Market Structures Table Compare the Four Market

¶ … Market Structures Table

Compare the four market structures by filling in the table.

Perfect competition

Monopoly

Monopolistic competition

Oligopoly

Example organization

Hair Shampoo Companies

Saudi Arabian Oil

Cereal companies

Cell phone companies

Goods or services produced by the organization

Hair products

Oil and gas

Breakfast cereals and comparable products

Cell phones

Barriers to entry

Chemistry knowledge

Raw materials few

Technology

Number of organizations

Many

Few

Few

Few

Price elasticity of demand

Is there a presence of economic profits?

yes yes

Based on the details available to you in the strategic plan, marketing overview, market surveys, and other material, how does the organization compete in the marketplace? What are the strengths and weaknesses of the firm as indicated by the marketing surveys completed by their customers?

Kudler is a company which is strongly devoted to pleasing their customers. The company constantly pushes itself to engage in the highest level of though t and innovation to attract a new realm of customers and to bolster customer loyalty. Kudler has consistently engaged in customer-focused programs which are designed to increase the amount of devotion and bond that they have between customers, through rewards for frequent shoppers, through a direct mail approach, by cutting costs, and by fostering relationships through management so that quality results are more readily and more consistently achieved. Kudler has long showed that it understand that as long as they continue to orbit around value in their products and value in their customers, they are likely to increase a higher margins in product sales. Kudler appears to well-understand the value of customer feedback: customers have demonstrated that they like it when Kudler puts a valued approach on things like the store atmosphere, the mix of the products and the overall customer perspective of the merchandise available. This survey also demonstrated areas that the store needs to work on, such as customer service. Kudler has already demonstrated knowledge of how to gently and aggressively promote her catering service. In store parties that demonstrate possible recipes and new products helps to establish a sense of camaraderie, and make all customers feel like they're part of the larger "Kudler Family "are another gentle way to promote the catering service and the brand in general.

• Based on your learning, identify the market structure that you believe best applies to this organization. Defend your answer. How does that market structure positively and negatively affect the firm? How does the effectiveness of the competitive strategies in the market structure affect the organization's long-term profitability?

Based on the details available to me, Kudler engages in a strong performance in the marketplace. Kudler is able to deliver a desirable product while engaging in an area of sales that is extremely crowded. Kudler is an example of a form of company which engages in perfect competition. "Perfect competition is characterized by many buyers and sellers, many products that are similar in nature and, as a result, many substitutes. Perfect competition means there are few, if any, barriers to entry for new companies, and prices are determined by supply and demand. Thus, producers in a perfectly competitive market are subject to the prices determined by the market and do not have any leverage. For example, in a perfectly competitive market, should a single firm decide to increase its selling price of a good, the consumers can just turn to the nearest competitor for a better price, causing any firm that increases its prices to lose market share and profits" (investopedia, 2013). The strengths of this form of engagement in the marketplace is that the company truly has the freedom to vary their prices and their products in order to better meet the needs of their customers or to increase their profitability. The company can slash their prices to woo customers away from their competitors, or they can intensely vary the products available in order to do the same thing. The only negative aspects of this type of market structure is that the company is continually competing with other firms who are also trying to attract as many customers as possible and who are offering similar products. This can be a daunting form of competition. In this case, a company like Kudler has to continually push itself to be innovative and to work hard to extend their customer base.

• What competitive strategies would you recommend for Kudler Fine Foods? Explain your answer. Identify real-world organizations that are comparable with Kudler Fine Foods.