Many people mistakenly believe it is technology which drives innovation. Yet from the definitions above, that is clearly not the case. It is opportunity which defines innovation and technology which enables innovation. Think of the classic "Build a better mousetrap" example taught in most business schools. You might have the technology to build a better mousetrap, but if you have no mice or the old mousetrap works well, there is no opportunity and then the technology to build a better one becomes irrelevant. On the other hand, if you are overrun with mice then the opportunity exists to innovate a product using your technology.
Another example, one with which I am intimately familiar, are consumer electronics startup companies. I 've been associated
…show more content…
Many companies list a technology as one of their competitive advantages. Is this valid? In some cases yes, but In most cases no.
Technology develops along two paths - an evolutionary path and a revolutionary
…show more content…
Semiconductor technology is a good example. Not only did it spawn new industries and products, but it spawned other revolutionary technologies - transistor technology, integrated circuit technology, microprocessor technology. All which provide many of the products and services we consume today. But is semiconductor technology a competitive advantage? Looking at the number of semiconductor companies that exist today (with new ones forming every day), I 'd say not. How about microprocessor technology? Again, no. Lots of microprocessor companies out there. How about quad core microprocessor technology? Not as many companies, but you have Intel, AMD, ARM, and a host of companies building custom quad core processors (Apple, Samsung, Qualcomm, etc). So again, not much of a competitive advantage. Competition from competing technologies and easy access to IP mitigates the perceived competitive advantage of any particular technology. Android vs iOS is a good example of how this works. Both operating systems are derivatives of UNIX. Apple used their technology to introduce iOS and gained an early market advantage. However, Google, utilizing their variant of Unix (a competing technology), caught up relatively quickly. The reasons for this lie not in the underlying technology, but in how the products made possible by those technologies were brought to market
This will ensure that the correct audience will read her article. It is also important for a tech-savvy audience that all information on technology is up-to-date, which the author successfully executes by only writing her article only two days after Google explained their Jigsaw expansion of Alphabet. Lafrance knew that the tech-savvy audience would demand an article with all of the history put together — with her added opinion.
According to Barney (1991), a firm can be said to possess competitive advantage when it achieves superior performance over its competitors by implementing a value-creating strategy that is not simultaneously being implemented by a competitor. TJ is Barney differentiates simple competitive advantage from sustainable competitive advantage, which is more durable because existing or future competitors cannot duplicate the benefits of the company’s strategy. Recommendations and
Transportation industry is a good case to illustrate this point. Over the last few years, the industry has been transforming really fast, not even giving chance to the established players to cope with the changes. Taxi industry is now dominated by players like Uber. Car industry is fast moving toward automation led by technology firm such as Google. Nordstrom should not only do technological analysis of the industry but also the speed at which technology disrupts their industry.
“Every once in a while, a new technology, an old problem, and a big idea turn into innovation” this quote by Dean Kamen explains that when there is a problem we create new technology to solve this problem, and when we create new technology we have innovation. This was like the 1920’s as problem turned into innovation. The 1920’s was a time of advancement from new inventions used in and outside the home, to technology that changed everyday life which impacted the decades to come. The 1920’s was a decade of numerous advancements “that shaped the future and impacted decades to come” (Alchin).
Social and political factors are the driving force behind successful innovations. Political intervention can help open up new markets, which would otherwise remain unavailable. During the cold war, the United States funded and pushed many innovations in order to ensure its success in the space race. The reason the government spent so much money and put in so much effort was that they wanted to improve the country’s national defense. They were concerned with the Soviet Union’s scientific and technological research so they decided to combat them by increasing funding in R&D.
Being transnational enables companies to focus more on research and development and allows them to improve products. This is due to the company’s worldwide presence and large profit margins. In 2007, the top 2000 transnational corporations invested about $460 billion into research and development, which corresponds to about 80% of global business expenditure (IRI). Along with this, the corporations contribute greatly to integrating technology. They often serve as examples to smaller, local companies who have not yet had the opportunity to upgrade to new technology.
What historically have been Apple’s competitive advantages? Apple Inc. has rare case of building a real sustainable competitive advantage in comparison to other brands. These include brand appeal, and strong customer loyalty (Barney, 1991). Apple has successfully enabled strong customer loyalty through effectively fulfilling their customer needs using their unique designs and product innovations.
For Instance, Apple and Samsung are the dominant companies manufacturing smart phones alongside other players like
Here is an example of trend of technological development in the industry involved. The biggest trend of all that is developing is cloud computing. The benefits of cloud computing are just endless and it is right now one of the biggest trend of technology development. With cloud computing, it enables companies to share, store and consume resources easier, at a lower cost and with greater flexibility. Not
ACHIEVING GLOBAL COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF APPLE INC. Apple Inc. is an American conglomerate company located in one immeasurable loop, Cupertino, California in the middle of the Silicon Valley. (OPPapers, 2012). Apple is motivated on their designing, developing, innovating new products like the personal computers, other related software products, and the electronic products such as MP3 players and iPods. Apple Inc.’s main products are iMac, iPod, iPhone, iPads and its latest advanced product is iWatch, which is on the edge of creating another revolution after iPhone. Apple Inc. has transformed its image from an inventive computer manufacturer to a fully-fledged consumer 's electronic company.
Competitive advantage is when two or more firms compete within the same markets, one firm possess a competitive advantage over its rival when it earns (or has potential to earn) a persistently higher rate of profit. There are three types of competitive advantage. a) Cost leadership strategy occurs when a firm a delivers the same services as its rivals but at a lower price. b) The differentiation strategy occurs when a firm delivers greater services for the same price of its rivals. c) Focus strategy is a focused approach requires the firm to concentrate along one specific segment either a cost leadership or a specialization strategy.
The competitive advantage received by a firm will likely
The four building blocks of competitive advantage can be used to help a company become more profitable and stay ahead of their competition. The four factors are superior efficiency, quality, innovation, customer responsiveness. All four building blocks are important to any company. However, I believe that customer responsiveness is the most important because having loyal and happy customers can make or break any company. The four building blocks can help companies grow and become the leader in their industry over their rivals.
Mr Price has a wide range of competitors such as H&M, Woolworths and Pick ‘n Pay. A competitive advantage describes how the business has benefits or strengths over its competitors in the market. By having this, the competitors don’t seem as a threat to the company. It’s used
Growing customer expectations result in shorter life cycle of products and this means that companies should make their processes more and more flexible adopting modularity and product platforms in order to overcome competitors. Companies who fail to meet dynamic customer needs are doomed to fail. To illustrate this we can consider Tata Motors that designed a car selling at $2500 having identified the need for cheap vehicles and introduced market-pull innovation. Though having some negative feedbacks on its security it is affordable for many families in India.