Intangible resources of competitive advantage: Analysis of 49 Asian airlines across three business models

Without sustainable competitive advantage firms have limited economic reasons to exist and will decline. Competitive advantage concerns the factors which provide competitive strength. This paper is based upon the resource-based view which considers firm resources to be heterogeneous and which believes that firms only have a small bundle of core resources irrespective of their overall performance. This research establishes the role of 36 intangible resources for 49 Asian airlines across three business models: network airlines; low-cost subsidiaries from network airlines; and low-cost carriers. It uses the VRIN framework which examines whether resources are valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable. Research participants distribute points between their chosen seven resources according to their perceived role in firm performance. Resources which meet all four requirements of VRIN are considered core competences and sources of sustained advantage. Across all 49 Asian airlines, the top-three most important resources of advantage are slots, brand, and product/service reputation. While these core resources are predictable, they have not previously been proven within the context of airlines, let alone geographically and by airline model. Results show that the core bundle of resources vary for each model, which helps to explain the difference in performance across models, and that some resources which were expected to be high-ranking, such as organisational culture and customer focus, were not.     

What hurts the dominant airlines at hub airports?

This paper estimates a frequency equation to explain the determinants of network airline service levels at their hub airports. Drawing on European data for 2002–2013, we find that network airlines reduce frequencies when the share of low-cost airlines increases both on the route and at the hub airport. On the contrary, frequency choices of network airlines are not affected by competition from low-cost airlines operating in nearby secondary airports. We also find some evidence that mergers in Europe may result in a re-organization of the route structure in favor of the hubs of the larger airline.     

Africa’s single aviation market: The progress so far

To promote the development of air transport at the continental level, several policies were introduced, leading to the Yamoussoukro Decision (YD) in late 1999, which had the liberalisation of the intra-African aviation spaces as its main objective. Even though notable progress has been achieved towards more market-oriented aviation policies, at the pan-African level some markets are still restrictive and inconsistent with the YD, particularly with respect to the granting of 5th freedom rights. This paper aims to examine recent developments in the aviation sector in Africa, with a focus on the implementation of the YD. The obstacles to liberalisation are discussed and several measures for facilitating Africa’s move towards multilateral open skies are investigated. These include, among others, a greater collaboration and co-operation among African airlines, as well as between African airlines and foreign ones; redefinition of the role and responsibilities of different institutions which are instrumental in implementing the YD and some further issues such as ownership guidelines.     

福州航空公司运行品质分析及建议

近年来，我国民航事业发展如火如荼，旅客增长的无限性与航空公司服务资源有限性的矛盾日益尖锐，运行品质的保证和提升成为各个航空公司关注的热点。福州航空公司作为国内从筹建到运营时间最短的航空公司，保证良好的运行品质对其稳健发展至关重要。首先介绍了航空公司运行品质的定义、内容和提高运行品质的措施；然后定性分析了福州航空运行品质现状，有针对性的提出了六点福州航空公司提高运行品质的优化建议。     

The green globe programme: Developing a greener future for travel and tourism

This paper examines the concept of sustainable tourism planning in New Zealand and its relationship to the Resource Management Act. The paper considers the public sector planning responses towards tourism development issues within the context of New Zealand's Resource Management Act, and the ability of these organisations to respond to tourism issues. It argues that the absence of a national vision for tourism is a major constraint on achieving sustainable tourism options at the regional and local level because the Resource Management Act s principles of sustainable planning are not guided by any national policy or strategy. By using a postal questionnaire, the paper provides the first in-depth analysis of planners responses to tourism and their ability to integrate tourism into the planning process within New Zealand. The paper also expands the arguments initially developed by Dredge &; Moore (1992) on the lack of integration in relation to tourism and planning.     

