Test 2 Flashcards
What are the 7 decisions regarding the firm’s operating scope and jow to best strengthen its market standing.
- Go on the offensive
- Employ defensive strategies
- be a first mover/fast mover or a late mover.
- Integrate backward or forward into value chain
- Outsourcing
- Partnering
- merging or acquiring
What are some possible basis for competitive attack?
Attack weaknesses of rivals.
Offer a better product for less.
Innovate.
Be a first mover in a market opportunity.
When are aggresive strategies scalled for?
Market opportunities to gain profitable market share.
Has no choice but to attack
Can reap benefits of a compettive edge.
What do the best offensives use?
a firm’s resource strengths to attack its rivals’ weaknesses.
What are some ways of launching a preemtive strike?
- Secure best distributors in a region
- Secure most favorable retail locations.
- Tie up high-quality suppliers
Which rivals are the best targets for offensive attacks
- Vunerable market leaders.
- Runner up firms with weaknesses in the arteas where the challenger is strong.
- Struggling enterprises on the verge of going under.
- Small local and regional firms with limited capabilities.
Blue ocean strategy
Firm seeks large and lasting competeive advantage by abandoning existing markets and inventing an exclusive new industry or market sugment that makes former competitors irrevelant
How do defensive stragtegies defend against compeitive challenges?
- Lowering risk of being attacked
- Weakening the impact of any attack that occurs
- Influencing challengers to aim their competitive efforts towards other rivals.
Good defensive strategies can help protect
competitive advantage but rarely
are the
basis for creating it.
What are some examples of bocking avenues open to attackers?
Add new features t oproduct, add new product, make it cheaper.
What are signals that retailation is likely?
- Announcing strong comitment to maintain firm’s market share
- Publicly commiting the firm to a policy of matching competitor’s terms or prices
- Maintaining a war chest of cash and marketable securities
- Making a strong counter response to weak competitor moves to enhance the firm’s image as a tough defender
Scope of a firm’s operations
Describes the breadth and strength of its activities
and the extent of its reach into geographic, product
and service market segments.
• Dimensions of a Firm’s Scope
Breadth of its product and service offerings
The range of activities it performs internally
The extent of its geographic market presence
Its mix of businesses
is the range of product and
service segments that a firm serves within its
focal market.
Horizontal scope
is the extent to which a firm’s
internal activities encompass one, some, many,
or all of the activities that make up an industry’s
entire value chain system, ranging from rawmaterial
production to final sales and service
activities.
Vertical scope
The combining of two or more firms into a single entity,
with the newly created firm often taking on a new name
merger
The combination in which one firm, the acquirer, purchases
and absorbs the operations of another, the acquired firm
acquisition
What are the two best reasons for vertical integration?
Strengthen the firm’s competitive position
Boost profitability
The Achilles’ heel of alliances and
cooperative partnerships is
becoming
dependent on other companies for
essential expertise and capabilities.
What are some reasons companies expand into international markets
- New customers
- Lower costs
- exploit core competencies
- new resources and capabilities
- spread risk across wider market
What are the five strategies for entering a foreign market
- export
- License
- Franchise
- Subsidiary
- alliance/joint venture
What are the advantages of exporting?
- Conservative
2. Minimal risk and capital investment