Research Paper on:
British Airways and Ryanair

Unformatted Sample Text from the Research Paper:
acquisition is one tool used to try and gain a competitive advantage. If we look at a large and a small company in the same industry consider their positions using  a SWOT analysis, and then project an acquisition or merger, the benefits and difficulties may be realised. In this example we will look at the larger company of British Airways,  and the smaller company will be Ryan Air. There are different types of competitive advantage, the two most recognised centre around the  two differentiations made by Porter. These are cost advantage or advantages by way of differentiation (Thompson, 1998). In a market place that is increasing in competition the search for this  advantage requires investment. The advantage of cost does not mean being able to sell the goods at a lower price than competitors, but being able to produce the goods at  a lower price and therefore have a higher profit margin (Thompson, 1998). This can be seen as an advantage of economies of scale resulting in marginal costs being reduced,  though the utilisation of comparative advantage or through economies of scope (Thompson, 1998). It is this advantage that British Airways has had in the past, but with the difficulties  seen in the aviation industry this may be a reason why strategy should be re-examined for this company. We will look at British Airways first. Strengths British Airways  is seen as a market leader when it comes to customer care this has been achieved though the development of a string brand image that helps to place the commonly  of the list of potential suppliers when they are thinking of flying. Effect marketing has maintained this image. However, it is also worth noting that a high profile image can