...Historically, what were Apple’s major competitive advantages? Since 1976, the Apple Company used a differentiation strategy on their operations. The company only offer one time which is a computer aiming for the whole market, but they came back to their differentiation very soon. Apple has always been a very innovative PC manufacturer. Although the products have some weaknesses, the innovative role still gave Apple a lot of attention. The major competitive advantages can be divided into several parts. First of all, the hardware design is elegant. There is no better word for it. Apple has the best-designed hardware from an aesthetics point of view of any vendor. For the cellphone market, people are crazy with the advanced and developed iPhone. Because it is so impressive that make your life and work easier. Secondly, another advantage is Apple has total control of their software (OS system) and hardware, marketing strategy, digital asset management, retail strategy and product differentiation. For example, the retail method of Apple includes direct selling; apple has their own store, which can create firsthand experience to customers. Besides, apple has efficient corporation with the cellphone carrier, At&t, Sprint, Verizon. Customers have choice to use different companies’ service. This would make the iPhone affordable to the people who have low income. Last but not least, Steve Jobs, the former CEO of Apple; he used his strategic decisions to make their product...
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...Explain what is meant by sustainable competitive advantage..(SCA or just CA) A CA can be described as ‘an advantage a firm has over a competitor or over a group of competitors within the same market or industry’ (Kay 1993). It must be however, a relative advantage, which is to say that it should be compared to the competition. For example, Apple’s brand image is an advantage, because the logo is instantly recognisable, and could call itself more recognisable than competitors such as Blackberry or Nokia. Jack Welch (formerly of GE) said that ‘if you don’t have a CA, then don’t compete.’ This quote highlights the importance of a CA in business terms, and shows how it can be the difference between surviving in a market, or dominating in a market. The development of the CA is interesting; and it can be split into three main stages. Initially, the development of a CA was thought to be down to leadership; if a firm had a successful leader, then they would make successful decisions that would benefit the firm. However, in 1980, Michael Porter developed a theory which toppled this. Using his ‘5 Forces Model’, Porter believed that a firm could create a CA through differentiation (thus nullifying the threat of substitutes and the bargaining power of consumers) and/or through low costs (nullifying the threat of new entrants and suppliers.) Porter believed that by analysing the external environment, a firm could pick a good industry to enter and succeed in. This strategy in...
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...roots of competitive advantage is strategies, the root of strategies is distinctive competencies, the roots of distinctive competencies are resources and capabilities. Competitive advantage lead to superior profitability. So, talking about competitive advantages means about strategies, distinctive competencies, capabilities and resources. There are two types of competitive advantages: differentiation and cost leadership. All of them are effected by four factors: superior quality, superior customer responsiveness, superior efficiency and superior innovation. First of all, Apple have good researches and developed department (including Jobs, S.) which lead to good production. Beside that, Apple also have wonderful marketing, sales department. Every Apple’s products launching give customers eager not only by the quality of products, it also by the power of marketing. Lastly, they also have a wonderful customer service department. All of them combine to make huge profit for Apple with a lot of loyalty customers to. So, it is clear that Apple has a very good capabilities and resources. It builds to distinctive competencies. Moreover, Apple have chosen differentiation strategy, so they try to make different products with others means their strategy give them another competitive advantage. Take a look at four factors affect to competitive advantage, it can be seen that all of Apple’s products have very superior quality and innovation. For example, every Apple’s products (Apple PC, MacBook...
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...computer rooms. Operations’ role is larger than just that of implementer of strategy; it is the foundation for – indeed, the driver behind – successful strategic attacks and defenses. The important implication for company leaders: companies that fail to exploit fully the strategic power of operations will be both hampered in their own attacks and vulnerable to those of competitors that do exploit this power. Nowhere is this clearer than in cases where large companies that have established a powerful, well-entrenched competitive position (possibly by following a clear strategy) are attacked successfully by competitors that lack both position and strategy. Indeed, again and again we observe small companies that – although lacking the advantages of size, experience, established position, and proprietary technology – take on big companies and in a relatively short time push...
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...Taking online classes and reaching one's maximum potential can be quite a challenge. In order to complete classes one must be able to set realistic goals and time-lines. A plan must be designed to incorporate work, family, and school. Last but not least, one must face the challenge of not physically being present in a classroom setting. Online classes can be a unique challenge, however; it is not impossible to successfully complete courses. Realistic goals and time-lines are almost always the key to being successful in anything one may do, online classes are no exception. Setting goals at the beginning of each course as to the grade one would like to achieve. Another goal that could be set is what does one want to learn and get out of the particular course. Tasks must be set in place for each day that the individual knows that they can accomplish. For instance, on day one of an assignment, complete all the necessary reading. Day two listen to any video lectures and read over instructor notes. Day three do homework and any class assignments. Day four review any notes that you have taken and the feedback form instructor as you are preparing for the test that week. Setting goals and time-lines help to keep you on track and where you need to be with the lesson. A plan must be designed to integrate school, work, and family to maintain an equal balance. Working and taking classes of any kind proves to be a challenge. Most people work at least 40 hour work weeks, but some people...
