The Relative Efficiency in the Blending of Strategic Dimensions Utilized in the Generation of Customer Satisfaction in the LTL Motor Carrier Industry

This preliminary study utilizes a data envelopment methodology to assess the strategic orientations of LTL motor carriers and their impact on customer satisfaction and firm profitability. Strategic orientations are described in terms of seven dimensions previously identified in the motor carrier literature. The study demonstrates that there are "best practice" configurations of the intensities of these strategic dimensions that most efficiently generate the maximum levels of customer satisfaction and perceived levels of service quality. It is shown how the data envelopment methodology provides motor carriers with a means of benchmarking their strategic orientations as well as identifying the competitors against whom such benchmarking should occur

The relative efficiency in the blending of strategic dimensions utilized in the generation of customer satisfaction in the LTL motor carrier industry

This preliminary study utilizes a data envelopment methodology to assess the strategic orientations of LTL motor carriers and their impact on customer satisfaction and fi rm profi tability. Strategic orientations are described in terms of seven dimensions previously identifi ed in the motor carrier literature. The study demonstrates that there are “best practice” confi gurations of the intensities of these strategic dimensions that most effi ciently generate the maximum levels of customer satisfaction and perceived levels of service quality. It is shown how the data envelopment methodology provides motor carriers with a means of benchmarking their strategic orientations as well as identifying the competitors against whom such benchmarking should occur

The operational impacts of governmental restructuring of the airline industry in China

In July 2000, the Civil Aviation Administration of China (CAAC) called for the consolidation of the 10 state-owned air carriers into three groups, headed by Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern. A few months later in November 2000, the State Council of China mandated that this consolidation be accomplished by the third quarter of 2001. As part of this mandate, the CAAC yielded its management control of air carriers with its focus now being on safety and regulatory issues. Furthermore, the CAAC was required to divest itself of assets held in many of the state-owned airlines and its interests in more than 120 airports around China, except Beijing Capital Airport. Utilizing data from the International Civil Aviation Organization for 2003 and 2004, this study investigates the operational impacts of this industry restructuring. The relative operational efficiency of Air China, China Eastern, and China Southern is compared to a sample of Asian, European and United States flag carriers. Data envelopment analysis is utilized to derive efficiency scores for individual airlines. The operational efficiency model used in this study is derived from that utilized by Schefczyk (1993). The underlying structural drivers of efficiency are then investigated via a tobit analysis with implications for managerial policy discussed

The Relative Efficiency in the Blending of Strategic Dimensions Utilized in the Generation of Customer Satisfaction in the LTL Motor Carrier Industry

This preliminary study utilizes a data envelopment methodology to assess the strategic orientations of LTL motor carriers and their impact on customer satisfaction and firm profitability. Strategic orientations are described in terms of seven dimensions previously identified in the motor carrier literature. The study demonstrates that there are "best practice" configurations of the intensities of these strategic dimensions that most efficiently generate the maximum levels of customer satisfaction and perceived levels of service quality. It is shown how the data envelopment methodology provides motor carriers with a means of benchmarking their strategic orientations as well as identifying the competitors against whom such benchmarking should occur

An Analysis of a Strategic Transformation Plan: The Case of Alaska Airlines

In 2003, amid the turmoil of the U.S. airline industry in the post-9/11 environment, the senior management of the Alaska Air Group announced a “strategic vision” entitled “Alaska 2010.” The pronouncement articulated positions with regard to cost leadership, product differentiation, and growth. This study empirically assesses the efficacy of this decision with regard to the major network carrier of the air group, Alaska Airlines. The analysis focuses on the period beginning with the announcement and ending in 2010.The implementation of such a strategic protocol is dynamic and inter-temporal in nature. Therefore, it is often difficult to assess the effectiveness of changes in strategies, particularly since such effectiveness is often a function of the confounding forces of organizational strategy and market conditions. Thus, this study utilizes the multi-period methodology of the strategic variance analysis of operating income.This methodology decomposes operating income into three components: (1) growth, (2) price recovery, and (3) productivity. This is of particular interest from a strategic planning perspective, as the price component evaluates a company’s product differentiation strategy while the productivity component evaluates whether an airline’s low cost strategy was successful because of efficiency gains

