Crafting & Executing Strategy: The Quest for Competitive Advantage: Concepts and Cases 23th edition

98)    This is true. Good strategy and good strategy execution are the most telling signs of good management. The rationale for using the twin standards of good strategy making and good strategy execution to determine whether a company is well managed is therefore compelling. The better conceived a company's strategy and the more competently it is executed, the more likely the company will be a standout performer in the marketplace. In stark contrast, a company that lacks clear-cut direction, has a flawed strategy, or cannot execute its strategy competently is a company whose financial performance is probably suffering, whose business is at long-term risk, and whose management is sorely lacking.

 

99)   The central thrust of Apple Inc.'s strategy is undertaking moves to build and strengthen the company's long-term competitive position and financial performance by competing differently from rivals and gaining a sustainable competitive advantage over them. Hallmarks of Apple Inc.'s strategy are highlighted in Illustration Capsule 1.1. These elements include:
   ● Designing and developing its own operating systems, hardware, application software and services.
    ● Continuously investing in R&D and frequently introducing products.
    ● Strategically locating its stores and staffing them with knowledgeable personnel.
    ● Expanding the company's reach domestically and internationally.
    ● Maintaining a quality brand image, supported by premium pricing.
    ● Committing to corporate social responsibility and sustainability through supplier relations.
    ● Cultivating a diverse workforce rooted in transparency.
  

100) Mimicking the strategies of successful industry rivals—with either copycat product offerings or maneuvers to stake out the same market position—rarely works. Rather, every company's strategy needs to have some distinctive element that draws in customers and produces a competitive edge. Strategy, at its essence, is about competing differently—doing what rival firms do not do or what rival firms cannot do.

101) The organization might employ various approaches to revive its positions: actions to strengthen market standing and competitiveness by acquiring or merging with other companies; actions to strengthen competitiveness via strategic alliances and collaborative partnerships; actions to upgrade, build, or acquire competitively important resources and capabilities; actions to gain sales and market share via more performance features; more appealing design; better quality or customer service; wider product selection; or other such actions.

102)    The well-established brewery aims to achieve a cost-based advantage over rivals and deter new entrants. Similar to Walmart and Southwest Airlines, which have earned strong market positions because of the low-cost advantages they have achieved over their rivals, the incumbent brewer is pursuing a broad low-cost strategy. Low-cost provider strategies can produce a durable competitive edge when rivals find it hard to match the low-cost leader's approach to driving costs out of the business. Therefore, newer entrants have no choice but to compete on the basis of focused differentiation in order to gain a foothold in the market.

 

103)    Proactive, with an aim towards becoming the lowest-cost provider in the food delivery business. The Postmates deal would allow Uber Eats to become more efficient, lower costs, and increase options for customers beyond rival delivery services GrubHub and DoorDash. The chapter describes how Walmart and Southwest Airlines earned strong market positions because of the low-cost advantages they have achieved over their rivals. Low-cost provider strategies can produce a durable competitive edge when rivals find it hard to match the low-cost leader's approach to driving costs out of the business.

 

104)    The mobile on-demand transportation company has employed a best-cost provider strategy giving customers more value for the money by satisfying their expectations on key quality features, performance, and/or service attributes while beating their price expectations. This approach is a hybrid strategy that blends elements of low-cost provider and differentiation strategies; the aim is to have lower costs than rivals while simultaneously offering better differentiating attributes.

 

105)    The dining facility has used a focused differentiation strategy to gain a competitive advantage over dining facilities that cater to all. It concentrates on a narrow buyer segment and outcompetes rivals by offering buyers customized attributes that meet customers' specialized needs and tastes better than rivals' products.