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...cult favorite “Arrested Development”, the company revived the show for a fourth season. It initially received mixed reviews from critics but has attracted a high number of viewership. The company has also allowed rampage viewing of exclusive content in order to differentiate itself from competitors. Secondly, Netflix always gives the audience what they want so they will subscribe. People always want ways to watch what they like and when they want. The company has tried to change the model from the inside with their own content. The company has forgone the strict windows where people cannot see a movie for ages if they miss it in theatres or get a boxed set of their favorite TV show for a year plus. In addition, Netflix has competitive advantages with regard to * Selection * Convenience and * Price...
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...INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS Name Institution Date V b b b b b b b b b b b n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n n b b b b h h jj h h n n Thesis Statement: Utility of Stakeholder Theory for Sustainable Business Introduction Strategies employed by international companies to gain competitive advantage over their rivals differ from one company to another. One way of doing this is ensuring that they are environmentally conscious in how they partake their activities. In this modern age, they should not only focus on profit making but also consider how their activities affect the stakeholders of the business; hence the stakeholder model. The Stakeholder Model Unlike the traditional economic model that focused on the main goal of profit making, the Stakeholder theory focuses on more values and ways to make the stakeholders comfortable in the business. A business has more than the three employer,employee,supplier as stakeholders .The stakeholder model thus looks to balance out all these stakeholders in order to reduce any conflict that may arise from the all-inclusive environment. It is important for any company to recognize its social obligation in society in order to abide and custom its operations in the same line. Figure 5.23 presents the different dimensions of social aspect of community such as pollution, health care to employees among other societal obligations. In order to measure a company’s social and environmental performance, the triple bottom- line accounting caters for...
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...1. Of the major pricing strategies discussed in this chapter, which one best describes JCPenney’s “Fair and Square” pricing strategy? The one that best described their pricing strategy is good-value pricing because good-value pricing offers just the right combination of quality and good service at a fair price. 2. Compare JCPenney’s former traditional approach to pricing versus the “Fair and Square” pricing strategy. Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of each. The advantage of the former approach was that the customers could expect for the store to have a sale. The disadvantage of the former approach was that it didn’t help to build the company’s brand because consumers were able to go anywhere to find a sale. The advantage of the “Fair and Square” pricing strategy was that they always offered a low price. The disadvantage of this strategy was that because it was not implemented soon enough, it could not keep customers coming into their store or persuade new ones to visit their store. 3. Discuss the role of product, place, and promotion in connection to “Fair and Square” pricing. The role of product is that the company has decided to add more name brands to their stores. The role of place is that the company decided to remodel their stores to make them more appeasing to their customers. The role of promotion was used in conjunction with their new pricing by eliminating the use of previous pricing and just cutting pricing completely. 4. Did “Fair...
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...The Financial Accounting Standards Board, the guideline making association for sound accounting standards, has issued two guidelines influencing the charitable part. These models will have the most noteworthy effect on philanthropies in more than 20 years. The two guidelines are Financial Accounting Standard No. 116, managing commitments made & got, & Financial Accounting Standard No. 117, managing monetary articulation group. Agreeability with both models is needed for a considerable length of time completion December 31, 1995 & past, with a discretionary one year delay for little associations which are those with yearly consumptions under $1000000 & aggregate possessions short of what $5000000. The effect of FAS 116 & 117 is extensive to the point that all levels of operations at a charitable will be influenced - not only the bookkeeping office. For instance, advancement officers will need to know the accurate terms of commitments keeping in mind the end goal to accurately record them under the new norms, lawful help may be required to focus the best possible treatment for blessing trust additions & misfortunes, & machine support may be obliged to suit the new reporting prerequisites. The accompanying is an outline of the two new gauges. FAS 117 on Financial Statement Display:- A set of monetary proclamations ought to incorporate an accounting report, articulation of action, proclamation of money streams &, for intentional wellbeing & welfare...
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...Intro to Spotify Spotify is a revolutionary software which allows its users to stream millions of songs on demand. Users can access music on computers, mobiles, tablets, cars and gaming consoles. Spotify was launched in 2008 by the Swedish entrepreneur Daniel Ek. Since its launch in 2008 Spotify has grew rapidly, available in 58 markets, upwards of 75 million active users of which over 20 million are paying subscribers, all with access to over 30 million songs. Subscribed users pay a fee of £9.99 a month which allows for ad free listening, highest quality audio and it allows the user to create and download playlists for offline listening. Each time a user streams a song Spotify pay the rights holders royalties. Currently Spotify are paying 70% of their overall revenue to rights holders and have paid out more than $3 Billion USD in royalties to date. SWOT analysis Spotify’s biggest weakness is that artists argue they are not being paid fairly, the average amount the artist earns per stream is $0.007 as appose to £12 for an album. Taylor Swift’s decision to leave Spotify generated a lot of bad press damaging their reputation. Spotify’s argument is that they are paying the rights holders a fair price but it’s the record labels who are not paying artists fairly. Also they claim that paying subscribers are paying on average more on music monthly than if they were to pay for downloads and physical copies. Another weakness is that 90% of Spotify’s revenue is generated by paying...
