Block 4

Question 1

What does a firm’s competitive strategy deal with?

Answer 1

A firm’s competitive strategy deals exclusively with the specifics of its
efforts to position itself in the market-place,
please customers,
ward off competitive threats, and
achieve a particular kind of competitive advantage.

Question 2

Key factorss that
distinguish one strategy
from another

Answer 2

1 Is the firm’s market target
broad or narrow?
2 Is the competitive advantage
pursued linked to low costs
or product differentiation?

Question 3

What are and explain THE FIVE GENERIC COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES

Answer 3

1 Low-cost
provider
Striving to achieve lower overall costs than rivals on
products that attract a broad spectrum of buyers

2 Broad
differentiation
Differentiating the firm’s product offering from rivals’ with
attributes that appeal to a broad spectrum of buyers

3 Focused low cost
Concentrating on a narrow price-sensitive buyer segment
and on costs to offer a lower-priced product

4 Focused
differentiation
Concentrating on a narrow buyer segment by meeting
specific tastes and requirements of niche members

5 Best-cost
provider
Giving customers more value for the money by offering
upscale product attributes at a lower cost than rivals

Question 4

What should we do to make low-cost approaches effective ? (2)

Answer 4

1 Pursue cost savings that are difficult to imitate
2 Avoid reducing product quality to unacceptable levels

Question 5

Name 2 Competitive advantages and 2 risks of low cost startegy

Answer 5

Comp advantages
-Greater total profits and increased market share
gained from underpricing competitors
● Larger profit margins when selling products at prices
comparable to and competitive with rivals

Risks
● Low pricing does not attract enough new buyers
● Rival’s retaliatory price-cutting sets off a price war

Question 6

what are Successful low-cost leaders good at ?

Answer 6

Successful low-cost leaders, who have the
lowest industry costs, are exceptionally good at
finding ways to drive costs out of their
businesses and still provide a product or service
that buyers find acceptable.

Question 7

What is a low cost advantage?

Answer 7

Cumulative costs across the overall value chain must
be lower than competitors’ cumulative costs.

Question 8

How to gain a low-cost advantage ?

Answer 8

● Perform value-chain activities more cost-effectively
than rivals
● Revamp the firm’s overall value chain to eliminate or
bypass cost-producing activities

Question 9

What is a cost driver ?

Answer 9

A cost driver is a factor that has a strong
influence on a company’s costs.

Can be asset-based or activity-based

Question 10

5 ways to secure a cost advantage are?

Answer 10

● Use lower-cost inputs and hold minimal assets
● Offer only “essential” product features or services
● Offer only limited product lines
● Use low-cost distribution channels
● Use the most economical delivery methods

Question 11

What are the 10 cost drivers/ cost cutting methods?

Answer 11

1. Capturing all available economies of scale
2. Taking full advantage of experience and learning-curve
   effects
3. Operating facilities at full or near-full capacity
4. Improving supply chain efficiency
5. Substituting lower-cost inputs wherever there is little or
   no sacrifice in product quality or performance
6. Using the firm’s bargaining power vis-à-vis suppliers or
   others in the value chain system to gain concessions
7. Using online systems and sophisticated software to
   achieve operating efficiencies
8. Improving process design and employing advanced
   production technology
9. Being alert to the cost advantages of outsourcing or
   vertical integration
   10.Motivating employees through incentives and company
   culture

Question 12

What are the 3 ways to REVAMPING THE VALUE CHAIN SYSTEM
TO LOWER COSTS ?

