Competitive Strategies Essays (Examples)

Competitive Strategy

In a free economy, a multitude of firms compete for the business of the same customer segment. Therefore, if a firm is to succeed in attracting and retaining the maximum number of customers from the targeted segment, it must develop and successfully execute a strategy that has a distinct competitive advantage over its rivals. Thus, a competitive strategy is defined as a plan that attempts to define a position for the business, which utilizes the competitive advantages that the business has over its competitors (American Marketing Association, 2004).

Of course, it is important for any competitive strategy to focus on competitive advantages, which can offer customers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing a greater benefit or service that justifies a higher price. In other words, it is key that a competitive strategy is consumer centric. Developing a competitive strategy, therefore, involves closely analyzing…

Works Cited

American Marketing Association. "Competitive Strategy." Dictionary of Marketing Terms.

Accessed July 6, 2004: http://www.marketingpower.com/live/mg-dictionary-view667.php

Nickols, F. "Competitive Strategy: The Basics a la Michael Porter." Accessed July 6, 2004:

http://home.att.net/~nickols/competitive_strategy_basics.htm

Companies that do not make such a choice run the risk of being caught in the middle. They may be good at everything, but excel at nothing. In business, however, success comes from developing competitive advantage, in particular sustainable competitive advantage. Firms therefore should focus their limited resources on excellence in one particular area, and be the best in the industry in that area.

In Porter's generic strategies, a firm that is neither a cost leader nor adequately differentiated will be beaten by other firms on both counts. By falling in the middle, the firm essentially condemns itself to failure by virtue of having no source of competitive advantage -- nothing compelling to offer the consumer.

In that respect, Porter agrees completely with Treacy and eiresma. Their value disciplines also speak directly to what a firm can potential offer to customers, or from where they can derive a competitive advantage.…

Works Cited:

No author. (2007). Porter's Generic Strategies. QuickMBA.com Retrieved April 4, 2009 from  http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml 

No author. (2009). Value Disciplines Model. Value-Based Management.net. Retrieved April 4, 2009 from  http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/methods_valuedisciplines.html

Cost leadership

Attracting more customers and gaining financial advantage over the competition as profits would increase

4

Forces the company to drastically reduce costs, meaning that product quality could suffer demises

-4

0

6.

Focus strategy

Can achieve either of cost advantage or differentiation

4

Addresses a niche market

-4

0

7.

Differentiation strategy

Product uniqueness which allows for the charging of a premium price to cover for the additionally incurred expenditure

5

Additional costs which will reduce overall financial gains (they will however be recuperated from the premium price)

2

3

7. Description of the Selected Strategy

Based on the analysis conducted at the previous stage, it becomes obvious that the most adequate course of action at this stage is that of implementing differentiation strategies. These actions basically translate into the promotion of new products onto existent markets, meaning that Porter's differentiation strategy is the analogue of Ansoff's product…

References:

Kotelnikov, V., Differentiation Strategy -- How to Survive in the Era of Hypercompetition, 1000 Ventures,  

Competitor Analysis and Competitive Strategy

The competitor analysis for the Kia-Motors has been conducted in order to analyze and identify the key factors related to the strengths and weaknesses of its competitors i.e. Toyota and Dacia Automobiles. The competitive strategies are being suggested for Kia-Motors in order to grow its business in Turkey and attract customers and carry out production processes in ways that ensures the profitability and competitive advantage in the long run.

Kia Motors

Analysis of Competitors

Toyota

Suggested Competitive Strategy

Automobile Dacia

Suggested Competitive Strategy

Kia Motors

Kia-Motors with the sales of 2.75 million in the year 2013 is 33.88% owned by the Hyundai Motors and is known widely for its product Kia-Optima and Cadenza. The company possesses strong market position with respect to the quality that it has been providing to its customers. The company has followed the competitive strategy for pricing at which product quality…

REFERENCES

Bondoc, M.D., & Banuta, M. (2007). Changes in the Romanian automotive parts sector in the context of globalization.

Coman, A., & Ronen, B. (2009).Focused SWOT: diagnosing critical strengths and weaknesses.International Journal of Production Research, 47(20), 5677-5689.

Drummond, G., & Ensor, J. (2006).Introduction to marketing concepts.Routledge.

D'Silva, D.A., & Patil, A.S. (2008). Lean Manufacturing.

Kraft Foods' Competitive Strategy

Kraft Foods is a one of North America's largest packaged food companies. To reach its current competitive position the organization is changed to great deal of the last decade, with increased focus on the core products, and the sale or spin-off of the non-core divisions, for example the sale of the frozen pizza division 2010 to Nestle, and in 2012 the demerger of Mondel-z International (Kraft Foods, 2014). This has left the company with a high level of focus in selected product categories and North American markets. The shift in the company's focus has impacted on the way in which they compete, but despite this change narrowing of focus, the organization still be seen as one which serves the mass market, with some type of Kraft Food product 90% of all households in the United States, 99% of all households in Canada (Kraft Foods, 2014).

2.…

References

CSI Market, (2014), Kraft Foods, accessed at  http://csimarket.com/stocks/competitionSEG2.php?code=KRFT 

Kotler Philip; Keller Kevin, (2011), Marketing Management, Prentice Hall

Kraft Foods (2014), Home Page, accessed at  http://www.kraftfoodsgroup.com 

Kraft Foods, (2014) 10=k, accessed at http://ir.kraftfoodsgroup.com/secfiling.cfm?filingID=1545158-14-3&CIK=1545158

Mission and Vision Statements and the Company's Strategic Direction

Mission/Vision/Strategic Dissection

esearch the challenges the organization is facing consider the objectives the organization has established for revitalization;

Evaluate the mission and vision statements to determine whether these statements align with the objectives of the organization (this requires research to identify new objectives);

Mission Statement & Vision Characteristics

Comparison Article & Mission Statement

Mission Statement Critique

Quality products & services

Broad in scope

Increased differentiation through marketing portals

Great value for customers

Are dynamic in orientation

Provided where & when customers want products & services

Finely balanced between specificity & generality

This objective is achieved

Build positive, lasting relationships with customers

Arouse positive feelings & emotions

Shop Your Way and FitStudio

Be a preferred & trusted resource for products & services

Generate the impression that the firm is successful, has direction, and is worthy of time, support, and investment

Genius Award…

References

Characteristics of the Mission Statement. Retrieved from  http://www.zainbooks.com/books/management/strategic-management_6_characteristics-of-a-mission-statement.html 

Gutman, B. (2012, May 18). Sears explains its success in content marketing. Forbes. Retrieved from  

That is not so much a contradiction of the research but a limitation of it in terms of applicability to practitioners running small manufacturing companies.

Critique of Environmental Scanning: Frequency and Scope

Beal (2000) bases his methodology for assessing environmental scanning on twenty eight specific items that CEOs of 101 small manufacturing companies responded to as part of the research effort, and later analyzed them using factor analysis. Using Varimax rotation in factor analysis to explain variances across the results, company's management capabilities and resources (.824) and company's financial capabilities and resources (.811) were found to be the greatest two factors across all twenty-eight measured in terms of explaining variations in environmental scanning resulting impact on related environment/competitive strategy alignment. Scanning multiple situations or events occurring in an environmental sector will be positively related to environment-competitive strategy alignment, which is the second hypothesis of the research project (H2) looks at…

References

Beal, R (2000).Competing effectively: Environmental scanning, competitive strategy, and organizational performance in small manufacturing firms. Journal of Small Business Management. 1, 27-476.

