Competitive Advantage

* Where difficult customer behaviour may arise and where it would be considered a risk

I believe that the United States has opportunities that will help increase the national competitive advantage that it has over other countries in the world because the United States is finding ways to manufacture goods at a high rate to satisfy the needs of the consumer. I find that businesses such as Honda and Toyota have to compete at a high level in order to attract the services of the consumer who is looking to buy a new car that they feel they are wanting to have for a long while. They will usually innovate with new car models that will necessarily have new features that the predecessor before it didn't have and will be able to negotiate a deal with the consumer to buy it. I find that companies will use under-handed techiques to try and

The company markets its unique products to youth markets which it feels are underrepresented and inadequately reached by its competitors. The company uses innovative and creative, and it effectively set Jones Soda apart from the competition. By allowing consumers to assist in package design, Jones Soda became a brand that concerned itself more with the consumer than with the actual product. This has made consumers feel more relevant, has given them a sense of ownership over the brand, and has encouraged customer loyalty. Due the field is so competitive with several ways to stay competitive in their designated field. Through distribution, brand name, brand image, price, labeling and packaging, advertising, quality of the beverage, and new ideas they have accomplished this. Jones Soda competes for customer appreciation, retail shelf space and for marketing focus by their distributors, who also distribute other beverage brands. Jones Soda currently distributes their products in several retail outlets. These outlets include Barnes and Noble, Panera Bread Company, Cost Plus World Markets, Starbucks and Target Corporation. As well as these mature locations, Jones Soda also distributes to other independent vendors.

In 1980 and later in 1985 Michael Porter wrote two books. First one is “Competitive Strategy” and the second one is “Competitive Advantage” which are emphasized in explaining strategies which guides companies through analyzing themselves in their industries and by that analysis he guides them to choose the best strategy in order to be successful and achieve sustain competitive advantage their existing market. This paper focus on two of Porter's strategies that are “Five Force Analysis” and “Generic Strategies”. These strategies are still using by some of the company, but they are started to be replaced by new approaches. They became outdated for today’s highly competitive marketplace because they only focus on competing in existing market. In 2005, W. Chan Kim and

According to Porter’s competitive forces model, exist five major forces, which managers should analyze, and strategies developed for the company to increase their competitive edge. They are the threat of entry of new competitors and of substitute products or services, the bargaining power of suppliers and customers (buyers), and the rivalry among existing firms in the industry.

As we begin to strategically plan for our business, it is important for us to take a deep dive into our competitive environment to understand where we are strong competitively and where we are weak competitively. An analysis of the forces driving industry competition using M.E. Porter’s Five Forces Model will assist us in determining where the power lies in a business situation as we begin to plan. We must understand how they work in our industry and how they affect our particular situation. Whatever the collective strength of these forces is, our job as the strategists of the organization is to

Michael Porter’s Five Forces Model is a useful tool for such a purpose. The ability of the company to address the Model will be helpful in understanding the strengths of their current market position and their profitability in the industry. This model acts as an analytical tool and examines the competitive environment and identifies the external factors that affect the business. It examines the five forces that drive the industry competition: 1) potential entrants, 2) buyers, 3) suppliers, 4) substitute, and 5) the industry competitors (Lumpkin et al.

In the article, “The Five Competitive Forces that Shape Strategy,” Michael Porter argues that the five forces are an important element for managers and investors in the business industry. Porter stated that it is important to “understand the competitive forces, and their underlying causes” which many companies will use to determine if they will gain profit or not (Porter 80). Companies determine their profitability of the industry through the level of the force that they face. For instance, when the forces are favorable, most companies will be profitable. Porter gives a detail description of the five forces and explains the importance of each force. The five forces are the threats of new entrants, the power of the buyers, the power of the suppliers, the threats of substitute for products or services, and the rivalry among existing competitors. Porter believes that “a company strategist who understands the competition extends well beyond existing rivals will detect wider competitive threats and be better equipped to address them” (Porter 93). In other words, when strategists understand the different forces it will benefit them to make better decisions and to be ready to face the different challenges between competitors. In the article, Porter’s main goal is to present the importance of the five forces to the audience.

Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard Business Review, 86(1),

 Supplier power in the Five Forces Model is high when buyers have few choices to buy from and low when they have many choices. Supplier power is the converse of buyer power. Again, there are two situations in the supply chain where organizations need to be concerned: i) in their relationships with customers; and ii) in their relationships with suppliers. Regarding the relationships with customers, organizations function as suppliers and thus want supplier power to be high. With respect to the relationships with suppliers, organizations function as buyers and therefore want supplier power to be low (see Figure 1.14).

In his article “The five competitive forces that shape strategy“, Michael Porter (2008) updates and extends his “five forces” framework he first introduced in 1979 and which has influenced the academic and business research for decades. He reaffirms that “THREAT OF ENTRY”, “THE POWER OF SUPPLIERS”, “THE POWER OF BUYERS”, THE THREAT OF SUBSTITUTES”, and “RIVALRY AMONG EXISTING COMPETITORS” are the forces that shape every single industry, and a thorough understanding of such forces help analyze everything from the intensity of competition to the profitability and attractiveness of any industry. The framework has two dimensions; the vertical dimension that connects

According to Porter (1985) a company can apply three generic types of strategies to protect itself while competitive force is a key issue of the management. To achieve this position a strategy based on competency must be accomplished

1. What is competitive advantage, and how does it relate to a company’s business model?

I. Introduction 1. There are several basic approaches to competing successfully and gaining a competitive advantage, but they all involve giving buyers what they perceive as superior value compared to the offerings of rival sellers. 2. This chapter describes the five basic competitive strategy option for building competitive advantage and delivering superior value to customers – which of the five to

Competitive advantage is explained by Mahoney and Pandian (1992) as the function of industry analysis, organizational governance and the firm’s effects in the form of resource advantages and strategies. In order for a firm to be competitive it must adapt to the volatile business environment and through strategic management decisions establish a competitive advantage that will ultimately produce superior performance relative to its competitors (Akimova 2000).