Answer 12

♦ Selling direct to consumers and bypassing the
activities and costs of distributors and dealers
by using a direct sales force and a company
website
♦ Streamlining operations to eliminate low value added or unnecessary work steps and activities
♦ Reduce materials handling and shipping costs
by having suppliers locate their plants or
warehouses close to the firm’s own facilities

Question 13

What is the basis and THE 3 KEYS TO BEING A SUCCESSFUL
LOW-COST PROVIDER

Answer 13

Success in achieving a low-cost edge over rivals
comes from out-managing rivals in finding ways to
perform value chain activities faster, more
accurately, and more cost-effectively by:

● Spending aggressively on resources and capabilities
that promise to drive costs out of the business
● Carefully estimating the cost savings of new
technologies before investing in them
● Constantly reviewing cost-saving resources to ensure
they remain competitively superior

Question 14

When does a low cost provider strategy work best? (5)

Answer 14

1. Price competition among rival sellers is vigorous.
2. Identical products are available from many
   sellers.
3. There are few ways to differentiate industry
   products.
4. Most buyers use the product in the same ways.
5. Buyers incur low costs in switching among sellers.

Question 15

Pitfalls with a low cost provider strategy (4)

Answer 15

♦ Engaging in overly aggressive price cutting that does not
result in unit sales gains large enough to recoup forgone
profits
♦ Relying on a cost advantage that is not sustainable
because rival firms can easily copy or overcome it
♦ Becoming too fixated on cost reduction such that the
firm’s offering is too features-poor to gain the interest of
buyers
♦ Having a rival discover a new lower-cost value chain
approach or develop a cost-saving technological
breakthrough

Question 16

What are the 3 effective approaches to initiate differentiation ?

Answer 16

● Carefully study buyer needs and behaviors, values,
and willingness to pay for a unique product or service
● Incorporate features that both appeal to buyers and
create a sustainably distinctive product offering
● Use higher prices to recoup differentiation costs

Question 17

What are the 3 advantages of using a differentiation strategy ?

Answer 17

● Command premium prices for the firm’s products
● Increased unit sales due to attractive differentiation
● Brand loyalty that bonds buyers to the differentiating
features of the firm’s products

Question 18

When is differentiation effective/ enhances profitability ?

Answer 18

Differentiation enhances profitability whenever a
company’s product can command a sufficiently
higher price or produce sufficiently greater unit
sales to more than cover the added costs of
achieving the differentiation.

Question 19

What is the essence of a broad differentiation strategy ?

Answer 19

Offering unique product attributes that a wide
range of buyers find appealing and worth paying
for.

Question 20

Describe uniqueness drivers and what they can do. (5)

Answer 20

A uniqueness driver is a factor that can have a
strong differentiating effect

● Have a strong differentiating effect
● Be based on physical as well as functional attributes
of a firm’s products
● Be the result of superior performance capabilities of
the firm’s human capital
● Have an effect on more than one of the firm’s value
chain activities
● Create a perception of value (brand loyalty) in buyers
where there is little reason for it to exis

Question 21

Name the 8 value drivers which manage the value chain to create differentiating attributes

Answer 21

1. Create product features and performance attributes
   that appeal to a wide range of buyers.
2. Improve customer service or add extra services.
3. Invest in production-related R&D activities.
4. Strive for innovation and technological advances.
5. Pursue continuous quality improvement.
6. Increase marketing and brand-building activities.
7. Seek out high-quality inputs.
8. Emphasize human resource management activities
   that improve the skills, expertise, and knowledge of
   company personnel.

Question 22

Name the 2 approaches
to enhancing
differentiation
through changes
in the value
chain system

Answer 22

1 Coordinating with channel
allies to enhance customer
perceptions of value

2 Coordinating with suppliers
to better address customer
needs

Question 23

4 FACTORS TO : DELIVERING SUPERIOR VALUE VIA A BROAD DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY (4)

Answer 23

1. Incorporate product attributes and user features that lower the
   buyer’s overall costs of using the firm’s product
2. Incorporate tangible features (e.g., styling) that increase
   customer satisfaction with the product
3. Incorporate intangible features (e.g., buyer image) that enhance
   buyer satisfaction in noneconomic ways
4. Signal the value of the firm’s product offering to buyers (e.g.,
   price, packaging, placement, advertising)

Question 24

When is signaling value important ?

Answer 24

● The nature of differentiation is based on intangible
features and is therefore subjective or hard to quantify
by the buyer.
● Buyers are making a first-time purchase and are
unsure what their experience will be with the product.
● Product or service repurchase by buyers is infrequent.
● Buyers are unsophisticated.

