A Content Analysis of International Airline Alliances Mission Statements

Abstract Background: Mission statements have come to play an important role as tools for organizational value sharing. Objectives: This study aims to shed light on what types of values are highlighted in international airline alliance members’ mission statements, and whether there are significant differences or not. Methods/Approach: Quantitative content analyses have been conducted with the goal to investigate mission statements of 61 members of international airline alliances: Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and oneworld. Results: Frequency test outcomes reveal that “philosophy”, “self-concept” and “location” are the predominant components in oneworld, “philosophy” is the primary component in SkyTeam, and “philosophy” and “customer” are the focal components of Star Alliance. According to chi-square tests, Star Alliance members emphasize “customer” more often than others do, and oneworld members highlight “profitability” more often. One-way Anova tests with a post hoc analysis reveal that Star Alliance members cover more components than SkyTeam. Conclusions: The theoretical implication of these findings is that they reveal the existence of unique values among international airline alliances members offering a competitive advantage. As a practical implication, these findings will be helpful for international airline alliances and airline managers for comparative purposes.