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evaluation on ryan air performance objective which are cost ,flexibility, dependability, quality, speed i have did a chart on the casee of ryan air which is explain below

  Ryanair has not always been as successful as it is today. When the company entered the market in 1985 its original aim was to provide low-cost flights between Ireland and London as an alternative to British Airways and Aer Lingus. However, economies of scale are vital when attempting to reduce costs and offer low prices. Ryanair, with its small fleet of old-fashioned, second-hand airplanes, could not match its larger competitors and ended up with a IR£20m loss after its first six years of operation. In 1991 Ryanair decided to rework its strategy: • it switched to flying only one type of airplane allowing savings through standardisation of parts, maintenance and servicing; • it switched to using smaller, ‘second-rank’ airports (such as Luton, Stansted, Prestwick etc.) which cut down on landing fees, parking fees etc., • the absence of in-flight meals means turnaround time on the ground is minimised which helps reduce airport fees and charges; • it cut out all “frills” such as in-flight meals and up-market lounges and has developed a low-cost online booking service; The company strategy is clear – lowest fares; safe flights; on-time flights. Nothing more – no hotel vouchers, no meal vouchers and the minimum acceptable customer service. (Source: Operations Management, 4th edn., Slack et al., pp65) i dont understand this below one aswell 2.3 – Identify the strategic importance of operations management in the decision-making process a) Discuss how important the “operations element” was to the success of Ryanair’s strategic decision. b) To what extent are “operations” always involved in Strategic Decisions? Provide some examples in your answer.

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Great question. Let me start by saying that many people confuse good operational management or planning with strategy. They are not the same thing. Being excellent at operations management can be a part of strategy, but it isn't the same thing. However, in the case of Ryanair, good operational management is core to their strategy of being the lowest cost player. Most management thinkers now consider the goal of strategy as being to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
shaunattutorhub
05 April 2011
You have listed a range of factors that were elements of their operations management. Can you measure the impact, either in terms of lower fares (their objective) or increased profits, that each element contributed to their overall success. How easy was it to deliver each component? The strategy selected by Ryanair, that of lowest cost player, is almost entirely dependent on great (not good) operations management and the ability to decompose the product or service into it's constituent elements and reduce the cost of each of them. Even then, it may not be enough ... great operations management dictates that cost can only be really reduced by redesigning processes to make them simpler and more consistent or removing them altogether (meals for example). Southwest were the first airline to do this and it is really the application of low cost manufacturing techniques to the service industry. In summary, think about how reducing component costs, simplifying and standardising process and removing activities altogether would contribute to overall success.
shaunattutorhub
05 April 2011
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