International Business Report: BA and Qatar Airways Strategic Alliance

This report provides an in-depth analysis of strategic alliances in international business, focusing on the partnership between British Airways and Qatar Airways. The report begins with an introduction to international business and the concept of strategic alliances, emphasizing their role in foreign market expansion and growth. A literature review explores the benefits of such alliances, including resource sharing, route expansion, talent utilization, and network development. The analysis section delves into the motivations behind the British Airways and Qatar Airways alliance, highlighting the advantages and challenges associated with this partnership. The benefits discussed include combined resources, expanded route networks, and enhanced employee skills, while also addressing the challenges of partner selection and management. The report concludes by emphasizing the importance of strategic alliances for companies aiming to enter international markets and maximize profitability. The report is a valuable resource for students studying international business at the University of Suffolk.

International
Business

INTRODUCTION
International Business refers to the use of various types of methods and techniques by the
Businesses so that they are able to target International Expansion and substantially grow
themselves in the International Market (Czinkota, Khan and Knight, 2021). It is thus required for
the purpose of attainment of higher-level of growth in the future quite effectively and efficiently
in a proper manner. Thus, it is quite essential for the Business Organizations that they are able to
ensure that they can attain the future goals and objectives in a proper manner quite effectively
and efficiently in the future. For this report, a strategic alliance of British Airways and Qatar
Airways has been considered. It is an alliance which has been formed in order to ensure that both
the airlines are able to attain their goals and objectives in the future. In this report, a detailed
discussion will be made on the Strategic Alliances.
MAIN BODY
Literature Review-
According to Will Kenton, Strategic Alliance refers to the arrangement which is made
between two companies in order to undertake a mutually beneficial project in which both of the
partners retain their independence. Therefore, it can be said that it is quite useful for the partners.
Therefore, in this through the forming of Strategic Alliances both of the partners can attain their
particular goals and objectives in the future in a right manner quite effectively and efficiently.
Thus, in this way both the partners will be able to make sure that they can apply their strategies
in such a manner so that they are able to attain sustainable level of success in the future
(Strategic Alliance, 2021).
For the purpose of Foreign Market Expansion, the use of Strategic Alliance can be
recommended because in this way the different types of International Markets can be targeted by
the partners who will be able to make sure that the attainment of a wide range of goals and
objectives can be made quite effectively and efficiently. Therefore, in this way it is quite
important that through these Strategic Alliances the partners are able to make sure that they can
maximize the returns on their investment and can raise their overall level of profitability quite
effectively and efficiently in a proper manner (Dimitrova, 2020).
As British Airways and Qatar Airways formed a Strategic Alliance with each other it
allowed both of them to be able to target those international routes which are quite profitable and
therefore in this way they were able to ensure that they expanded in the Foreign Markets quite
properly.
Therefore, the use of Strategic Alliances is quite important for the purpose of ensuring
that the strategic advancements in the International Markets can be made. In this way, the
alliance between British Airways and Qatar Airways is quite profitable because it will help in

ensuring that the overall maximization of the level of profits can be made which will thus help in
attaining the overall goals and objectives in the future in a proper manner. This will be required
so that the efficiency and effectiveness can be enhanced.
Both of the partners who are entering into an International Market through the use of
International Strategic Alliance will be able to make sure that they are able to earn more profits
because the International Markets offer diverse opportunities to expand and thus maximize the
overall level of earnings in a proper manner (Gholipour and Foroughi, 2020).
It is quite important for both the partners within a Strategic Alliance that they are able to
make sure that they are able to identify the available opportunities in an International Market so
that the maximization of the level of earnings can be made in a proper manner.
Thus, in this way it can be said that for both British Airways and Qatar Airways it is
important that the forming of a Strategic Alliance is able to provide them with the opportunity of
ensuring that they can merge the capital. Thus, in this way with the merger of capital there is a
higher-level of availability of the funds with the companies which can be quite useful in ensuring
that the companies are able to identify they are required to spend their funds in a proper manner
and can make sure that they can attain their future goals and objectives quite properly and thus
the maximization of the revenues can be made so that the sustainable level of success can be
attained in the future by both of the companies (Kahiya, 2020).
When both of the companies are operating within a Strategic alliance they keep on
searching for the available opportunities so that they are able to make sure that they can attain a
higher-level of overall efficiency and effectiveness so that they are able to attain their future
goals and objectives in a proper way. This will be quite helpful in enhancing the overall level of
sales revenues properly.
It is easier for both the partners in a Strategic Alliance to expand to the international
markets because both of them can make sure that by assessing the available opportunities they
are able to make sure that they can identify the strategy to be applied for the purpose of making
the best use of such an opportunity to be able to attain a strategic and competitive edge over the
competitors in the market.
Also, through the formation of Strategic Alliances the partners can make sure that the use
of enhanced skills of the employees can be made for the purpose of attaining success in the
International Markets. Therefore, as British Airways and Qatar Airways have formed a strategic
alliance with each other this has made sure that both of them are able to make use of the
available skills and competencies of their different types of employees so that they can ensure
that the attainment of the future goals and objectives in a proper manner.
Further, Strategic Alliances can be termed as important for the purpose of International
Expansion because by forming such an alliance both of the partners are able to make sure that

