Introduction
Since entering the Australian market in 2000, Virgin blues has expanded its routes as time goes by (Gregory 2000, p. 21). In this case, it has employed a wide range of cost cutting measures and established itself as a low cost carrier airline. Apart from this and other competitive aspects that it has employed, the company has strong brand recognition. In this case, it has a link to the general group brand.
All along, the company has used innovative tactics to remain competitive. This has been done by thinking out of the box. Although the company has been a big player in the market, it has also faced turbulent times in recent years (Virgin Blue 2011, p. 12). Therefore, this paper will evaluate various aspects as far as strategic competitiveness is concerned.
Strategic management and strategic competitiveness
Strategic management revolves around coming up with good decisions that can enable an organization to achieve its objectives. This is aimed at achieving its long term objectives as far as strategy formulation is concerned. Strategic competitiveness can be termed as a type of strategy and course of action that an organization will use to achieve its goals and objectives (Gladwell 2000, p. 21).
Strategic competitiveness is based on the idea that there are many competitors around and that is why an organization needs to come up with special ideas that will enable the company to create wealth without any problem. There are new radical changes that have continued to take place in the current competitive landscape.
In this case, the characteristics of the 21st century have caused a lot of core competencies. As a matter of fact, their choices have been influenced in a great way and this is as far as competition is concerned. It should be known that the 21st competitive landscape has increased opportunities for various companies because they have to think out of the box.
These characteristics of the 21st competitive landscape have had a lot of effects on Virgin Blue. For instance, the company has been forced to strengthen its marketing and code of alliances to remain competitive and strategic (Marx 2010, p. 18). It should be known that competition has forced Virgin Blue to think out of the box by being innovative.
External Environment
The external environment that a firm operates in is rarely stable and this means that various factors can change quickly as time goes by. As a matter of fact, all businesses operate in a changing world and this is a fact that we need to evaluate. This means that firms are subject to forces that are very powerful beyond their control.
In this case, they can not come up with a good projection of what will likely transpire as time goes by and this is as far as their business external environment is concerned (Berry 1995, p. 21). The external environment has made businesses to known that they can not survive without interacting with the environment.
The external environment has forced these businesses to be creative in doing business. Because a firm does not have control over the external environment, it has always affected performance depending on various aspects.
In a broad perspective, firms have been forced to take into account this forces with an aim of coming up with a strategy. There are various external environment factors that have had an impact on Virgin blue. The economic downturn of 2008 was crucial for Virgin blue because it affected its performance in a broad way (Canning 2011, p. 25).
As a matter of fact, the company recorded a loss but it has bounced back to profitability by coming up with good measures. Global security concerns have also affected the company’s performance and that is why this is a challenge. As far as global security is concerned, the company has been forced to comply with various security requirements that have been enforced by governments (Kitney 2010, p. 15).
Virgin blue has been forced to match its internal strengths to various opportunities that have emerged as time goes by. All in all, the global airline industry has been exposed to various regulations from different governments and this has had an impact on the company’s performance.
Internal Environment
The internal environment is used to asses a company’s strengths and weaknesses. In this case, more attention and focus is laid on the factors that are internal to the firm. Most of these internal factors can be controlled by the firm as time goes by. This is because they are within the company’s means.
As a matter of fact, these internal factors can be changed or acted upon by the company for long term sustainability (Pelly 2006, p. 27). Internal business environment has forced companies to change their operations to suit in the market. The internal business environment has forced firms to look at various elements that define their business. It should be known that a company’s internal environment revolves around competencies, capabilities and resources.
There are various internal environment factors that have been crucial for Virgin blues. As far as costs are concerned, the company has been able to establish itself as a low cost airline (Creedy 2010, p. 11). Aspects like the rising operation costs have mostly been internal and this has forced the company to re-evaluate itself to remain afloat.
Terminal and operating costs have also been going up and this has affected the company’s operations in a broad way. In a broad perspective, these internal factors have influenced the company positively in a big way. This is based on various strategies that it has occasionally come up with to remain competitive (Wardell 2008, p. 18). An example is the strengthening of marketing and different alliances.
Business level Strategies
Business level strategy can be explained and termed as a coordinated set of actions that will enable a company to gain competitive advantage in the market.
This is done through the exploitation of various competencies by focusing on specific product markets (Gladwell 2009, p. 32). Therefore, it does occur that firms can use business level strategy to achieve competitiveness in the market. Businesses level strategy can enable a firm to evaluate its weaknesses and come up with good strategies that will enhance its competitiveness in the market.
As a matter of fact, a company can come up with good mechanisms that it can later on use to compete in the market. Virgin blue has used a lot of business strategies to remain competitive in the market. In this case, the company has always been innovative by thinking out of the box to give customers unique services and products.
The firm’s low cost culture has also been a good strategy to attract customers and this will likely be replicated in the future for sustainability (Osborne 2009, p. 26). In the long run, the company has initiated various competitive moves that will make it a big player in the market as time goes by.
Conclusion
Virgin blue will continue being a large market player because of various initiatives and strategies that it has initiated in the market. The company has been the preferred airline because of the fact that it is a low cost airline. All along, the company has established itself as Australia’s strongest domestic airline.
The firm has good prospects because it was able to bounce back to profitability after the economic downturn and this means that it can always be profitable (Osborne 2009, p. 31). With the right strategies in place, the company will continue being a big market player and this is a fact. The company has a strong brand name and this is something that it can use to its own advantage for sustainability.
Reference List
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