Question 25

4 important points to remember in regards to differentiation

Answer 25

♦ Differentiation can be based on tangible or
intangible attributes.
♦ Easy-to-copy differentiating features cannot
produce a sustainable competitive advantage.
♦ Any differentiating feature that works well is a
magnet for imitators.
♦ Overdifferentiating and overcharging are fatal
strategy mistakes.

Question 26

What are the 2 SUCCESSFUL APPROACHES TO
SUSTAINABLE DIFFERENTIATION. name and explain each (7)

Answer 26

1 Differentiation that is difficult for rivals to
duplicate or imitate
● Company reputation
● Long-standing relationships with buyers
● A unique product or service image

2 Differentiation that creates substantial switching
costs that lock in buyers
● Patent-protected product innovation
● Relationship-based customer service

Question 27

When does a differentiation strategy work best ? ( market circumstances that favour) (4)

Answer 27

Buyer needs
and uses for
the product are
diverse.

There are many
ways that
differentiation
can have value
to buyers.

Few rival firms
are following
a similar
differentiation
approach

There is rapid
change in the
product’s
technology and
features

Question 28

What are the 6 pitfalls to avoid when pursuing a differentiation strategy?

Answer 28

♦ Relying on product attributes easily copied by rivals
♦ Introducing product attributes that do not evoke an
enthusiastic buyer response
♦ Eroding profitability by overspending on efforts to
differentiate the firm’s product offering
♦ Offering only trivial improvements in quality, service, or
performance features vis-à-vis the products of rivals
♦ Over-differentiating the product quality, features, or
service levels exceeds the needs of most buyers
♦ Charging too high a price premium

Question 29

When is a focused approach most attractive? (5)

Answer 29

♦ The target market niche is big enough to be profitable
and offers good growth potential.
♦ Industry leaders chose not to compete in the niche;
focusers avoid competing against strong competitors.
♦ It is costly or difficult for multi-segment competitors to
meet the specialized needs of niche buyers.
♦ The industry has many different niches and segments.
♦ Rivals have little or no entry interest in the target
segment.

Question 30

What are THE RISKS OF A FOCUSED LOW-COST OR
FOCUSED DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY

Answer 30

1. Competitors will find ways to match the focused
   firm’s capabilities in serving the target niche.
2. The specialized preferences and needs of
   niche members shift over time toward the
   product attributes desired by the majority of
   buyers.
3. As attractiveness of the segment increases, it
   draws in more competitors, intensifying rivalry
   and splintering segment profits.

Question 31

What are the 2 approaches to a best cost provider strategy and whom does it target ?

Answer 31

1 Differentiation:
Providing desired quality,
features, performance,
service attributes

2 Low Cost Provider:
Charging a lower price
than rivals with similar
caliber product offerings

Target : Value-Conscious Buyer

Question 32

When does a best cost provider strategy work best? (4)

Answer 32

♦ Product differentiation is the market norm.
♦ There are a large number of value-conscious
buyers who prefer mid-range products.
♦ There is competitive space near the middle of
the market for a competitor with either a
medium-quality product at a below-average
price or a high-quality product at an average or
slightly higher price.
♦ Economic conditions have caused more buyers
to become value-conscious.

Question 33

What is the risk of a best cost provider strategy?

Answer 33

Getting squeezed on both sides by low cost and differentiation strategy holder companies

Question 34

What are the contrasting features of the 5 generic strategies ?(4) each generic strategy :

Answer 34

Each generic strategy:
● Positions the firm differently in its market
● Establishes a central theme for how the firm intends to outcompete rivals
● Creates boundaries or guidelines for strategic change as market circumstances unfold
● Entails different ways and means of
maintaining the basic strategy

Question 35

Explain each strategy in regards too strategic target and basis for strategy (10)
1= Low cost
2= broad differentiation
3= focused low-cost
4= focused differentiation
5= best cost

Answer 35

Strategic
target:

