...-4 | 1.0 Positioning in Relation to Porters GenericStrategies * Strategic Models * Stakeholder Analysis.....continued on page 5 | 5 | Value Chain Analysis | 6 | 2.0 Business & Corporate level strategy | 7&8 | 3.0 Alternate strategy * Critical reflection | 9 & 10 | Bibliography/Harvard referencing | 11 & 16 | Supporting Appendices | Total word count : 2725 Inc titles/subtitles. Amazon’s Strategic Positioning. 1.0 Introduction This assignment is to establish Amazon’s strategic positioning in Europe in correlation with value innovations that may have contributed to Amazon’s success from 1995 to 2012. About Amazon Amazon is an eCommerce business based in the U.S and was started back in 1995 selling books, CD’s and other media. However Amazon’s profits were only noted in 2002 and to this day have annual sales equal to or more than $40billion with a customer base of nearly 144 million in purchase accounts and over 2 million market seller accounts. In 1998 Amazon also extended their market to the UK with an agreed takeover of Bookpage.co.uk and has since managed to establish their second biggest and most successful market overseas. Value Innovations. Since reporting profits in 2002 Amazon has invested in innovations that add value to the customer, keeps interest and encourages ease of purchasing. Some innovations that have aided in the success of Amazon tend to allow ease of use and convenience, this combined with special...
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...Technische Universität Berlin Fakultät VIII: Wirtschaft und Management Institut für Technologie und Management Fachgebiet Strategische Unternehmensführung Prof. Dr. Michael Mirow Seminar Paper on Strategies to Achieve Market Leadership: The Example of Amazon (Summer term 2005) presented by: Sören Preibusch, 215995 Matthias Fleckenstein, 215274 Kottbusser Damm 24 Magistratsweg 21 10967 Berlin 13593 Berlin Berlin, May 17, 2005 Table of Contents I Table of Contents Table of Contents ............................................................................................ I Table of Abbreviations.................................................................................... II Table of Figures............................................................................................. III Table of Tables..............................................................................................IV 1 Introduction.................................................................................................. 1 2 Market Leadership as a Strategic Goal in Electronic Commerce ................ 1 2.1 Value Chains and Actors in EC............................................................. 1 2.2 Principles for Success in Electronic Commerce.................................... 3 2.3 Porter’s Branch Structure Analysis applied to EC Markets ................... 4 2.4 Context Factors and Value Creation Potentials in EC Markets ...
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...Case Study 2: Cloud Computing Cloud computing is defined by Cearly and Phifer in their case study titled “Case Studies in Cloud Computing” as “a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-related capabilities are provided ‘ as a service’ to customers using Internet technologies”. Cloud computing services had been provided by major vendors such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and others for business computing until recently when Apple Corporation announced iCloud for consumers. Therefore, cloud computing is now available for businesses as well as consumers. Read the case study titled, “ Ericsson”, located here, about Ericsson cloud computing. Write a two to four (2-4) page paper in which you: Assess how Ericsson benefited from Amazon Web Services (AWS) in terms of cost reduction, automated software updates, remote access, and on-demand availability. Evaluate the scalability, dependability, manageability, and adaptability of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Services (Amazon S3), and RightScale. Examine the security concerns for cloud-based services and make suggestions to cope with these concerns. Assess possible scalability, reliability, and cost issues associated with cloud computing, and make suggestions to overcome each of these issues. Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note: Wikipedia and similar Websites do not qualify as quality resources. Your assignment must follow these formatting requirements:...
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...Amazon case study 1. Analyze Amazon.com each year from 2004 to 2006. • 2004 = SUCCESS - Good net profit - Low price strategy - Use of commercial tools: discounts and free shipping - Launch of A9.com - Acquisition of Joyo.com - Largest database of book - Culture of “innovation” - Creation of “pizza teams”: improve innovation - Technological problems - Many litigations - “Gold box”: online design tools - Diversification of products and commercial tools. • 2005 = GROWTH - Growing revenue of 24% but decreasing of the profit margins - Strategic partnerships (Marks & Spencers) - Assortment of acquisitions (BookSurge) - High ranking in customer satisfaction survey (2nd) - Drugstore become a competitor - Hire product expert - Development of various facilities: Toxona... • 2006 = DECREASE - Amazon S3 (Simple Storage Service) - Alexa Internet (a subsidiary of Amazon) launched the Alexa Top Sites Service - Amazon Connect: allow authors to send messages to the readers - Start competition on the digital music market (Apple’s market) - Amazon “gold standard” in customer satisfaction for online shopping - Stay focus on global expansion (strategic plan) - Diminution of the turnover due to an unfavorable lawsuit against ToysRus.com - Negative impact on share price ($ 35 in 2006; highest value in 1999 $106,69,lowest $5.97 in 2001) -...
