Strategic Analysis Of Ryanair example essay topic

1 INTRODUCTION The aim of this report is to carry out a strategic analysis of Ryanair. This will involve investigating the organisation's external environment, to identify opportunities and threats it might face, and its strategic capability, to isolate key strengths and any weaknesses that need dealing with. Finally, a SWOT analysis will be carried out to assess the extent to which Ryanair's strategies are suitable to what is happening in its task environment. Ryanair is Europe's largest low-fares, no-frills short-haul carrier.

The organisation was founded in 1985 as a conventional airline but re-launched itself in 1990/1991 as a low-cost carrier, replicating American Southwest Airlines' business model. Since then Ryanair has grown substantially and successfully. The company currently has 146 routes to 84 destinations in 16 countries, and carries more than 15 million customers annually. Ryanair aims to be Europe's largest airline in 8 years (web). 2 ANALYSIS OF THE EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT This is a crucial part of a strategic analysis because '... organisations do not exist in a vacuum, they are part of a complex world' (Bowman 1987: 61) and many factors can influence operations, beneficially and unfavourably. However, these can be difficult to comprehend due to their complexity, diversity and fast changing nature.

Necessarily a number of techniques have been developed to facilitate the process and to '... contribute to answering the key managerial question... ' of what '... opportunities and threats might arise in the future' (Johnson & Scholes 2002: 99). 2.1 PESTEL analysis This identifies the main micro-environmental influences by classifying them into six groups: Political, Economical, Sociocultural, Technological, Environmental and Legal. By applying this framework to Ryanair it is possible to summarise the key forces in the general environment (see appendix A) likely to present opportunities and threats to the organisation (Johnson & Scholes 2002). Political.

'Saturday May 1 will mark one of the most important days in recent European history' (web). The continent will see the biggest expansion of EU to date when ten states become new members. For Ryanair new markets will open which suits its growth plans (web)... Stansted airport, owned by BAA, is one of the most rapidly growing airports in Europe (web). BAA plans to build a second runway and terminal there, accompanied by necessary rail and road infrastructure, aiming to double passenger capacity within ten years (Done 19/12/03). Stansted is Ryanair's London base and an expansion would enable substantial traffic increases thereby facilitating consolidation (Johnson & Scholes 2002)...

The Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) is responsible for setting '... price caps on airport charges... at airports designated by the Secretary of State' (web). One of these is Stansted, which has hitherto '... benefited from discounted airport charges and cross-subsidy from the higher charges paid by the airlines at Heathrow and Gatwick airports' (Done 18/12/03). CAA's new requirements command airport financing without cross-subsidization on a stand-alone basis. Consequently discounts will be removed and charges possibly increased. Ryanair has protested as it will raise its costs (Done 20/10/03). Economical.

Opec aims to keep oil prices within the agreed band of US$22-US$28/bbl (web). However, with crude oil now '... standing at close to $33 a barrel... ' (web) near a 13-year high, Opec considers increasing its target. With a tight US gasoline market, low inventories (The Guardian 27/04/04) and an upsurge in fighting in Iraq (web), oil prices look likely to remain high or rise (see chart 1 for example). Ryanair faces persistently high or rising fuel prices. Chart 1: Oil price fluctuations during periods of war 1947-2003 Source: web Holiday home ownership in Europe is increasingly common for Britons.

During Christmas sales boomed and analysts believe it will continue as customers are '... encouraged by the highest employment figures in 28 years, low interest rates... ' (Insley 18/01/04) and other favourable borrowing conditions. Ryanair services regional airports, opening up the European countryside to buyers, and this trend means an increase in the possible customer base (Insley 08/02/04)... The over-55's now represent approximately one third of most EU-countries' populations, and the figure is increasing. 'Because of better healthcare and financial planning, a significant proportion... ' of senior citizens'... are able to indulge in high levels of leisure-orientated consumption... ' (Brass ington & Pettitt 2003: 48).

