Management 3004 Cases Exam 1

Amazon

ANALYZING COMPETITORS - has had remarkable gains because of high quality and rapid, relatively inexpensive service - differentiates themselves by competing in several industries: textbooks and college t-shirts, video entertainment, etc. - new competitor Jet.com offers lower membership cost

CEOs

EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION - large firm executive compensation has continued to grow exponentially - legislation is working on requiring public companies to report how many times more CEO compensation is than the average worker - research shows that management is taking more risks based on the changes in the mix of pay packages they receive - each case has to be examined individually and closely to determine appropriateness

Target

EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT - a massive cyberattack on their system revealed many problems like exposed customer data, failed strategic decision to enter Canada, and lost customers to Internet retailers - firm was insular; was not looking at the external environment - couldn't differentiate themselves from other retailers in Canada - brought in new CEO in 2014 that focused on fashion and more organic foods to bring back the 'chic' feel CEO has office by data collection area so that he can hear the latest news and shows the importance he places on analyzing data about the market and competitors

Superdry

INTANGIBLE RESOURCES - BRAND - clothing brand targeted toward teens and early twenties - brand is known for quality clothing that encompasses a wide array of styles and for their theatrical stores with lots of personality - recent problems include management turmoil with the abrupt departure of the CEO and suspension of the CFO - many think the company has expanded too quickly without a supporting infrastructure - new CEO has brought more control to the brand and is looking at targeting an older market that 'grew up' with the brand

Big Pharma Companies

OUTSOURCING - trying to develop 'big data' analytics as a core competency - outsourcing monitoring of drug safety to companies so that they can focus on data analytics - these companies that are being outsourced to need to develop their own software that can differentiate them and provide value to customers rather than focusing o their core competencies

Blackberry

STAKEHOLDERS - their demise is an example of how the competitive landscape has changed in regards to successful business model implementations - had such a strong customer base that they failed to recognize the ecosystem Apple developed from complementors in the form of app developers - IPhone and Android systems have more fully developed app ecosystems which have allowed them to better compete - Apple was able to outsource innovation to a plethora of developers - did not pay attention to complementary software and couldn't manage their supplier and stakeholder value creation

Aldi

STANDARD-CYCLE MARKETS - holds low costs by selling their own branded products and limiting the number of external brands it sells - gaining market share internationally, specifically the UK and Australia - have influenced wholesale prices to decline and reduce the number of name brands on their shelves

Kellogg

COMPETITOR ANALYSIS/RESOURCES - sales of cereals have declined as customers are looking to more natural breakfast options like fruit, yogurt, and proteins - acquired Pringles, which is also a processed food company; competitor General Mills acquired Yoplait which strengthened their market position - cereal consumption is declining, yet they continue to focus advertising efforts on cereal - company is unable to make changes that their competitors have made, even though they are a large firm that has the resources to do so

Apple vs. Samsung

DIFFERENTIATION STRATEGY - Apple has a differentiation strategy that Samsung quickly imitates -- resulted in a lawsuit that Apple gained $1 billion from winning - Samsung also faces competition from low-end imitators of the smartphone like Xiaomi and Lenovo - have developed Samsung Pay system to compete with Apple Pay and is doing better since it is more compatible with retail stores' current systems than Apple Pay which has switching costs

RadioShack

FAILED FOCUS STRATEGY - filed for bankruptcy because business of selling electronic components has shifted to online retailers like Amazon - real difficulty lies within their attempts to pursue many different trends without a consistent underlying strategic approach - focused too much on selling cell phones which made customers looking for technology accessories frustrated - failed at e-commerce because upper management never focused enough on developing the line - ultimately couldn't keep up their differentiation strategy which made customers look for online options to buy their products

Starbucks

THE GLOBAL ECONOMY/TECHNOLOGY - ramping up their sales by increasing use of digital tools like mobile-payment platforms and online sales of gift cards - provide comprehensive health benefits and stock options to part-time employees - opened a master coffee roasting facility in New York that sparked the idea to open 'reserve' stores inspired by this concept - using these technology developments and new store concepts internationally (India)