International usiness

Competitive strategy is the bedrock on which companies base business decisions to reach their targets and achieve profitability. Formulating and implementing strategies in international business is much more complicated and difficult task than doing so in home or familiar markets. Competitive strategy deals with the development of abilities by a firm to keep ahead of competitors in the fields in which it operates. Firms develop competitive edge in global markets by possessing certain assets, abilities or characteristics. The primary elements of competitive advantage are the critical offer, the significant operating factors and the firm's strategic resources. (ennett and lythe, 2002) Corporate strategies and international marketing strategies are linked closely and have a bearing on business performance. (rown, 1994)

While some companies focus on a single source of competitive advantage, it is common for many firms to opt for a combination of options to be flexible and attain the…

Bibliography

Ahlberg, J; Garemo, N; Naucler, T. (1999) 'The Euro: How to keep your Prices Up and your Competitors Down', The Mclliney Quarterly, Volume: 2

Bennett, R. (1996) 'Relationship formation and governance in consumer markets: Transactional analysis vs. The behaviorist approach', Journal of Marketing Management, Volume: 12; No: 6

Bennett, R. (1999) 'International Business Frameworks', Second Edition, London: Financial Times/Pitman

Bennett, R and Blythe, J. (2002) 'International Marketing: Strategic Planning, Market Entry and Implementation', London: Kogan Page

, 2008).

Examining U.S. Airways it is apparent that the organization does not have superior profits to other airlines; the 10-k for 2012 showed a net profit of 4.61% to 2012, while the firm has a better profit margin compared to some other airlines, it is lower than some other airlines, including American Airlines and Southwest (Yahoo Finance, 2013). As it is not have a superior profit margin the company is not a firm with a cost advantage. Therefore, this leaves the competitive advantage of differentiation.

Examining the organization in order to identify ways in which the service is different from competitors indicates that the service levels in the firm are not a source of differentiation. In 2007 in a consumer report U.S. Airways was ranked as being the worst for the customer service that was provided, where it gained only 5/30 marks of food, 10/30 marks the comfort and…

References

Baye Michael, (2007), Managerial Economics and Business Strategy, McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Mintzberg Henry, Ahlstrand Bruce, Lampel Joseph B. (2008), Strategy Safari: The Complete Guide Through the Wilds of Strategic Management, Financial Times / Prentice Hall

US Airways, (2013) 10-k, [online] retrieved 11 March 2013 from  http://www.usairways.com/en-U.S./aboutus/investorrelations/secfilings.html 

Yahoo Finance, (2013), U.S. Airways, [online] retrieved 11 March 2013 from  http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=LCC&x=52&y=18

Quest Diagnostics Competitive Strategy

Quest Diagnostics is a company that has a lot of potential in Turkey based on its experience in other countries. The company mainly focuses on patients and physician services with the aim of making health care more effective. Turkey as a country has a challenge of having fewer doctors or medical practitioners than in other countries. However, the country has a growing GDP, with a considerable amount being spent on healthcare. Quest Diagnostics stands a chance to benefit from increased spending as the GDP improves. Consequently, the number of older adults in the country is increasing and more diagnostic procedures will be required to deal with issues associated with lifestyle diseases. The analysis focuses on the competitive advantage that Quest Diagnostics has in Turkey.

Competitive Strategy and Target Market

The competitive strategies that Quest Diagnostics should use are the cost leadership and focus. The company should…

References

Aslan, D. (2013). Aged population is increasing in Turkey: a situation analysis. Acta Med, 2(23), e5.

Deloitte. (January 2014). Healthcare Industry in Turkey. Retrieved from  http://www.invest.gov.tr/en-US/infocenter/publications/Documents/HEALTHCARE.INDUSTRY.pdf .

Jordan-Tank, M. Kanchi, V. (2017 April 19). Success factors in Turkey's Elazig healthcare PPP. The World Bank. Infrastructure & Public-Private Partnerships Blog. Retrieved from  http://blogs.worldbank.org/ppps/success-factors-turkey-s-elazi-healthcare-ppp .

DYNOMITE Haircuts Stage

This case study concerns the needs and objectives of a particular business known as Dynomite Haircuts. Dynomite Haircuts first opened in a college town where it was the only business of its kind in a 10-mile radius. This was ideal as it allowed the company to establish roots, gain a solid reputation and client base and begin to expand in a marked and concerted manner. Now there is a much higher level of competition which has developed over time in this area. In spite of this increased competition, the business is still performing well. However, it could be performing even better: it could still reach a higher level of competition and effectiveness necessary to bring in a higher level of revenue. The areas that need to be improved are: scheduling, supply ordering, inventory management, collecting customer information and marketing. Once these areas are improved, and these obstacles…

References

Ehmke, C. (2014). Strategies for Competitive Advantage . Retrieved from arizona.edu:  http://ag.arizona.edu/arec/wemc/nichemarkets/05competitiveadvantage.pdf 

Mindtools.com. (2014). Porter's Five Forces. Retrieved from mindtools.com:  http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_08.htm 

Porter, M. (2008). Competitive Strategy. New York: Simon and Schuster.

Product Returns is a third process area that Imperial Tobacco has to contend with, specifically from its distributors and channel partners. Typically Tobacco products are returned if a specific lot of tobacco or packaging has been found to be defective. There have at times been product recalls as defined by governments. A third reason for product returns is when a product has been discontinued and Imperial is not willing to pay price protection to cover the distribution partners' inventory carrying costs until they are sold. The Product Returns process begins with the issuance of a Return Material Authorization (RMA) that specifically states how much of a given product is being returned and for what reason.

The RMA is then sent to the distributor who then ships back the tobacco products to Imperial. Once the products have arrived back at the company, if they are defective, they are sent to Quality…

Five Forces

The concept of the five forces is rooted in the idea that these are the five forces that influence whether an industry or company can be profitable. A company, when formulating its strategy, will seek to find ways to shift these forces and manipulate them in ways that allow the company to be profitable, preferably sustainably profitable. As Porter (2008) elaborates, the five forces that shape competitive strategy are the bargaining power of buyers, the bargaining power of suppliers, the threat of new entrants, the threat of substitutes and the intensity of rivalry within the industry.

About the Company

The company to which the five forces will be applied is Tesla Motors, the electric car maker. Tesla is a relatively new player in the industry, has a tremendous reputation with respect to product quality, but has yet to turn a profit, has a tremendous bleed rate, but it…

References

Bershidsky, L. (2016). Millennials are buying cars after all. Bloomberg. Retrieved May 14, 2016 from  http://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-01-04/millennials-are-buying-cars-after-all 

Hard, A. (2016). Apple car rumor roundup: Here's everything you need to know about Project Titan. Digital Trends. Retrieved May 14, 2016 from  http://www.digitaltrends.com/cars/apple-car-news/ 

MSN Moneycentral: Tesla Motors. Retrieved May 14, 2016 from  http://www.msn.com/en-us/money/stockdetails/financials/fi-126.1.TSLA.NAS?ocid=qbeb 

Porter, M. (2008). The five forces that shape competitive strategy. Harvard Business Review. January 2008, 79-93.