1 A broad crosssection of the
market
2 A broad crosssection of the
market
3 A narrow market niche
where buyer needs
and preferences are
distinctively different
4 A narrow market
niche where buyer
needs and
preferences are
distinctively
different
5 Value-conscious
buyers. Or, a middlemarket range

Basis of
competitive
strategy:

1 Lower overall
costs than
competitors
2 Ability to offer
buyers something
attractively different
from competitors’
offerings
3 Lower overall cost
than rivals in serving
niche members
4 Attributes that
appeal specifically
to niche members
5 Ability to offer better
goods at attractive
prices

Question 36

Explain each strategy in regards to product line and production emphasis: (10)
1= Low cost
2= broad differentiation
3= focused low-cost
4= focused differentiation
5= best cost

Answer 36

Product
line:

1 A good basic
product with few
frills (acceptable
quality and limited
selection)
2 Many product
variations, wide
selection, emphasis
on differentiating
features
3 Features and
attributes tailored to
the tastes and
requirements of niche
members
4 Features and
attributes tailored to
the tastes and
requirements of
niche members
5 Items with appealing
attributes and
assorted features;
better quality, not
best

Production
emphasis:

1 A continuous
search for cost
reduction without
sacrificing
acceptable quality
and essential
features
2 Build in whatever
differentiating
features buyers are
willing to pay for;
strive for product
superiority
3 A continuous search
for cost reduction for
products that meet
basic needs of niche
members
4 Small-scale
production or
custom-made
products that match
the tastes and
requirements of
niche members
5 Build in appealing
features and better
quality at lower cost
than rivals

Question 37

Explain each strategy in regards to marketing emphasis and keys to maintaining the strategy: (10)
1= Low cost
2= broad differentiation
3= focused low-cost
4= focused differentiation
5= best cost

Answer 37

Marketing
emphasis:

1 Low prices, good
value
Also, try to make a
virtue out of product
features that lead to
low cost
2 Tout differentiating
features.
Also, charge a
premium price to
cover the extra costs
of differentiating
features
3 Communicate attractive
features of a budget priced product offering
that fits niche buyers’
expectations
4 Communicate how
product offering does
the best job of
meeting niche buyers’
expectations
5 Emphasize delivery
of best value for
the money

Keys to
maintaining
the strategy:

1 Economical prices,
good value
Also, strive to manage
costs down, year after
year, in every area of
the business
2 Stress constant
innovation to stay
ahead of imitative
competitors
Also, concentrate on
a few key
differentiating
features.
3 Stay committed to
serving the niche at the
lowest overall cost;
don’t blur the firm’s
image by entering other
market segments or
adding other products
to widen market appeal
4 Stay committed to
serving the niche
better than rivals;
don’t blur the firm’s
image by entering
other market
segments or adding
other products to
widen market appeal.
5 Unique expertise in
simultaneously
managing costs
down while
incorporating
upscale features
and attributes

Question 38

Explain each strategy in regards to resources and capabilities required: (5)
1= Low cost
2= broad differentiation
3= focused low-cost
4= focused differentiation
5= best cost

Answer 38

Resources
and
capabilities
required:

1 Capabilities for driving
costs out of the value
chain system.
Examples: large-scale
automated plants, an
efficiency-oriented
culture, bargaining
power

2 Capabilities
concerning quality,
design, intangibles,
and innovation
Examples: marketing
capabilities, R&D
teams, technology

3 Capabilities to lower
costs on niche goods
Examples: Lower input
costs for the specific
product desired by the
niche, batch production
capabilities

4 Capabilities to meet
the highly specific
needs of niche
members
Examples: custom
production, close
customer relations.

5 Capabilities to
simultaneously
deliver lower cost
and higher-quality
or differentiated
feature
Examples: TQM
practices, mass
customization

Question 39

How does a firms strategy link to its resources ? (2)

Answer 39

♦ A firm’s competitive strategy is most likely to
succeed if it is predicated on leveraging a
competitively valuable collection of resources
and capabilities that match the strategy.

♦ Sustaining a firm’s competitive advantage
depends on its resources, capabilities, and
competences that are difficult for rivals to
duplicate and have no good substitutes.