Abstract
The case is about Ryanair, the European low-cost carrier, more specifically the way the company draws its incredible financial health from negotiations with key stakeholders. After demonstrating the coherence between Ryanair’s internal management practices and its approach to external stakeholders, the case aims to reflect on the reciprocal relationship between a company’s strategic positioning (in this case, market power) and its negotiation practices. Firstly, Ryanair provides a good example of how one may use its size and its counterparts’ poor alternatives to extract financial value from them, while responding to their needs. Secondly, the case also reveals how Ryanair builds its profitability less on its flight operations (which may actually be loss-making) than on the gains from its negotiations with aircraft manufacturers and regional airport operators. The case is therefore of interest both from a strategic point of view (how market positioning translates into stakeholder management practices) and from a negotiation perspective (approaching negotiation from a strategic perspective). It may be used with a variety of audiences, at undergraduate, graduate and executive education levels.