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Business Models and Information Systems
“A business strategy is a well articulated vision of where a business seeks to go and how it expects to get there” (Pearlson & Saunders, 2004). An organization’s decisions regarding both organizational and information systems strategies must be governed by this overarching business strategy. The information technology strategy must fit into the business strategy and be reevaluated constantly to ensure the company is meeting its strategic goals. The information systems strategy will both affect, and be affected, by the business strategy. Pearlson and Saunders (2004) discuss two important business models: the Porter generic strategies framework and D’Aveni’s hyper-competition model.
The Porter generic strategies framework can be a useful tool to help managers identify and understand the strategy options available in the search for competitive advantage. Porter (1985) identified three primary strategies that allow a business to obtain this advantage: cost leadership, differentiation, and focus. I feel that this competitive advantage is just as dependent on the competition’s strategy and execution as it is on the organization’s position in the market relative to those competitors.
Porter (1985) contends that the goal of a cost leadership strategy is to be the lowest-cost producer in a particular marketplace. By minimizing the costs associated with doing business the organization is able to obtain above average performance. “To be successful, this strategy usually requires a considerable market share advantage or preferential access to raw materials, components, labor, or some other important input. Without one or more of these advantages, the strategy can easily be mimicked by competitors” (Wikipedia.org, n.d.). The organization must also offer a product or service of comparable quality to its higher cost competition. It is only when the quality of two competing products is comparable that a customer will be able to realize the relative value of the product made by the cost leader. In order for an organization to properly execute a cost leadership strategy it must streamline operations and reduce overhead while decreasing the time it takes to get products from the idea to the customer stages. Proper design and use of information technology systems allow an organization to distribute information, coordinate efforts, share resources, automate processes, and analyze data in order to make the cost leadership strategy a market reality.
“Through differentiation, the organization qualifies its product or service in a way that allows it to appear unique in the marketplace” (Pearlson & Saunders, 2004). The organization identifies the features most important to its customers and then attempts to add value by improving upon or augmenting those facets.
Porter’s generic strategy typology and the Miles and Snow strategy typology are both examples of generic strategic models that a decision maker may find useful (Parnell, 2014). Both generic strategy frameworks explain generic business strategies by utilizing four different strategy types. A few of the strategies may share some common traits, however the frameworks are different in the approach they take to view and describe strategies (Parnell, 2014).
Differentiation: by focusing on those activities associated with core competencies and capabilities in order to perform them better than do competitors. The key point of this strategy is to create something that customers feel as being unique.
Porter (1997) suggests in order to gain competitive advantages in the changing business environment, it is essential to design a generic strategy for the business: product differentiation or cost leadership. The competitive strategy is determined at round 2, when recognised our rivals held whole product profile which was the product differentiation strategy. To differentiate our strategy from rivals for competitive advantages, Digby designed to imply the cost
Differentiation through marketing strategies, this is a form of innovation driven by the need to create a superior brand (Sadler, 2003).
Arthur, A., Thompson, Margaret, A., Peteraf, John, E. Gamble, A., J., Strickland III. (2014). Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage 19e: Concepts & Cases. C6-C25.
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 86(1), 25-40.
Introduction The model of the Five Competitive Forces was developed by Michael E. Porter in his book "Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors" in 1980. Since that time, it has become an important tool for analyzing an organizations industry structure in strategic processes. Porters model is based on the insight that a corporate strategy should meet the opportunities and threats in the organizations external environment. In particular, competitive strategy should be based on an understanding of industry structures and the way they change.
Porter, Michael E. "From competitive advantage to corporate strategy." Harvard Business Review (1987): 43-59. Print. May 2014.
Narrow focus on limited value chain activities, competitor’s pricing war and lack of differentiation parity can erode the competitive advantage associated with cost leadership strategy. Similarly, imitation of differentiating features by competition and lack of perceived value of the differentiating features can erode the competitive advantage associated with differentiation strategy.
A generic strategy is a ‘core idea about how a firm can best compete in the marketplace (Pearce & Robinson, p.195, 2011)’. In order to competitive, firms must be able to control their costs and create differentiation with their products and services. Cost control within an organization applies to several areas. In the case of Alexander Mann Solutions, it will apply to operational expenses, such as salaries as well as fixed costs. One of the advantages of controlling costs is the ability to provide services at a lower cost and still benefit from the higher profit margins. Unfortunately Alexander Mann Solutions has not been able to create effective strategies enabling organizational costs to be at a
Both Porter and Miles and Snow’s strategy typologies are based on the concept of strategic equifinality, or the ability for firms to be successful via differing managerial strategies (Hambrick, 2003, p. 116). Porter 's strategy is more generic while Miles and Snow’s is more specific in nature. Porter’s generic strategy typology is based on economic factors centering on the source of a firm’s competitive advantage and the scope of a firm’s target market (González-Benito & Suárez-González, 2010). Porter’s typology emphasizes a firm’s cost, product differentiation or non-differentiation and market focus. When utilizing Porter’s strategy typology, a firm must first decide to target its products toward the mass market versus a market niche or focus. Secondly, a firm will determine if it wishes to minimize costs or differentiate its products with differentiation meaning that firms will most likely forego lower costs (Parnell, 2014, p. 184). This can lead a firm to develop a myriad of strategies between these options. Strategies which may have or not have focus, may or not be differentiated, may or not be low cost or any combination of strategies. In contrast to Porter, Miles and Snow’s typology is more specific in nature.
In the modern world of conducting business, any company that wishes to succeed must differentiate its products or services from others in the industry. Differentiation makes it possible for consumers to point out notable differences between one company’s products as compared to those of competitors. Differentiation helps companies build brand loyalty as the uniqueness keeps customers fixed on a particular product. BMW is one of the most popular automakers in the world today. It definitely uses differentiation as a strategy to beat off competition by building products that are innovative, detailed and incomparable to those of competitors.
The three alternative strategies are: cooperative strategy: strategy alliance (focus on joint venture), international strategy: transnational strategy, and differentiation strategy: integration cost leadership and differentiation strategy. After we have finished on doing those three alternative strategies’ evaluation and selection, we agreed on using the differentiation strategy: integrated cost leadership and differentiation strategy (hybrid strategy) as the strategic alternative for Harley Davidson. In the next couple paragraphs we are going to discuss in detail how to implement the integrated cost leadership and differentiation strategy and action planning for Harley Davidson. The integrated cost leadership strategy and differentiation strategy is the business level strategy that most of managerial people consider as the hybrid strategy (www.ccsenet.org). The hybrid strategy has become the most important and successful strategy that attracted many organizations to choose and implement this particular strategy. As global competition keeps on increases, it is crucial for each organization starts to think about building its own economic of scale, lower production costs while developing on its innovative products or services for
This strategy emphasizes the use of an organization’s resources and capabilities to achieve a core competence that cannot be imitated by competitors. Furthermore, the resource based school argues that if an organization distinctively improves its internal capability; that is being able to have effective inside machinery to deliver products and services to customers, the organization will enjoy a massive advantage in the market. This school also argues that in order to have a competitive advantage, an organization must have resource and capabilities that are sophisticated to those of competitors (QuickMBA, 2010).
Cost leadership strategy involves the business winning the market share by appealing to cost-conscious and price-sensitive consumers. This is achieved when you have the lowest prices in the target market. The lowest price of value ratio (price compared to what consumers receive). To be successful at offering the lowest price while still achieving profitability and a high return on investment, the business must be able to operate at a lower cost than its competitors. There are three main ways to achieve this.