Strategy Development

A directional strategy is a strategy to take the organization in a specific direction. For example Pepsi bought a ussian diary as part of its strategy to create a $20 billion nutrition business. This is not related to market conditions as such, just a focus on growing an area of business. In contrast, an adaptive strategy is one where the company needs a strategy to adjust to some sort of change in the marketplace. An example of this would be an old-school grocery store adding more organic foods to its shelves in response to that market trend.

A market entry strategy is a strategy used to enter a market. There are several of these: exporting, licensing, joint venture, and direct investment (QuickMBA, 2010). These work for entering new domestic markets as well. New products or changes to existing products would also qualify, perhaps, as entering a new market.…

References

QuickMBA. (2010). Foreign market entry modes. QuickMBA.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014 from  http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/global/marketentry/ 

QuickMBA. (2010). Porter's generic strategies. QuickMBA.com. Retrieved February 6, 2014 from  http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/generic.shtml

Competitive Market Analysis to Determine the Product's Potential Success

Issues that the automobile industry faces that affect its competitiveness and long-term profitability

The relevance of a competitive strategy for Car Company A is to establish a position within the 4-cylinder engine car market. This will help the company to compete with Toyota Corolla (LE) 1.8L four-cylinder engine competitive forces. As a potential entrant, Car Company A is at a disadvantage in capital markets. Unless it penetrates the Cylinder engine market through diversification, its four-cylinder car will be at an inherently riskier position than the established (LE) 1.8L four cylinder engine of Toyota (Maxton & Wormald, 2013). This will be reflected in the risk premiums Car Company A will be forced to pay to attract capital.

Car Company A will face barriers because other players like Toyota enjoy economies of scale in the industry. This means a decline in a product's…

Reference

Maxton, G. & Wormald, J. (2013). Time for a model change: Re-engineering the global automobile industry. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press

2. Is it ethical to send an attractive employee to a bar to "hang out" with a competitive employee in the hopes of getting information? Again, this is quite dependent upon the situation. If one "assigns" the attractive employee to participate in espionage as part of their job duty, and it is fully disclosed, then it is not necessarily unethical -- any more than sending someone to shop for a brand of beer at a bar in order to get others to purchase, etc. If the competitive employee gives information, then the ethical onus is on them, their agreement and their conscience. Now, that said, this assumes the attractive employee is only there to "hang out." if, however, it goes further than that, and sexual favors are offered for information, or blatant lies are told (not simply by omission, but by direction), then the behavior is unethical because it has…

Others feel Five Forces is too cumbersome in its need for data and heavy-duty analysis and does not fit today's rapidly changing, dynamic market.

So where do we go with this thought that some of today's tools may not suffice as the market moves faster and companies need these dynamic, flexible analytical tools to update their strategies?

Where Is the Field of Strategy?

Disruptive Innovation? Four actions framework? Factor conditions? Demand conditions? Preemptive strategies? Five Forces? Ten Schools? Are any of these concepts/theories new and innovative? Do they pave the path toward the future of corporate and competitive strategizing? The answer is probably yes...and no.

It is difficult to find a brand new strategizing tool or model or school that is not just a rehashed version of our current standard, and quite effective, methods to analyze strategies. One innovative strategy to arise out of an existing concept is "lue Ocean."…

Bibliography

Corporate Level Strategy. (2003, January). Retrieved 11-07, 2008, from BNet Business

Network: http://jobfunctions.bnet.com/abstract.aspx

Day, G., & Reibstein, D. (1997). Wharton on dynamic competitive strategy. Hoboken,

N.J.: John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Business

itz Carlton Case Study

Question 1; Competitiveness of itz Carlton

itz Carlton appears to compete extremely effective, with a high level of service that has created a strong reputation of the delivery of five star services. To appreciate how and why the firm has been successful it is beneficial to look at the concept of competitive advantage.

Michael Porter examined the ways that firms competed and argued that for firms to be successful they required a sustainable competitive advantage; something that would give them an advantage over their competition (Lynch, 2011). Porter identified four potential sources of competitive advantage; firms could seek a cost advantage or an advantage of differentiation, in turn they could aim to serve the mass market or a niche market for each of these approaches. Cost advantages are achieved when a firm is able to produce a good or provide a service at a cost…

References

Bratton J; Gold J, (2012), Human Resource Management: Theory and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan

Cook, Sarah, (2008), The Essential Guide to Employee Engagement: Better Business Performance Through Staff Satisfaction, Kogan Page Publishers

Huggins, Robert; Izushi; Hiro, (2011), Competition, Competitive Advantage, and Clusters: The Ideas of Michael Porter, Oxford University

Kotler, P, Armstrong, G, (2013), Principles of Marketing, Pearson

Porter's Generic Strategy

Porter's Generic Strategies relate to the strategies that different airline companies follow in order to be profitable; e.g., to keep their position as a low-cost, no-frills airline, or a more costly airline with plenty of comforts, or a small company with specific routes that others may not have. Porter's three generic strategies are "cost leadership," "differentiation," and "focus" (IFM).

Cost leadership relates to when a company sets out to be the lowest cost airline in the industry; in other words, the airline leading all others in low fares. However they do that, whether it is using "proprietary technology," or exclusive access to the raw materials needed to fly commercial planes, they are cost leaders when it comes to economic fares (IFM).

Differentiation is setting an airline apart from others because it offers certain "attributes" that other airlines don't offer. It may for example offer sleeping facilities for…

Works Cited

IFM Management Technology Policy. (2010). Porter's Generic Competitive Strategies (ways of competing). Retrieved March 10, 2015, from  http://www.ifm.eng.cam.uk .

Lawson, T.C. (2013). Why American Airlines and U.S. Airways Tied the Knot. U.S. News

& World Report. Retrieved March 10, 2015, from http://www.usnews.com.

Le Clair, C. (2013). Business Agility And The Odds Of A Successful American Airlines

Strategy and SWOT Analysis

Key Concepts in Business Strategy and SWOT Analysis

Creating a competitive business advantage is a complex endeavor. Various techniques have been developed to guide the self-analysis process practiced by business enterprises. Traditional strategic planning engages a company in both internal and external analysis. In order to conduct a strategic analysis that makes niche or unique opportunities salient, it is necessary to have a robust view of the competitive landscape. Alternately, a thorough analysis of operations and position requires a penetrating look at the internal capacity of the company. A SWOT analysis promotes a clear-eyed look at the external and internal dimensions of a business that have the potential to impinge on the development of an effective strategic plan for the company.

A SWOT analysis takes the participants through a systematic process of examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats that are aspects of a company's business.…

References

Chen, J. (2013). 2013, The Year of Starbucks. Retreived  http://seekingalpha.com/article/1103821-2013-the-year-of-starbucks 

Starbucks (2013).Investor overview. Retreived  http://investor.starbucks.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=99518&p=irol-irhome 

Interbrand (2013). Best Global Brands 2012. Retreived  http://www.interbrand.com/en/best-global-brands/2012/Best-Global-Brands-2012.aspx

Strategy Concepts -- From Planning Through Analysis and Implementation

The Concept of Strategy

Strategy is about change and response to change. Competitive strategy cannot stand still (Eisenhardt, 2002). Competitive strategy must establish differentiation (Kim & Mauborgne, 2004). Strategy appears most difficult from the inside of a business as perspective taking is based on what the competition is doing, might do, might do in response to what other businesses do, and so forth (Kim & Mauborgne, 2004). The critical distance needed to truly conceive and implement efficacious strategy is not easily achieved from inside a company -- a factor that has contributed significantly to the financial success of consulting businesses like Bain Consulting, Boston Consulting Group, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited, and McKinsey and Company.

