The Application of Game Theory in Business Strategy

What this means is that their “facilities are organized around a product […]; they have long, continuous process” (Heizer, Render and Munson, p.284). The process is in continuous motion. Anheuser-Busch has a demand and a need to be continuous because they require high volume; “Budweiser and Bud Light, the company’s beers lead numerous beer segments and combined hold 46.4 percent share of the U.S. beer market” (About, n.d.). That is almost half of the entire beer industry is dependent on them. Anheuser-Busch have low variety- although this company has what can be seemingly a variety of products, there are very minimal changes other than slight changes to the recipe that differentiate each family of beers (National Geographic, 4:25, 2011). Meaning that the process is the same the ingredients are what differ. According to the text, “That is to be expected as the attributes change” (Showghi, slide 4,2016). It is still the same product in the end. Because they are producing only beer, they have high fixed costs and low variable cost, they are not making any drastic changes to their product keeping the input the same. Less skilled labor is not part of the equation in this instance; breweries are looking for people with high skills in

Brand plays a key role in the beer-purchasing process, along with taste, price, special occasion,

     In this paper I will be talking about the U.S. beer industry and in short an overview of the brewing industry worldwide. I will talk about the barriers to entry, economies of scale, government intervention, pricing, current market trends, product differentiation, and imports. The focus being mainly on the U.S. brewing industry oligopoly. The U.S. brewing industry has three major players: Anheuser-Busch, SAB Miller, and Coors/Molson. Anheuser-Busch is currently the largest brewer in the world, producing over 100 million barrels a year. Anheuser-Busch currently owns over 50% of the market in the United States, with Miller trailing behind at 20% and Coors at about 11% with the rest of the market occupied by imports and craft breweries. When analyzing any industry, how easy it is for newcomers to enter the market is a great importance. If there are high barriers to entry

In a world where large, corporate breweries rule the market, craft beer is created to please an audience that applauds the styles, techniques and flavors. Though craft beer can be purchased through several different outlets, the best place to thoroughly enjoy the entire experience of the specially made beer is in the brewery where it was made. The article titled, “In Lean Times, a Stout Dream” in The Wall Street Journal1 states that, despite the hard economic times and consequent consumer cutbacks, sales of craft beer, the industry 's fastest-growing segment, rose

Boston Beer’s strategy is primarily focused on growth through differentiation. The sources of its competitive advantage can be classified as a company that provides high quality beer with unique flavors, a market driven approach, and a very efficient contract brewing strategy.

Boston Beer Company Mission statement is to “seek long-term profitable growth by offering the highest quality product to the U.S. beer drinker”

The Boston Beer Company, Inc., founded in 1984, is a leading brewer in United States, offering wide variety of high quality full-flavored, handcraftedbeers. It is distinctive due to the time-honored recipe of brewing and authentic, consistent quality of alcoholic beverages. Samuel Adams Boston Lager is the pride of BBC, regular handcrafted beer “stands for quality, inner self-worth, authenticity, and unique New England or Yankee toughness” ( Martin Roper, Chief Operating Officer). Unfortunately, the company experienced the failure of conquering light beer segment

distributors, brewers and retailers. A change suggested in Grolsch’s historic strategy is not to adapt the market completely in this case because it is an industry that gives importance to the country-of-origin. Markets Targeted: South Africa: Monopoly Market, No.1 SABMiller (Market Share: 98%) Brazil: Occupied by major Brewery Groups. China: Competitive Market. How to Compete: South Africa Brazil China Additional Line with SABMiller Co-Promotion with SABMiller

Anheuser-Busch Companies, Inc. continually seeks opportunities to maximize shareholder value and increase efficiency. Through their extremely effective marketing

In the summer of 2008, InBev NV, a Belgian-based brewing company formed from the merger of InterBrew and AmBev, offered a bid of $46.6 billion to acquire Anheuser-Busch Co to create the world’s largest brewing company at $65 a share. The initial offer was subsequently declined in part because the company felt the offer undervalued the company greatly. InBev later increased their offer to $70 a share and in Mid-July, Anheuser-Busch accepted the offer making the total cost of the deal $54.8 billion dollars. The issue then becomes whether the offer of $70 is justifiable to InBev’s shareholders. The merger brings about two different management styles. The culture at InBev focused on extreme cost-cutting measures and profitable incentive-based compensation programs. However, Anheuser-Busch’s culture differed in that they prided itself on philanthropy, diversity, and community involvement. In addition, this company possessed many luxurious offices and corporate fleet of aircrafts. Furthermore, they invested heavily in advertising, derived most of their profits in the United States, and possessed a lackluster international expansion plan. Issues the financial managers face will be differing business philosophies in regards to marketing (“Grow/Defend/Maintain/Cash” matrix approach vs the large marketing budget of Anheuser-Busch), culture (cost cutting measures vs company perks), and the future of the twelve

Anheuser-Busch Inbev is one of the largest breweries in the world. “Currently, Anheuser-Busch InBev has a product list of more than 200 beers, including global best-sellers Budweiser, Stella Artois, Beck’s, multi-country brands like Leffe and Hoegaarden, and strong “local jewels” such as Bud Light, Skol, Brahma, Quilmes, Michelob, Harbin, Sedrin, Cass, Klinskoye, Sibirskaya Korona, Chernigivske, and Jupiler, among others that have helped to make the company so successful. In addition,

Although sales of premium brands have fallen in a steady response to the growing popularity of the craft beer. The industry revenue has been stable over the past 5 years. As a result, from 2011 to 2016 the industry revenue is expected an increase and growth annually at 6.7 percent over the five years,with a total of $39.5 billion . (IBISWorld iExpert) In the long-term, these numbers are expected that grow 0.9 percent annually within the next five years. The potential growth will be seen in the traditional and premium beer sector. As a response, the giant companies in the industry Anheuser-Busch InBev and MillerCoors look forward into the merges and acquisitions as a strategy to maintain market dominance. The strategy is based on the

Budweiser - The Self Proclaimed, “King of Beers” has been produced by Anheuser-Busch Company Inc., since its introduction in 1876. Anheuser Busch is the largest brewer in the world and produces more than 100 million barrels of beer per year. Budweiser is synonymous with American culture and is known for its significant efforts in promotion. Anheuser -Busch has always put a major focus on marketing and according to Business Insider, “Budweiser was a triumph of marketing over quality, by the 1980’s had become synonymous with American Culture, and is a good part of American Tradition, like going to a baseball game or a college football game” (Business 1). Budweiser has attempted appealing to various audiences with their advertisements. From ratty, to refined, to sporty, to hipster Budweiser has adapted many of its advertisements to its target market of males between 21 and 34 years old, which is the largest population of beer drinkers. They regularly change their look and image through advertising and their commercials to adapt to the current culture. Differences in advertising can clearly be seen in the way Anheuser-Busch has used the changing roles of women from the 1950’s to present, cultural changes in society, and the redirection of their target audience to demonstrate their adaptability to the changing times, but fails to respect women. Anheuser-Busch’s recurring success and continual growth of the their brand is directly related to their ability to adapt to these

Strengths:The largest producer; Improved productivity; strategic with foreign producers; Two independent distribution Weaknesses:Low volume of sales of nonbeer products; Antitrust restrictionOpportunities:Positive volume growth of beer sales; New and attractive market Threats:Rising foreign firms’ competition; Tariffs elimination; Rising imported ingredients cost

|What do you see as the key success factors for firms in the global beer industry? |