Analysts recommend developing specific marketing strategies for this market highlighting its growing importance (Lohmann & Danielsson 2001). Ryanair here has an opportunity to increase its market share. Technological. New technology will allow mobile phone and broadband use on-board.

Carriers, including Ryanair, can thus increase ancillary services by offering on-line shopping, TV screenings and mobile phone usage against a fee. Furthermore, the satellite link could boost operating efficiency by being used to monitor planes, giving early warnings of problems to ground crews, thereby enhancing safety and minimizing groundings (Economist 01/03/03 & Economist 01/04/04). Environmental. A recent White Paper emphasised '... the environmental importance of including aviation within the global emissions-trading scheme... ' (Newman 03/12/03), aimed at providing financial incentives for companies to cut greenhouse-gas emissions and to tax aviation fuel across EU.

Presently an increase in air passenger tax is planned, which doubles the lb 5 and lb 20 economy passengers currently pay for short- and long-haul flights. This will raise Ryanair's prices, possibly deterring the most price-sensitive customers. Legal. Ryanair uses mainly secondary airports which enables negotiation of favourable deals with the owners. At Charleroi Ryanair was given 50% off landing fees plus contributions to local amenities, training and marketing costs against guarantee of '... a certain level of business for 15 years' (FT 10/11/03). However, unfair competition was claimed and the European Commission (EC) decided that discounts on landing fees and ground-handling services are illegal, and ordered Ryanair to pay back lb 3 m (Tran 03/02/04).

Ryanair fears that high-fare airlines and expensive hub-airports will lobby the EC into investigating other deals, using Charleroi as precedent (Done 29/01/04). 2.2 Five force analysis The PESTEL factors are important in a relative way as they '... usually affect all firms in the industry' (Bowman & Asch 1987: 72). Hence, organisations should also examine their more immediate environment / industry, '... the group of firms producing products that are close substitutes for each other' (Porter 1980: 5). This analysis examines five competitive forces: potential entrants; buyers; substitutes; suppliers and industry competitors, which determine level of industry competition and profitability. Applying this to the budget airline industry enables identification of opportunities and threats to Ryanair in its business environment (Johnson & Scholes 2002). Threat of new entrants.

High start-up costs needed for aircraft's, reservation systems and promotion, negates threat to some extent (Gilbert et. al 2001)... The over-crowded market means '... there are too many budget aircraft playing Europe's skies for too little money' (Clark 07/02/04)... As Europe's skies are congested there is a lack of slots (Hanlon 1989) forcing new entrants into secondary airports and less profitable routes... Due to incumbents' cost advantages, such as economies of scale and experience curve effects, price wars can be launched against newcomers... However, the market is expanding which pulls in new entrants and reduces the effect of entry barriers (Johnson & Scholes 2002). Bargaining power of buyers.

Price dominated short-haul market with little or no product differentiation. Buyers thus face low switching costs (Porter 1980). As price is '... more important to passengers than product... ' (Gilbert et. al 2001: 309) there is low customer loyalty... Procurement managers are now influential in the travel patterns of their business travellers.

Threat of substitute products or services. Videoconferencing for business companies has not had the impact expected and is no threat (Gilbert et. el 2001)... Other modes of transport are no tenable threats generally... However, Eurostar has been winning customers from airlines since its opening and many short-haul flights '... could be eliminated after 2007, when the fast line to the channel tunnel is completed' (Wright 01/12/03). Bargaining power of suppliers. The price of fuel is directly related to the cost of oil which is determined by Opec and out of control of the industry (web)...

Budget airlines have work-hard cultures to keep costs down (Gilbert et. el 2001) meaning a scarce number of multi-skilled employees which '... can bargain away a significant fraction of potential profits... ' (Porter 1980: 28)... However, carriers tend to experience economies of scale which gives purchasing power. Consequently, airlines are able to negotiate favourable deals with most of their suppliers (Johnson & Scholes 2002). Rivalry among existing firms. Already very competitive industry...