SWOT Analysis

Businesses face market conditions that are in a continual state of flux, challenging them to construct strategies that are agile, effective, and relevant ("HB SWOT,"…

References

Eisenhardt, K.M. (2002). Has strategy changed? MIT Sloan Management Review, 43(2), 88-91. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan Management Review.

Halligan, B. (2006, September). HubSpot. Blue Ocean Strategy: A Small Business Case Study. Retrieved  http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/54/Blue-Ocean-Strategy-A-Small-Business-Case-Study.aspx 

Johnson, M.W., Christensen, C.M., & Kagermann, H. (2007, December) Harvard Business Review. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. [Reprint.]

Kaplan, R.S. (2007, January). What to ask the person in the mirror. Harvard Business Review. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation. [Reprint.]

Strategy Management

Current Situation

Home Depot is a "category killer" retailer, selling supplies for home and garden. Home Depot operates with a cost leadership strategy, as it seeks to use its buying power in particular to offer customers a low price. Home Depot also incorporates a service element to its business model, something it hopes will give it a competitive advantage. Home Depot is currently undergoing a change in terms of its structure and culture, and this has caused some disruption. That said, Home Depot is the second-largest retailer in America behind Wal-Mart and has experienced strong sales improvements during the Nardelli years.

The competitive situation is intense. Home Depot is a dominant competitor in the industry, but faces strong competition from Lowe's, which is almost the same size. These two competitors operate as something of a duopoly, although in other businesses there are specialist firms that are strong competitors.…

Thus, the competitive intelligence assisted the company to align its strategic plan as well as keeping executive informed about the key element of decision-making. The company also derived advantages from market intelligence advantages and the advantages assisted the company to understand the market activities and competitive market environment. Typically, Avnet also used the competitive intelligence to create a Strategic Leverage Matrix (SLM) that the company literarily plots to understand the competitors in 2X 2 matrixes. Using this strategy, the company was able to understand the sales growth and the working capital of the competitors. The CI process includes:

Plan and Collect

Analyze and Access

Make ecommendations

Distribute EIS.

Using CI analysis, the company will able to analyze the industry and be able to make an informed decision about the market and the competitors.

Conclusion

The report shows how the Avnet could use the competitive intelligence tool to achieve a competitive…

References

Cavalcanti, E.P.(2005). The Relationship between Business Success and Business Intelligence. Journal of Competitive Intelligence and Management: 3 (1 ).

Downey, J. (2007) Strategic Analysis Tools Topic Gateway Series No. 34. The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants

Haag, S. (2006). Management Information Systems for the Information Age. (Third Edition). McGraw-Hill Ryerson.

Hovis, J.H. (2000). CI at Avnet: A Bottom-Line Impact . Competitive Intelligence Review.11(3): 5.15.

Strategy & Decision Making

Vision

Wal-Mart has become a global corporation. The company's primary vision focuses on a more global presence and promotion of the organization's ethical culture across global stakeholders. The company's concept of a vision statement focusing on a culture of ethics is vital in globalization. The company has embraced diversity and culture in their global operations thus leading to a competitive advantage and good reputation. By promoting a culture of ethics, Sam Walton has assisted stakeholders and customers to make informed decisions thus doing the right thing (Griffin, 2012).

Wal-Mart's mission statement focuses on quality customer service, striving for excellence and respect for individuals. Therefore, based on their core beliefs and values, the mission of the company emphasizes on the provision of daily low prices and exceptional services to customers. The company has managed to uphold their business for long because the top executives and managers work…

References

Griffin, R.W. (2012). Fundamentals of management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage

Learning

Hitt, M.A., Ireland, R.D., & Hoskisson, R.E. (2009). Strategic management: Competitiveness and globalization. Mason, OH: South-Western

Husted, B., & Allen, D.B. (2011). Corporate social strategy: Stakeholder engagement and competitive advantage. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press

Good managers must act quickly when faced with ethical dilemmas.

Leaders need ensure that dignity and respect are maintained at all times.

These different elements are important, because they are providing us with a basic foundation as to how manages can apply effective leadership inside their organization. Once this occurs, is when there will be a transformation in operating environment with everyone willing to work together on a regular basis. (Voyer, 2011)

Conclusion

Clearly, the different pieces of literature that we reviewed are illustrating how managers must be able to embrace certain ideas. That will help to improve the ability of the firm to deal with a host of challenges. The way that this is accomplished is through having everyone focus on certain characteristics that will enhance the operating environment to include: exercising effective leadership, having good communication and implementing a values-based system. These different elements are important, because the…

Bibliography

Engaging Stakeholders. (2011). Wharton. Retrieved from:  http://knowledge.wharton.upenn.edu/article.cfm?articleid=2814 

Demichellis, S. (2008). Language, Meaning and Games. The American Economic Review, 98 (4), 1292 -- 1311.

Easty, B. (2004). Airbus A3XX. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from:  http://cb.hbsp.harvard.edu/cb/web/product_detail.seam?E=8284&R=201028-PDF-ENG&conversationId=88900 

Kiron, D. (2011). Analytics. MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved from:  http://sloanreview.mit.edu/feature/achieving-competitive-advantage-through-analytics/

Competitive Market

The author of this report is asked to look at a competitive market and its main business that leads or otherwise exemplifies the sector. The sector that will be looked at is retail. The far and away leader of this retail market is Wal-Mart but they have three competitors in the form of Target, Kroger and K-Mart/Sears, that each compete against Wal-Mart in their own way. Despite the fact that they are in the same general line of business, they each have their own niche that they target.

Niche of Each Business

Wal-Mart's clear objective is to sell in bulk at low prices. They deal heavily in the grocery and hardline sectors and are very aggressive discounters in both markets. In half a century, they have risen a nascent retail to a worldwide juggernaut that employs more than a million people in the United States alone and nearly…

References

K-Mart. (2013, September 26). Kmart - Deals on Furniture, Toys, Clothes, Tools,

Tablets & TVs. Kmart - Deals on Furniture, Toys, Clothes, Tools, Tablets & TVs.

Retrieved September 26, 2013, from  http://www.kmart.com 

Kroger. (2013, September 26). Kroger. Kroger. Retrieved September 26, 2013, from http://www.kroger.com

The bargaining power of suppliers

Suppliers have a relatively high bargaining power. On a market like organic foods, suppliers are very important for companies' activity. In other words, they practically depend on their suppliers.

As a consequence, suppliers represent the most important environmental factor of influence for Whole Foods, and the same situation applies in the case of any organic foods company. This business consists mainly in the raw materials that the company uses to produce the goods it sells under this brand. The company's activity depends on the quality of the raw materials, and on any potential delays from suppliers. The prices negotiated with suppliers have a direct impact on the production costs, and on the end-user price.

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

The company's strong position on the market in ensured by the numerous strengths the company benefits from. First of all, the company is renowned by the quality of…

Reference list:

1. Industry Statistics and Projected Growth (2008). Organic Trade Association. Retrieved February 8, 2010 from  http://www.ota.com/organic/mt/business.html .

2. Hunt, N. & Dorfman, B. (2009). How green is my wallet? Organic food growth slows. Reuters. Retrieved February 8, 2010 from  http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE50R01C20090128 .

