Strategic Choice and Evaluation - Jet Blue Airways

Strategic Choice and Evaluation – Jet Blue Airways

JetBlue took off in 1999 by founder, David Neeleman. It operates predominantly on point-to-point routes. Jet Blue typically has 550 flights scheduled daily and they serve 53 destinations in more than twenty states. When Neeleman founded the company in 1999, he founded it with the vision of "bringing humanity to air travel". (JetBlue Website, 2008) To achieve this goal, the firm has adopted a grand strategy of growth, operational excellence, and customer intimacy at the corporate level and generic strategies of differentiation and overall low cost leadership at the functional level. The key points of this strategy include offering an astonishing quality product and service that is summarized under the 'JetBlue Experience' network expansion, low fares, quest for low operating expenses, and investment in new and more efficient planes.

Alternatives

Every company has to consider and realize alternatives in their plan to realize growth. An alternative that would be easily realized would be for Jet Blue to start offering travel packages. Packages could include airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals. They could offer business packages as well as vacation packages. This type of offer would be easy to incorporate into the existing company. Once partnerships are forged with rental car and hotel agencies, Jet Blue would have to update their computer software to accommodate their website and computer systems. This would take time and money, but the expense would be well worth it in the end. Additionally, JetBlue could spread out into more terminals internationally and increasing the number of destinations existing by their current terminals. Jet Blue will need to boost their infrastructure to keep up with new developments. Doing so would require capital, training, and time; it will ultimately provide a greater opportunity to increase their competitiveness in the market.

Value Discipline

Dr. Johnson describes value discipline as, "The selection of a value discipline is a central act that shapes every subsequent plan and decision a company makes, combing the entire organization, from its competencies to its culture. The choice of value discipline, defines what a company does and therefore what it is." (Johnson, 2010) There are 3 different disciplines: Operational Excellence, Product Leadership, and Customer Intimacy. Operationally excellent companies provide middle-of-the-market products at the best price with the least inconvenience. Their intention to customers is straightforward: stress-free service and low price. In Product Leadership, companies concentrate on offering products that push performance boundaries. Their intention is to offer the best product there is – period. In Customer Intimacy, company's focal point is on delivering what specific