...key people within the corporation is called environmental scanning. (Wheelen and Hunger. 2010) Environmental scanning helps an organization identify relevant factors and use those factors to obtain a competitive advantage within the environment. The author will discuss how an organization creates value and sustains a competitive advantage through strategies. How an organization measures success to identify the effectiveness of a strategy. The author will identify the strategies of various companies and identify tactics that make the company successful. Competitive Advantage An organization that has a strategic advantage over its competitors that enables the organization to have greater sales and retain more customers is believed to have a competitive advantage. Many organizations have a competitive advantage within technological industries to include: Google, Apple, and Amazon. Each organization creates value in its products and services to stay ahead of the competition. Google is considered the industry leader when it comes to search and has 65% of the search market, according to Hit Wise. The company maintains its competitive advantage by developing a diversified infrastructure that gives them the ability to provide high-speed searches and branch out into other industries. Goggles infrastructure is made up of hardware, bandwidth, storage systems and servers. The company has access to all kinds of information about the organization from all over the world and can easily track...
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...Amazon Inc. SeifAllah Marzouk – Ahmed Fadel – Mohamed Hajaij Introduction Amazon is the global leader in ecommerce. It directly sells a huge range of diverse products. Ranging from books to music to other physical goods and, their specialized asset, Kindle e-book. The company attains their high value-added differentiation by customer-focused information services such as holding online customers’ preferences and providing customization. One of the main competitive advantages of the company is unique bundling of several recourses such as service and distribution. Amazon was initially an online bookseller that directly shipped orders to customers; however, the company grew substantially and soon established a distribution network through which it could ship millions of items to customers all over the world at the lowest costs possible. Operating 10 websites in more than 45 countries now gives Amazon a strategic advantage in its diversity. Amazon was founded in 1994 in the state of Washington DC, USA. It strategically competes internationally by attaining the lowest prices amongst its competitors. With regards to book selling, Amazon’s biggest competitor is Barnes and Noble. While Barnes and Noble enjoys the spoils of selling in the physical world and online, Amazon is stuck in the cyber world (which evidently keeps costs down but doesn’t help with the sales)...
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...Question 3- Amazon owes its leadership to a set of distinctive capabilities developed and improved over time. Describe and argue whether Amazon’s business model is easy or hard to imitate, in accordance with the four cornerstones of robustness – i.e. complexity; causal ambiguity; culture and history; change. Be specific and illustrate by examples. Amazon developed from being just an online retailer - online bookstore - to a web services provider for sellers and now moving into providing web technology infrastructure development. The business model core of the company is a 'customer-centric' long term market leadership continually providing the lowest prices possible and wider selection in order to continually improve the customer experience. Amazon's Long Tail strategy relies on three pillars, all supported by its continual commitment to innovation and investing in the future: - selection: Amazon provides the widest selection of products from retail products to software and Cloud Computing offerings. - price: Amazon is committed to price leadership with no sacrifice to quality. - convenience: Amazon strives to continually 'please' its customers by offering customer review and feedback forms on all of its product. In order to fulfill the customer experience, the company opened strategically located centers in a number of cities in North America, Europe and Asia, often near airports and recruits 'tightly' around their need to service the customer, strengthening its management...
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...Strategy 1 Amazon STRATEGIC ANALYSIS OF AMAZON Submitted for: MBA IN MS (MANAGING STRATEGY) TUTOR: PAUL ANDERSON SUBMITTED BY: C0411672 Managing Strategy 2 Amazon CONTENTS Title..................................................................01 Contents....................................................... 02 Introduction.................................................03 Section 1 Current strategic position......................04 Macro environment.................................... 04 Micro environment......................................07 Strategic Capabilities................................10 Section 2 Current and Future strategy..................13 Bowman’s strategy clock.........................13 Section 3 Implementation issues............................... 16 Cultural web................................................16 Kotters 8 step theory................................18 Conclusion....................................................21 Reference list..............................................22 Appendix..........................................................30 Managing Strategy 3 Amazon INTRODUCTION Amazon is an e-commerce platform based organisation established in 1995 by Jeffrey P. Bezos. Amazon.com is based in Washington, United States. Amazon is recognised as customer centric e-commerce organisation giving wide varieties, low price offers and convenience to its customers by offering services virtually. Amazon provides...
