Activity: What’s Your Advantage?

Required Preparation

Before this activity, please complete the following:

1. Read the assigned reading, “Competitive Advantage.”
2. Complete the corresponding Canvas quiz.
3. Watch the assigned video:

Optional Video:

Analyzing Ryanair’s Budget Airline Business

Description:

This activity challenges you to apply competitive advantage analysis concepts to Ryanair’s budget airline business. You’ll work in teams to analyze and describe how these concepts manifest in this real-world example.

This activity when completed will represent the first three steps of the the four-step competitive advantage analysis process described in the Competitive Advantage reading (See page 15). You will complete the final step of the analysis in the next activity.

Learning Objectives:

By the end of this activity, you will be able to:

• Identify the primary customers of a budget airline business and their willingness-to-pay (WTP) factors.
• Describe the critical value chain activities of a budget airline business and their relationship to competitive advantage.
• Apply competitive advantage analysis concepts to a real-world scenario.
• Collaborate with your team to analyze and synthesize information.
• Communicate your insights effectively to the class.

Steps:

1. Video Review: Watch the assigned video on Ryanair’s budget airline business.

2. Group Discussion: Discuss the following with your team:

   • Components of Competitive Advantage: Based on the video and your understanding of the business, describe the following components of competitive advantage:
     • Who is the customer, and what are their willingness-to-pay (WTP) factors?
     • Who are the suppliers, and what are their opportunity costs (SOC)?
     • What is the value added by Ryanair’s presence in this market?
   • Value Chain Analysis:
     • What are the critical primary and support value chain activities?
     • How are these activities related to WTP and SOC?
     • Evaluate the idea of internal consistency using the set of activities you have identified.
     • Categorize the activities based on whether they are geared towards value creation or value capture.
   • Concept Application: How do the following competitive advantage concepts manifest in the video?
     • Tension between customers’ willingness-to-pay and suppliers’ opportunity costs
     • Cost leadership vs. differentiation strategy
     • Horizontal vs. vertical differentiation
     • Value chain activities
     • Value added
     • Value capture
     • Internal consistency
     • Mass customization
     • Dual advantage
3. Class Discussion: Engage in a class discussion to share your team’s findings and insights.

Remember: This is an in-class learning activity designed to facilitate discussion and deepen your understanding. The primary deliverable is a rich and interactive discussion within your group and with the class.

Self-Assessment:

• Active participation in group discussions
• Clarity and accuracy of the competitive advantage analysis
• Depth and relevance of concept application to the video content
• Effectiveness of the presentation in communicating insights