An investigation of service quality,customer satisfaction and loyalty in China's airline market

Customer loyalty is a source of competitive advantage and an important intangible asset to any organisations, but empirical evidence from China's airline market regarding the determinants of passenger satisfaction and loyalty is lacking. This paper investigates the service quality of four major airlines in China's domestic market and explores the links between their service quality and customer satisfaction, as well as the conditions under which airlines can retain existing passengers. In line with previous studies, service quality variables are significant factors influencing customer satisfaction levels. However, satisfactory service was not found to result in higher customer loyalty among business travellers. In comparison to Hainan Airlines, passengers who travelled with Air China, China Southern and China Eastern were more likely to switch to an alternate carrier, indicating lower levels of brand loyalty. In addition, the frequent flyer programs (FFPs) have been largely a failure for the four major airlines in terms of increasing customer loyalty, as revealed in this study. It is necessary to draw distinctions between business and leisure travellers when studying the determinants of customer satisfaction and customer loyalty. Ticket pricing had a positive and significant effect on passengers' overall satisfaction and in turn strengthened customer loyalty among leisure travellers, but achieved no impact on the satisfaction and loyalty of business passengers. Some demographic variables such as gender, income and education are statistically significant for one group of passengers but not for another in the probit models estimated. It is suggested that different marketing strategies may be used to target different market segments to improve customer loyalty.     

A method for reducing information asymmetry in destination–airline relationships

We propose a measure of business risk in air travel demand at the route level that can reduce information asymmetry during route development negotiations between tourism destinations and airlines. Aviation-exposed risk (AER) conveys information about the level of uncertainty with regard to air travel demand from an airline’s perspective. Using AER, tourism destinations and air service development teams can evaluate their risks from the perspective of the airline and its network. From there, an assessment can be made as to the value of air services in certain circumstances, including whether a direct underwrite or risk share between airlines and destinations is viable and necessary. By applying a portfolio analysis to an airline’s network, we find evidence that AER does indeed mimic the actual capacity distribution of the network. This provides support for AER as a useful risk measure to be used in practice.     

Structuring an effective human error intervention strategy selection model for commercial aviation

Flight safety cannot be compromised. Thus, commercial airlines should constantly develop safety management strategies to mitigate the diverse hazardous factors in flight operations. Given the constraint of organizational resource, a commercial airline may not have sufficient resources to implement all the necessary strategies simultaneously. This study uses a well-structured process to develop a qualitative evaluation model that will enable airlines to identify human errors and select an intervention strategy with the highest success potential. To clarify the decision problem, the Human Factors Intervention Matrix framework is utilized to construct the decision hierarchy. The Analytic Hierarchy Process is then used to attain the priorities of potential alternative strategies for various unsafe acts. Finally, Zero-One Goal Programming models are formulated to select an optimal portfolio based on the specific target and the available organizational resources. An empirical study is presented to illustrate the application of the proposed model. According to the results of the combined model, an optimal portfolio, including the intervention approaches of organizational/administrative, human/crew, and operational/physical environment, can remediate four unsafe acts, namely, decision errors, skill-based errors, perceptual errors, and violations, under resource constraints of the organization.     

Strategic Alliances in the Aviation Industry: An Analysis of Turkish Airlines Experience

SUMMARY

This paper investigates antecedents of success/failure in strategic alliances, which is implemented by airline companies as a response to globalization and liberal government policies. The relationship between Turkish Airlines and Qualiflyer Group, the largest airline alliance in Europe until its collapse in 2001, has been taken as a case study to present the question in terms of matching the goals, partner selection, alliance management, and areas of cooperation. Two factors at the macro-level and four factors at the micro-level are found to be important to succeed in strategic airline alliances.     

Organizational performance in a regulated environment: The role of strategic orientation

This study explores the influence of governmental regulation on organizational strategies and performance outcomes. Drawing on literature in strategic management, we provide a longitudinal empirical analysis of viable strategies in the U.S. domestic airline industry during a 6-year period (1965-70) when it was regulated by the Civil Aeronautics Board. Results indicate that air carriers were indeed able to articulate coherent strategic postures despite regulatory constraints, and were thus able to influence profitability.