Goodbye My Blog

hello everyone, 

        This is probably my last or second to the last post on this page.. As we have approached the end of the semester and the class has come to an end.  I will like to thank all my viewers for making this really interesting for me. I have learned the required material for the class, i think I'm going to be a good business practitioner out there, with the effective business strategies I have learnt from this course MANAGEMENT 406. The class was really interesting, thanks to my professor Ms. Jelena Zivkovic who made the course lively, interesting and worth learning. thank you everyone. I will really miss my blog :( 

competitive advantage and strategy

here is an example of one of the strategies a company (McDonald) used. Its a funny video though, but still sends out a message. ENJOY!

MORE ON COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE: A competitive framework

HP HEWLETT PACKARD

HP an abbreviation for Hewlett Packard is a company that specializes in the production of laptops, printers, mobiles and networks. Etc.

HP MISSION STATEMENT is; "To provide products, services and solutions of the highest quality and a good reputation

 HP operates in other businesses such as

   Information optimization

  Converged cloud solutions

deliver more value to our customers that earns their respect and loyalty."

HP VISSION STATEMEMNT; "To view change in the market as an opportunity to grow; to use our profits and our ability to develop and produce innovative products, services and solutions that satisfy emerging customer needs." 

It meets the needs of its stake holders through its objectives by..

There product is valuable therefore tends to provide loyal customers

Durability; Hp is known for producing durable laptops

Providing more service and solutions lead to market leadership

They are committed to their employees

They appear responsible and loved by mostly all the customers that purchase their product.

Popular: HP is known worldwide and has

   They also sell other products like printers e.t.c

HP seek to achieve competitive advantage through the following.

Uplifting its leadership status through its operating business

Try to avoid risks by doing other business such as cloud computing

They should use advantages such as cost advantage through the large economies of scale.

SWOT analysis for HP

STRENGHT:

a) lots of  money: HP has enough money to do more, bring in new ideas, seek new ideas, hire professionals. HP is capable of hiring good professionals to set them back on track because they are financially stable.

b) Linkages penetration and reputation; HP is an influential organisation, more so people see HP as a responsible company. They are in a good position.

c) Software expertise; HP is known to be experts in their productions i.e the software part, they have various applications. And they have a printer e.t.c Besides HP is a leading software firm.

d) Good brand equality.

WEAKNESSES:

a) Leadership problem; HP has a problem with their leadership. That is, it lacks internal management.

b) Late entry into market: with HPs late entry into market eg networking and mobiles, they started producing mobiles really late.

c) Competition: HP is all about competition and not corporation in the organization.

d) Sackings and layoff of the employees

e) poor innovation

OPPORTUNITIES:

Reputation: HPs reputation is good, HP is fast evolving.

Imaging and printing; HP is known for printing

Product diversification; can also divers their products

Initiative; highly initiative on people and future investors

THREATS

a) Competition; almost every business threat is competition, for HP, they have apple to compete with

b) Late entry into networking and mobiles.

c) Supply disruptions and recall of product like piracy. E.t.c.

 The rationale behind HP’s changes in the scope of its business activities over the last decade – its business level strategy.

HP, which is really known for production of pc, is now gradually changing or moving from PC to networking and phones etc.

Back then, mainframes where shunned for PC which affected the IT as at then. HP also suffered from his change.  It focused on providing services. Personal computers then became slow profit providers because their demand was low, it was a tablet era. HP did not respond adequately to the transformation. HP then decided to enter the tablet business jus like IBM entered PC. They used this strategy by looking at what IBM did.

 The reasons for and against the decision to exit PC manufacturing which contributed to the departure of the last CEO Leo Apotheker

the reasons were.. the personal computer was already a dying industry because of tablets just as though it was to set out mainframes.

b) Also new challenge may arise which will inspire HP’s ranks.

 REASONS AGAINST; considering HPs problems and history it is not sure if there will be any major change or shift from where HP really is.

COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE

Competitive advantage is defined as the strategic advantage one business entity has over its rival entities within its competitive industry. Achieving competitive advantage strengthens and positions a business better within the business environment.

      Competitive advantage seeks to address some of the criticisms of comparative advantage. Michael Porter proposed the theory in 1985. Competitive advantage theory suggests that states and businesses should pursue policies that create high-quality goods to sell at high prices in the market. Porter emphasizes productivity growth as the focus of national strategies. Competitive advantage rests on the notion that cheap labor is ubiquitous and natural resources are not necessary for a good economy. The other theory, comparative advantage, can lead countries to specialize in exporting primary goods and raw materials that trap countries in low-wage economies due to terms of trade. Competitive advantage attempts to correct for this issue by stressing maximizing scale economies in goods and services that garner premium prices (Stutz and Warf 2009).

        Competitive advantage occurs when an organization acquires or develops an attribute or combination of attributes that allows it to outperform its competitors. These attributes can include access to natural resources, such as high grade ores or inexpensive power, or access to highly trained and skilled personnel human resources. New technologies such as robotics and information technology either to be included as a part of the product, or to assist making it. ' Information technology has become such a prominent part of the modern business world that it can also contribute to competitive advantage by outperforming competitors with regard to internet presence. From the very beginning, i.e. Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations, the central problem of information transmittal, leading to the rise of middle-men in the marketplace, has been a significant impediment in gaining competitive advantage. By using the internet as the middle-man, the purveyor of information to the final consumer, businesses can gain a competitive advantage through creation of an effective website, which in the past required extensive effort finding the right middle-man and cultivating the relationship.

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product life cycle video

self explanatory!

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE

PRODUCT LIFE CYCLE AND ITS STAGES
1. Introduction stage
2. Growth stage 
3. Maturity stage 
4. Decline stage

1. In the introduction stage, sales are small and the rate of market penetration is low because the industry's products are little known and customers are few, the novelty of the technology, small scale of production, and lack of experience means high ross and low quality. customers for new products tend to be affluent, innovation-orientes, and risk-tolerant.
2. The growth stage is characterized by accelerating market penetration as  technical improvements and increased efficiency open up the mass market.
3. Increasing market saturation causes the onset of the maturity stage. once saturation is reached. demand is wholly for replacement.
4. Finally, as the industry becomes challenged by new industries that produce technologically superior substitute products, the industry enters its decline stage.

  CREATION AND DIFFUSION OF KNOWLEDGE
   The second driver of the industry life cycle is knowledge. New knowledge in the form of product innovation is responsible for an industry's birth and the dual processes of knowledge creation and knowledge diffusion exert a major influence on industry evolution.