Extracts from this document...

Introduction

Jet Blue Airlines Case Analysis 1. How would JetBlue describe its core competence? How does it help drive customer value? How does it establish a unique position for the company? JetBlue's core competence is providing a great customer experience by providing things like leather seats for all customers, blue M&M's, onboard digital TVs in every seat, and a young and stylish flight crew for a remarkably low fare price relative to its competitors in the same market. Its other core competence is its human resource management's values-based approach for building very strong internal and external relationships which drives the successful deployment of its business strategy which is to keep costs down and gets the most out of the fleet, while still providing high-quality service, which drives customer value. The employees believe in these values and serve the customer to the best of their ability in a consistent and highly productive manner. This combination has enabled JetBlue to establish a unique position for itself by being able to offer excellent service (safety and on-time arrival included - the airline's on-time arrival rate of nearly 80 percent leads the airline industry) and amenities as well as low fares. JetBlue has been profitable from its beginning, a rarity in the airline industry. ...read more.

Middle

It is able to accomplish this because its made the choice to fly out of one uncongested airport - JFK. Although JFK is crowded for international flights, air traffic is minimal for domestic flights (domestic flights fly at lower altitudes adding for more entry ways into the airport), thus enabling it to fly its planes much more frequently than its competitors and offering more on-time departures and arrivals, adding to a greater convenience for its customers. * JetBlue flies dozens of flights daily between New York and five Florida cities -- an Eastern seaboard route that is often closed due to congestion or thunderstorms. To improve the odds that its flights can operate on time, all JetBlue planes are equipped with life rafts and vests so they have the option of using flight paths over the Atlantic. * JetBlue has avoided travel agents (average cost: $14 per ticket). Instead, its reservation agents answer calls from their homes (average cost: $4.50 per ticket). The company also pushes online ticket sales (average cost: 50 cents per ticket). * JetBlue builds efficiency into everything it does, and leveraged state-of-the art technology. JetBlue created the first paperless cockpit, which equips pilots with laptops that speed maintenance checks and turnaround times at gates. ...read more.

Conclusion

4. What human capital (employee knowledge, skills, abilities) supports the core competence? The skills of the top management team were key to defining the values and corporate strategy for JetBlue. Neelman's airline industry experience and attention to detail as well as Ann Rhoades with significant HR experience (some at Southwest) clearly set JetBlue on the path to success initially and helped define the core competence that the employees must support. JetBlue employees must have integrity, humbleness and an overall great attitude. Employee understanding and internalization of JetBlue's 5 core values is imperative to success and directly supports its core competences. They have to know how to make decisions that conform to the values. The pilots have computer skills and receive aircraft training, but at the same time they must understand the values and integrate them with the training to truly support the core competences. The ground crew must know how to perform their job functions in a competent matter, but do so in a very efficient matter to drive down costs, while not compromising safety, which is directly in line with the safety value. The Flight Attendants understand the FAA guidelines and in-flight procedures, but must also champion the values in order to give customers the unique JetBlue flying experience that promises safety, efficiency, extraordinary service event though the customer is paying a low fare. 1 ...read more.

This student written piece of work is one of many that can be found in our GCSE People in Business section.