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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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...Running Head: Amazon Global Organization Amazon Global Organization Supply Chain Management Instructor - Adrian Martin January 10, 2015 Tericka Cameron INTRODUCTION As a start-up company in the garage, Amazon Supply Chain has made a giant leap that revolutionized many aspects of overall supply chain management. With more than 130 million stocking keeping units to manage and millions of transactions to control. E-commerce has revolutionized the world of retail, opening new channels and opportunities for retailers of all sizes. You can take advantage of the phenomenal growth in retail sales conducted over the Internet by expanding your business globally with Amazon. Amazon has marketplaces around the world—United States, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Canada, China, and Japan—and the services and tools to help guide you through the global selling process. Evolution of Amazon’s Global Supply Chain Amazon care so much about customers and holds employees to a high level of customer service requirements. In many internal meetings, Jeff Bezos (founder) leaves one empty chair next to him and tell people that they should also think on behalf of one important customer who can't manage to be there. Then the word "empty chair" becomes a symbol of customer centric business practices inside Amazon. Also, many senior executives have to attend call center training so they can know customer's feedback, good or bad, firsthand. Many companies focus on benchmarking...
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...another. Headlines such as "Move First or Die" compete with "The First Mover Disadvantage." A leading former CEO advises "destroy your business,” while others suggest firms focus on their "core competency" and "return to basics." The pages of the Harvard Business Review declared “IT Doesn’t Matter”, while a New York Times’ bestseller hails technology as the "steroids" of modern business. Theorists claiming to have mastered the secrets of strategic management are contentious and confusing. But as a manager, the ability to size up a firm's strategic position and understand its likelihood of sustainability is one of the most valuable, yet difficult skills to master. Layer on thinking about technology – a key enabler to nearly every modern business strategy, but also a function often thought of as easily ‘outsourced’ – and it’s no wonder that so many firms struggle at the intersection where strategy and technology meet. The business landscape is littered with the corpses of firms killed by managers who guessed wrong. Developing strong strategic thinking skills is a career-long pursuit – a subject that can occupy tomes of text, a roster of courses, and a...
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...and then matching or bettering them. The more people use price comparison sites such as ShopSmart (www.shopsmart.com) the more is it important that companies ensure their price positioning is favourable. Good examples include shopping sites such as Buy.com (www.buy.com) and Evenbetter.com (www.evenbetter.com). In those stores people can now find the prices of all comparable items in a category but also guarantee that they will beat the lowest price of any competing product. These sites have implemented real- time adjustments in prices with small increments based on price policy algorithms that are simply not possible in traditional retailing. An other example might be Lowestfare.com which is a leading provider of discount travel products and services for the leisure travel market or Sunelec.com has the lowest prices in the industry Solar & Wind Energy Distributors, Dealers, & Wholesalers. 2) Defend e-tailing This is a strategic approach that traditional companies can use in response to ‘attack e-tailing’. It involves differentiation based on other aspects than price, for example differentiation in quality or using brand name etc. Also reasons why the lowest price may not always result in the sale are: • Ease of use of site and placing orders (e.g. Amazon One-Click makes placing an order with Amazon much easier than using a...