An Analysis of a Strategic Transformation Plan: The Case of Alaska Airlines

In 2003, amid the turmoil of the U.S. airline industry in the post-9/11 environment, the senior management of the Alaska Air Group announced a “strategic vision” entitled “Alaska 2010.” The pronouncement articulated positions with regard to cost leadership, product differentiation, and growth. This study empirically assesses the efficacy of this decision with regard to the major network carrier of the air group, Alaska Airlines. The analysis focuses on the period beginning with the announcement and ending in 2010. The implementation of such a strategic protocol is dynamic and inter-temporal in nature. Therefore, it is often difficult to assess the effectiveness of changes in strategies, particularly since such effectiveness is often a function of the confounding forces of organizational strategy and market conditions. Thus, this study utilizes the multi-period methodology of the strategic variance analysis of operating income. This methodology decomposes operating income into three components: (1) growth, (2) price recovery, and (3) productivity. This is of particular interest from a strategic planning perspective, as the price component evaluates a company’s product differentiation strategy while the productivity component evaluates whether an airline’s low cost strategy was successful because of efficiency gains

Relative Trends in Exogenous Factors Influencing Airline Flight Delays

This study investigates the impact of four subcategories of flight delays on total flight delays over the period from May 2005 through December 2019. Total flight delays are divided into weather, air carrier, security, and non-weather National Aviation System (NAS) delays. Using the flight data provided by the Air Travel Consumer Report of the U.S. Department of Transportation for a consistent set of ten airlines, each time- series is decomposed. Trend and seasonality are determined. Total flight delays, and each of its subcategories, demonstrate strong seasonality and follow a random walk model without drift during the sample period. Total flight delays are composed of approximately one-half air carrier caused, one-third weather related, and one-sixth non-weather NAS delays. In the period prior to 2012, weather, air carrier, non-weather NAS, and security delays follow the same pattern as total flight delays. After 2012, air carrier and non-weather NAS (infrastructure) delays follow a similar pattern as total flight delays, but weather and security delays are far fewer than would be suggested by the pattern of total delays. The latter period was consistent with a period of increased investment in “disruption management,” which may have had the desired effect on weather and security delays. Flight delays under the control of air carriers or from infrastructure issues (non-weather NAS delays) increased from 2012 through 2019

Cross-Cultural Factors and Corporate Governance Transparency in Global Airline Strategic Alliances

This paper argues that a critical dimension in understanding the factors that inhibit the effectiveness and benefits of airline alliances is corporate transparency. Specifically, the issue of transparency in corporate governance is considered. Corporate governance is the set of institutional arrangements affecting corporate decision making, and deals with the relationship among various participants in determining the direction and performance of corporations. However, airline strategic alliances span an array of national cultures which influence the development of such relationships. The impact of national culture as a determinant of governance transparency is also investigated in this paper. This study draws on the literature which examines the impact of national culture on international joint ventures and governance systems. National cultures are described by Hofstede’s five dimensions of power distance, uncertainty avoidance, individualism, masculinity, and temporal orientation. Governance transparency is investigated by the examination of corporate annual reports. Thus, this study investigates not only the level of corporate governance transparency demonstrated by participants in each of the three major airline alliances, but the relationship between said governance transparency and the cultural identity of each of the participants

Assessing the strategic evolution of U.S. low cost airlines in the post-9/11 environment

It has been suggested in the literature that low-cost airlines have, in varying degrees, departed from the original low-cost model introduced by Southwest Airlines. This study provides a multi-year analysis in the post-9/11 time period, for the years 2004-2009, of the demonstrated strategic positioning choices of U. S. low-cost airlines. The sample utilized is restricted to U. S. low-cost carriers so as not to conflate operating environments. Furthermore, a quantitative methodology is employed to measure effectively these choices and to facilitate inter-airline comparisons. Airlines, as part of their strategic planning process, articulate positions with regard to cost leadership, product differentiation, and growth. Decisions implemented are dynamic and inter-temporal in nature. Managers thus need a multi-period methodology to evaluate the implementation of strategic positions. One such approach is the strategic analysis of operating income utilized in this study