Virgin Atlantic
Introduction
Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA) was set up in 1984 to provide a competitive alternative for business and leisure passengers on long-haul routes between the UK and major destinations. It was founded by Virgin group management and in few decades time it became prominent figure in UK airline business. It has grown steadily over past 25 years and now serves 30 destinations in US, Africa, Asia from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow (Palmer, 2012). Currently Virgin Atlantic is managed by Singapore Airlines and Virgin group. In 2004, VAA introduced revolutionary upper class suite which was longest and most cosy fleet bed and seat in business class which was totally innovative and new idea for airline business. VAA also was first to come up with service like salon, cocktail bar, spa through its club house based on airport.
Task 1:
Collaborative networks or strategic alliances are arrangements between businesses to co-operate with the express purpose of gaining competitive advantage. Collaborative businesses have become increasingly important means of acquiring competitive advantage for the business who are members of the collaborative network (Stonehouse, Campbell, Hamill, & Purdie, 2004). Recent experience of Virgin Atlantic highlights the need of collaboration to achieve competitive advantage. Virgin Atlantic leased access to a computerized booking system, which had been developed for its own use but then marketed to other airlines by British Airways. This made it particularly simple for British Airways representatives to enter Virgin’s. Collaboration between business firms takes place in order to absorb the skills and capacity of each other. The major benefits of co-operation to business firms is access to external/additional resources and how the external resources in combination with internal resources impact on the focal actor’s strategic identity in a business network.
The extent of collaboration and co-operation depends upon the fulfilment
Virgin Atlantic Airways (VAA) was set up in 1984 to provide a competitive alternative for business and leisure passengers on long-haul routes between the UK and major destinations. It was founded by Virgin group management and in few decades time it became prominent figure in UK airline business. It has grown steadily over past 25 years and now serves 30 destinations in US, Africa, Asia from Heathrow, Gatwick, Manchester and Glasgow (Palmer, 2012). Currently Virgin Atlantic is managed by Singapore Airlines and Virgin group. In 2004, VAA introduced revolutionary upper class suite which was longest and most cosy fleet bed and seat in business class which was totally innovative and new idea for airline business. VAA also was first to come up with service like salon, cocktail bar, spa through its club house based on airport.
Task 1:
Collaborative networks or strategic alliances are arrangements between businesses to co-operate with the express purpose of gaining competitive advantage. Collaborative businesses have become increasingly important means of acquiring competitive advantage for the business who are members of the collaborative network (Stonehouse, Campbell, Hamill, & Purdie, 2004). Recent experience of Virgin Atlantic highlights the need of collaboration to achieve competitive advantage. Virgin Atlantic leased access to a computerized booking system, which had been developed for its own use but then marketed to other airlines by British Airways. This made it particularly simple for British Airways representatives to enter Virgin’s. Collaboration between business firms takes place in order to absorb the skills and capacity of each other. The major benefits of co-operation to business firms is access to external/additional resources and how the external resources in combination with internal resources impact on the focal actor’s strategic identity in a business network.
The extent of collaboration and co-operation depends upon the fulfilment
Cited: Day, G. S., & Moorman, C. (2010). Strategy From the Outside In. United States: McGraw Hill. Henry, A. (2008). Understanding Strategic Management. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Palmer, A. (2012). Introduction to Marketing: Theory and Practice. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Stonehouse, G., Campbell, D., Hamill, J., & Purdie, T. (2004). Global and Transnational Business: Strategy and Management. West Sussex: John Wiley & Sons. Wit, B. D., & Meyer, R. (2010). Strategy: Process, Content, Context. United Kingdom: South Western Cengage Learning.