Strategic Elements of Competitive Advantage

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.

Thompson, Peteraf, Gamble, and Strickland (2012) found that competitive strategy depend on whether a company’s target market is narrow or broad, and whether a company is seeking competitive advantage through low-cost or product differentiation. These two factors reveal five generic competitive strategies. The five strategies are Overall Low-Cost Provider Strategy, Focused Low-Cost Strategy, Broad Differentiation Strategy, Focused Differentiation Strategy, and Best Cost

24. When a firm offers products with unique features and higher value for customers than that of the

4) able to lower price as well as cost with high market power and high rate of market to compete with potential competitors.

They must have the resources, competencies, and capabilities to attain the competitive advantage. It must develop a value to have a competitive advantage.

Businesses have strived to achieve a competitive advantage in the past by competing in one of two ways:

B – Discuss the generic competitive strategy you selected for your company. Include the following in your discussion: What actions were built into your strategic plan to achieve competitive and financial success with that strategy. Why you selected the strategy you used.

In order to create individual competitive advantage each firm has to develop distinctive competencies, decide on one of the generic strategies and create superior value for its customers. The model of competitive advantage of firms was first established in 1985 by M.E. Porter in his study/book “Competitive Advantage:

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

1- Innovation is important because it allows differentiation from competitors, manufacturing is easier and more flexible, the bar for competition is raised, and there is greater market segmentation.

Product & Pricing. The reason the company has been successful is due to the products and pricing. As far as products and pricing, I

Good business strategies allow a firm to gain and sustain a competitive advantage over its rivals. Broad generic business strategies can have risks and drawbacks. In a broad generic differentiation strategy, firms run the risk of the product becoming commoditized, and the competitors have matched the quality standards of the product, which then shifts the focus to price. Also, firms need to control costs, and if its differentiated features raise costs but not perceived value in the consumer’s minds, they lose their differentiated status, according to Rothaermel (2017). Profit margins are eroded when costs increase. Another risk for a broad generic differentiated or cost-leadership strategy occurs when consumer’s taste change. With a

This involves either marketing or creating an augmented product (Kolter, 2012) that is seen as superior in the eyes of the consumer. By creating this point of difference the firm will not have to exclusively compete on price and be able to either invest in further development of future offerings, resulting in further differentiation or taking a short term approach and garner higher initial profit margins provided the expenses used in procuring the initial differentiation do not come at the expense of profits.

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).

In order to achieve competitive advantage, a firm must perform one or more value-creating activity that is more superior compared to other competitors. Superior value is created through lower costs or superior benefits to the buyers.