Case Study and 2 Questions

Competitive Strategy Over the Web Assignment

In this case study, you will research an organization and determine how their business strategy differentiates them from other organizations in the same industry using Porter's four competitive strategies model (p. 85).

Write a one- to two-page (250-500-word) paper to include the following:

•A brief explanation of Porter's four competitive strategies.

o A brief explanation of how competitive strategy determines value chain structure.

•Identify and discuss the competitive strategy that the organization you researched utilizes in order to differentiate them from other organizations in the same industry.

Kroenke, D. (2015). Using MIS 2014 [VitalSource Bookshelf version] (7th ed.).

Questions

Describe the process by which organizations develop their information systems.

Your response should be at least 200 words in length.

What is the central idea of business process design? Use examples to support your answer.

Your response should be at least 200 words in length.

How Does Analysis of Industry Structure Determine Competitive Strategy?

An organization responds to the structure of its industry by choosing a competitive strategy. Porter followed his five forces model with the model of four competitive strategies, shown in Figure 3-5.2 According to Porter, firms engage in one of these four strategies. An organization can focus on being the cost leader, or it can focus on differentiating its products or services from those of the competition. Further, the organization can employ the cost or differentiation strategy across an industry, or it can focus its strategy on a particular industry segment.

See the Ethics Guide on pages 86-87 to learn how a change in strategy can greatly affect a company's culture.

Consider the car rental industry, for example. According to the first column of Figure 3-5, a car rental company can strive to provide the lowest-cost car rentals across the industry, or it can seek to provide the lowest-cost car rentals to an industry segment-say, U.S. domestic business travelers.

Figure 3-5 Porter's Four Competitive Strategies

Based on Michael Porter, Competitive Strategy (New York: Free Press, 1985).