Hi there

How  have Easyjet's senior management managed the five tasks of
strategy.  How would a senior management team manage the process in a
way that enables it to learn from its experience to achieve its longer
term gols.

The five strands of strategy are 
1) Strategic vision and mission
2) Set Objectives
3) Craft a strategy to achieve objectives
4) Implement and execute strategy
5) Monitor, evaluate and take corrective action.

Cheers

The senior management of Easyjet pursued the five tasks of strategy by
first identifying a market opportunity and crafting their strategic
vision and mission to deliver value to the identified market segment. 
In particular, Stelios Haji-Ioannou realized that the market for
European air travel was much less competitive than was the market in
the United States.  In particular, there was a dearth of discount fare
airlines, such as Southwest Air of the United States.  Furthermore,
the market for European business travel was also changing as companies
were forced to adapt to global competitive pressures by focusing on
costs.  Slower growth in Europe than in the United States, along with
a tradition of much more expensive intercity air travel than was the
case in the United States, presented Mr. Haji-Ioannou and his team
with an attractive opportunity.  His strategic vision and mission was
to serve tourists and cost-sensitive businesspeople by providing lower
fares on short-haul flights.

To address the marketplace, Mr. Haji-Ioannou defined the objectives of
Easyjet as providing customers with an inexpensive service that lacked
the difficulties for consumers typically found with obtaining
discounts.  By providing cheaper short-haul service within Europe,
Easyjet flew to 18 European cities by mid July 2001 and had planes
that were over 80% full.  In contrast, the average competing plane was
only 60% full, making Easyjet's flights profitable even with the lower
fares.

The decline in global air travel following the attacks of September 11
ironically further boosted Easyjet's market position.  The collapse of
transatlantic traffic severely hurt Europe's traditional full fare
airlines, with many experiencing significant losses and even going
into bankruptcy.  However, as Europe entered recession, business
travelers were compelled by their employers to fly discount airlines,
and European leisure travelers also traveled more within Europe
because of the availability of less expensive fares.  "Easyjet posted
an annual pretax profit of $58 million -- even higher than its
pre-September 11 projections."

"Cheap Euro Airfares" By Aisha Labi, Time (November 26, 2001)
http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1001313,00.html

In addition to his success with Easyjet, Mr. Haji-Ioannou has copied
Richard Branson's Virgin Group and expanded his discounting concept to
a number of other consumer businesses.  He offers cheap Internet
access through a chain of Internet cafés called easyEverything, with
outlets in Europe and the United States.  He also launched easyCar, a
significantly discounted car rental agency.  "EasyGroup, parent
company of EasyJet, [is] looking to launch...music-download services"
as well.

"World Briefing" by Chris Taylor, Time (August 23, 2004)
http://www.time.com/time/subscriber/archive/preview/0,10987,994958,00.html

Easyjet, and its fellow discount brethren Ryanair, Buzz, and Go have
dominated European short-haul flights and have done so profitably. 
Not only have competing airlines had to adapt, but even Europe's
largest online travel agency has had to respond. "To avoid competition
with low-cost, puddle-jumping carriers like Easyjet, it focuses on the
mid- and long-haul market" so that it can attract travelers to its
"lucrative hotel bookings."

"E-Bookers" by Blaine Greteman, Time (July 28, 2003)
http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,1005339,00.html


Some consolidation has taken place within the discount airline
business in Europe.  Ryanair acquired Buzz, and Easyjet acquired Go
Fly to expand their market reach.  Easyjet has continued to perform
well, carrying 2.083 million passengers in January 2005 compared to
1.6 8 million in January 2004.  The firm's load factor, a key factor
in profitability, was 76.4% in January 2005.

"Easyjet passenger traffic soars" BBC News (February 7, 2005)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4242381.stm

Even though the company's average fares have fallen 2% during the last
quarter, the company has maintained its profitability by focusing on
other revenue sources.  Its chief executive sites "more vigorous
application of its excess baggage policy and improvements to onboard
services..." that have resulted in revenue contributions per passenger
from non-fare sources increasing by 21%.

"Easyjet has a happy new year" The Guardian (February 8, 2005)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,3604,1407911,00.html

An additional source of considerable information about Easyjet and its
strategies can be obtained at "Easyjet" biz/ed (2005)
http://www.bized.ac.uk/compfact/easyjet/easyindex.htm

As was clearly the case with Easyjet, by proceeding through the five
tasks of strategy and looping through them repeatedly, management team
can identify opportunities for improvement and growth.  The
receptiveness of the marketplace to the Easyjet product offering,
along with viewing the success of Virgin Group, clearly inspired
EasyGroup to expand its brand into other businesses where discounts
had not been traditionally offered but could be offered profitably. 
As a more limited example, the realization that competitive pressures
would require the company to lower its fares led its management to
emphasize other revenue sources and cost controls and onboard services
to maintain its profitable growth without sacrificing market share. 
Periodically reviewing the competitive environment to ensure that the
firm's strategy is still optimal is critical to ensuring the firm's
achievement of its long-term goals.

The recent ouster of Hewlett-Packard's's CEO Carly Fiorina underscores
the importance of reviewing strategy and recognizing when changes are
necessary.  Her focus on a "non-growth, cost-control" strategy,
epitomized by the controversial acquisition of Compaq, along with a
largely failed effort to grow the company's consumer electronics
business, led to her being fired.  Once the board felt that the
economic environment had changed sufficiently for the company to once
again have growth opportunities, her inability to develop and execute
a new strategy caused her to lose her job.

"Hewlett-Packard ousts CEO Fiorina" by Kim Kahn, CNBC Market
Dispatches (February 9, 2005)
http://moneycentral.msn.com/content/CNBCTV/Articles/Dispatches/P109122.asp

Sincerely,

Wonko

---

Clarification of Answer by wonko-ga on 10 Feb 2005 07:50 PST

I am sorry you were disappointed by my answer.  In the future, may I
suggest that you request clarification, indicating the nature of your
dissatisfaction, so that the researcher has the opportunity to satisfy
you instead of simply giving a low rating.

Sincerely,

Wonko

As per my e-mail; the researcher didnt put any theory as requested in the answer.

Regards

doesnt really answer the question of how easyjet managed the five tasks of strategy

I've observed a few interesting things about EasyJet

The original fleet was equipped with onboard boarding steps, which
were an expensive option, but according to Stelios saved considerable
turnaround time and airport costs.  My parents once chatted with him
on a flight - he told them about it.

The internal (office) culture of Easyjet was very young and very
informal, someone coming in wearing a tie was likely to have it cut
off by their co-workers (told to a friend who had a job interview
there in finance).

In my opinion the purchase of Go (properly called Dodo) from British
Airways was a vehicle designed to permit Stelios to liquidate a good
chunk of his shareholdings, retreat from active management, and make
way for the City friendly 'suits' that have taken control.

Branson's 'Virgin spinoffs' are largely franchise operations, he
provides the name and takes a goodly chunk, and other companies do
everything else.

I've a suspicion that the Easy spinoffs have been self (Stelios)
financed - as yet I've seen little sign of their success -
regretfully.

What I'm suggesting is that Easyjet started with one strategy and very
likely now has a rather different one. Worth investigation.