Message Board 2: Evaluating Strategy Effectiveness at Ai
orne Express
Read the “Ai
orne Express” article in your HBSP course-pack. Then apply the concepts and techniques learned in this module to answer the following questions:
1. (a) Identify the type of business strategy used by Ai
orne Express, including the type of competitive advantage it seeks, the product-market scope, and the value chain activities used to deliver the competitive advantage. (b) Then explain if the Ai
orne Express strategy meets the external consistency test? (Hint: To apply this test, you must first do an industry analysis to identify the challenges faced by firms in the express mail industry, and then explain if Ai
orne Express has a strategy that addresses these challenges).
2. Does the Ai
orne Express strategy meet the internal consistency test? (Hint: To apply this test, first explain if activities in the Ai
orne Express value chain are tailored to deliver the competitive advantage it seeks. Next, explain if the VC activities have fit. Finally, explain if there are positive interactions or negative interactions among the VC activities.)
3. Does the Ai
orne Express strategy meet the dynamic consistency test? (Hint: To apply this test, explain if Ai
orne Express has a sustainable competitive advantage? If yes, explain why and how. If not, explain why not. Also explain if hub choices and appropriate sequencing of decisions/activities are addressed.).
Post your answers to these questions by 11:55pm EST on Friday of this week. Also, post at least one follow-up comment to the answers posted by another class member. Your comment should provide your peer with a constructive evaluation and recommendation aimed at improving he
his answers. Post your follow-up comment by 11:55pm on Sunday.
Discussion Board 2: Evaluating Strategy Effectiveness at Ai
orne Express
Question 1:
Ai
orne Express is one of the leading postal deliver services the country, rivaling that of both FedEx and UPS. Though recently both FedEx and UPS and having troubles, Ai
orne Express continues to stay consistent with their job (Rivkin, 2007).
Ai
orne Express business is different than that of FedEx and UPS. Though it is considered an old fashioned company, Ai
orne Express makes smart business decisions that saves them money and maintains loyal customers. A noteworthy attribute to Ai
orne Express is that unlike their competitors, who rely on another company to provide the airport hub, Ai
orne Express owns their own airport which they use to store both the cargo planes and their large inventory in their warehouse. In addition to that, they work alongside other delivery truck drivers to help deliver the packages to their customers who typically work in the metropolitan areas in the country. Unlike their competitors who tries to outdo each other by saying they have the next best thing in terms of technology, Ai
orne Express observes both FedEx and UPS on how well the new technology, never the first one to take the technological risk. Ai
orne Express’s own technology is easier to use and if they need to improve on it, they will adapt with technology that has already proven to work. While the company does not advertise as much as FedEx and UPS, any delivery trucks that Ai
orne Express owns will drive through residential areas to spread the word about their company (Rivkin, 2007).
While all three of these companies focuses on delivering mail, Ai
orne Express focuses mostly on selling items in bulk to specific handpicked venders in different businesses. Ai
orne Express priorities specific customers and plans it accordingly with their delivery schedule. The company ensures to important clients that their specific package will be delivered in the morning, instead of giving a specific timeframe like FedEx and UPS. Doing this provides a wider delivery window that not only provides the customer’s satisfaction and a good review but it decreases the risk of losing any packages, unlike their competitors (Rivkin, 2007).
Ai
orne Express is able to succeed in external consistency because the company is able to deal with external consistency’s two major factors which are being sizing up the external changes and formulating a response. Ai
orne Express are able to get a handle on the changes to their environment because the company value their customers highly and always knows what they need (Collis & Rivkin, 2011).
They primarily sell to different organizations that need specific bulk supplies delivered to them over a period of time. In addition, they offer to rent out their space to other businesses which allows them to get an idea of what businesses need. While they may not take the risk to try new things and compete heavily with FedEx and UPS, Ai
orne Express does its own thing by focusing on being the best air ca
ier in the country (Rivkin, 2007).
Question 2:
While Ai
orne Express was able to succeed the external consistency test, in terms of the internal consistency test, Ai
orne Express is not able to pass it. For the internal consistency test, there are two main factors of the internal consistency test which are to recognizing systematic natures of change and to address internal ba
iers that could potentially cause a company in decline (Collis & Rivkin, XXXXXXXXXXIn terms of the first factor, should anything new occurs in the business, Ai
orne Express will response to the change in environment. However, unlike FedEx and UPS, Ai
orne Express will not take a risk that would harm them in the long run. They will take action but only when sufficient research has been made. Any decisions that Ai
orne Express makes would need to be well-supported and must benefit the company (Rivkin, 2007).
The main reason why Ai
orne Express is not able to succeed the internal consistency test is because the company is unable to pass all 4 internal ba
iers. Ai
orne Express is able to perceive the environment and make the necessary changes based on how their competition’s actions and results, as well as coordinate efficiently with the employees when the CEO decides that the time to change is now. Finally, Ai
orne Express is able to address a lack of inspiration with their land ca
iers by partnering with Roadway Package Service (RPS) so that the company can now effectively deliver packages on land and through the air. The one area that has not change is how they to deal with motivation. Ai
orne Express’s observes changes to the environment but instead of taking the risk and solving the problem, it waits for another company to adapt ahead of them. While cu
ently this has not been a problem for Ai
orne Express, it is one example of the company being considered conservative amongst their customers (Rivkin, 2007).
Question 3:
Ai
orne Express is able to succeed in terms of dynamic consistency (Collis & Rivkin, XXXXXXXXXXOf the three major competitors in the express mailing industry, only Ai
orne Express has used their hub port and made it symbolic for their company as they are the only ones that bought their own airport. Not only was this a way to save money for the company by not relying on renting another company for air delivery, but this gave Ai
orne Express a competitive advantage in the industry being now considered one of the best at delivering a massive amount of cargo delivers in the air. Besides that, Ai
orne Express now had access to warehouses that they can contain their delivered goods in high quantities and can even offer to rent the space out to other companies to make an extra profit. Also, unlike FedEx and UPS who tries to provide for a variety of customers, Ai
orne Express is very picky about who they deliver to. Their main focus is to sell bulk orders to clients in metropolitan areas as well as offering to deliver the order at a wider deliver window than their competitor to guarantee that the shipment will a
ive on time. It is because of Ai
orne Express high satisfaction rate on deliveries that Ai
orne Express’s customers remain loyal for years (Rivkin, 2007).
Reference:
Collis, D., J & Rivkin, J., W., XXXXXXXXXXStrategic Renewal, Harvard Business School pp 1-5.
(Collis & Rivkin, 2011).
Rivkin, J., W., XXXXXXXXXXAi
orne Express ,Harvard Business School pp 1-23.
(Rivkin, 2007).