they can maximize the overall level of returns which will help them a lot in ensuring that the
returns which they are getting can help them a lot to be able to ensure that they can make
progress in the market in the future. This will help them as they can set higher targets for returns
in the future which will lead towards progress and growth in the future in the market. The Brand
Image and Goodwill of both the partners who are in a Strategic Alliance will improve and thus
this will be quite helpful for them to make sure that they are able to attain a sustainable level of
growth in these markets in the future. Thus, it is recommended for the companies that they
should make the use of Strategic Alliances to be able to enter the International Markets and thus
are able to maximize their level of profits.
Analysis and Discussion-
There is a motivation behind the formation of a Strategic Alliance between the partners
and therefore it is quite important that a thorough analysis of the Strategic Alliance can be made
(Luo, 2020). The motivation behind the formation of a Strategic Alliance between British
Airways and Qatar Airways is as follows-
 Use of resources- Both the British Airways and Qatar Airways can benefit from the use
of each other’s resources (Moore, 2020). Therefore, in this way it can be said both of
these airlines will be able to ensure that they are able to benefit in a proper manner by
using the resources properly.
 Expansion on different types of routes- British Airways and Qatar Airways can make
sure that the expansion of the different types of routes in the International Sector can be
done which will thus help a lot in ensuring that the maximization of the overall revenues
can be made and thus the International Expansion Plan can attain success (Narula, 2020).
 Use of talent of the employees- Both the British Airways and Qatar Airways are
required to make sure that the use of the talent of the employees can be made so that both
of these airlines are able to make sure that they can generate higher-level of revenues by
making the use of the skills and competencies of the employees which will help them a
lot in attaining the desired level of success (Nielsen, Eden and Verbeke, 2020).
 Expansion of network- Both the airlines i.e. British Airways and Qatar Airways are
aiming towards the expansion of network which can allow them to offer flying facilities
to the passengers on a wide range of routes all across the world.
Benefits and Challenges-
There are different benefits and challenges for the partners who are entering into a
Strategic Alliance with each other so that they are able to make sure that they can easily
maximize their overall level of returns in a proper manner and can attain sustainable level
of success in the future quite appropriately.
Benefits-

