|
|
Chapter 16: |
Strategic Elements of Competitive Advantage |
|
|||||||||
|
|
|||||||||||
|
Chapter Overviews, Outlines, Sample Questions
|
|||||||||||
|
||||||||||||
![]() |
The first few years of the twenty-first century were difficult for IKEA, the $ 31 billion global furniture powerhouse based in Sweden. The euro's strength dampened financial results, as did an economic downturn in Central Europe. The company faces increasing competition from hypermarkets, "do-it-yourself" retailers such as Wal-Mart, and supermarkets that are expanding into home furnishings. Looking to the future, CEO Anders Dahlvig stresses three areas for improvement: product assortment, customer service, and product availability. With stores in 38 countries, the company's success reflects founder Ingvar Kamprad's "social ambition" of selling a wide range of stylish, functional home furnishings at prices so low that the majority of people can afford to buy them.
The essence of marketing strategy is successfully relating the strengths of an organization to its environment. As the horizons of marketers have expanded from domestic to regional and global, so too have the horizons of competitors. The reality in almost every industry today—including home furnishings—is global competition. This fact of life puts an organization under increasing pressure to master techniques for conducting industry analysis and competitor analysis, and understanding competitive advantage at both the industry and national levels. These topics are covered in detail in this chapter.
![]() |
![]() |
1. |
How can a company measure its
competitive advantage? How does a firm know if it is gaining or losing
competitive advantage? Cite a global company and its source of
competitive advantage? |
Click here for hint. |
2. |
Outline Porter's five forces model of
industry competition. How are the various barriers to entry relevant to
global marketing? |
Click here for hint. |
3. |
How does the five partners or
flagship model developed by Rugman and D'Cruz differ from Porter's five
forces model? |
Click here for hint. |
4. |
Give an example of a company that
illustrates each of the four generic strategies that can lead to
competitive advantage: overall cost leadership, cost focus,
differentiation, and differentiation focus. |
Click here for hint. |
5. |
Briefly describe Hamel and Prahalad's
framework for competitive advantage. |
Click here for hint. |
6. |
How can a nation achieve competitive
advantage? |
Click here for hint. |
7. |
According to current research on
competitive advantage, what are some of the shortcomings of Porter's
models? |
Click here for hint. |
8. |
What is the connection, if any, between national competitive advantage and company competitive advantage? Explain and discuss. |
Click here for hint. |
![]() |
|
1. |
True |
False | |
2. |
True |
False |
3. |
True |
False |
|
4. |
True |
False |
|
5. |
automobiles. |
True |
False |
6. |
soft drinks |
True |
False |
7. |
True |
False |
|
8. |
True |
False | ||
9. |
True |
False |
10. |
True |
False |