The 1990s were one of the most profitable periods for European airline companies, mainly because of development of world economy and increasing globalisation trends. However, towards the end of the decade, a global economic downturn, high oil prices and new forms of competition turned the industry towards troubled times. The European air-travel industry had to face and accept the new airline business concept, called low-cost or no-frill airlines. In these conditions, traditional airlines had to rethink their strategies and question the old business model. As a response to the competition, European traditional full-service airlines formed alliances or networks to expand the route network and to increase efficiency. Although joint actions of airlines within alliances started to grow, full-service airlines continued to report losses in the weak business environment, in which the low-cost airlines were growing. This thesis aims at identifying the strategic decisions the European traditional airlines have made during the recent downturn in the industry and how the case companies perceive customer value in the alliance they are members of. In order to conduct this study, the authors have chosen two airline companies from two large European alliances. Interviews have been used as a main information source. Interviews were conducted with managers of companies, which at the same time were representatives of companies in the respective alliances. The secondary material such as previous interviews, annual reports of companies, recent studies in thefield, were used as complementary data. Findings and analysis at the end are introduced in response to general market situation, and as a company - alliance information.

There are many differentiated product industries in which firms offer multiple products in the same market. In making strategic decisions regarding entry, quality and quantity to be supplied for their multiple products firms must consider the competition with rivals as well as cannibalization of their own products that are close substitutes. In this setting, understanding the relationship between the behavior of consumer demand and firms decisions' regarding product characteristics and strategic variables like advertising are fundamental issues in industrial organization. This dissertation empirically explores these fundamental issues in the pharmaceutical and airline industries. The first paper of my dissertation estimates consumer demand for different anti-cholesterol drugs using panel data on a nationally representative sample of individuals who were diagnosed with cholesterol problems in the period 1996-2002. The data provides detailed information on individuals' medical conditions, medical and drug insurance coverage, drug purchases (if any), and other demographic and medical information. Individuals choose whether to purchase an anti-cholesterol rug and, if so, which drug to buy. The model permits flexible substitution patterns among drug choices and persistence in those choices by incorporating both observed and unobserved consumer heterogeneity. The estimates suggest that lower income patients without prescription drug insurance are very price sensitive: they are less likely to use drugs and, if they do use them, they tend to purchase the less expensive drugs. I find that roughly 500 thousand individuals without drug insurance who are currently not purchasing anti-cholesterol drugs would do so in the counterfactual world in which they are given the standard co-payment plan. The second paper also looks at consumer demands for anti-cholesterol drugs. While the first paper focused on the differentiated products, this paper explores the market expansion effects of direct-to-consumer advertising (DTCA). The study combines the individual data used in the first paper with monthly expenditure data on DTCA for the period 1996-2002. The dynamic demand model estimated in this paper explores the heterogeneous effects of DTCA. Overall, I find a positive effect from DTCA with short term elasticity of 0.107. Through persistence in consumer demand this effect lasts over multiple time periods. I find that individuals not taking a cholesterol drug respond more to advertising than those on the drug. In addition, I find that less educated individuals, those that may be unaware of their health condition, and those without health insurance are most responsive to DTCA. Finally, the third paper studies the effect of product ownership and quality on entry in the airline industry. Specifically, this paper empirically examines the decision of an airline to offer high quality nonstop service between cities given that the airline may or may not be offering lower quality one-stop service. I find that airlines that offer one-stop service through a hub are less likely to enter that same market with nonstop service than those that do not. In addition, the quality of the one-stop service is another determinant of entry. Airlines are more likely to enter a market with nonstop service if their own or their rival's one-stop service in the market are of lower quality. / text