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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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...1.1 Discuss the role of strategic marketing in an organization. For AC1.1, learners need to show that they understand the difference between strategic and tactical marketing. They need to use established models and definitions to develop theirdiscussion. 1.2 Explain the processes involved in strategic marketing. For AC1.2, learners will be expected to understand and explain the processes involved in strategic marketing. This will involve looking at a range of processes and learners may wish to draw on their own experiences in the workplace to amplify their points. 1.3 Evaluate the links between strategic marketing and corporate strategy For AC1.3, learners are expected to understand that the process of strategic marketing does not take place in a vacuum. They will need to show that they can evaluate the links between strategic marketing and corporate strategy and provide examples of those links. 2.1 Assess the value of models used in strategic marketing planning. For AC2.1, learners need to research the models used in strategic planning. They will need to make judgments and assess the value of the models for strategic marketing planning. 2.2 Discuss the links between strategic positioning and marketing tactics. For AC2.2, learners need to understand that when strategic plans are put into operation, dayto-day tactical decisions have to be made. In their discussion, they need to provide examples of how tactics are related to strategic positioning decisions. 2.3 Analyse...
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...| |EDEXCEL LEVEL 5 |[pic] | | |BTEC HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS | | | | | | | |ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY | | | | | | |Unit Name: |BUSINESS STRATEGY | |Unit Number: | | |Assignment Submission Date: |31 November 2012 | |Assessor: | | |Mode of submission: ...
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...Devry BUSN319 Week 1 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2015 October http://homeworkgallery.com/index.php/product/busn-319-entire-course-2/ http://homeworkgallery.com/index.php/product/busn-319-entire-course-2/ Discussion 1 How do the goals set for the marketing program in the planning phase relate to the evaluation phase of the strategic marketing process? What would you do with the results of the evaluation if: a) you exceeded your goals? b) you fell short of your goals? Discussion 2 Environmental scanning is critical to acquire information on events occurring outside of the organization. For example, in 2009, the U.S. economy faltered and the unemployment rate rose. As a result, dollar (type) stores flourished. The poor economic trend actually became a huge opportunity for an entire retail segment. Select one of the five environmental forces (social, economic, technological, competitive, and regulatory), discuss an actual trend that fits into that particular environmental force, and provide an accompanying marketing opportunity Devry BUSN319 Week 2 Discussion 1 & 2 Latest 2015 October Discussion 1 The purchase decision process can vary greatly in terms of the time required from the moment a need is perceived until the actual purchase event. Provide an example of an item that may require a long time, and another that may progress relatively quickly through the purchase decision process. What may be some common characteristics among items that have a longer time...
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...D.M. (2012) states that SDLC or Systems development life cycle is a conventional 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...
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...| |EDEXCEL LEVEL 5 |[pic] | | |BTEC HIGHER NATIONAL DIPLOMA IN BUSINESS | | | | | | | |ASSESSMENT ACTIVITY | | | | | | |Unit Name: |BUSINESS STRATEGY | |Unit Number: | | |Assignment Submission Date: |31 November 2012 | |Assessor: | | |Mode of submission: ...
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...Strategic Initiative Planning Wal-Mart has announced during the release of the company’s 2014 annual SEC Report that several strategic planning initiatives for the company in fiscal year 2015. Team B will focus on Wal-Mart’s planning initiative to successfully integrate e-commerce into the current organizational structure. Identifying the Planning Initiative According to Wal-Mart (2014), “We’re also intent on creating transformative growth by adding capabilities in e-commerce and mobile commerce. When we view our business through the eyes of our customers, we don’t think about our stores, clubs or websites independently. Instead, our goal is to have customers see these channels converge as one unified relationship with us. We want to deliver a relevant, personalized and seamless experience across all channels. So, our approach to investments will continue to evolve to support the singular goal of enhancing the customer experience to further grow sales” (Positioning to serve our customers). Current president and CEO of Wal-Mart’s e-commerce division, Neil Ashe, admitted that Wal-Mart has a late start to the online retail market (Hempel, 2014). Instead of trying to beat Amazon in the online market Wal-Mart is currently trying to create a new logistics system in order to keep up with the delivery of all its products to online customers. Right now Wal-Mart does not have the infrastructure in place to economically meet the demand of the online world. “The stakes are only...
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