Beruflich Dokumente
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Business-Level Strategy
Developing a firm-specific business model
that will allow a company to gain
competitive advantage over its rivals in a
market or industry
Customers needs
Customer groups
Distinctive competencies (how customers
need will be satisfied)
2
E. g. Wal-Mart, Huawei
7
11
Differentiation Advantages:
Dealing with the 5 Forces
Customers develop brand loyalty
Powerful suppliers are not a problem because the
company is geared more toward the price it can charge
than its costs
Differentiators can pass price increases on to customers
13
Differentiation Disadvantages
Difficulty in maintaining long-term
distinctness in customers eyes
Agile competitors can quickly imitate
Patents and first-mover advantage are limited
14
Scale-efficient plants.
Access to capital. Process
Design for manufacture.
engineering skills. Frequent
Control of overheads &
reports. Tight cost control.
R&D. Avoidance of
Specialization of jobs and
marginal customer
functions. Incentives for
accounts.
quantitative targets.
DIFFERENTIATION
Emphasis on branding
Marketing. Product
and brand advertising,
engineering. Creativity.
design, service, and
Product R&D
quality.
Qualitative measurement
and incentives. Strong
cross-functional
coordination.
15
WTP MBA
Teaching or research
focus?
Electives?
Rote or applied
learning?
Bureaucratic, rulebased or
autonomous
policies?
Standardized or
customized exams?
16
19
Type of customer
Y-Films
Body Shop
Snapdeal v. Purpleswarms
21
Focus Advantages
The focuser is protected from rivals to the extent it can
provide a product or service they cannot
Body Shop v. LOreal
Red Bull
Focus Disadvantages
The focuser is at a disadvantage with regard to powerful
suppliers because it buys in small volume (but it may be able to
pass costs along to loyal customers)
Because of low volume, a focuser may have higher costs than a
low-cost company
The focusers niche may disappear because of technological
change or changes in customers tastes
Portfolio risk
Physical data storage v. cloud computing
Diet companies, health fads