Strategic fit in a dynamic industry : case studies of ASEAN-region airlines
Author: Thi Tran, Thai Binh
Under the direction of : Eric Milliot
Poitiers University
English text
Keywords: Management sciences, ASEAN, Environmental change, Strategic fit, Stakeholder impacts, Airlines, ASEAN region, Airline companies - Environmental aspect - Southeast Asia.
Abstract
The objective of this research is to examine the strategic responses of air carriers in the region of Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) when associating with opening up the ASEAN Single Aviation Market (ASAM) among ten member countries. We are seeking to address this matter by generating an analytical framework based on the dynamic capabilities transformation of an organization and the guidance of the Environment-Strategy-Organization (ESO) framework developed by Milliot (2013, 2014). We employ four case studies to explore specific actions against the external environmental impacts ; the case studies are Vietnam Airlines, Qatar Airways, Derry Air, and NokScoot Airlines. Our empirical survey is based on the analyses of the documents, the primary interviews with five top executives of the case-studied airlines and 14 regional and international aviation experts. In order to validate results from the demanding perspective, a Two-step Cluster analysis is proposed with data collected from 444 Cambodian and Vietnamese travelers residing in Cambodia, Vietnam and other countries that use airways as a means of their transportation within ASEAN region. Results indicate that technological change, global political forces, legal forces, governments, shareholders, suppliers, competitors, distributors, customers, and employees are the key attributes of the Stakeholder environment, which depict the most significant impact on the strategies developed by ASEAN-region airlines. This empirical study indicates that the process for strategic fit in the ASEAN airline industry must involve five types of strategies including a business growth strategy, an internal improvement strategy, a cost management strategy, a stakeholder management strategy, and a technology innovation strategy. These strategies are implemented and combined to achieve a strategic fit in confronting with external environmental impacts and obtain an organizational fit to head the airline toward a better competitiveness.
