The Five Forces Model of Evaluating Business Segments by Michael Porter

All these advancements by the IT team of M&S are aimed at encouraging customers to use technology to spend more money at M&S.

Walmart establishes strategic alliances with most of its suppliers, offering the possibility of bulk purchases and long-term return for the lowest possible prices. Moreover, Walmart improved its supply chain by building communication networks with its suppliers to improvise material flow with low

Coping with business growth and expansion – While companies are acquiring others at a rapid rate of speed to drive growth for businesses, these companies are letting their information management systems lag behind in growth.

From the case narrative, it is clear that Bpm, being a small company, is facing a serious challenge in making the decision on whether to focus on entering the US CRM market. Apparently, the CRM market, with its headquarters now in Boston, seems highly promising for any firm that intends to go global. Currently, entering the US market, although seemingly lucrative, is a difficult endeavor considering that the US market is highly dominated by tech giants such as Oracle, Microsoft, and Salesforce. To succeed in the market, Katherine Kostereva, the company CEO notes that she must dig deep into the company’s financial kit since a successful entry will require the company to cope with the looming competition from established companies. Kostereva is interested in industry that is dominated by exceptionally performing companies such as Microsoft and Oracle. She has to weigh sides and decide wisely since the possibilities of emerging competitive enough are slim. These rivals have enough resources to engage the company in unfair competition and eventually eject it out ruthlessly.

In 1945, Sam Walton opened his first variety store and in 1962, he opened his first Wal-Mart Discount City in Rogers, Arkansas. Now, Wal-Mart is expected to exceed “$200 billion a year in sales by 2002 (with current figures of) more than 100 million shoppers a week…(and as of 1999) it became the first (private-sector) company in the world to have more than one million employees.” Why? One reason is that Wal-Mart has continued “to lead the way in adopting cutting-edge technology to track how people shop, and to buy and deliver goods more efficiently and cheaply than any other rival.” Many examples exist throughout Wal-Mart’s history including its use of networks, satellite communication, UPC/barcode adoption and more. Much of the technology

While looking over the history of Best Buy it has been found that they have had great success in the electronics retail business. They did a great job realizing what businesses they needed to cut off from the company and what companies to acquire that would help with productivity and revenue. This accomplish was realized when Best buy was able to use Geek Squad to complete all of there services. It is important for a company to realize a conflict between a certain groups in the company and take care of any issues

Unifying operational functions of a vertically integrated company delivers specific advantages. Technology allows organizations to fully leverage the benefits of collaboration. An integrated business system will allow business leaders to redesign workflows, processes and organizational structures to drive better efficiency, quality and decision-making. The collaboration of logistics, operations, production and administration can improve a company’s business agility. Timely data, validated reports and real-time monitoring enable better cost control, financial oversight and enterprise planning. Strategic planning can increase overall performance of personnel, maintenance, scheduling and

We are in an era in which technology and information-sharing platforms have given buyers and consumers more information about products and services than ever before. There is a new power dynamic between companies and customers in which buyers no longer need organizations to help them make a purchase decision. As the competitive landscape continues to change, business leaders will need a new process for overcoming challenges and a new mindset to find success.

The system allows to company to modernize its strategies and processing more efficiently than its competitors

4. Relations with Suppliers- Wal-Mart has in place a system that helps to achieve their goal of lower prices. This Information Technology system includes computers, networking, and internet that cuts inventories and waste and helps with speedy delivery. This system also helps Wal-Mart to keep in constant contact with suppliers by transferring the data that suppliers need so they know what Wal-Mart needs. Wal-Mart also works with suppliers to improve their production and squeezes the best prices out of its supplier. The video referred to Wal-Mart as the customer’s agent. All of this focus Wal-Mart puts on suppliers reduces costs and lowers prices. Wal-Mart’s technological/logistical leadership remains unmatched by competitors (Web, 2005).

In today’s environment, it is extremely essential for retailers to embrace technology in the course of their businesses. This is mainly because a significant number of consumers can be attracted and accessed through technological measures. It is essential to appreciate the fact that data, infrastructure and e-commerce software form the basis of United Parcel Service’s technological superiority. All these tools play a pivotal role in supporting the company’s e-commerce strategy and the company’s business strategy as a whole. One of the key attributes of United Parcel Service is its commitment to investing in researching emerging technologies. This gives it an exceptionally competitive advantage. United Parcel Service (UPS) consistently seeks to embrace technologies that that enhance the company’s efficiency (Russell Baker, 2008). The company’s commitment to technological advancement made the company appear in InternetWeek’s top 100 companies in 2004 (Russell Baker, 2008). On the other hand, InfoWorld ranked the company as the seventh company with the most significant contribution to technological infrastructure.

With the global marketplace becoming increasingly competitive and the insatiable appetite for business information, the volume of data that must be managed and assimilated is growing at an exponential rate. Global corporations take advantage of the current technologies, and infrastructures, require standard processes, consistent data to enable global consolidation and the ability to transform raw data into business intelligence to support better decision making.

It also helped companies to consider an alternate ways to spot opportunities that will give add value and competitive advantage in business in order to capture the market demand. The issue arise from my own perspective is whether BOS can be reliable for the long term success of the companies. How company want to sustain their high performance and success by focusing more on the uncontested market space rather than competing in overcrowded industries.

BP developed an ‘eBusiness Strategic Intent’. It was based on the use of eBusiness tools in an ad hoc manner to a degree that would benefit both employees and the stockholders. A proactive change was not considered revolutionary unless the real forces of such technology gave way to new business models and

Organizations need to use adequate information to check the status of business activities as well as to make informed business decisions (Martin et al., 1998). According to their tasks, managers must have the adequate information and the ability to analyze and evaluate alternatives in the light of the goal sought. This information comes from different internal and external sources and their credibility is crucial to provide an adequate knowledge (Joyce, 1993).