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Running Head: E-Business

An Analysis of the Current and Future Use of Internet Technologies of Qatar Airways

University of Chicago

An Analysis of the Current and Future Use of Internet Technologies of Qatar Airways
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Executive Summary:

By introducing the Oracle E-business Suite, Qatar Airways has deftly managed to pin point the

most poignant of its customers. Partnerships with travel agents have made it easy for it to

advertise its services and products, as it uses social media to its advantage.

Looking at it from the Porter’s Five Point Analysis, Qatar Airways can be seen to be self-

sufficient in handling suppliers and buyers alike, with its unique selling propositions and high

standards of quality. Also, the company remains relatively insulated from threats of competitors

– as it is proclaimed the best in the region (with reason) – and also from new arrivals, as the

airline industry is very cash demanding; and new companies wanting to enter know that it will be

hard to survive – especially in the global downturn of economy.

The attractiveness and ease of use of Qatar Airways’ website has played a major role in

increasing traffic to the company’s site; thus attracting and retaining customers.

By adeptly using the business-to-business format of the e-commerce market, Qatar Airways is

easily able to identify the most profitable of its clients – and target them accordingly.

Also, the airline has always been at the forefront of corporate social responsibility programs. It

has thus helped change countless lives both in Qatar and across the globe (especially in Asia)

with its joint programs/partnerships with other related affiliates.

Its drive to success as always been accentuated by the dedication of the airline to provide quality

service and products. This is why customers who fly once in Qatar Airways, fly with it forever.

Introduction to E-Business:
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The era of e-business started in the early 1970s, with the advent of the internet. Over the past 30

years, however, the meaning of e-Commerce or e-business has quite changed. The late seventies

saw the introduction to online shopping, which later evolved into a wider and more complex

network of Business to Business and Business to Consumer online interactions in the eighties and

nineties. Keeping at par with this era of technology, numerous companies have adopted the e-

commerce strategy in order to reach out to a wider demographic without the restraints provided by

geographic or other barriers.

Qatar Airways is no different. It caters to a global population, with the ease of transactions

magnified with the help of e-business. Having always had a proactive stance when it comes to the

online business factor, Qatar Airways has thus always been one step ahead of its competitors. It

has encouraged its customers to transact tickets online, and has facilitated them in every way

possible by introducing a user friendly website. Consumers can book, pay online and also get

tickets issued with zero trouble via the internet; the lowest-fare-finder option that Qatar Airways

uses also portrays – to prospective and current customers – the lowest fares offered in a range of

schedule dates.

The Oracle e-business Suite is used by the Airline in order to facilitate its website; and this has

helped to reduce the airline’s expense and cause efficient management, as the company is now no

longer dependant on agents. (AME Info., 2003)

When analyzed in the light of Porter’s Five Forces, Qatar Airway’s e-business background may

be divided into the following elements:

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● Supplier Power: Providing low rates as compared to other airlines gives Qatar Airways a

competitive edge. The era of online transactions has also made it easier for the company to

reach out to a higher demographic around the globe. The outsourcing of its accounting role

has provided the company with improved and standardized industry practices, and at much

cheaper rates than those provided locally.

● Buyer Power: The internet has provided customers with a large variety of options to choose

from. This gives them the chance to survey other competing airline brands and weigh their

pricing strategies against those of Qatar Airways.

● Threat of Substitutes: As mentioned above, Qatar Airways must constantly keep in mind

the fact that customers purchasing its tickets online have access to a wide range of other

substitutes to the services provided by the company. Qatar Airways has therefore attempted

quite successfully at retaining customers by providing innovative products and services,

such as the lowest-fare-finder.

● Threat of Entry: There is, as such, no real threat of new entries into the airline industry, as

it requires a very high capital budgeting; which is not possible for most companies.

● Degree of Rivalry: There is a high degree of rivalry in the airline industry, with various

companies competing against one another in order to gain the highest percentage of

customers and revenues. Some common examples are Emirates and Gulf Air.

E-Marketing:

Qatar Airways follows Rappa’s e-business model; whereby both customers and partners are

indulged in order to provide full transparency to these shareholders. Bezruk.com, an Asia Pacific

search engine, has gotten into contract with Qatar Airways; the company is therefore able to
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advertise its services and flight fares in different websites, catering to a large populace of potential

customers (Wego, 2007). By using pay-per-click, search engine optimization, banner ads and bulk

mails, the company has managed to increase its advertising tenfold – and as a result, its marketing

budget has widened scope. (Ramos & Cota, 2009)

Subscribing to online forums has helped Qatar Airways reach out to those who are not frequent

travelers, and thus has increased sales during holidays. Also, by attaining personal information of

customers – with their permission – the company is able to successfully improvise on its services

and products, by means of focusing on different customer needs.