This dissertation investigates the economic consequences from hedge accounting signals and risk management disclosure. I first examine the product market consequences to these accounting signals and related disclosure in Chapter 1, then stock market reactions to disclosure requirements in Chapter 2. Chapter 1 examines potential entrants’ strategic entry decisions in response to incumbents’ accounting information and related disclosure. I predict that potential entrants are more likely to enter markets in which the incumbents’ accounting information suggests higher future production costs that are specific to the incumbents themselves. I further hypothesize that the relation is stronger when the accounting signals are accompanied by more disclosure. Using detailed U.S. airline industry data and hedge accounting disclosure under SFAS 133, I find that potential entrants are more likely to enter routes in which the incumbents’ lower accumulated other comprehensive income from fuel hedges suggests their higher future production costs. This entry pattern is stronger when incumbents have more transparent annual report disclosure regarding their fuel hedge programs. The entry pattern is also stronger after a systematic increase in risk management disclosure requirements following the (exogenous) adoption of SFAS 161. Chapter 2 analyzes stock returns of U.S. airlines around events leading up to the adoption of SFAS 161. SFAS 161 enhanced the disclosure requirements for derivatives and hedging activities. I find that U.S. airlines experienced statistically significant positive returns around the key events leading up to the adoption of SFAS 161. I then examine the cross-sectional variation of the returns around these events. Regression results provide initial support for the real effects theory that greater disclosure requirements could distort firms’ hedging and production decisions and lead to suboptimal behavior. In summary, this dissertation provides evidence that competitors use hedge accounting signals and related disclosure in making product market decisions. Meanwhile, additional risk-management disclosures may also distort firms’ hedging and production behavior, leading to suboptimal decisions. This dissertation sheds light on the ongoing projects by the FASB and the IASB on hedge accounting and disclosure and informs the regulators that costs and benefits should be weighted in hedge accounting policy setting.

This dissertation investigates the economic consequences from hedge accounting signals and risk management disclosure. I first examine the product market consequences to these accounting signals and related disclosure in Chapter 1, then stock market reactions to disclosure requirements in Chapter 2. Chapter 1 examines potential entrants’ strategic entry decisions in response to incumbents’ accounting information and related disclosure. I predict that potential entrants are more likely to enter markets in which the incumbents’ accounting information suggests higher future production costs that are specific to the incumbents themselves. I further hypothesize that the relation is stronger when the accounting signals are accompanied by more disclosure. Using detailed U.S. airline industry data and hedge accounting disclosure under SFAS 133, I find that potential entrants are more likely to enter routes in which the incumbents’ lower accumulated other comprehensive income from fuel hedges suggests their higher future production costs. This entry pattern is stronger when incumbents have more transparent annual report disclosure regarding their fuel hedge programs. The entry pattern is also stronger after a systematic increase in risk management disclosure requirements following the (exogenous) adoption of SFAS 161. Chapter 2 analyzes stock returns of U.S. airlines around events leading up to the adoption of SFAS 161. SFAS 161 enhanced the disclosure requirements for derivatives and hedging activities. I find that U.S. airlines experienced statistically significant positive returns around the key events leading up to the adoption of SFAS 161. I then examine the cross-sectional variation of the returns around these events. Regression results provide initial support for the real effects theory that greater disclosure requirements could distort firms’ hedging and production decisions and lead to suboptimal behavior. In summary, this dissertation provides evidence that competitors use hedge accounting signals and related disclosure in making product market decisions. Meanwhile, additional risk-management disclosures may also distort firms’ hedging and production behavior, leading to suboptimal decisions. This dissertation sheds light on the ongoing projects by the FASB and the IASB on hedge accounting and disclosure and informs the regulators that costs and benefits should be weighted in hedge accounting policy setting.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Miami University, Dept. of Political Science, 2008. / Title from second page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-162).

No description available.

