Corporate Social Responsibility. A Comparative Study of Ryannair and EasyJet

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2014 in the subject Business economics - Business Ethics, Corporate Ethics, grade: A, , course: Master in International Communication, language: English, abstract: The author of this paper has chosen to analyse two topics: 1) corporate social responsibility, 2) crisis communication. These two topics were chosen because of the reason that crisis communication and corporate social responsibility have a positive effect on brand reputation. These two topics are analyzed and compared on two companies: Ryanair and EasyJet in the industry of low-cost airlines. The author has chosen these two companies because of three reasons. First, Ryanair and EasyJet are both are European low cost airlines, therefore this is a study of two 'most-similar' cases. Ryanair was chosen as it was the first low-fare airline in Europe, is now the second-largest low fare airline in Europe after easyJet based on revenue, but the largest when considering its value by market capitalisation. Second, there are available materials on Ryanair's and EasyJet's corporate social responsibility and criss communication both on their website, as well as in academic papers. Third, chosen companies for analysis are interesting in that they both are large airline companies - competitors and both have been highly visible in media. The corporate social responsibility and crisis communication may be seen in several dimensions, either environmental, social etc. In this case study research is concentrated on CSR goals and practices of both of companies. Besides, In the face of crisis communication issues associated with Ryanair as well as EasyJet the importance of right corporate social responsibility management needs to be questioned. In the further part of this paper the author will compare Ryanair and EasyJet in general by providing firm characteristics. Irish low-cost airline Ryanair Holdings PLC (Ryanair), based in Dublin, has long had an image as a maverick. Ryanair is known as the Europe's biggest discount carrier. The Dublin-based airline, is also known for its low-fare policy and business model based on flying to cheaper, smaller airports rather than the more expensive hubs used by national carriers.