 Through the formation of Strategic Alliance the partners are able to ensure that they can
make use of the combined resources to attain higher-level of growth. This thus leads
towards the potential of attainment of higher-level of profitability in the future which can
help in attainment of a strategic and competitive edge over the wide range of competitors
in the market.
 Formation of Strategic Alliance can help in making the use of diverse growth
opportunities which are available for the firms. This will thus be quite useful in ensuring
that these organizations are able to maximize their potential in a proper way. Thus, in this
way it can be said that the Strategic Alliances can be quite helpful in strategically
attaining the higher-level of efficiency and effectiveness in the International Markets.
 Enhancement of capabilities is a benefit which can be attained through the formation of
such type of Strategic Alliance in the future which will be thus beneficial in ensuring that
the organizations are able to make sure that they are able to enhance these capabilities in
a right way so that they are able to attain the targets related with profitability an higher-
level of growth in the future.
 These Strategic Alliances are helpful because through their formation the partners are
able to integrate their resources and thus ensure that their combined strength can help
them in making the best use of the available Business Opportunities. Therefore, in this
way it can be said that the partners should be able to ensure that these alliances are able to
get them the required level of Business in the Foreign Markets where they can grow in a
substantial manner in the future. This will benefit them by providing them a base for
attaining a higher-level of growth in the different types of sectors in the market in a right
way in the future (Rothert, 2020).
 Enhancement of knowledge is also possible when the Strategic Alliances are formed
because both of the partners can benefit from the enhanced knowledge of each other
which can thus help them a lot to be able to make sure that they are able to make the
desired progress.
 Access to global markets becomes easier through the formation of Strategic Alliances
which offers opportunity to maximize the overall level of earnings as well as revenues
which can therefore be beneficial as both of the partners will be able to make sure that the
attainment of the goals and objectives in the future can be attained.
Challenges-
 It is quite important that the right partners is chosen for the purpose of the formation of a
Strategic Alliance in the future which can be quite beneficial for the organizations so that
they are able to make sure that they are able to take their Business to the next level. Thus
in this way this offers a challenge in front of the management of both the organizations
who are willing to enter into a strategic alliance. It is thus important that the right partner
is chosen which can be quite challenging.
 Building of a mutually beneficial alliance is also a major challenge in front of the
partners because they are required to make sure that the alliance which they are building
is helpful for them and thus they are able to create benefits for each other in a proper

manner. This will this lead towards creation of better opportunities for both of them
which will be useful in taking the relationship towards new heights and therefore this will
help a lot in strategically maximizing the level of revenues in the future.
 Upholding of Trust and Honesty is another challenge which is faced by the partners
because it is quite crucial to make sure that both of the partners are able to ensure that
they can help each other out in different types of situations and circumstances. Thus, in
this way it can be said that for both the partners it is required that they should be able to
take the relationship which they are creating towards new heights (Servén and Abate,
2020).
 Reassessment of alliance is also quite crucial from the point of view of the partners
because the level of profits which they are earning after entering the Strategic Alliance
has to be checked regularly. This will be quite useful in ensuring that the partners are able
to make sure that they can take different types of decisions accordingly.
Recommendations-
There are different types of market entry strategies which can be adopted by the
organizations in order to enter into a particular market. Thus, it is quite important that the
assessment of these strategies can be made so that the organizations are able to ensure
that they can maximize their potential in an International Market and can make sure that
they are able to succeed in the International Market.
One of the strategies which can be used is Franchising. It is a strategy in which an
organization provides rights to run its business operations to another organization which
therefore is helpful in entering into an International Market. It is a commonly used
strategy because through making its use the firms are able to make sure that they can
effectively and efficiently identify the scope for making the use of the available
opportunities so that the growth can be attained in the future. Therefore, there are
following Advantages and Disadvantages of Franchising-
Advantages-
 This method allows the organizations to reduce the risk which is associated with entering
an International Market (Shams and et.al., 2021). This allows them to be able to take the
steps which are required for attaining success in the Foreign Markets. Therefore, in this
way the organizations are able to make sure that they are able to enter into a market of
their choice.
 Appropriate level of support is available for the Businesses when the use of this particular
method is made which therefore helps a lot in ensuring that the Businesses are able to
take an appropriate decision (Szymanski and et.al., 2021). This type of support received
by the Businesses is helpful for them as they are able to make sure that they can manage
out the particular level of needs and requirements in the International Market quite

properly. Thus, in this way the right decisions can be taken so that the Businesses are able
to grow substantially and maximize their level of profits in a right way.
Disadvantages-
 The use of this method leads towards higher-level of costs and therefore can create a
particular level of impact on the organizations. Thus, it can be said that this can affect the
organizations as their profitability level can be reduced due to its use.
 Controlling and Monitoring of Business operations is not easy when the use of this
particular method is made which therefore affects the organizations because it is not easy
to keep a track on the activities of the organization to whom the rights to run the Business
have been given.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that International Business refers to the wide
range of Business Activities which can be managed by the Business Organizations in the
International Markets so as to earn higher-level of profits. It is quite essential that the right steps
are taken by the management of the Businesses regarding making an entry in the International
Markets so that they are able to ensure that the level of profitability can be enhanced which will
benefit the organizations a lot in the future and will help them in attaining the overall goals and
objectives.

REFERENCES
Books and Journals: