with Advertisers --- p.18 / Survey of Audiences' Perceptions --- p.18 / Chapter IV. --- FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION --- p.25 / Content Analysis of Airline Advertisements --- p.25 / In-depth Interviews with Advertisers --- p.30 / Survey of Audiences' Perceptions --- p.38 / Chapter V. --- CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.105 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.114 / APPENDIX --- p.117 / Chapter 1. --- An Outline of the Questions for the Personal Interviews / Chapter 2. --- Survey Questionnaire / Chapter 3. --- Instructions for the Questionnaire Survey / Chapter 4. --- Ten Advertisements Used in Part I of the Survey / Chapter 5. --- British Airways Advertisements Used in the Survey / Chapter 6. --- Cathay Pacific Advertisements Used in the Survey / Chapter 7. --- Korean Air Advertisements Used in the Survey / Chapter 8. --- British Airways Advertisements Collected for the Content Analysis / Chapter 9. --- Cathay Pacific Advertisements Collected for the Content Analysis / Chapter 10. --- Korean Air Advertisements Collected for the Content Analysis / Chapter 11. --- Examples of Other Airline Advertisements

by Cunningham King, Mimi, Li, Yuen Yu Vivien. / Thesis (M.B.A.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 1990. / Bibliography: leaves 105-108. / ABSTRACT / TABLE OF CONTENTS --- p.iii / LIST OF EXHIBITS --- p.viii / LIST OF TABLES --- p.ix / ACKNOWLEDGEMENT --- p.x / Chapter CHAPTER ONE --- INTRODUCTION --- p.1 / Chapter 1.1 --- Staff Turnover in Service Industry --- p.1 / Chapter 1.2 --- Outlook of Supply of General Staff --- p.2 / Chapter 1.3 --- Objective and Scope --- p.4 / Chapter 1.4 --- Significance of the Study --- p.4 / Chapter 1.5 --- Case Brief --- p.5 / Chapter CHAPTER TWO --- LITERATURE REVIEW --- p.8 / Chapter 2.1 --- Definition --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2 --- Effects of Turnover --- p.10 / Chapter 2.3 --- Costs of Turnover --- p.13 / Chapter 2.4 --- Measurement of Turnover --- p.14 / Chapter 2.5 --- Causes of Turnover --- p.14 / Chapter 2.6 --- Causes for Staying --- p.15 / Chapter 2.7 --- Developing the Theoretical Framework --- p.16 / Chapter 2.8 --- The Theoretical Framework --- p.29 / Chapter THREE --- METHODOLOGY --- p.31 / Chapter 3.1 --- Overview --- p.31 / Chapter 3.2 --- Population and Sample --- p.31 / Chapter 3.3 --- Preliminary Survey Method --- p.3 2 / Chapter 3.4 --- The Hypotheses --- p.34 / Chapter 3.5 --- Data Collection Method --- p.36 / Chapter 3.6 --- Variables --- p.38 / Chapter 3.7 --- Measurement of Variables --- p.40 / Chapter 3.8 --- Data Analysis Techniques --- p.41 / Chapter FOUR --- RESULTS --- p.44 / Chapter 4.1 --- Response Rate --- p.44 / Chapter 4.2 --- Feel for Data --- p.45 / Chapter 4.3 --- Factor Analysis --- p.49 / Chapter 4.4 --- Hypotheses Testing --- p.51 / Chapter 4.5 --- Other Analyses --- p.55 / Chapter 4.6 --- Summary of Results --- p.59 / Chapter CHAPTER FIVE --- DISCUSSION --- p.60 / Chapter 5.1 --- Significant Factors Affecting Propensity to Stay --- p.60 / Chapter 5.2 --- Factors not Correlated to Propensity to Stay --- p.62 / Chapter 5.3 --- Relationship Between Demographics and Propensity to Stay --- p.63 / Chapter 5.4 --- Departmental Variationin Propensity to Stay --- p.64 / Chapter 5.5 --- Conclusion --- p.64 / Chapter SIX --- RECOMMENDATIONS --- p.65 / Chapter 6.1 --- Recommendations to the Airline --- p.65 / Chapter 6.2 --- Recommendations for Further Research --- p.70 / APPENDIX / Chapter I --- "Places Offered by Universities, Polytechnics and Colleges" --- p.71 / Chapter II --- Title and Job Nature of Sample --- p.72 / Chapter III --- Questionnaire (in Chinese) --- p.73 / Chapter IV --- Questionnaire (English Translation) --- p.86 / Chapter V --- Distribution of Valid Cases by Rank --- p.93 / Chapter VI --- Demographics of Respondents --- p.94 / Chapter VII --- List of Mean Scores for items Measuring Independent Variables --- p.99 / Chapter VIII --- Results of Hypotheses Testing --- p.101 / Chapter IX --- "Correlation Between Number of Children, Education, Salary, Age and Length of Service" --- p.104 / BIBLIOGRAPHY --- p.105

