Contemporary Issues in Strategic Management

Group 2. Business Level Strategy: How Firms choose to Achieve Competitive Advantage

Purpose
Your presentation is based on Lecture 4 and the aim of your presentation is to explain:

* Porter’s generic strategy framework in terms of:

* How the alternative strategies are achieved * How they position the firm favourably against the five forces in the competitive environment * What are the risks associated with each strategy

* Why Porter thought doing both strategies (stuck-in-the-middle) would result in mediocre performance

* How firms can achieve both strategies and succeed – a hybrid or integrated strategy.

Structure & Content
Your presentation should take about 30 minutes but no longer than 45 minutes.

The questions which you need to answer in order to structure your presentation are taken from the Review Questions (page 114) at the end of Chapter 4 in your textbook (Ireland et al.).

Answer Review Questions: 3, 4 & 5 in your textbook, Ireland et al chapter 4, pg. 114.

To start the Tutorial discussion you must close your presentation by answering the question: Argue why Ireland et al (pg.109) think IKEA is pursuing a focused cost leadership strategy. Do you agree with their conclusion? Assessment Criteria

See the assessment criteria for the group presentation on Moodle. Note, you will gain additional marks for demonstrating the depth of your understanding of the topic. This will be reflected in:

* the accuracy and quality of your explanation * your fluency and command of topic content * the ability to use examples to illustrate your points - examples which are researched by the group, that is not from the lecture or textbook, will gain you additional marks

Reading

Ireland et al. (2013) chapter 4.
Baden-Fuller, C & Stopford,