The shared understanding is crucial in order to build strength and enough confidence necessary for the implementation of strategy and to necessitate evolution.

Second Phase: LG's strategic intent

In order to remain competitive, LG has to stick to its long-term vision which should act as stabilizers to the corporation in times of uncertainty. The vision in this case refers to as a statement of the things that can be achieved by the corporation. The concept of strategic intent is very crucial to the operating of a corporation since it acts as a magnet that pulls the present corporate dynamics and activities to the future. Any given strategic intent should be formulated in a manner that the corporation's remain with a large vision that can energize the workforce at all times. The formulation of new strategic intent options can help LG in capturing new markets while remaining competitive within the uncertain…

References

Chandler, AD (1962).Strategy and structure: chapters in the history of the industrial enterprise.

The American Historical Review, October 1962, Vol. 68 Issue: Number 1 p158-158

Bradford, RW (2008). Communicating Your Strategic Plan with Employees . Available online http://www.strategyletter.com/CD1103/featured_article.php retrieved 16 January 2011

Bartlett, C. And Ghoshal, S. (1994), "Changing the role of top management: beyond strategy to purpose," Harvard Business Review, Vol. 72

This is important, because physics has allowed the combustible engine to provide the world with a cost effective solution for traveling long distance. Sadly, the electric car can only be used for short to medium distances. Then, there is another potential problem that could be developing with the lithium batteries that are used, where China control 95% to 100% the resources for these batteries (lithium). This is problematic because they could restrict how much they are exporting (which they already have) to ensure that there is enough supply for the country to meet its own internal demand. (ryce 2010)

Despite this dire news, there are increased effort within the industry to support the use and development of such new technologies, to work in conjunction with the combustible engine. An example of this support for such technologies can be seen by the fact several oil companies hold the patents on several…

Bibliography

2011 Volt, 2010, Chevrolet. Available from: [25 April 2010].

Exxon Mobil, 2010, Yahoo Finance. Available from: [25 April 2010].

Exxon Valdez Facts, 1999, Oceana. Available from [25 April 2010].

Fuel Efficiency Standard, 2009, MSNBC. Available from: [25 April 2010].

Strategy Formulation: Evaluating Efficiency and Effectiveness

For any business to continued growing over time it must balance the strategic formulation of its business model with the implementation of strategies (Buttner, 2006). There is however, an inherent conflict between strategic formulation on the one hand, or effectiveness, and the implementation of strategies, or efficiency, on the other. As markets change and economic conditions vary by country and region, strategy formulation and implementation are forced to flex or change over time to keep serving customers and generating revenue. The intent of this analysis is to explain how strategic effectiveness becomes more critical the greater the uncertainty there is in a given industry or geographic market. The effectiveness of a business must also be based on a solid foundation of agility and market focus (Dandira, 2011). Efficiency must be increasing in speed and accuracy of execution in highly competitive markets, yet must be…

References

Bettina Buttner. (2006). Effectiveness vs. Efficiency: Growth-Accelerating Policies in a Model of Growth without Scale Effects. German Economic Review, 7(3), 297-316.

Martin Dandira. (2011). Involvement of implementers: missing element in strategy formulation. Business Strategy Series, 12(1), 30-34

Desposito, J... (2010, October). With iPad Sales Soaring, Are Netbooks Dead? Electronic Design, 58(14), 13.

Meskendahl, S.. (2010). The influence of business strategy on project portfolio management and its success - A conceptual framework. International Journal of Project Management, 28(8), 807.

This system has the ease of being used in any lighthouse irrespective of its current lighting and power systems. Due to this, Vega is the sole company in the world having such advanced technological and optical competencies. Through the system, all the beacons installed can be monitored from a central location, thereby reducing the quantity of false call outs and identifying faults which require manual attention.

Considering the Total Cost of Ownership -- TCO Vega's product offer a low TCO as their IT products recover the average cost of $30,000 for installation since it reduces the $1,250 per hour helicopter-assisted maintenance. The computer-managed systems have to be fail-proof as any type of false call could cost up to $3,500. This system manufactured by Vega uses the interactive technology capable of permitting technicians to switch lights on or off from a remote location. Vega enjoys economies of scale as it has…

References

Vega Industries Ltd.: A History" (May, 2004)

Case Study- Given by client

The modifications in the policies of the company's retail trade customers represent important risks that can lead to increased dependence on some of the retailers in developed markets. Another important risk is determined by the global manufacturing activities.

Although these companies develop and implement different strategies, some of the risks associated with their business are common. This is because some of these risks are determined by the international business environment that establishes the conditions in which these companies develop their activity. Some of the most important risks that these companies addressed in 2000 are represented by entering new markets. The potential presented by developing markets determined these companies to make investments in regions like Asian countries. Another important risk during that period was represented by companies' inability to retain important employees. This means that their human resources strategies did not reach the established objectives. In addition to this, the dependence…

Reference list:

1. Personal Care Appliances: A Global Strategic Business Report (2011). PRWeb. Retrieved May 19, 2011 from  http://www.prweb.com/releases/personal_care_appliances/hair_care_oral_care/prweb8128135.htm .

2. Annual Report (2010). Spectrum Brands. Retrieved May 22, 2011.

3. Annual Report (2010). Helen of Troy. Retrieved May 22, 2011.

In 2004, it established its operations in Mexico to cash in on the high rate of diabetes in this country. Diabetes is responsible for 13 out of every 100 deaths in Mexico and Novo Nordisk expanded into this Latin American market. It also encompassed Mexico as part of its global campaign and its representatives went to schools and villages to spread awareness about the disease and the ways and means to cope with it.

The H system that was implemented in Mexico was different from the one that existed in Denmark and this was mainly due to the differences in culture, work attitude of the people and national factors that have a profound impact on the employment benefits of the workers. For example, in Denmark, every worker gets to participate in the decision making process. This is a part of the Danish culture and comes from the long-standing democracy and…

References

Shields, John. 2007. Managing employee performance and reward: concepts, practices and strategies. Boston: Cambridge University Press.

Bratton, John. 2001. Strategic Human Resource Management. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan .

Bamberger, Peter; Meshoulam, Ilan. 2000. Human Resource Strategy: Formulation, Implementation and Impact. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.

No Author. No date. Human Resources UC Berkeley. UC Berkeley. [Online]. Available at:  http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/guides/managing-hr/interaction/diversity/resources

For Apple, this strategy has translated into market dominance in the smartphone and tablet PC markets. The success of that company continues to underscore the inherent value in synchronizing these three elements of an HM framework, transformational leadership, and a continual supply of disruptive innovation for heavy investment in &D.

The Practicality of Agile HM Frameworks and Their Impact on Long-Term Financial Viability

The creation of an effective HM framework, continual improvement of transformational leaders and their skill sets, and the infusion of innovation can transform a company much like these approaches worked at Apple. For the majority of companies however the practicality of how best to manage these three areas and attain profitability remains a challenge. The majority of companies struggle with creating an agile HM framework that can balance the urgent need to get employees hired and accomplishing tasks quickly using transactional leadership vs. getting employees to buy…

References

Ann, G. & Pamela, D. & Jerry, W. 2008. 'Characteristics of leadership effectiveness: Implementing change and driving innovation in organizations' Human Resource Development Quarterly, vol. 19, no. 2, pp153. (Online Pro-quest)

Avolio, B. & Walumbwa, F. & Weber, T. 2009. 'Leadership: current theories, research and future directions', Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 60, no. 5, pp. 421 -- 449. (Online Pro-quest)

Brown, M. & Trevino, L. & Harrison, D. 2005. 'Ethical leadership: a social learning perspective for construct development and testing', Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, vol. 97, no. 3, pp. 117 -- 134. (Online Pro-quest)

Cshawn, B. & Dana, E. & Sims, E. & Eduardo, S. 2007. 'Trust in leadership: A multi-level review and integration'. Leadership Quarterly, vol. 18, no. 6, pp 606 (Online Pro-quest)

These new customers of the optimal industry are looking for their own long-term competitive advantage through better alignment and direction of their own resources.