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...method of information systems development. To survive in the market, Amazon Corporation have put major thrust on areas like research, development and building new information systems. SDLC process comes in different versions with varying number of steps. Some go for the eight step process while few prefer the seven step process. Another variation is the five step process which includes the following stages: System definition, Requirement analysis, Component design, Implementation and Maintenance. There is a subtle difference between a disaster and a threat. Heavy physical loss of computing machinery due to natural causes, assault or terrorist attacks come under the category of Disasters. Threats cover issues arising from human errors, malicious illegal acts and natural disasters. An instance of human error would be an unintentional or intentional shredding of data by employees. Events like a twister or flood beyond human control can disable all computing services indefinitely. With all these factors established, it is important to consider the steps to be taken in preparing for disasters ahead of development of plans (Kroenke, “Information Security Management,” 2012). The SDLC process which has been so strictly and exhaustively followed by Amazon can be used as a standard operating procedure for application development by other organizations. The first and foremost condition for being prepared in case of disasters is to locate facilities in geographical positions which...
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...Case Study 2: Cloud Computing Due Week 8 and worth 100 points Cloud computing is defined by Cearly and Phifer in their case study titled “Case Studies in Cloud Computing” as “a style of computing in which scalable and elastic IT-related capabilities are provided ‘ as a service’ to customers using Internet technologies”. Cloud computing services had been provided by major vendors such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, IBM, Hewlett-Packard, and others for business computing until recently when Apple Corporation announced iCloud for consumers. Therefore, cloud computing is now available for businesses as well as consumers. Read the case study titled, “ Ericsson”, located here[->0]http://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/ericsson/, about Ericsson cloud computing. Write a two to four (2-4) page paper in which you: · Assess how Ericsson benefitted from Amazon Web Services (AWS) in terms of cost reduction, automated software updates, remote access, and on-demand availability. · Evaluate the scalability, dependability, manageability, and adaptability of Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (Amazon EC2), Amazon Simple Storage Services (Amazon S3), and RightScale. · Examine the security concerns for cloud-based services and make suggestions to cope with these concerns. · Assess possible scalability, reliability, and cost issues associated with cloud computing, and make suggestions to overcome each of these issues. · Use at least three (3) quality resources in this assignment. Note:...
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...In 2005, Amazon measured the inter-company balances, making use of the exchange rates at the specific reporting dates and recorded a massive loss of $47 Million, against the gains of $41 Million in 2004, and $36 Million in 2003. This has been accounted to a great deal to the currency adjustments. (Amazon Annual Report 2005) In 2006, the net cash provided for operating activities was $702 Million. There was an increase in the Marketing costs, compared to 2005 and 2004, as an outcome of a rise in spending for variable channels of online marketing in activities such as sponsored search, Associated program, and other variable initiatives in Marketing(Amazon Annual Report 2006) . In 2007, Amazon Kindle was introduced to the customers, which was a reading device built with purpose, and had wireless access to over 110,000 books, blogs, magazines, and newspaper. Amazon had hoped that Kindle will be well received, but the entire stock was sold out within the first five and half hours, and the entire supply chain and the production team had to work hard and fast to recreate the stock to cater to the demands in the market for Kindle. This shows that Amazon had once again aligned its business to customer centrism through creation of an innovative device, by understanding the customers’ needs of what they do not know but they want. This directly impacted the publishing industry and necessitated the need for creating E-books, for Kindle reading, increasing the sale of books, again impacting...
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...Burgers 1989). Companies pursuing related diversification over a period of time have achieved superior performance than companies following an unrelated diversification (Palepu 1985). Amazon has started its business by selling books and music, soon after it incorporated online auctions for airlines tickets and hotel rooms, computer hardware, pet food and pet accessories, electronic cards, toys and consumer electronics. Whereas Amazon has achieved very high volume of sales and gained important market shares in the book industry, the company has never been profitable. As a result, in this essay, in order to determine if Amazon’s decision to diversify so extensively was a wise decision, we will firstly describe the firm business model and the reasons for its success. We will then try to determine if this business model is applicable to Amazon’s diversification strategy as well as the limit of diversification. And finally we will try to evaluate the limit of such strategy in an international context. I Is the business model designed for selling book on internet apply for different category of products? The success of Amazon Business Model In e-tailing, one can identify four kinds of business models: the channel supporter, the vertical portal and the category killer such as Amazon. In this regard, Calkins, Farello and Smith Shi (2000) identify three fundamentals of on-line...
