Read the article and answer these questions

1. Faced with prospective restructuring options — namely, rebranding, a merger, bankruptcy and privatization — how should each be weighted to save MAS from monetary and non-monetary losses?

2. Of the three likely pricing strategies (i.e., increasing value, decreasing ticket prices or undertaking both), which would you choose if you were the CEO of MAS in order to retain and attract customers?

3. What is value communication? how can value communication strategies be classified? how could such ?a strategy be leveraged to restore MAS’s market share?

4. Could change management bring about the desired transformation of MAS, particularly in terms of ?customer perception? in what contexts could change occur?

5. Bearing in mind the potential of the travel and tourism industry in Malaysia, can diversification into ?this arena help MAS retain its market share?

Late July 2014, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya, chief executive officer (CEO) of Malaysia Airlines (MAS), had the daunting task of sustaining a business that had suffered the tragic loss of two of its airliners, MH370 and MH17, in a span of just four months.

Prior to this, a US$392 million loss in 2013, as well as the inability to compete with lower-cost carriers, had posed a great challenge to MAS. Management was planning to initiate a cost-cutting strategy to manage pricing and the competitive challenges of the aviation industry when these incidents shocked the world. The disasters greatly impacted customer confidence, as reflected in the company’s declining booking rates and stock prices. It seemed MAS was inching towards a government bailout. With its reputation severely damaged, MAS was faced with many hard-hitting questions from various stakeholders about the airline’s prospects. Many in the industry felt there was a need to transform the entire business model. The top executives reviewed the situation and pondered various options, including rebranding the airline, a new discounted pricing structure to build volume, a private equity infusion, a merger and filing for bankruptcy. The company’s former CEO, Abdul Aziz Abdul Rahman, optimistically believed MAS would survive the crisis: “I think it can survive, they have the foundation.” However, the

airline’s finances revealed a much less positive outlook. In 2013, MAS had only RM3.8 billion 6 in its cash reserves, which was far less than the necessary amount to draft and implement turnaround ideas. One of these ideas was the purchase of a new fleet of Airbus A380 airplanes, which had a list price of US$466 million. Each option would have to be considered very carefully, as the changes made to the business would decide the future of MAS.