Bajo el contexto que vivimos y el impulso que se ha dado a la interacción de los clientes en los medios online, muchos rubros de negocios se han visto afectados. Un rubro importante que no se mantiene al margen es el del transporte aéreo, cuyas aerolíneas tratan de cuidar a sus clientes a pesar de los mensajes negativos que reciben constantemente por estos medios. Por ello este estudio buscó como objetivo fundamental determinar la relación entre el entre el eWOM y la resiliencia de los clientes de Chiclayo hacia la información negativa en las aerolíneas. La investigación tuvo un enfoque cuantitativo de tipo aplicada, diseño no experimental y de nivel correlacional. Se requirió de 200 clientes de aerolíneas, provenientes de la provincia de Chiclayo y que cumplían con los requisitos propuestos. Se aplicó como instrumento dos cuestionarios adaptados que fueron unificados (Heninf Thurau et al., 2004) y (Eisingerich, 2011) de 21 preguntas en total. Para el procesamiento se usó el programa SPSS 25 y el Excel. Finalizando con resultados que mostraron la existencia de una relación significativamente buena entre ambas variables. / Under the context we live in and the boost that has been given to customer interaction in online media, many business areas have been affected. An important item that is not left out is that of air transport, whose airlines try to take care of their customers despite the negative messages they constantly receive through these means. Therefore, this study sought as a fundamental objective to determine the relationship between the eWOM and the resilience of Chiclayo customers towards negative information on airlines. The research had a quantitative approach of applied type, non-experimental design and correlational level. 200 airline customers were required, from the province of Chiclayo and who met the proposed requirements. Two adapted questionnaires were applied as instruments that were unified (Heninf Thurau et al., 2004) and (Eisingerich, 2011) of 21 questions in total. For the processing, the SPSS 25 program and Excel were used. Ending with the results that showed the existence of a significantly good relationship between both variables.

To counter the problem of the volatility of jet fuel prices within the United States, many financial managers of U.S. airlines use hedging as a financial tool to mitigate the risk of exposure to market price volatility. However, their efforts often lead to financial distress for their airlines. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore U.S. airline managers' use of financial hedging to reduce the risk of exposure from the volatility of jet fuel prices. The conceptual framework was Simkowitz's theory of modern finance, which concerns debt policy, dividend policy, and investment policy as they relate to financial decision making by upper management. The research questions addressed when, why, and how U.S. airline financial managers would consider the use of hedging as a financial tool to mitigate the risk in the purchase of jet fuel at times of lower jet fuel prices. Interviews with a purposive sample of 20 U.S. airline financial managers provided data for analysis and theory development of jet fuel hedging utilization in the U.S. airline industry. Data analysis using the constant comparative method enabled the development of a theory of jet fuel hedging utilization. Participants reported using over-the-counter derivatives purchasing strategies as a form of hedging to protect their airlines against spikes in jet fuel prices on the open market. Using study findings, managers may be able to reduce jet fuel operating costs in the U.S. airline industry. Implications for positive social change include potentially higher profits and more jobs as well as lower consumer prices.

<p><strong>Purpose:</strong> The study aims to, from a companys point of view, describe how strategic work with customer loyalty is done.</p><p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> Another possible way to try to create loyalty is to exceed the expectations whether the customer is a member of the loyalty program or not. A strong brand with a good reputation can also contribute to a stronger loyalty. Reward systems gradually reward the customers since they first need to collect points, or in this case miles, to be able to use them later on. The staff is often educated in service to be able to interact with the customer in a professional manner. One way to interact with the members of the loyalty program is through profiles on the internet. To work with loyalty programs is a way for companies to get loyal customers.</p>

Purpose: The study aims to, from a companys point of view, describe how strategic work with customer loyalty is done. Conclusion: Another possible way to try to create loyalty is to exceed the expectations whether the customer is a member of the loyalty program or not. A strong brand with a good reputation can also contribute to a stronger loyalty. Reward systems gradually reward the customers since they first need to collect points, or in this case miles, to be able to use them later on. The staff is often educated in service to be able to interact with the customer in a professional manner. One way to interact with the members of the loyalty program is through profiles on the internet. To work with loyalty programs is a way for companies to get loyal customers.