Business Level Strategies:
What generic business strategies does the company implement: Does your selected business have differentiated (or cost-leadership) products or services? If so, what is the basis for this differentiation from the competition? Differentiation or cost focus can often be determined from a close examination of the annual report. All firms will talk about costs, but a differentiated firm will also highlight how it views its products (service) to be different from the competition. You can review the Value Drivers section of the text for some thoughts on the basis of the differentiation. Ch 6
Where is your firms industry on the life cycle as shown in Exhibit 7.4? What are the strategic implications? Ch 8
What is the firms innovation strategy? Does it rely on incremental or radical innovations? Disruptive or architectural? What are the competitive implications of the firms innovation strategies? Ch 6
6) Corporate Level Strategies:
Research what strategic alliances your firm has entered in the past three years. If there are several of these, choose the three you identify as the most important for further analysis. Based on company press releases and business journal reports for each alliance, what do you find to be the main reason the firm entered these alliances? Has your firm participated in any mergers or acquisitions in the past three years? What was the nature of these actions? Did they result in a consolidation of competitors? Ch 9
Is your firm vertically integrated? Explain your reasoning in the context of industry value chain. – Ch 8
7) Global Level Strategies:
Begin with a discussion of why (or why not) the firm might be/have been motivated to expand internationally. Do they need larger markets, lower input costs, or new competencies to gain or sustain competitive advantage? Analyze the pros and cons of global expansion in this specific context by using the integration responsiveness framework. Ch 10