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...If there has been no alerts, the selected rule set was set may not have been enabled by the user. Another scenario where alerts may not occur is when another task is being performed. According to (Roesch, 1999) when alerting is unnecessary or inappropriate, such as when network penetrations tests are being performed. 2. If we only went to a few web sites, why are there so many alerts? Snort IDS performs numerous functions that would generate an alert. Alerts are generated based on any suspicious network activity. Although a user may have only visited 5 sites, snort may have generated 12 or more alerts that were generated due to anomalies detected from the 5 sites visited. 3. What are the advantages of logging more information to the alerts file? The advantage of logging additional information within the alerts file is that it can provide additional information as to the origination or source of what caused the alert. If the administrator is better informed on the sources of any anomalies or suspicious activity, he/she can make adjustments to prevent the known source from continuing to make unwarranted attempts to access the network. 4. What are the disadvantages of logging more information to the alerts file? One of the disadvantages of logging more information is that if that information was compromised by an outside threat, the information could...
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...potential customers are insulted and potential and current employees are unhappy with the association. One individual makes a fault, the entire company is threatened and this is bad for the reputation of the firm. Desired Outcomes – A desired outcome for Dewey Ballantine LLP is for this case to go away as quickly as possible. Another desired outcome would be an apology in front of the press and the student associations. Possible Solutions – The first strategy that Dewey Ballantine can do is to set out aside counsel to take a look and also communicate its opinions about the firm to the public. This could be an advantage to how the firm can improve it-self to show it is progressive with issues. The disadvantage would be that people especially Chinese won’t believe the response is adequate. The second strategy that Dewey could do is to play it off as a joke. The advantage of this would be that some people would accept that dogs are eaten and empathized with Mr. Getter for saying something like that. The disadvantage would be that some people could be self-centered and be offended by such an attempt and would be still upset; putting Dewey Ballantine LLP in a worse...
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...CASE: Oilwell Cable Company, Inc. Question 1: The advantage of proceeding without passing it by the team is that the process will be much faster and somewhat cheaper. Norm runs considerable risk, however, if he does not discuss the microprocessor decision with his production team. If he does not pass the decision by the team, they may assume that it is a management attempt to reduce the size of the work force. The case makes it clear that the company depends on a small, loyal workforce. If even one of them becomes disgruntled, it could have significant impact on the quality and productivity of the plant. This decision, because it, in fact, will not displace workers, seems well within the comfort zone of the team. An old adage says that you do not ask a question unless you are prepared to hear the answer. It is entirely possible that the team, mindful of recent cutbacks, will think that this improvement is really about cutting more jobs and turn it down. Another possibility is that they may delay implementation by asking for further study, or suggesting alternate solutions. As noted in the previous question, they can think that regardless of whether they are asked for an opinion or not. The advantage of asking is that the issues are out in the open, and management maintains the loyalty of the employees. Based on the description of the company and their success, halting this improvement seems a small price to pay for the support of the employees. Management...
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...Integrative Case Analysis – Competitive Strategy eHarmony Industry Structure and Value Creation/Capture From times immemorial, with the possible exception of Adam and Eve (whose marriage was probably made in heaven anyway), finding a life partner on Earth has been a difficult task. Wars have been waged, monuments erected and kingdoms won and lost, in partner-acquisition endeavors. People have used numerous techniques, institutions, practices and systems over time to try to perfect the art of finding a partner that they could be happy with. Yet no system is universally accepted as a formula for success. The Internet in the mid-to-late 1990’s offered the promise of making the partner search process more efficient, quicker (for some), less onerous, and less emotionally draining than other means. This led to the creation of a new Industry – the Online Personals Industry – which I would define as “a collection of online services built specifically to cater to the needs of those looking online for a relationship partner, whether for marriage or long-or-short-term companionship”. By leveraging the power of faster communication, access to a large number of candidates and intelligent learning systems to suggest possible matches, online personals sites had an opportunity to carve out a non-trivial share of the matchmaking or partner-finding “market”. Technology had the additional benefit of bringing together people from distant geographies (I have a Chinese-American friend who met...
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...sculptures and installations. Donovan, whose work is composed of everyday objects like pencils and toothpicks, has explained, "It's all about perceiving this material from a distance and close up and how the light interacts with it." View more of the artist's work at pacegaUery.com. S R T G IS STUCK. For too long the business world an inflection point. Thefieldof strategy needs to acT AE Y has been obsessed with the notion of building a sus- knowledge what a multitude of practitioners already tainable competitive advantage. That idea is at the know: Sustainable competitive advantage is now the core of most strategy textbooks; it forms the basis exception, not the rule. Transient advantage is the of Warren Buffett's investment strategy; it's central new normal. to the success of companies on the "most admired" lists. I'm not arguing that it's a bad idea—obviously, The Anatomy of a Transient Advantage it's marvelous to compete in a way that others can't Any competitive advantage—whether it lasts two imitate. And even today there are companies that seasons or two decades—goes through the same create a strong position and defend it for extended...
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