Numerous new entrants intensify competition, although several newcomers have struggled to establish themselves and failed, Debonair and AB Airlines for example... The over-crowded market, and commodity nature of the product, means that airlines are battling to fill planes. Aggressive pricing, efficient distribution and innovative communication mixes are frequent competitive measures... However, carriers vary somewhat in segmentation by targeting different markets (narrow versus wide customer base) and offering divergent routes (regional towns versus main cities) which reduces rivalry somewhat (Gilbert et. al 2001)... Nevertheless, competition is intensified as conventional carriers adopts '... many strategies of the no-frills carriers and continues to cut costs' (Done 29/01/04). With low fares but a higher level of service (more frills and main airport servicing) they are a big threat...

Mergers, acquisitions and alliances are increasingly used for consolidation and competition. Easy Jet bought Go, partnered with German wings (Economist 01/03/03 & Hotten 13/03/04). Ryanair acquired Buzz but paid too much and was forced to close it to boost its productivity. 2.3 Key Opportunities and Threats Opportunities Threats The EU expansion The European Court of Justice ruling The Stansted expansion The Stansted expansionEU's ageing population The global emissions-trading scheme Mergers, acquisitions and alliances Low customer loyalty Entry of conventional carriers 3 ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC CAPABILITY strategic analysis also includes investigation of the strategic capability, the '... ability to perform at the level required for success' (Johnson & Scholes 2002: 148). Firms must understand what customers want and adopt product / service features accordingly.

To succeed companies need: Critical Success Factors (CSF), features especially valued by customers and used to outperform competition; unique resources, hard to emulate and generates competitive advantage; core competences to meet the CSF, leading to competitive advantage. A number of tools exist to analyse strategic capability. Applying some of them to Ryanair facilitates identification of the organisation's key strengths and weaknesses. 3.1 Value Chain analysis This is a '... systematic way of studying the... activities undertaken by a firm' (Thompson 1997: 312) and a means of identifying how competitive advantage is, or can be, created and sustained. The value chain consists of primary and support activities that together produce the profit margin. When the most critical of these are performed better or more cheaply, competitive advantage is created.

The activities are '... related by linkages within the value chain' (Porter 1985: 48), meaning that how one is performed affects the performance or cost of another, and key linkages generate competitive advantage. Value activities should be benchmark ed, compared against those of organisations both inside and outside the industry, to learn and improve on best practice (Laverick & Brown 1992). 3.1. 1 Primary activities Inbound logistics. Dependency on suppliers to deliver fuel as well as food, drinks and duty-paid products to be sold on-board (Gilbert et. al 2001)... These need to be stored, handled and controlled upon delivery.

Low-cost deals are negotiated against promise of large and growing volumes of business (Felsted 04/11/03). Operations. Use of standard model plane, Boeing 737, means that Ryanair is '... able to obtain spares and maintenance services on favourable terms, limits costs of staff training and offer flexibility in scheduling aircraft and crew assignments' (Johnson & Scholes 2002: 876)... A relatively young fleet reduces maintenance, spare and fuel costs... Fast turnarounds (core competence), 25 minutes, is the most important cost advantage as it enables high aircraft utilization (Felsted 04/11/03). More frequent departures (two more a day than competitors) with few planes increases revenue (key linkage).

However, Southwest excels with 15 minute turnarounds as its '... activities complement each other in ways that create real economic value' (Porter 1996: 70)... Point-to-point flights mean no interlinking with other carriers. Ryanair can '... offer direct non-stop journeys, avoiding the cost of providing through service... for connecting passengers... and delays... caused by late arrival of connecting flights' (Johnson & Scholes 2002: 877). Outbound logistics. Use of isolated secondary airports often requires further transport arrangements for customers. Also, some destinations are '... so geographically obscure that they can't support regular services' (Prat ley 05/02/04), as evident on some intra-Scandinavian routes for example (Done 04/11/03).