Social Media has also been at the forefront of major marketing improvements in the past decade.

Qatar Airways is no exception when it comes to using this medium in order to reach to a larger

clientele. Facebook (Refer to Appendix B), YouTube, and other media related to v-logging, social

forums, blogging etc. are some of the social media used by Qatar Airways. (Young, 2007)

In line with its above-stated marketing strategy, Qatar Airways has also recently announced the

launching of its Vietnamese Expansion Drive. This opens flights to Hanoi and also flights along

the Ho Chi Minh City Route.

This increase in building customer interest to learn more is followed by Qatar Airways’ strategy

to aim at the desire component of the AIDA model. This is done by providing a unique mix of

products aside from the lowest air fare.

These products include Qmiles (which are awarded based on the booking class the consumer

purchases), and are based on whether the customer is a member of Qatar Airways’ Privilege Club
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Program. This offers discounts and extra mileage (as mentioned above) to special customers –

especially those who are frequent fliers.

Also, the company provides customers with an online virtual tour of its services and products,

causing customers to want to experience the delights first hand.

Qatar Airways has also made it effortless for customers to book tickets online, via customizing the

product he/she requires. For individual customers, billing is done instantaneously, whereby the

customer can tally up the amount first, and after being completely satisfied with the result, pay his

due. Corporate clients are offered a higher advantage by the company, and are usually issued

invoices.

Web-designing:

A good website is of paramount importance in order to attract and retain customers. A company

must never disregard the importance of a good online website; as research shows that the first 30

seconds are the most crucial in deciding whether the customer will go through the trouble of going

through the website. Most clients are too busy to scroll through the entire layout; thus the website

must be designed in such a way that the most important information is given right at the top, with

snippets of additional information given either further below the page – or linked through different

portals. The most effective design is one which allows the user to gain access to maximum

information with minimum amount of clicks, while also keeping in mind the attractive outlook

necessary in order to please the customer’s eye. (Foraker Design, 2005)

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Qatar Airways’ website (see Appendix A) is designed in such a way that even the most casual

visitor is incited to go through the website at least once, in the least amount of time. At the top

right hand corner of the website is a query box; this contains all the queries any customer could

possibly have in mind. This is a very attractive feature as it tells one everything one could possibly

need to know (from latest flights details and flight schedules to varying price rates, etc).

The invitation to subscribe to the company’s newsletter is right at the bottom, beneath the booking

corner at the left; which also has other options like flight status, check-in, etc. An invitation to join

the privilege club of Qatar Airways incites the customer, as it glares at one in bold magenta. The

website’s homepage also features different newly added services and flight plans, displayed in

small boxes on the bottom right hand corner. At the top of the page are links that lead a visitor to

different areas of interest such as Bookings, Special Offers, Privilege Club, Holidays, etc. The

About Us link is at the top corner, just before the small query box.

Other links (known as Quick Links) invite customers to check out a multitude of other options

related to Qatar Airways, such as careers, corporate travel, and the like. The web design of Qatar

Airways is inviting and cheery, as it easily conveys the most important messages in the shortest of

time.

Business to Business:

Bulk bookings have always been very profitable; and Qatar Airways in no exception to this prime

source of revenue. Business to business transactions are much cheaper and more efficient than

Business to consumer transactions.

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It is a very attractive portrait for buyers and suppliers alike. Buyers can easily acquire the best

information regarding respective goods and services in the travel industry. Suppliers benefit

equally from these transactions, as they can easily affect sales on the internet with minimum costs.

This is possible because the internet provides a free platform for interaction between buyers and

suppliers; alongside unrestricted information about competing suppliers, which can be used

advantageously by other suppliers.

Learning about how competing companies are using different unique selling propositions online

in order to generate greater revenue helps suppliers improve their own products and services.

(Lapidus, 2000)

Qatar Airways is therefore a forefront player of the Business to Business transactions. These

transactions help the company assimilate its various customers into a wide range of corporate

customer portfolios (small and medium companies, large corporations, etc). This helps the

company very effectively target its most lucrative customers.

The number of customers signing up for Qatar Airways’ newsletter also reveals to the management

the popularity of the newsletter in various geographic zones. This helps the management in

deciding the content that must go into the newsletter, in order to satisfy the maximum amount of

customers.

