MGT499- W5 Post and Response

Paige Obriot

1. An example of a value chain using cost leadership is Ikea. Ikea revolutionized the furniture industry by offering cheap but stylish furniture. Ikea is able to keep its prices low by offering a very basic level of service. An example of a firm using differentiation is Nike. Nike differentiates its athletic shoes through its iconic “swoosh” as well as an intense emphasis on product innovation through research and development. An example of a firm that uses a value innovation business-level strategy is Apple. Apple uses this strategy by pairing each product line they have with a streaming service that is available for their customers. For example, iPod with iTunes, iPhone with App Store, and iPad with Apple TV. 

2. A firm I personally think that is highly innovative is Uber. Uber rapidly changed the taxi business by offering services that include peer-to-peer ridesharing, ride service hailing, food delivery and a system with electric bikes and scooters. Uber’s firm has used a radical form of innovation by changing the link between concepts and components and overturning the core concepts of getting from point A to point B. The services Uber offers has been radical the entire time the firm has been in business making it hard for competitors to compete. 

Leandra Estep

An example of a value chain using cost leadership is to look at the use of technology within a firm. A company could use a computer program to conduct employee evaluations, employee training, or processing job applications. These can reduce the amount of human resources personnel necessary to effectively run the human resource department. There are many ways a firm can make changes in a value chain using differentiation strategy. For instance, a firm can look to see how they can provide their customers with marketing sales which are better than their competition. This could help include improving the order process so it is more efficient and convenient than the competition. The last example is a value chain using integration business level strategy. A firm may choose to use technology in the processing of customers orders to reduce costs and increase efficiency but also increase the customers overall satisfaction in the sales process as being a firm which is both convenient and efficient in comparison with the competition. 

An example of a highly innovative firm which used new and upcoming innovation is DoorDash. DoorDash is a form of food delivery that uses a disruptive innovation style. DoorDash has taken the food delivery service and changed the way people get food from various locations that don't deliver food. It is technology offering an application on mobile phones to request and DoorDash food and allows for one flat rate and is known for being able to pick up a large variety of places that don't usually deliver.