Xu, Fang. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 75-79). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Abstract --- p.i / Acknowledgement --- p.ii / Chapter 1 --- Introduction --- p.1 / Chapter 2 --- Background Information --- p.3 / Chapter 2.1 --- Growth of Air-Transportation Industry --- p.3 / Chapter 2.1.1 --- General Figures --- p.3 / Chapter 2.1.2 --- Growth of Air Cargo Market --- p.3 / Chapter 2.1.3 --- Regulatory Support --- p.5 / Chapter 2.2 --- The Focus: Pearl River Delta --- p.6 / Chapter 2.2.1 --- Strategic Moves of Airports --- p.8 / Chapter 2.2.2 --- Investment and Development of Airlines --- p.12 / Chapter 2.2.3 --- Hong Kong VS Shen Zhen --- p.13 / Chapter 3 --- Airport Competition --- p.14 / Chapter 3.1 --- Introduction --- p.14 / Chapter 3.2 --- One-period two port competition model --- p.15 / Chapter 3.2.1 --- The basic model --- p.15 / Chapter 3.2.2 --- Stackelberg Game --- p.23 / Chapter 3.2.3 --- Location factor --- p.26 / Chapter 3.3 --- Two-period two port competition model --- p.27 / Chapter 3.3.1 --- The basic model --- p.27 / Chapter 3.3.2 --- Switching cost --- p.30 / Chapter 3.4 --- Conclusion --- p.33 / Chapter 4 --- Combined airline VS full-cargo airline --- p.34 / Chapter 4.1 --- Introduction --- p.34 / Chapter 4.2 --- Model Setup --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2.1 --- Modelling Capacity and Cost --- p.35 / Chapter 4.2.2 --- Modelling Demand --- p.37 / Chapter 4.2.3 --- The Optimization Framework --- p.37 / Chapter 4.2.4 --- Decomposition of the Decision Process --- p.39 / Chapter 4.3 --- Step 1: Strategies in the Passenger Market --- p.40 / Chapter 4.3.1 --- Carriers enter the game with zero-inventory --- p.40 / Chapter 4.3.2 --- Incumbent carrier has established initial capacity --- p.42 / Chapter 4.4 --- Step 2: Strategies in the Cargo Market --- p.45 / Chapter 4.5 --- Centralized decision --- p.49 / Chapter 4.5.1 --- Both airlines have zero initial capacity in the passenger market --- p.50 / Chapter 4.5.2 --- One airline has non-zero initial capacity in the passenger market --- p.51 / Chapter 4.5.3 --- Both airlines have initial capacity in the cargo market --- p.53 / Chapter 4.6 --- Conclusion --- p.53 / Chapter 5 --- Demand growth and shifting --- p.55 / Chapter 5.1 --- Introduction --- p.55 / Chapter 5.2 --- Competition Scenario --- p.56 / Chapter 5.2.1 --- Growth and shifting of passenger demand --- p.56 / Chapter 5.2.2 --- Growth and shifting of cargo demand --- p.60 / Chapter 5.3 --- Centralized decision making --- p.64 / Chapter 5.4 --- conclusion --- p.72 / Chapter 6 --- Conclusion --- p.73 / Bibliography --- p.75

Economic and trade exchanges have become more and more frequent between China and Taiwan in recent years. After decades of confrontation, it is finally evident that a tighter ice-breaking relationship exists now between the two governments reinforced by an inseparable historical relationship between the two peoples. Accordingly, both governments have established responsible organizations - the Mainland Affairs Council and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits ¡V to coordinate and solve the demands of the people. As a result of positive changes in policy, one of the main expected benefits amongst more commercial opportunities are the cross-strait direct flights. In recent years, difficult times have hit Taiwan's airline industry coming initially from a highly competitive domestic airline environment, followed by the establishment of the High-Speed Rail system and further dragged down from the Financial Crisis. The result was a reduction in market share and revenues far below the levels in its boom years forcing players to reduce the number of flights and routes to various parts within Taiwan and shutdown of one of the major domestic airlines. However, after the announcement and release of the new cross-strait direct-flight policy, Taiwan's airline industry is expected to recover from this depression and come to life. Nevertheless, the most significant issue is how the Taiwanese airlines will implement their marketing strategies to establish a strong position for themselves within the Taiwan market. Therefore, this study aims Therefore, this study aims to use a case study approach to analyze cross-strait direct-flight strategies, and it is hoped that this research can be used as a reference for airlines to establish their strategic planning and an appropriate business model for the future. The process and abstract of this research are as follows: 1) Gain a clear understanding of direct-flight policy and analyze the current status of the airlines industry 2) Analyze market potential and business opportunities for the airline industry arising from the direct-flight policy 3) Evaluate prevailing growth strategies for the airline industry moving forward 4) Case Study of China Airlines: Operating Performance and Industry Environmental Analysis 5) Study and provide recommendations on cross-strait direct-flight strategies for China Airlines

published_or_final_version / Architecture / Master / Master of Architecture

The central theme of this study is to survey and critically examine existing Saudi Arabian Airlines (Saudia) Management Development Programs (MDPs) in order to determine which areas of the current programs must be given priority and greater emphasis at Saudia, as well as to ascertain MDP's effects on managers, staff managers, and supervisors. The purposes of this study are (1) to review and evaluate the progress made in managerial development at Saudia from 1972 to 1977 in terms of objectives and effectiveness, and (2) to explore the development of Saudia's managerial needs. The criteria used in this analysis are based upon managerial effectiveness. Although scattered significant differences appeared in some of the data presented in this study, no specific patterns were found among these differences, and it appeared that MDP could not produce any change in the behavior of those managers, staff managers, and supervisors who participated in it. This was a clear indication that MDP was far from achieving its objectives. Several factors contributed to this result, including misunderstanding of Saudi Arabian culture and circumstances; lack of support from top management; lack of manpower analysis; lack of cooperation, coordination, and communication between the training department and other departments at Saudia; lack of formal plans for management succession; and other reasons related directly to MDP.