Ethical Aspect and Corporate Social Responsibility:

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Corporate social responsibility goes a long way in building images of companies. Fallen

companies can redeem themselves in the eyes of the consumers by indulging in corporate social

responsibility.

However, most companies – Qatar Airways included – need no persuasion to indulge in what is

only their social duty.

They help with the social welfare of the society in order to have a healthy society to work in.

Qatar Airways has indulged in a wide array of social responsibility activities and programs over

the past years.

The Oryx Flies Green Project (2009) was an attempt by the company to put a smile on the faces

of children belonging to one of Qatar’s biggest orphanages. “Dhriema” is the Qatar Orphan

Foundation, whose children had never been aboard a flight until Qatar Airways took the initiative

to take 100 children from the orphanage on a free trip aboard Airbus A321 over the state of Qatar.

This special twenty minute flight was a unique gift to these underprivileged children, who were –

to their delight – accompanied by their aides, local media and the Chief Executive Officer, Akbar

Al Baker.

Keeping in view the danger the environment today is facing, Qatar Airways organized the 9 th

National Green and Clean Campaign in by sending its crew to clean Al Wahkra Beach. More than

50 bags of garbage were collected in this campaign. Its fuel efficiency program also focuses

towards systematically reducing the dependence of the airline on fossil fuels, in order to prevent

airline exhaust fumes from contributing even more to green house gases and global warming.
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The company has also donated $450,000 to ROTA (Reach out to Asia), a charity organization

founded in 2005 in Qatar. This project seeks the joint initiative of Qatar Airways and ROTA in

providing quality primary education to the underprivileged. The main goal of this initiative is to

improve adult literacy by 50% and also provide free education by the year 2015. (Qatar Airways,

2009)

Conclusion and Recommendations:

Relentless in its pursuit for perfection and excellence in service and quality, Qatar Airways has

acquired one of the top positions in the airline industry. With an extensive budget allocated solely

for internet advertising, Qatar Airways has truly used the e-business format to its advantage.

The airline industry, however, is extremely competitive – with even the slightest mistakes costing

companies millions in losses. The prices of aviation fuel show no tendency towards reducing as

they continue to rise exponentially. Qatar Airways needs to maintain its high quality standards –

if not continuously improve them – if it wants to remain at the top.

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References:

AME Info. (2003). Qatar Airways goes live on Oracle E-Business Suite. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from

AME Info: http://www.ameinfo.com/32601.html

Brinck, T., Gergle, D., & Wood, S. (2001). Usability for the Web: Designing Web Sites that
Work. Morgan Kaufmann Publishers.

Buisness Wire. (2007). Qatar Airways Moves Forward with PROS Technology. Retrieved October 11,

2009, from Buisness Wire: http://www.allbusiness.com/company-activities-management/company-

structures-ownership/5306954-1.html

Christopher H. Lovelock, (1999) "Developing marketing strategies for transnational service operations",
Journal of Services Marketing, Vol. 13 Iss: 4/5, pp.278 – 29

Foraker Design. (2005). Website Design. Retrieved November 26, 2009, from usability design:
http://www.usabilityfirst.com/websites/index.txl

Facebook. (2010). Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Qatar Airways:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Qatar-Airways/9471112401

Qatar Airways. (2009). Social Responsibility. Retrieved November 27, 2009, from Qatar Airways:
http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/csr-social.html

Qatar Airways. (2010a). Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Bonus Qmiles for booking online!:
http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/bonus-qmiles.html

Qatar Airways. (2010b). Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Bookings:

http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/homepage.html

Qatar Airways. (2010c). Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Special Offers: Over 90
DestinationsWorldwide: http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/special-offers/overview.html
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Twitter. (2010). Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Get short, timely messages from Qatar
Airways: http://twitter.com/Qatar_airways

Wego. (2007). Bezruk.com signs marketing agreement with Qatar Airways. Retrieved November 3, 2009,
from wego.com: http://blog.wego.com/61/bezurkcom-signs-marketing-agreement-with-qatar-airways/

Yang, S. (2001). E-Commerce in Airline Buisness. Retrieved October 11, 2009, from unpan1.un.org:
http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/UN/UNPAN001219.pdf

Young, A. E. (2007). Social Media Marketing and the Hotel Industry. Retrieved November 3, 2009, from
4hoteliers.com: http://www.4hoteliers.com/4hots_fshw.php?mwi=2351

You Tube. (2010). Retrieved November 4, 2010, from Qatar Airways:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=232PHJCd3dY
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Appendix A:

http://www.qatarairways.com/global/en/homepage.html
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Appendix B:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Qatar-Airways/9471112401