This limits the level of market share Ryanair can achieve. Easy Jet does the opposite and flies to big cities, but then has to pay higher landing charges (see chart 3) which is reflected in their higher prices (Bowley 21/07/03). Source: Done (29/01/04). However, using regional airports saves costs as charges are lower, facilities cheaper and Ryanair can negotiate favourable deals. It also enables fast turnaround times (key linkage), and more on-time departures as the airports are less congested (Johnson & Scholes 2002).

95% of Ryanair's flights are punctual compared to 88% for Easy Jet (web). Marketing and Sales. Heavy spending on advertising and promotions to expand its market is reduced as most advertising takes place on the website. There promotion is also used to sell excess capacity, such as two-for-one offers, which creates market awareness. Direct marketing is '... used occasionally with the customer database' (Gilbert et. al 2001: 312), and enables relationship marketing which produce customer retention equal ling increased productivity (Ali-Knight & Wild 2001)... Ryanair considers branding virtually irrelevant as it believes that price is most important to customers.

This is reflected in its not always so good image in the press. Southwest, contributes a large part of its success to its well established brand values (Gilbert et. al 2001), and Easy Jet has won awards for its brand (Brand Strategy 2001)... Over 90% of bookings are made directly, either on the website or through reservations centres. The website saves on '... staff costs, agent's commission, and computer reservation charges, while significantly contributing to growth' (Johnson & Scholes 2002: 879) (key linkage). Furthermore, direct booking gives greater control over sales of ancillary services, important revenue contributors, and eliminates need for tickets which reduces check-in times...

Travel agencies are used on a small scale as necessary when opening new routes in unknown markets. Service. Virtually no frills lower costs considerably, enable fast turnarounds and very low ticket prices (Gilbert et. al 2001) (key linkage)... A very basic product is offered and Ryanair now plans to remove the last frills (Gow 16/02/04). The question is how much customers are willing to forgo before switching to competitors. Will it be possible to sustain the necessary load factor with an even narrower target market?

Southwest is more successful than Ryanair but has not stripped away all frills (Porter 1996)... The low service damages the brand which leads to reduced business. For example, Ryanair was taken to court for charging disabled passengers lb 18 for wheelchair usage (Tait 03/12/03), and is known for transferring passengers to later or alternative flights without notice if original flight is not full enough (Johnson & Scholes 2002). 3.1. 2 Support activities Procurement. Purchasing power enables negotiation of favourable deals (core competence) with suppliers.

However, these demand '... large and... growing volumes based on passenger numbers' (Felsted 04/11/03) which is becoming difficult to sustain as Ryanair expanded too quickly. Although growth is slowed down new planes has been ordered aiming to double the fleet by 2009 (see chart 2). Source: Felsted (04/11/03). Buys mostly during recession when prices are down. Good buyer-supplier relationships ensure reliability and low-cost procurement of services (many functions are contracted out). Safety is guaranteed as contracted work is supervised and planned by Ryanair staff (Johnson & Scholes 2002).

Technology development. Ryanair uses its website to monitor bookings to see how full planes are minute by minute. If numbers fall prices can be slashed immediately to attract buyers thus increasing the load factor. However, '... they don't hesitate to raise prices if demand is buoyant' (Bowley 21/07/03) which leads to effective yield management. Human resources management. Only 1800 employees, one / two million customer (Wood 2004).

Employees are cross-utilised between job categories when required and other functions are contracted out on a need basis. All allows for big savings (see chart 4) in employee costs (Johnson & Scholes 2002) (core competence). Source: Done (29/01/04). A work hard system prevails with little regards to employees. Pilots fly close to the legal maximum hours / month, cross-utilization employed and no unions are recognised... To compensate, pilots earn amongst the highest salary in the industry whilst cabin crew earns commission on in-flight sales and all employees have share options and a chance to rapid promotion (Johnson & Scholes 2002)...

