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Strategic Commitment in the Airline Industry

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ABSTARCT: This report aims to give a brief understanding of strategic commitments, the rationality of predatory pricing and the extent to which predatory pricing strategies are used in the global airline industry.

DATE: 5th March 2015

Introduction
This report aims to give a brief understanding of strategic commitments and the rationality and extent to which predatory pricing strategies are used in the global airline industry. The Airline industry, being highly competitive, offers many examples of both Strategic Commitment making and Predatory Pricing strategies.

What are Strategic Commitments...
The commitments that firms make are two pronged, having direct and strategic effects. The direct effect is the clearly identifiable aspect of the commitment. The strategic effect of the commitment is more subtle, as it is the influence and response which the commitment generates from the competitors in the market in regards to their intended short/medium term tactical plans.
Strategic commitments can be described as a form of strategy that firms have at their disposal, in which information on plans or intended actions by the business are publically released with the purpose of influencing the actions of other key market players. To be considered a strategic commitment the announced plan/action must have visibility so that those it is intended to influence can observe it, and it must be difficult to reverse, due to costs or other factors such as potential damage to a firm’s reputation etc. and finally it must be clear and understandable to those it will influence. There are many examples of strategic commitments including the announcement of the intended introduction of a new product, discontinuing a product/line or investments in a new facility etc.
There are two approaches to strategic commitments, tough and soft. Besanko et al. (2010) state that ‘tough

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