Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases 23th edition
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the news for American meat processers was dire. The coronavirus sickened and killed their workers, restaurants ran out of beef, and pork processors were forced to dispose of their stock due to closed processing plants. The meat industry’s troubles were thought to have provided a boost for plant-based meat substitutes, which had a jump of 35 percent in sales from February through May 2020. Impossible Foods and Beyond Meat both made products that look, cook, and taste similar to conventional meat. But their supplies are steady—and even increasing. Their factories were considered to be safer than traditional meat plants, with no coronavirus outbreaks among workers. While their meat substitute products traditionally cost more than conventional meat at the grocery stores and restaurants, these companies were able to take advantage of the situation to present a bigger value proposition to consumers. What winning strategies could account for Impossible Foods’s and Beyond Meat’s becoming standout performers in the marketplace?
114) Explain why some companies get to the top of industry rankings and stay there, while others do not.
115) In late June of 2020, lululemon, the purveyor of expensive athleisure and activewear, announced that it was betting on the future of personalized remote exercise as a way to reach customers by acquiring Mirror, a home fitness start-up that sells a $1,495 wall-mounted machine for streaming workout classes. The value of that deal was an estimated $500 million. Mirror charged customers $39 a month to stream its live or on-demand classes. The purchase was said by observers to fit with lululemon’s ambitions to become an experiential brand—from clothing to workouts to memories of those sessions—and to add Mirror’s revenue stream to that of lululemon’s. What type of generic strategy is lululemon using to sustain a competitive advantage?
1) B
A company's strategy is the set of actions that its managers need to take to outperform the company’s competitors and achieve superior profitability.
2) A
Modifying marketing communication to target the most preferred set of physicians would help increase the prescription of drugs, boosting sales and performance, and increasing market share. Relocation or reduced supplier costs might improve profits but would not affect sales performance. Employing drug designers does not add value as the rivals, too, offer drugs with similar efficacy and safety precautions.
3) D
A company's strategy is the set of actions that its managers take to outperform the company's competitors with a unique market position and sustained competitive advantage.
4) A
A company's strategy is the set of actions that its managers take to outperform the company's competitors and achieve superior profitability. For Keurig, achieving this entails making a managerial commitment to a coherent array of well-considered moves about how to compete.
5) D
Strategy at its essence is about setting a company apart from its rivals and staking out a market position that is not crowded with strong competitors. It aims at doing what rivals cannot or do not do.
6) E
Strategy is about competing differently from rivals—doing what competitors don't do or doing what they can't do. Sometimes companies enter strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships to strengthen their market position and competitiveness.
7) E
A sales plan that is based on a low-price, high-cost model usually does not work as it creates a wide gap between investment and realized profits, whereas an attractive mass market plan, diversification of products, positive acquisition, and more visibility in a market are moves to enhance profits.
8) E
The objective of a well-crafted strategy is not merely temporary competitive success and profits in the short run, but rather the sort of lasting success that can support growth and secure the company's future over the long term.