Strategic Marketing Management and Macro-Environmental Impacts on Industry - Case Study Example

Section/# BA Case Study What do you think have been the macro environmental impacts on BA & the airline industry? Whereas it might be tempting to blame the difficulties that British Airways as space over the past several years on the fact that it is ultimately uncompetitive, there are broader macro-economic issues at play. Firstly, the article in question Mission the fact that the overall cost of fuel, at least as compared to several years ago, has risen exponentially. This creates a situation in which the overall profit margins that British Airways could otherwise hope to expect have been/; resulting in a situation in which British Airways posted a net operating loss in excess of 400,000,000 pounds within the past year. Likewise, a similar micro environmental impact has to do with the fact that the entire economy has experienced a rapid and sudden convulsions since the 2007 and 2008 economic downturn. As a direct result of this, fewer and fewer individuals are traveling abroad; with an extreme level of reduction in business travelers – the mainstay of British Airways consumer base. With this in mind, the macro environmental impact on British Airways are not confined only to British Airways as such; instead, they are felt by a litany of different air carriers and other businesses operating within the market. However, due to the nature of British Airways strategy and its marketing focus, the overall level of impact that it has experienced has been somewhat more profound as compared to its competitors. 2. How would you classify the competitive environment that BA operates in? In terms of classifying the competitive environment and British Airways operates within, it should definitively be stated that this competitive environment is increasingly saturated. For instance, when British Airways was privatized in the late 1980s, the market that it operated within was relatively small. Domestically, it only had one counterpart and internationally there were only a handful of competitors of the same size and overall global reach. Yet, with the increase of globalization and the demand for continual air service to a litany of different locations, the overall competitive bandage that British Airways once held has slowly been eroded by a litany of other competitors. All of this is necessarily important due to the fact that an oversaturated environment create a dynamic in which British Airways faces a marketing dilemma; specifically with regard to the way in which it seeks to differentiate itself as compared to the competition. Essentially, British Airways exhibits certification of a very wealthy and powerful firm that chose to ignore strategic changes in the external environment and is now reaping and very painful price for this level of stoicism. Further, the article denotes the fact that even though environmental factors have severely constrained the way in which British Airways and operate, other firms within the saturated environment are capitalizing on British Airways weakness and turning consecutive yearly profits. 3. What do you think of BA’s Mission & Vision statements? Are they good or bad? In terms of a value assessment of British Airways mission and vision statements, it must be stated that these are both exceptional. The first places a high emphasis upon quality and seeks to promote the interests of the air traveler at each and every juncture. Furthermore, ethics and honesty are praised as fundamental founding values that the firm espouses. However, notably absent from all of this is a discussion with respect to the overall economic approach that the firm will take to airfare and the delivery of the service to the traveler. Whereas other firms have focus their values and mission statement on providing the traveler with a low-cost option, British Airways does not indicate any such value or mission statement. Whereas it is understandable that the firm places its values on different aspects of the business interaction, this is very well likely part of the reason for why British Airways is becoming less and less relevant within the current world and other firms that seek to place value as a primary fundamental aspect of their business strategy are gaining traction. 4. How would you classify the strategies of: a. BA; b. Ryanair; c. Eos? Do you think they have been successful? Why? Why not? The strategy of British Airways has remained virtually unchanged over the past several decades; partially a reason for why the firm is experiencing a great difficulty that it is currently. Essentially, British Airways never chose to differentiate the business traveler as compared to the leisure traveler. However, other airways, such as budget airlines like Ryanair, realize that the leisure traveler was interested in one aspect above all others; namely the cost of the ticket fare. Accordingly, firms such as Ryanair have placed cost leadership is a fundamental business strategy; where firms such as British Airways have continued to operate based upon providing a pleasant and luxurious flying experience to all those that client for their aircraft. In terms of the differentiation between strategy of British Airways and Eos it can definitively be said that the recent downturn of the economy has also increased price pressures with respect to overall ticket costs of business travelers. Recognizing this, firms such as Eos have attempted to provide something of a juxtaposition of the approach that British Airways utilizes as compared to Ryanair top in as much, such firms have sought to leverage a luxurious life experience alongside with cutting corners of cost and seeking to represent the absolute lowest level of incurred expense to the end traveler. By means of contrast in comparison, British Airways has continued on a relatively old strategy that has at least partially failed with respect to continuing to gain customers and satisfy existing needs of an ever-changing marketplace. Lastly, in terms of answering whether or not these two firms have been successful as compared to British Airways, the answer is a resounding yes. Furthermore, market analysts predict that new entrants into the airline industry will account for a very large percentage of growth within the coming years; further estimating that industry leaders such as British Airways will continue to grow at a relatively slow pace – or perhaps even contract. Read More