Differences between competitors are significant and aligned more on quality and customization of products than on price or aggressive discounting and the use of promotions. As a result, price elasticity is a permanent factor of the market and also signals the use of more effective means of differentiation, including the delivery of exceptional levels of service and greater levels of product customization expertise.

Supplier Power

In the optimal industry there are also an abundance of suppliers, each with highly differentiated and highly efficient supply chains of their own, all ensuring perfectly filled orders. The supply chain then is the greatest competitive differentiator of the industry from the manufacturing and fulfillment perspective.

The highly unique approach to service that is provided by suppliers also focuses on the…

References

Porter (1990) - Competitive Advantage of Nations. Harvard Business Review. March, April, 1990 Edition of Harvard Business Review. Dr. Michael Porter.

Figure 1:

Porters' Five Forces Model

Blue Ocean Strategy (BOS) is a new concept in strategic management, introduced by Professor W. Chan Kim and enee Mauborgne in 2004. After doing detailed research, Kim and Mouborgne found out that most of the companies rely on the market segmentation and price competition for attracting customers. This results in increasing costs, decreasing rewards and creating a ed Ocean where all competitors compete together. Therefore, in order to maintain the growth, it is necessary that companies go beyond the competition by creating Blue Oceans. They win the game not by competing in the existing market but make the competition irrelevant by focusing on the new market space.

Blue Ocean Strategy does not aim to give an outstanding performance in the existing industry as it is in the case of ed Ocean; in contrast, it focuses on creating a new market space "Blue Ocean" and making the competition irrelevant. According to…

References

Andersen, P.H. And J. Strandskov (2008). "The innovator's dilemma: when new technologies cause great firms to fail/leading the revolution/blue ocean strategy: how to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant." Academy of Management Review" 33(3): 790-794

Buisson, B. And P. Silberzahn (2010). "Blue Ocean Or Fast-Second Innovation? A Four- Breakthrough Model To Explain Successful Market Domination." International Journal

of Innovation Management" 14(03): 359-378.

Kim, C & Mauborgne, R (2004), 'Blue Ocean Strategy', "Harvard Business Review."

Strategic Management Health Care

I will use AIDSCAP Nepal as my organization. AIDSCAP has a mission to reduce the incidence of AIDS/HIV among Nepalese sex workers. The organization is not competitive in nature -- it is not a corporate but a not-for-profit entity. It is funded by USAID, so there might be some element of competition for funding that demand it show results for its efforts, but ultimately there is not much competitive posture for AIDSCAP at all.

Strategic thinking is essential to successful performance of any organization (Goldman, 2007), so the leaders of the organization must set a strategy that takes into account the external and internal environments. This is the case even when the organization is not engaged in active competitive, something that AIDSCAP as a not-for-profit entity does not engage in.

An adaptive strategy is defined as one that deals with the environment and its challenges by…

References

Goldman, E. (2007). Strategic thinking at the top. MIT Sloan Management Review. Retrieved November 16, 2014 from  http://sloanreview.mit.edu/article/strategic-thinking-at-the-top/ 

Hawthorne, M. (2014). The purpose of mission and vision statements in strategic planning. Houston Chronicle. Retrieved November 16, 2014 from  http://smallbusiness.chron.com/purpose-mission-vision-statements-strategic-planning-13161.html 

Martin, R. (2014). Adaptive strategy is a cop-out. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved November 16, 2014 from  https://hbr.org/2014/05/adaptive-strategy-is-a-cop-out 

Poister, T. (no date). Strategic planning and decision making in state departments of transportation. Transportation Research Board.

For example, Southwest reduced it turnaround times, and this allowed it to have more flights in a day Arthur a. Thompson, 2010()

, which consumers had the opportunity to choose from instead of the larger airlines. Serving short distance and budget fare, the airlines were able to do away with some luxuries which consumers were not interested in like first-class, seat numbering, in-flight meals, and baggage transfers. The budget airlines are able to compete with other major airlines by focusing solely on the consumers who want to travel cheaply, and for short distances. The larger airlines are focused on providing premier services like business lounges, business-class and first class. This way they cater for elite consumers.

Focused strategy based on differentiation

This strategy is aimed at differentiating the product in order to appeal to some unique needs and preferences of a narrow group Arthur a. Thompson, 2010.

In order for…

References

ARTHUR a. THOMPSON, J., a.J. STRICKLAND III, JOHN E. GAMBLE 2010. Crafting and Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases, 2445 McCabe Way, McGraw-Hill.

BLAHA, V. 2003. Low Cost Carriers - Evolution, Strategies and Performance, Santa Cruz, CA 95060, GRIN Verlag.

FLOURIS, T.G. & OSWALD, S.L. 2012. Designing and Executing Strategy in Aviation Management, 110 Cherry Street, Ashgate Publishing, Limited.

HILL, C.W.L. & JONES, G.R. 2012. Strategic Management Theory: An Integrated Approach, 10th ed.: An Integrated Approach, Cheriton House, North Way, Andover, Hampshire, SP10 5BE, South-Western/Cengage Learning.

The other necessary element in this process is procedure cost vs. reimbursement evaluation and proactive search of strong reimbursement for future volume. Analysis of the first element is crucial because it helps in ensuring that reimbursement documented in existing contracts is being effectively recorded. The information obtained during this stage can be used at any time of renegotiations or contribute to the development of effective alternative approaches. The assessment of the second element helps to determine how insurance contracts compare and to ensure reimbursement expectations are established within competitive market ranges. The third element can be used for defense in validating the need for higher reimbursement than the current offer.

Second Students' esponse:

As the use of managed care plans have increased in the past few years, there is an increased need for appropriate insurance contracting strategy. The existing managed care plans are primarily based on demand management through co-payments.…

References:

Devers, K.J., Brewster, L.R. & Casalino, L.P. (2003, February). Changes in Hospital

Competitive Strategy: A New Medical Arms Race? Health Services Research, 38(1), 447-469. Retrieved from  http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360894/pdf/hesr_124.pdf 

Jones, C.L. & Mills, T.L. (2006, November-December). Negotiating a Contract with a Health

Plan, Family Practice Management, 13(10), 49-55. Retrieved from  http://www.aafp.org/fpm/2006/1100/p49.html

Strategic Advantage

Competitive advantage within the global retail sector

The resource based theory

Conceptual framework- esource-Based Theory

The e-retail strategy

In this paper, we explore the concept of resource-based view in gaining of strategic advantage within the global retail industry. Our focus will be in the use of information technology as a resource in drawing an e-strategy for the purpose of gaining a strategic advantage with a focus on the global retail sector. The organizations in our focus being global leading retailers; Wal-Mart, Metro AG, Carrefour and Tesco.

