Assignment # 1
Task 1:
Introduction:
Competitive advantage is obtained by the development of a set of attributes by an organization to outperform its competitors. For almost half a century the development of theories helping in competitive advantage have gained the attention of management community.
Objective: This research gives an overview of the key theories for the long life span from 1960’s to mid of 2013. In the early period there were only two main theories of competitive advantage i-e market-based view and resource-based view but later on the knowledge-based view and capability based-view of strategy was also derived from resource-based theory. Similarly, the relational-based and transient advantage theory has also received some
…show more content…
A firm strategic position is defined by well performance of its similar activities to other rivals. So its performance can be evaluated in an industry where these organizations compete. Organizations make their assessment of external environment and competitive advantage to formulate strategy. Basically there are three major sources of market view theory for better performance. They are monopoly, barriers to entry and bargaining power. If a firm is in monopoly and there are barriers for the new competitors to enter in the industry and it has a strong bargaining power with its customers and suppliers means better performance, so a strong firm. Later on, the strategic management study changes from external assessment to internal assessment of a firm with its resources and …show more content…
There are four relational resources of competitive advantage including relation specific assets, knowledge sharing routines, complementary resources/capabilities and effective governance. MBV suggest that bargaining power is the primary source of high returns in market while according to RBV the primary source is the set of different resources, their capabilities and knowledge of the firm. While according to relational view these are some shared knowledge and complementary resources of the network. In MBV the Profit preservation mechanism is market barriers to entry, while in RBV it is firm level barriers while in relational view they are dyadic/network
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
Resources and Capabilities VRIO Framework V R I O Competitive Implication Strong corporate culture + + + + Sustainable competitive advantage Strong investment in R&D + + + + Temporary competitive advantage Outstanding customer service + + + + Sustainable competitive advantage
3.0 Industry and Competitor Analysis The fashion industry in the UK, Europe and the US has several players who compete for the rich market niche. Compare to its competitors in the clothing and accessories industry, Ted Baker performs very well as evidence by its improved financial ratios e.g the EPS over the past five years. 3.1 Industry Overview The high-street fashion industry is dominated by several firms but Ted Baker is continually winning attention in that industry.
Bark & Co. is a company founded by Matt Meeker, Henrik Werdelin and Carly Strife. The company owns several products – the initial and probably best known is ‘BarkBox’. Due to BarkBox’s success, the company Bark & Co. was created, which dedicates to build products that promote health and happiness of dogs everywhere (BarkShop, 2014). It was launched in December 2011 and had reached $25M in revenue by June 2013 with 100,000 subscribers (Fueled, 2013). Like illustrated in Figure 2, Bark & Co. has different businesses: ‘BarkPost’ is a dog content website that has the capability of receiving over 400,000 visitors monthly, ‘BarkCare’ is a dog health mobile application that can be reached 24 hours 7 days a week for vet consultation service (D’Onfro,
To do this it needs to have a competitive advantage over its its rivals. A competitive advantage is something a company does better than its rivals that gives it an advantage over its rival. Porter (1988) states that a firm performs many activities that can contribute to a firms relative cost position and create a basis for differentiation which can create a cost advantage that gives a firm a competitive advantage over its competitors. A company’s competitive advantage and competitive strategy are both interrelated. Competitive strategy is defined by Porter (1980) as a broad formula for how a business is going to compete, what its goals should be, and what policies will be needed to carry out those goals.
Firstly, the Boston Consulting Group (BCG) matrix that concentrate the market position of different products. Secondly, the experience curve and the Profit Impact of Market Strategies model which identified a number of strategic variables. Furthermore, competitive advantages model (Porter, 1985) which focus on five different forces in environment of organization, but suit with only stable market. Generic strategy was developed strategies under this school, especially it can identify position in the market. Advantages: -Provide content in a systematic way to the existing way of looking at strategy -Particularly useful in early stage of strategy development, when date is analyzed -This school emphasis on analysis and calculation can be a very strong support to the strategy development process -This strategy suit with big businesses or organization which have ability for operate effective market research in the environment
Geographic segmentation calls for dividing the market into different geographical units such as regions, cities, or neighborhood. Coca-Cola has a countrywide network of product distribution but the company segments more in urban and suburban areas as compared to rural areas. 1.2. Demographic segmentation In demographic segmentation, the market is divided into groups on the basis of variables such as age, family life cycle, gender, income, occupation, education, religion, race, generation, nationality, and social class. Demographic variables are the most popular base of Coca-Cola Company for distinguishing their customer groups.
Threat of Substitutes 4. Bargaining Power of Buyers 5. Power vested by Suppliers 1. Competitive Rivalry: According to Porter the competitiveness in any sector is significantly increased by the number of players operating in the field and their major competencies.
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
1.0 Introduction to Strategic Management Strategic management practices the formation; achievement and reaching the major objectives executed by the management of the company, by considering the capital and a task of the internal and external environments in which the company wishes to compete. 1.1 Introduction to Singapore Airlines Singapore Airlines (SIA) is established in year 1972 with remarkable performance among its competitors in the industry throughout its 35-year-long history till date (Heracleous & Wirtz, 2009). According to Singapore Airlines (2014), SIA is one of the youngest aircraft fleets worldwide to destinations crossing a network of more six continents, with its iconic Singapore Girl providing excellent standard of service to customers. Throughout the years of operations, SIA has an impressive ever-growing list of industry 's leading innovations such as offering free headsets along with a choice of meals and drinks in Economy Class in the 1970s, followed by introducing satellite based in-flight telephones in year 1991, involving an ample panel of renowned chefs, the International Culinary Panel, to provide lush in-flight meals in year 1998, developing audio and video on demand (AVOD) capabilities on KrisWorld in year 2001, and lastly flying the airbus of A380 from Singapore to Sydney on 25 October 2007 (Singapore Airlines, 2014).
Resource based view is the tool that is used in order to evaluate the resources that are important for the organisation to make their performance effective. It is regarded as a significant approach that is used by the organisation towards attainment of competitive advantage. The aim of this paper is to evaluate the resource based view literature and then applying the knowledge on the evaluation of a case study organisation. The selected organisation is Zara Fast Fashion, which is analysed with the help of use of RBV towards achievement of sustainable competitive advantage. The theoretical concepts of the resource-based view is analysed and applied on Zara as a real world example.
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.
In 1985, Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter published his new book “The Competitive Advantage” which focuses the organisation internal environment. In this book, along with an in depth analysis of the competitive strategies which are Cost leadership, differentiation and Focus, he also concentrates on the firm’s value chain. 1. Cost Leadership: In cost leadership, an organisation aims to become the low cost provider in its industry. Examples are Aldi, Lidl, Ryan Air etc 2.
Competitive advantage is a set of unique attributes of a nation. It is an advantage, capability, ability, strategy, that a nation or state or country has and enabling it to generate or produce or make more sales, profit, money, income and revenue and enables it to attract and retain more investors than other nations (competitors). It also puts a state in a profitable and superior strategic business position in the global markets (OU, 2010). The above figure: the determinants of national competitive advantage of Porter (OU, 2010).