Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness Melinda Upchurch Dr. Debra Sherrill Business Administration Capstone May 1, 2014

1. Assess how globalization and technology changes have impacted the corporation you researched.
Blockbuster has evolved throughout the 25 years that the company has been in business. Blockbuster initially provided home videos and video games rentals and throughout the years added DVD rentals, DVD by mail, streaming, video on demand and Cinema Theater. The company merged with Viacom in 1993, but was unsuccessful so Viacom bought Blockbuster for $8.4 billion dollars. Blockbuster also moved business across the globe into the United Kingdom and became the number one video store in the United Kingdom. In the year 2000 Blockbuster turned down the opportunity to purchase Netflix which has become one of the biggest on-demand internets streaming media available to viewers across the globe. Blockbuster was at an all-time high in sales in 2004 employing over 60,000 people with over 9,000 chains of stores. From 2003 to 2005 Blockbuster loses 75% of its market value as competition increases from the likes of Netflix and Redbox. (Marcus, Schaefer 2011) By 2010 the competition from Netflix drove sales for Blockbuster down causing the company to suffer and file for Chapter 11.
Globalization may be defined as the integration of the world’s people, firms and government (Green n.d). Technology has expanded and made everything assessable via internet, which we can now be accessed through computers, laptops, tablets, cell phones, and game systems. With laptops, tablets and cell phones being so mobile, it gives people the opportunity to look at anything on the internet, anywhere at any time which lessens the need of going to a store to purchase or rent DVD’s. With the expansion of technology there are many companies which also include big communication companies such as Time Warner Cable and ATT that cater towards instant video rental. Online companies such as Amazon, Netflix, and Hulu allow customers to pay a one-time fee for a certain time period which allows customers to have access to all movies that the online company provides. Redbox is a company that is still geared towards DVD rentals and reservation. In the most recent years Redbox now offers Instant video play, which allows customers the opportunity to choose to rent movies or play movies instantly for a small monthly fee. Due to the reinvention of how movies can be watched, where movies can be watched and on what system of choice the movie can be watch on, technology has caused Blockbuster to lose its loyal customers because renting from an actual store became pointless due to being able to rent quickly at a smaller location or rent without leaving home. In order for Blockbuster to survive in a world where technology has made it more simple to engage in certain activities such as video renting, Blockbuster needs to join the competition and come up with some type of innovative idea that put that back on the market as number one. 2. Apply the industrial organization model and the resource-based model to determine how your corporation could earn above-average returns.
When applying the Industrial organization model the exterior factors need to be the main focal point to ensure that the above average returns can be produced. Blockbuster needs to analyze what its competition has done to see how those companies have survived through the technological changes, what Blockbuster had to face in order to keep the business running and retain loyal customers. Returns are produced when companies put a plan in places that are based around the characteristics of the overall industry, and other competitor’s environments. Even though Blockbuster has expanded its brand by offering services such as Blockbuster express, on demand, and live streaming companies such as Redbox and Netflix have risen to success leaving taking most of the earning potential away from Blockbuster. Blockbuster needs to come up with some innovative idea to expand on and put in the market to raise potential earnings. At this point since Blockbuster waited too late to join in on the transition to use new technology to offer new services it is critical that Blockbuster comes up with new ideas to establish a more competitive advantage. The Resourced-Based model adopts an internal outlook on how distinctive the company’s internal resources are. Blockbuster provided customers with the opportunity to rent, and purchase the latest movies and video games that were out on the market which is what initially gave the company a competitive advantage over other videos franchises and more profitable. Once new technology began to allow customer to rent movies by mail without the hassle of driving to a location or going into a store, Blockbuster did not initially follow suit and continued to provide customers with the service that the company was best known for. Blockbuster felt as if there was plenty of time to adapt to the change that Netflix and Redbox had started to build popularity from, which made Blockbuster an outdated non useful company to customers. Blockbuster needs assess their strengths and weakness internally to better determine how to utilize the tangible and intangible assets that affect the performance of the company as a whole.

3. Assess how the vision statement and mission statement of the corporation influence its overall success.
The vision statement gives the corporation purpose and it also put in perspective what the company stands for and its value. The vision statement also gives a quick synopsis of what the company would like to accomplish whether it’s within two years or 10 years. Even though the vision statement does not outline a plan just like a business plan does, the statement does serve a purpose because it also allows the employees to achieve the goals with the company and match the behavior to accommodate meeting those goals. As long as the employees can see where the company is headed they will better understand the positions that they hold within the company and that is great motivation to reach the companies goals.
Blockbusters mission has changed and involved due to the most recent changes that the company has made to try and become competitive in the market. The mission statement is as follows:
“Our corporate mission is to provide our customers with the most convenient access to media entertainment, including movie and game entertainment delivered through multiple distribution channels such as our stores, by-mail, vending and kiosks, online and at home. We believe Blockbuster offers customers a value-prices entertainment experience, combining the broad product depth of specialty retailer with local neighborhood convenience. (Farfan, 2014)”
The Blockbuster mission statement is very clear and precise and reflects the companies’ attitude. The mission statement spells out multiple things such as the customers, products or services that will be rendered, the market, technology, and the overall public image. With these things included in the mission statement when reading the mission statement consumers should be able to see the future growth and the direction that the company is headed in. Identifying specifics about the company is very important to the success of the business because it also helps identify the customer’s needs giving the company a competitive advantage. 4. Evaluate how each category of stakeholder impacts the overall success of this corporation.
Stakeholders help prioritize key issues and cultivate corporate responsibilities for the corporation which has a vast impact of the overall success of the company. Capital Market stakeholders invest money into the business and raise money on behalf of the company in order to ensure that the company can maximize productivity. Product market stakeholders are the consumers, merchants, groups and geographical areas where business is conducted and unions that influence Blockbusters performance in an effective manner. Organizational stakeholders are the employees of Blockbuster. A company can’t run without someone to run; without the employees blockbuster would not have been able to expand throughout the country or across the globe.

References
Farfan, B. (2014). Blockbuster company mission statement - media entertainment, local convenience. Retrieved from Retail Industry website: http://retailindustry.about.com/od/retailbestpractices/ig/Company-Mission-Statements/Blockbuster-Mission-Statement.htm

Green, J. (n.d.). How does globalization affect an organization's business approach? Retrieved from Houston Chronicles website: http://smallbusiness.chron.com/globalization-affect-organizations-business-approach-20077.html Marcus, M., & Schaefer, S. (2011, April 07). A timeline: The blockbuster life cycle. Retrieved from Forbes website: http://www.forbes.com/2010/05/18/blockbuster-netflix-coinstar-markets-bankruptcy-coinstar_slide_2.html