Cross-utilization is likely to produce higher training costs, but these pay off in lean, highly productive crews. Although, much is left to learn from Southwest's much higher efficiency (Gilbert et. al 2001). Firm infrastructure. Cost-consciousness at every level (Wood 2004)... Staff encouraged '... to participate actively in the development of the airline' (Gilbert et. al 2001: 313). 3.2 Key Strengths and Weaknesses Strengths Weaknesses Cost-consciousness at every level Isolation of airports Ability to drive down costs Poor judgement in route selection and acquisition Fast turnaround times Targets very narrow market Cross-utilization of employees Poor brand image Website Negotiation skills Ability to achieve growth Use of secondary airports 4 ANALYSIS OF STRATEGIC POSITION The strategic position '... is concerned with the impact on strategy of the external environment, internal resources and competences, and the expectations and influence of stakeholders' (Johnson & Scholes 2002: 1067), and is the key to strategy development.

Some strategists argue that environmental issues are essential and that strategy development is about 'fit', matching resources to opportunities. Others maintain that strategic capability is vital and that strategy formulation is about 'stretch', developing and exploiting resources and competences to create opportunities. However, both methods are justifiable and not mutually exclusive, and allow use of SWOT analysis. 4.1 SWOT analysis This is a framework for analyzing Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. The analysis helps organisations focus their activities into areas where they are strong and where the greatest opportunities lie, but also illustrates problematic areas where defensive measures are needed. It will enable assessment of the extent to which Ryanair's existing strategies match its task environment.

Plotting the SWOT factors into a matrix aids the process and gives rise to four conceptually distinct areas (Dyson 1990). 1. A key area where both strengths and weaknesses can be maximis ed and consequently where any primary strategic thinking should be. Ryanair focuses on growth strategies as it aims to become Europe's largest airline. This means it is prepared for the Stansted and EU expansions from continuous cost-cutting and expanding its fleet. The use of secondary airports reduces fares and opens up regional destinations which should suit senior-citizens (living on pensions and likely to prefer quiet holidays).

No mergers, acquisitions or alliances are currently pursued. Possibly a result of the problems experienced in connection with the Buzz takeover. However, alliances with other airlines could lead to consolidation. 2. An area which require care and where defensive strategies should be taken to minimize weaknesses and maximize opportunities. Ryanair has made some bad destination judgments resulting in unsustainable routes which might need closing.

It also made a mistake in acquiring Buzz, paying too much for a carrier with low productivity. More thorough research should be carried out in regards to future decisions to avoid further costly mistakes and hindrance of expansion. Ryanair should also learn from Southwest as, although low-costs are essential to the business model, brand image is important and can make or break a purchase decision. 3. An area which needs investment in defensive measures to maximize strengths while minimizing threats. Ryanair is a low-cost provider continuously cutting costs to stay competitive.

Thus it should be able to sustain its low fares despite new regulations, taxes and EC airport charge changes which increase costs. To avoid further EC court cases Ryanair should use its negotiation skills to renegotiate the secondary airports deals. Customer loyalty could be increased with relationship marketing through the website. This should stop conventional newcomers from pinching customers. 4.

Another key area as it encompasses potential disasters. Here measures should be taken to minimize both weaknesses and threats. The poor brand image should be improved as it could reduce customer loyalty further and put Ryanair in unfavorable situations in competing against newcomers, conventional carriers especially. Ryanair pursues a low-cost focus strategy (Porter 1996) offering cheap services to a narrow segment. However, by removing the remaining few frills it could end up with too small customer base to fill its planes, or could induce switching.

Other ways of reducing costs should therefore be considered. 5 CONCLUSION The aim of this report was to carry out a strategic analysis of Ryanair, Europe's largest low-cost no-frills airline. From this it became evident that the organization operates in a complex environment with fast changing influences that affect its business both beneficially and unfavourably. It also enabled identification of some of the sources of Ryanair's competitive advantage: core competences, unique resources, key linkages and the superior cost performance compared to its closest competitor. However, it also became clear that the organization still has a lot to learn from best practice. In general Ryanair's strategies match its task environment although it fails to address certain crucial issues.

If these are not dealt with they could lead to future problems and reductions in profits.

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