STRATEGY 302 Business Strategy : Airlines: Value Chain

Competitive strategy : techniques for analyzing industries and competitors

• Porter's later edition explores industry analysis using the Value Chain in greater detail, with some emphasis on technology firms
   

Idea: The Value Chain

• The Economist series outlines the concept
   

Porter's Value Chain - Understanding How Value is Created in Organization

 

"Why Porter's model no longer works"

• Harvard Business Review article on the applicability the model, and winning in the "social era"

For this project, you'll be asked to analyze a company's value chain.  Here's an example, using the Mergent Online database.

1. Go to the Mergent Online database
    
2. Type a company name in the upper left search box; for this example, we'll be using Delta Air Lines.  Select Delta from the dropdown suggestions
    
3. From the Delta company record, click on the  tab at the top of the record to get a list of key sectors. Delta's  list includes:
   • • Business Services
     • Transportation and Logistics
     • Hospitality
     • Travel Arrangement and Reservation Services
   • Click on any of the sectors to see a list of Delta's suppliers within the sector
4. Click on Suppliers to get a list of key suppliers. Click on the column headers for additional sorting options.

Delta's  list includes:

• • Grupo Aeroportuario del Centro Norte SAB de CV  Airport and Flight Support Services 
  • AAR Corp -  Fuel/Component/Maintenance Providers
  • Embraer SA  -  Aircraft Manufacturing
  • Global Eagle Entertainment Inc -   Entertainment and Programming > Television, Film and Video > Distribution 
  • Royal Holdings Company - Food and Beverage Services 
• Click on any of the supplier company name links to be taken to the company's record. You can get financials from most of these companies, by clicking on Detailed Reports and then clicking the box "Key Financials"