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...leaving N.Y. City for the Pacific Northwest. On its 15th-anniversary in 2010, Amazon is truly proud to be one of the world largest online retailers, selling everything from musical instruments and sports equipment to household appliances and apparels (Kayla, W. 2010). In our coursework group assignment, we are tasked to study and analyse the strategic management issues of Amazon.com. The case study will base on fourth quarter of 2007 as a current year. We will be evaluating the company's external and internal environments, how the company emerge into the industry by means of its strategies management in dealing with economic, technology & distribution issues and competition. We will also look at the company's vision & mission and it relate to the expansion of its product lines and reach, to increase its revenue and market share, and to understand and consider their possible near-term and long-term objectives that the organization could pursue. Lastly but not least, to out up recommendation for Amazon and conclude it with our learning experiences on BPS module. Page 3 of 27 2. Company Overview Amazon was founded by Mr. Jeff Bezos in 1994 with head office in Seattle, Washington, the company is one of the most customer-centric companies in the World and has grown to be a Fortune 100company. It has a diverse range of product offerings over at extensive network of customer service centers (About Amazon, 2007). Amazon.com is one of the most popular names on the internet, it operates...
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...August 8, 2012 Group: 5 Cloud Computing: Risk Management Introduction The objective if this research report is to help clients make the tough decision in choosing between Amazon and Google as their companies cloud computing provider. We provide a detailed explanation of cloud and why we focused on Amazon and Google. In helping our clients make their decision we will compare and contrast the two providers using three components. The first component is to examine each providers risk based on preventable risk, strategic risk, and the external risk. From here the report moves into the security measures that the companies have in place to deal with the aforementioned risk. The final component used is the benefits that Google and Amazon can offer our clients by using their service. Background This research report will compare the risks of cloud computing, security measures in place, and the benefits associated with cloud computing technology. More specifically, our report will focus on two of the most important companies in cloud computing—Google and Amazon. While conducting introductory research our team realized that cloud computing risk management is too broad of a topic and the report would be un-useful for our clients. The team decided that the best way to help clients would be to do a comparison of the two companies and show why one provider would be better than the other. In choosing companies we decided to examine Amazon which is the number one most important company...
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...External and Internal Environment Priscilla R. MacLomotey Strayer University Professor Joseph C. Chryst Abstract This paper will choose two (2) segments of the general environment that would rank highest in Influencing Amazon.com, Inc., and assess how these segments affect the internet retailing industry in which Amazon operates. The paper will also consider the five (5) forces of competition, and choose the two (2) estimated to be the most significant for Amazon. This paper will further evaluate how well Amazon has addressed these two (2) forces in the recent past. Again, the paper will predict what Amazon might do to improve its ability to address these forces in the near future. Next, the paper will evaluate the external threats that affect and opportunities available to Amazon. The paper will also give opinions on how the Amazon should deal with their foremost threat and the greatest opportunity. Finally, this paper will determine the Amazon’s resources, capabilities, and core competencies; analyze their value chain to determine where they can create using the resources, capabilities, and core competencies discussed above. External and Internal Environment All other things being equal, the primary objective of any business is to obtain a larger market share, affect its bottom line, grow, and become successful. To achieve their goals, businesses must deal with their stakeholders which include: customers, suppliers, employees, competitors, shareholders...
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...1. Review of Amazon’s strategy between 2007 and 2009 Strategic analysis Profiling the business: ➢ Mission: Amazon’s mission is to be Earth’s most customer-centric company, where customers can find and discover anything they might want to buy online, and endeavors to offer its customers the lowest possible price[1]. ➢ Product/service analysis: Since the establishment of Amazon, new products has been kept adding into the original book category and Amazon has moved further to provide service. There are three product categories in Amazon, media category, electronic and general merchandise category and other category like Amazon web service and Amazon Enterprise Solution. This means you can buy almost everything from Amazon. ➢ Sales and gross profit analysis: The net sales growth of Amazon in year 2007 and 2008 was in average 30% and the total sales in 2008 was $19166m. In the same time, the gross profit grew from $3353m in 2007 to $4270 in 2008. Actually, both the sales and profits grew quickly since 2001 and they seemed to grow at a quicker way. External environment analysis ➢ Opportunities and threats: • Opportunities: to further improve the speed of delivery; international expansion in emerging markets such as China and India; extension of brands into new areas; through acquisitions and partnership to consolidate Amazon’s technological capability. • Threats: unexpected changes in regulatory requirements both U.S. and abroad ( take taxes policies...