The high level of competition within the global retail industry has seen several players resort to the use of certain resources and competencies in order to maintain a lead over their competitors. These resources are strategically harnessed and applied in order for the affected firms to maintain a strategic advantage. In this paper, we explore the concept of resource-based view in gaining…

References Amit, R. And Zott, C. (2001) "Value Creation in E-business," Strategic Management

Journal, Vol. 22 No.6/7, pp 493-520.

Barney, Jay B. (2002). Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage, 2nd ed. Reading, Mass.:

Addison-Wesley.

Barney, J.B. (1991), "From Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage," Journal

Resource/Competitive Positioning

Comparing and Contrasting Resource-Based Strategies with Competitive Positioning Strategies

Resourced-Based Strategies

Competitive Positioning Strategies

Strategies For-Profit in the 21st Century

There are two schools of thought regarding the composition of a competitive strategy. The first is resourced based. This approach identifies key resources and seeks to leverage these in order to provide value to the consumer and achieve a competitive advantage in the marketplace. The next strategy begins with identifying a niche or more general opportunity in the market and aligning resources within the organization to achieve a competitive position in regards to the competition. The former strategy can be generalized as more of a push strategy while the latter is more of a pull strategy. Both have advantages as well as disadvantages and fit certain circumstances better than others. In this research project, a brief literature review of both vantage points will be provided follow by a…

Works Cited

ARchpru, M., & Alden, D. (2010). Global brand positioning and perceptions. International Journal of Advertising, 37-56.

Berry-Stolzle, T., Altuntas, & M. (2010). A Resource-Based Perspective on Business Strategies of Newly Founded Subsidiaries: The Case of German Pensionsfonds. Risk Management & Insurance Review, 173-193.

Eschenfelder, B. (2010). USING COMMUNITY BASED ASSESSMENTS TO STRENGTHEN NONPROFIT-GOVERNMENT COLLABORATION AND SERVICE DELIVERY. Journal of Health & Human Services Administration, 405-446.

Fransico, G., & Vicenta, S. (2009). A political candidate's brand image scale: Are political candidates brands? Journal of Brand Management, 207-217.

The graphic shown in Figure 1 was also provided in the article (Porter, 2008).

Figure 1: Five Forces Model

(Porter, 2008)

This model's effectiveness does not however capture the increasingly critical role of tacit and explicit knowledge in businesses. The tacit knowledge, of the type that is learned from the continual streamlining of core processes, is not easily captured and communicated. It is often called tribal knowledge as this type if intelligence often stays within workgroups where it originates and seldom is captured for broader use. Specific knowledge, or the type of intelligence that can easily be captured and communicated, is often not used to its full potential as well. Studies in the auto industry suggest that knowledge, not products or pricing, is the new competitive advantage (Dyer, Nobeoka, 2000). The Five Forces Model does not recognize how important knowledge is as a competitive force in the definition of competitive…

References

Jeffrey H. Dyer, & Kentaro Nobeoka. (2000). Creating and managing a high-performance knowledge-sharing network: The Toyota case. Strategic Management Journal: Special Issue: Strategic Networks, 21(3), 345-367.

Ormanidhi, O., & Stringa, O.. (2008). Porter's Model of Generic Competitive Strategies. Business Economics, 43(3), 55-64.

Michael E. Porter. (2008, January). THE FIVE COMPETITIVE FORCES THAT SHAPE STRATEGY. Harvard Business Review: Special HBS Centennial Issue, 86(1), 78-93.

Core Competency or Unique Strength of the Business

Lululemon Firm Activities

elevance of Strategies in Firm Activities.

Strategic Firm Activities at Lululemon

Strategic Firm Activities at Lululemon

In establishing and concretizing business operations in a market, it is vital to lay down the necessary strategies to determine the level of diversification of the products produced, their affordability and availability to customers. Some of these strategies worked upon are the corporate level, international, strategic alliance and cooperative strategies. The establishment of Lululemon Company has been at the limelight in addressing these strategies in compliance to its industrial trends and in addressing its comparative and capability gaps. The company has enjoyed exponential revenue rates and vantages towards its market. Considerable micro and macro environments have contributed to the progress of the company.

Lululemon's Strategies

Corporate level strategy is responsible for defining the market unto which a business stands. It is a business-level strategy that overlooks the functionality of a company.…

References

Droege, S.B. (2007). Strategy levels. Encyclopedia of Business. Vol 2.

Lamb, C.W. (2011). Marketing. New York: Cengage Learning.

Segal-Horn, S and Faulkner. (2000). The Dynamics of International Strategy. New York: Cengage Learning.

Yoshino, M.Y. (1996). Strategic Alliances: An entrepreneurial approach to globalization. Chicago: Harvard Business Press.

Business Transformation Strategy

GE Capital oodchester is a leading provider of motor car, equipment, and personal finance in the country of Ireland. They offer the most flexible packages for diverse financial needs and as such, have earned the position of leading the personal and capitol acquisition financial services. GE Capital oodchester also provides specialized financing and services and they focus on niches including equipment and car leasing, hire purchase and loans to businesses and individuals across Ireland. Headquartered in Dublin, GE Capital oodchester services the financial needs of its customers through its regional sales centers and extensive dealer and partner network.

GE Capital oodchester is a wholly owned subsidiary of GE Capital. ith assets of more than U.S.$425 billion, (gecapitol.ie, online) GE Capital is a global, diversified financial services company with 28 specialized businesses worldwide. GE Capital has had an enviable record of growth over the past decade delivering value…

Works Cited

Who We Are. (2002) GE Capitol. Accessed 6 August 2003. Website: http://gecapital.ie/GECapital/WhoWeAre.cfm

Our Expertise. (2002) GE Capitol. Accessed 6 August 2003. Website: http://gecapital.ie/GECapital/OurExpertise.cfm

Hill, C. & Jones, G. (2001) Strategic management: an integrated approach, 5th ed. Houghton Mifflin Company: Boston.

Porter, Michael. (1980) Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors New York: Simon and Schuster.

Research indicates that supply chains help organizations attain competitive advantage. In turn, the successes or letdowns of such supply chains are determined in the open market by the end consumers. Rendering the fitting product, at the fitting price, at the fitting time to the consumer is not only the fundamental aspect to competitive success but also the vital element to survival (Christopher and Towill, 2001). Owing to the fact that the intricacy of supply chains in the present day, partly as a result of globalization and out-sourcing, the manner in which supply chains are structured can make a difference between an organization generating profit or loss. Different types of structures avail the management the choice to select the one that best suits consumer expectations. However, it is imperative for such chosen pipelines to go hand in hand with the business strategy of the supply chain (Christopher and Towill, 2002). In…

Intensity of Rivalry within the Smartphone Manufacturing Industry

1. Number and Relative Size of Competitors
1 2 3 4 5 Top 4 competitors combined industry market share <40% (X 40-50%) 50-60% 60-70% >70%      

The worldwide smartphone manufacturing industry is significantly competitive. The top four competitors in the smartphone manufacturing industry comprise of Samsung, Apple, Huawei and OPPO. In accordance to statistics from the 3rd Quarter of the 2016 fiscal year, Samsung was number 1 in the industry with a market share of 21 percent. Second was Apple with a market share of 12.5 percent. The third competing company was Huawei with a market share of 9.3 percent, and lastly OPPO with a market share of 7.1%. The fifth company is Vivo, which boasts a market share of 5.9 percent. The other smartphone manufacturing companies around the globe account for a combined market share of 44.2 percent. The combined…

Generic, Grand & Specific Strategies for Your Individual Project

A strategy is a statement that will be used to achieve long-term objectives. Strategy is about two things, deciding where you want your business to go, and deciding how to get there. For this study we will look generic strategy, grand and specific strategies and how they are likely to be applied to help the Sikorsky Support Services (SSSI) attain its long time objectives based on competitive advantage, the object of most corporate strategy.

