Piedmont Airlines Case Study

Case Study: Piedmont

Abstract

Piedmont Airlines was tasked with investing close to $1 million in top of the line equipment as well as employee research and development. The plan was to get a general forecast analysis of what the appropriate amount of discounted airlines fares should be per night. The company met a sudden realization that by offering discounted flights to consumers, who at the time were willing and able to book their flights far advance of the actual departure date, would yield considerable alternatives to the typical business traveler who generally booked closer to the anticipated departure date.

The overall business analysis of the Revenue Enhancement Department (RED) was quarterbacked entirely by manager Marilyn Hoppe. Even though at the time this equipment seemed to be the best approach for company, Marilyn insisted upon reviewing several gray areas that were cued from subjective decision making being made. She felt that they could have done a better job with the overall automation of the entire situation. Hoppe was concerned with the overall human interpretation and analysis that was going on. She wanted the entire process to be incorporated from a more scientific approach.

Overview of Situation

The overall decision laid out before the Revenue Enhancement Department proved to be an exhausting one at that. I think Hoppe would agree when I say that there are a considerable amount of factors that need to be acknowledged before going down the route of evaluating the decision making process. Both skewed and irrelevant data need to be removed from the equation entirely in order to get a more accurate depiction of where the end result needs to be.

There are pertinent areas that need to be addressed in the overall scheme of things; past and current reports as well as forecasted data needs to be considered. Not only does the current competitor activity play a major role in this decision, but the economic trends can weigh heavily on whether or not this will be a profitable solution. Even though Marilyn is the central figure in this case, she needs to consider both the positive and negative ramifications that will occur for the sake of the stakeholders. Involving individual stakeholders within the decision making process may prove to be a beneficial requirement in solving this solution. Not only will this help to weather the storm until it comes time to making the decision, but it will ensure that everyone has a chance to ask the appropriate questions based on the current objective that is given. One thing that Piedmont needs to consider is the core decision making process and how it is applicable to their given scenario.

Decision Alternatives & Evaluation

Marilyn and Cathy gathered statistical data that allowed them to better grasp the current demand