Samsung Competitive Advantage

Competitive environments are defined by the identity, track record, financial strength and market share of key competitors. Harvard Professor Michael Porter 's Five Forces model can be used to evaluate a company 's competitive position. These five forces are barriers to entry (the ability of new players to enter the market), buyer power (the ability of customers to influence price),

The competition has been analyzed by using Porter’s Five Forces Model. By gathering an analysis of the threats that can come from competitive rivalry, potential new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and substitutes, Company G can be better compared to its competitors.

1. Does Samsung have a competitive advantage? If so, how are they creating added-value compared to industry competitors? Make sure to quantify your claims. (In answering this question, you will find helpful information in exhibits 6-7k (but not only there)).

Porter’s model aims to enable managers not only to understand their industry environment but also to shape their firm’s strategy. The five competitive forces are threat of entry, power of suppliers, power of buyers, threat of substitutes, and rivalry among existing competitors. “As a rule of thumb, the stronger the five forces, the lower the industry’s profit potential- making the industry less attractive to competitors. The weaker the five forces, the greater the industry’s profit potential – making the industry more attractive” (Rothaermel, 2013, p. 65). It is recommended that managers position their company in an industry in such a way that relaxes the constraints of strong forces and

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

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

This study seeks to examine the market structure and strategy of Samsung Company analyzing its micro-environmental level as well as SWOT analysis. In this regard, it is worth pointing out that Samsung is a well-established company. It manufactures different electronics products including home appliances and smartphones. It has been on the market since 1969. Its electronics division has 169 subsidiaries and affiliates, which are divided into three to include Consumer Electronics, Information Technology & Mobile Communications, and Device Solutions division (Samsung 2016, 2). In this precept, consumer Electronics focuses on advanced technology, exclusive design and significant offers for presenting new products such as TV, Refrigerator, Air Conditioner, and Medical equipment among other products. Information Technology & Mobile Communications division, on the other hand, produces mobile handset and customer friendly communication products. The Device Solutions in the same dictum division focuses on display pane and semiconductor products. The company has grown globally, and establishes outlets in different parts of the world, including the U.K.

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.

This essay attempts to identify and analyse Samsung’s key features in their operations management. Operations Management is defined as the process where resources, flowing within a defined system (Kumar & Suresh 2009), are combined and transformed in a controlled manner to add value. These incorporate elements such as products, processes, technology, and equipment or quality control systems (Garrido, Martín-Peña & García-Muiña 2007, p. 2119). In addressing these elements the essay wishes to capture, which of these influence Samsung’s abilities successfully to obtain their competitive priorities (Garrido, Martín-Peña & García-Muiña 2007, p. 2120) and process strategies.

Porter (1980) identified some competitive forces that shapes and fosters competition in a market and determines the inherent long run attractiveness of a market. He also said that, this analytical tool could be effectively used to understand the industry level situation. However, the findings based on the Porter's model clarify that, the company has strong competitive situation now in the UK as ASDA has strong rivals like; Tesco, Sainsbury's, Morrisons etc.

While viewing Porter’s Competitive Strategy Model, I believe that Apple has differentiated its products from that of the competition. When Apple became the leader in its industry, they did not branch out and try and start new products outside of their norm. They kept with the computers and then ventured into the phones and tablets before any other company. They looked to differentiate the products that they offered to their customers from any other company in their industry. Over time it allowed them to set prices such as the OS X Lion to almost $100 cheaper than

Porter’s five model is defined as the framework that evaluate the position of a company in the external environment with focus drawn on the level of competitiveness (Roy 2011). The framework considers factors such as rivalry, substitute goods, the power of suppliers and buyers as well as new entrants. Four forces can influence the success of Michael Kors. The first one is competitive rivalry. Here, the struggle is about maintaining performance despite different tactics used by different companies to increase sales. For instance, Ralph Lauren uses premium prices for quality products to differentiate itself, while Coach uses product variety within the line of handbags to remain competitive (Stewart 2016). Also, when the industry is flooded with similar companies producing similar merchandise, the probability of a company stagnating is high because consumers have a variety to pick from. Hence, the need to establish loyal customers.

51]. The model suggests a successful businesses strategy to wart-off competition by careful application of an “environmental analysis”. The Porter model proposes five elemental strategic defenses against five potential forces: threat of new entrants, rivalry among competitive firms, bargaining power of suppliers, bargaining power of buyers, and the threat of substitution products.

Successful use of the Porter Model Analysis includes identifying the sources of competition, the strength and likelihood of that competition existing, and strategic recommendations for the action a company should take to develop barriers to the various forms of competition (Prahalad and Gary, 1990). With the realization about intensity and power of competitive forces, organizations can develop options to influence them in a way that improves their own competitive position. The result could be a new strategic option, e.g. a new positioning; differentiation for competitive products of strategic partnerships.

Porter’s Five Forces model is used to evaluate the degree of rivalry between competitors in a given industry through assessing the four forces that lead to this outcome. These forces are the threat of new entrants, the bargaining power of suppliers, the bargaining power of buyers, and the threat of substitute products.