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...MGMT90026 Supply Chain Management Group Assignment Dr. Vikram Bhakoo Class: Tuesday 6:15-9:15 MGMT90026 Supply Chain Management Group Assignment Dr. Vikram Bhakoo Class: Tuesday 6:15-9:15 By: Widad Alharthi 822694 Di Cao Wasinee Phornnarit Yang Chan By: Widad Alharthi 822694 Di Cao Wasinee Phornnarit Yang Chan Table of Contents Introduction: 2 1. Supply Chain Management Practices 4 1.1 Walmart 4 1.1.1 Strategic allignemnt 4 1.1.2 procurement and distribution 5 1.1.3 Logistic and distribution management 5 1.1.4 Inventory management 6 1.2 Amazon 8 2. Strategic Alliances 9 2.1 Walmart 9 2.2 Amazon 10 3. Technologies employed in the SC Network 11 3.1 Walmart 11 3.2 amazon 13 4. Challenges and risks 14 4.1 Walmart 14 4.2 Amazon 15 5. Comparison of sustainable strategies in Supply Chains 16 conclusion 17 References: 18 Appendices: 19 Section A: 19 Section B: 19 Section C: 20 Introduction: Executive summary: This report provides an analysis and evaluation of the current supply chain strategies employed by two leading retail corporates, Walmart and Amazon. The report draws attention to the following aspects; supply chain management practices, strategic alliances, Information Technology, challenges and risks,finally sustainability in the supply chain. Method of the analysis includes reviewing a collection academic journals from different databases, analysing company’s...
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...is in performing its tasks and meeting its objectives, while continuing to innovate, grow and expand”. From the work of O’Reilly and Finnegan, two types of factors were identified which impact upon electronic marketplace performance. These are strategic and contextual factors. From current literature, the researchers identified that three strategic factors impact upon performance: market process design, IT and ownership. Market process design relates to how a market offers its products, IT refers to the IT products being offered, and ownership refers to the controller of the marketplace and the parties who utilise it. O’Reilly and Finnegan found no evidence to suggest IT directly affects performance. However, they found the other two factors to be evident in strategic factors which affect performance. Market Process Design Bias Bias had a noticeable impact on performance in markets that operated in indirect goods. This is evident in BTTransact, IBX and Proceedo where all markets favoured the buyer and experienced a lot of resistance by suppliers. This in turn had a negative impact on buyer adoption levels. Revenue Model The revenue model can impact upon the adoption levels, number of transactions and volumes traded as was the case with BTTransact, Dealcotton, Eutilia, IBX and Proceedo. O’Reilly and Finnegan state that a subscription based model is the most successful as participants are aware of the cost of use in advance. For example, Proceedo initially adopted a transaction...
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...Relationship marketing (5 approaches & basic principles) Relationship Marketing refers to a long-term and mutually beneficial arrangement where both the buyer and seller have an interest in providing a more satisfying exchange. This approach attempts to transcend the simple purchase-exchange process with a customer to make more meaningful and richer contact by providing a more holistic, personalized purchase, and uses the experience to create stronger ties. With the growth of the internet and mobile platforms, Relationship Marketing has continued to evolve and move forward as technology opens more collaborative and social communication channels. A simple example of this would be sending new customers a "Welcome Kit," which might have an incentive to make a second purchase. If 60 days pass and the customer have not made a second purchase, you would follow up with an e-mailed discount. You are using customer behaviour over time to trigger the marketing approach. Relationship Marketing Vs Transactional Marketing Transactional marketing is a business strategy that focuses on “single point of sale” transactions. The emphasis is on maximizing the efficiency and volume of individual sales rather than developing a relationship with buyer. On the other hand relationship marketing is a business strategy that seeks to establish long term relationship with its customers rather than focusing on single transaction, not only does it focus on individual customers but on all the stakeholders...
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