David S. Hansen Bacheloropgave HA- 6 Semester 2010 SAS ... - VBN

Gruppe nr. 9 Bachelorprojekt, HA- 6 semester. 01-12-2010
SAS som servicevirksomhed
reduce capacity in order to cut losses. In a fierce battle with low-cost carrier Norwegian, SAS has seen their
market share in the Nordic countries, reduced to approximately half of the market share held by SAS by the
year 2000.
In an attempt to stabilize the financial foundation of the company, the strategy Core SAS was launched in
February 2009. The strategy focused on 5 defined core elements of the company which was intended to
guide the airline company back on a sound financial foundation. The Core SAS strategy was developed
during times of global recession and is by the media presented as prioritizing employee’s salary cuts and
reduction in fleet. This study is intended to clarify which impact a strategic focus based on servicing
passengers, rather than cutting employee’s salaries would have on the company’s competitive advantages.
In order to structure the study the basic assumption has been made that an outward-in approach has to be
used when defining a strategy for SAS. This means that the natural way to go about the study is by starting
from the outside by analyzing the company’s environment through the PEST model. To gain further
knowledge about the environment, although now closing in to the market environment, Porters five
competitive forces are applied. The market environment bears all the signs of fierce rivalry and very
powerful suppliers and buyers along with relatively low barriers. This adds up to a market which has high
risk and most likely a low return on investment. This would usually be an unattractive market yet new
airlines open regularly.
After studying the environment of SAS there will be an assessment of the competitors and their strategies
in order to compare these with the strategy of SAS, and as inspiration to set a new direction for SAS. The
study will be concluded with a discussion of possible directions for a new strategy. The main argument is
that the current strategy does not encourage growth due to the focus on cost management. Therefore it is
advised that a new strategic focus is directed towards service, and through service add passenger growth.
The focus on service should be the cornerstone of SAS operations now that the global passenger figures
show signs of improvement.
2. Indledning
Gennem de senere år er der sket en forandring indenfor flytrafikken i Danmark. Der er kommet flere
operatører og dermed en øget konkurrence. Da der samtidig har været en tendens til at flyrejsende er
blevet mere omkostningsbevidste, har resultatet været at priserne på flyrejser er faldet dramatisk. SAS har
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