strategic management case study

· Resource attributes for sustainable competitive advantage (VRIO)

· Valuable – Resource should be of strategic value to firm

· Rare - Resource should be rare in the industry

· Inimitable – high level of causal ambiguity for competitors; difficult to imitate

· Organization support – firms should be consistently organized to be able to reap returns from the resource

· The Purpose of a Business-Level Strategy

· Business-Level Strategies

· Are intended to create differences between the firm’s position relative to those of its rivals.

· To position itself, the firm must decide whether it intends to:

· Perform activities differently or

· Perform different activities as compared to its rivals.

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· Five Business-Level Strategies

· Strategy clock (2)

· Strategy clock – hybrid

Seeks to simultaneously achieve higher benefits and lower prices relative to those of competitors.

Hybrid strategies can be used:

· to enter markets and build position quickly

· as an aggressive attempt to win market share

· to build volume sales and gain from mass production.

A classic example is IKEA.

· Corporate-level Strategy

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Specifies actions taken by the firm to gain a competitive advantage by selecting and managing a group of different businesses competing in several industries and product markets.