Information Technology, Competitiveness And Coordination Effect The Agribusiness Sector

Managers generally consider the rivalry among competitors as a major source for deriving strategy. As explained by the Michael Porter it is a narrow view of competition. A set of other parameters should be evaluated, mentioned in article as five competitive forces, along with industry

This paper will discuss how an information system is critical to the business process of an organization and how the information has impacted the organization 's structure.

These multi- national corporations are selling the idea that food is still coming from farms and ranches yet it is being manufactured and matured by means of chemicals like ethylene. (Kenner, Robert 2009). They have created factories with assembly lines

FFA and 4-H are non-profit organizations that allow young children to learn the fundamentals to agriculture as well as the values of responsibility and work ethics. Some of the livestock feeds that Coryell Feed and Supply provides such as Purina and Economy. “The prices for Purina we can not adjust much, due to the company Purina has set minimums that are their purchase prices. However, the Economy brand we are able to be more flexible with for they do not have a set sells minimum” stated Mr. Bay. A bag of Purina oats will normally cost around thirteen dollars while a bag of Economy feed can be under ten dollars a bag depending on the livestock it is intended for”(Mr. Bay). Coryell Feed and supply distribution is to the local area, however, they do not make deliveries customers must come pick up their feed and supplies themselves. “If a customer calls and states that they wish to purchase a certain amount of a product we will have it counted and set aside for them, and once they arrive it is our pleasure to load it for them” said Mr. Bay. Their target market is the niche of the agricultural industry with farmers and ranchers and the hunting community. The market segmentation that is being used for Coryell Feed and Supply is farmers, ranchers and lawn and

Kudler Fine Foods (Kudler), a gourmet shop, has recently decided to add organic produce to its product line up and implement a catering service. Actuating this business venture will affect Kudler 's suppliers, employees, and consumers. The focus of this paper is to explore how changes in technology have created business opportunities for Kudler, identify the strategy that Kudler should pursue, explore some of the tactics the organization should implement to realize the strategy, and review the role of management.

Portray the competitive strategy of the (competing) firms using the grid of “strategic target” and “source of competitive advantage”.

To develop such strategy mix of strategic options will be applied including Integration to deal with competition and Intensive + Diversification strategies for product and market development.

Furthermore, this particular topic helps the business world in so many ways. Competitiveness, Strategy, and Productivity are the three important characteristics of any business. Competitiveness in this chapter refers to the effectiveness of an organization in the marketplace similar to the other operations that offer familiar products or services. Strategy is known to denote a particular plan for achieving

Strategic Alliance is the collaboration of two companies who came together to implement an idea that will benefit both parties (Strategic alliance, 2009). It is crucial that both parties understand what’s really at stake in order to make their partnership successful. In this paper, the writer took the time to analyze a partnership between Subway restaurants and Coca-Cola products. In addition, we will look at the economic benefit for each company. When dealing with businesses there is a potential for ups and downs during the operations process. The author will examine this collaboration between Subway and Coca-Cola while using Porter’s Five Forces framework including a PESTEL (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental and Legal) analysis of these two companies.

 In general, manager’s look at competition has been too narrow. There is a broad set of competitors that need to be looked at, which are described in “The Five Competitive Forces That Shape Strategy” by Michael E. Porter. The model explains that there are several other forces in the competition for profits that the strategist should be aware of when forming a stagey. Those forces determine the profitability of the industry and are the most important to look at when you are forming a strategy. These five forces are are the “industry structure” model which contain: New Entrants, Suppliers, Buyers, Substitutes, and Existing Competitors.

Q：Large numbers of companies are using their information systems as a strategic tool to improve their competitive advantage. Choose one of these companies (Toyota or Wal-Mart) and prepare an essay of 1500 words on: a) how information systems are used strategically by the company to gain a competitive advantage b) discuss if it is possible for the company to maintain this advantage in the future.

Competitive strategy is the moves and methods that the firm has taken and is taking to appeal buyers, improve its market position, and to endure competitive pressures. The strategy is about what a firm’s capability to try to knock off competitors and attain competitive advantage, which can be offensive or defensive. There are three approaches to competitive strategy, which are low-cost leadership strategy where struggling to be the overall low-cost manufacturer in the in industry. Moreover, pursuing to distinguish one’s product offering from competitors (differentiation strategy), and the last one is focus or niche strategy where aiming on thin portion of the market rather than the whole market (Porter, 1998).

Matching Collective and Competitive Strategies Author(s): Rudi K. F. Bresser Source: Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 9, No. 4 (Jul. - Aug., 1988), pp. 375-385 Published by: John Wiley & Sons Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/2486272 Accessed: 03/05/2010 19:55

With the idea of activity mapping, Porter (1996) builds on his ideas of generic strategy and the value chain to describe strategy implementation in more detail. Competitive advantage requires that the firm's value chain be managed as a system rather than a collection of separate parts. Positioning choices determine not only which activities a company will perform and how it will configure individual activities, but also how they relate to one another. This is crucial, since the essence of implementing strategy is in the activities - choosing to perform activities differently or to perform different activities than rivals. A firm is more than the sum of its activities. A firm's value chain is an interdependent system or network of activities, connected by linkages. Linkages occur when the way in which one activity is performed affects the cost or effectiveness of other activities. Linkages create tradeoffs requiring optimization and coordination.

“Competitive strategy involves positioning a business to maximize the value of the capabilities that distinguish it from its competitor’s” (Porter 1980:47). A successful business plan requires first and foremost the formation of an appropriate strategy. Through the implementation of a suitable strategy, the company is able to obtain its own industry niche and gain an understanding of its customers (Porter 1985). Whichever strategy is adopted it must be adequately integrated within the firms goals and missions to achieve a competitive advantage (Parker and Helms 1992).