SSSI is an organization that provides aircraft maintenance and manufacturing services support for global commercial and military organizations. It is a global leader in this field.

Porter, (1998) It is worthy to note that Generic strategies provide customers with what they want at a better price, or more effectively than others.) In this case, Sikorsky Support Services (SSSI), would rather choose whether it will compete on price,…

References

Fukuyama F. (2010) Grand strategies: Literature State Craft and World Order, Yale University Press

Kotelnikov, Vadim. (2011). Strategic Intent. 1000 Ventures. Retrieved from  

The generation of new products in it which can support product delivery at a faster rate. For example the it Organization that creates software, provides technical support and training, processes payments as and finally enters into an agreement that is nonexclusive in nature with the manufacturers who then authorize the organization in marketing of those products provides the suppliers/manufactures with a great deal of power in terms of the value chain as well as lower costing products. Emerging technologies are one of the threats in the it business. It is possible that a competitor might advance quickly through offering of a new technology and this is always a possibility in the Information Technology usiness.

ibliography

Clarke, Roger (1994) the Path of Development of Strategic Information Systems Theory. Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd., 1992, 1993, 1994 http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/SOS/StratISTh.html

Mitchell, ridger M. (nd) Economic Issues www.rand.org/publica tions/MR/MR650/mr650.ch4/ch4.html

Frank, Ulrich, & Lange, Carola (2004) a…

Bibliography

Clarke, Roger (1994) the Path of Development of Strategic Information Systems Theory. Xamax Consultancy Pty Ltd., 1992, 1993, 1994  http://www.anu.edu.au/people/Roger.Clarke/SOS/StratISTh.html 

Mitchell, Bridger M. (nd) Economic Issues www.rand.org/publica tions/MR/MR650/mr650.ch4/ch4.html

Frank, Ulrich, & Lange, Carola (2004) a Framework to support the Analysis of Strategic Options for Electronic Commerce 2004 February Online at  http://www.uni-koblenz.de/~iwi/publicfiles/Arbeitsberichte/Nr41.pdf 

Mulani, Narendra Dr. & Lee, Hau Dr. (nd) New Business Models for Supply Chain Excellence Online at  http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/services/scm/ASC4_wp_keynote.pdf

Business

First discuss the organization's strategy and classify it according to Porter's three generic competitive strategies.

Then identify the most critical inputs in each of the first three categories and justify WHY they are critical. Also explain what effect the inputs from one category have on inputs from the other categories. How well does the strategy fit with the environmental, resource and historical inputs you identified?

Make a Case for your proposition as to how the Key Inputs support (are congruent with) the trategy. pecifically make a claim: "The inputs at kype consisting of Organizational Environment factors. Internal Resource factors, and Historical Tradition factors are, [highly, partially, or minimally] congruent with the company's strategy."

Introduction

kype offers product uniqueness. This is one of Porter's competitive strategies. kype has, in fact, received a reputation as being a highly unique company and indeed it works on being innovative and is constantly producing…

Sources

Aamoth, D. (May 10, 2011) A Brief History of Skype. Time Techland

 http://techland.time.com/2011/05/10/a-brief-history-of-skype/2/ 

Skype eesti keeles  http://blogs.skype.com/et/2012/05/skype_seeks_new_employees_from_ukraine.html 

ComputerWeekly.com. Interview: The man driving Skype's strategy  http://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Interview-The-man-driving-Skypes-strategy

Wal-Mart has been successful in integrating into their unique value proposition and messaging a core value of their entire organization, and therefore the cost leadership strategy is seen as credible (Allentuck, 2005).

In the services industries, the cost leadership strategies of Southwest Airlines, and yanair whose CEO Michael O'Leary visited and studied the business model of Southwest, further illustrate how cost leadership strategies can lead to profitability over the long-term (Box, Byus, 2007). For Southwest Airlines, their cost leadership strategy is predicated on creating a competitive enough price point so that customers will consider them a viable alternative to driving (Box, Byus, 2007). Given the purchasing strategies Southwest has relied on consistently for oil futures contracts, the challenging yet achievable goal has been realized.

Conclusion

Organizations that achieve the greatest possible results from cost leadership strategies concentrate on broad markets where their price leadership can be translated into a significant…

References

Andrew Allentuck. (2005, April). The Competitive Environment. Canadian Grocer, 119(3), 34-35.

Box, T., & Byus, K.. (1 February). SOUTHWEST AIRLINES 2007. Journal of the International Academy for Case Studies,7-12.

Ranjit Voola, & Aron O'Cass. (2010). Implementing competitive strategies: the role of responsive and proactive market orientations. European Journal of Marketing, 44(1/2), 245-266.

For niche markets, the customer base is smaller than for general markets. It is therefore necessary to ensure customer satisfaction at all times. Because interior decoration is a very subjective field, it is necessary for the company representative or business person to always ensure that he or she understands the customer's needs and wants exactly to ensure ultimate satisfaction.

In terms of competition oriented strategies, an interior decorator should ensure the quality of his or her products are superior and innovative in order to remain at the top of this competitive field. Further strategies can include the radical nature of the designs and decorating patterns themselves, or indeed building distinctive capabilities to give an advantage over competitors.

4.) a market challenger in a mature market would need to focus on customer oriented strategies. The main reason for this is the fact that mature markets have generally settled in an accepted…

Sources

Kotelnikov, Vadim. Your Competitive Strategies. 2007.  

brand strategy is a challenging task for many companies but it is a vital step in giving the company an identity of its own. It is this identity that is repeatedly communicated thought the business life. Developing a brand management strategy involves applying marketing techniques to a brand, or a product with the intention of giving it a unique image and to set it apart from the competitors. We will focus on the competitive analysis or model analysis that will briefly introduce our project, the competition or model, as well as describing the strengths and weaknesses of the competition or model.

The group is intending to come up with the shuttle bus service which is to serve the York collage, its student as well as staff. This shuttle bus service will transport valid students and staff from York College to predetermined stops in the area. By doing so, the shuttle…

Reference

Alex, W, 1999, The Brand Marketing Book, McGraw Hill, London. Retrieved September 26, 2013 from  http://www.iei.liu.se/fek/svp/mafo/artikelarkiv/1.310120/Building_brand.pdf 

Clancy, Kevin J.; Peter C. Kriegafsd (2000). Counter intuitive Marketing. Retrieved September 26, 2013 from The Free Press. ISBN 0-684-85555-0. Retrieved September 26, 2013 from  http://www.iosrjen.org/Papers/vol2_issue10%20%28part-4%29/H021043538.pdf 

Garth 2000, Strategic Management; Wiley, New York. Retrieved September 26, 2013 from. http://eu.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-EHEP000004.html

Keller, L. 2003, Strategic Brand Management', Prentice Hall. Retrieved on 25/09/2013 Retrieved September 26, 2013 from www.gfk-academy.de/files/gfk_a_sembr_sbman.pdf