Institution
Name
Competitors in the market
The main competitors in the furniture industries are IKEA and Anees Upholstery. With a long history in the furniture industries these two companies have been able to penetrate markets of many countries. Their sound position in the market makes it easier to have a significant impacts on the prices as well as costs of material inputs. With a range of products they offer, they have penetrated various markets as well as took control of the markets. While IKEA sells ready to assemble furniture all over the world, Anees Upholstery has been known for its beautiful and unique high end furniture. (Lewis, 2005).
SWOT) analysis for the competitors
For IKEA, the following an analysis of SWOT, the strength of the company has for many years been the adequate knowledge on the customers’ need, cost leadership and perfect supply chains in the market that has enabled the company to reach many customer. Despite the strengths, the company has to fight over one or two weaknesses, first, due to extensive penetration of the market and cost leadership the company has not once compromised the quality of its furniture which has earned it a negative publicity. When it comes to opportunities, due to its presence in many countries IKEA has an upper hand in growing economies, the growth of online shopping has been a boost for the company to sell its products. (Lawler, 2007) Finally when it comes to threats, the main threat of the company is the intensive competition posed by other businesses in the same industry.
For Anees Upholstery, the strength of the company are, the company has a reputation for its beautiful and uniquely crafted furniture that are high appealing to people. The weaknesses of the company is expressed in a manner that the company has experienced high costs of production that further increased the costs of its products. (Ismail et al., 2017) Due to the high end products produced by the company, it has gained a place in the preferences of the high income earners who focus of high quality products rather than the price this has been an opportunity for the company. Whereas the threats facing the company has been the almost the same. Anees Upholstery has faced stiff competition from growing businesses in the same industries that are producing the same quality furniture at a lower price.
For a business to be started and thrive in the furniture industry, it has to take advantage of the weaknesses of the above companies and implement superior strategies to outshine the strengths of these companies.
Why are they direct competitors and their competitive advantage?
Having the same line of operation and the same target market and products these companies are direct will be direct competitors to the business to be started, in order to have an upper hand in the market, the business has to implement superior tactics. For their operation and entry to the market is highly favored by factors such as cost leadership, uniqueness of their products and market segmentation as employed by IKEA and Anees Upholstery. For the business to thrive, it will require a model to help it have an advantage in the competition.
Could you form a cooperative strategy with any of the competitors?
Yes, having a chance to cooperate with the competitors, I would highly embrace the idea as it relieves problems associated with competition, through cooperation, the two businesses can unite ideas of healthy competition in the market, and the two companies can enjoy the control over the market due to their uniqueness without hurting each other.
What strategies could you use to build a competitive market profile?
To build a competitive market profile, I will first build my brand to meet the specifications and the needs of the company, increasing the value where cost remains relatively in the favor of the customer, making the customer more satisfied without hurting their pocket. This strategy is market profile friendly. This is made possible through products differentiation
What is balanced scorecard?
A balanced score card is a strategic planning as well as managerial system that involves clearly stating the goals that a business want to attain and steps to attain the goals .(Roberts, 2004). For our case, the core objectives of the business is to increase our market share by providing high quality but affordable furniture.
References
Lewis, E. (2005). Great Ikea!: a brand for all the people. Cyan Communications.
Lawler, E. E. (2007). Built to change: How to achieve sustained organizational effectiveness. Strategic Direction, 23(4).
Ismail, S., Rahman, A. A. A., Ismail, A. R., Daud, K. A. M., & Khidzir, N. Z. (2017). Internet marketing strategy for furniture industry: A research based ergonomics sofa. In Advances in Human Factors, Business Management, Training and Education (pp. 571-579). Springer, Cham.
Roberts, M. L., Albright, T. L., & Hibbets, A. R. (2004). Debiasing balanced scorecard evaluations. Behavioral Research in Accounting, 16(1), 75-88.