Competitive Advantage and Strategic Planning.ppt

Competitive Advantage and Strategic Planning Purpose Business is about an idea/strategy to make money. Cash flow is a measurement of the effectiveness of your idea/strategy. Approaches to developing effective strategies. Which of the following is the best business opportunity and why Developing a software/spyware program that monitors internet usage for advertising purposes. Starting a formal wear rental business in Ames Starting a college selection advising service. It includes guidance in financial aid. Starting a national chain of cemeteries. Starting a brokerage firm for life insurance policies. Matching corporate buyers and corporate sellers of large personal or group life insurance policies. Discuss in groups. What were reasons for rejecting or selecting different ideas/strategies for making money? Another strategy concern/corporate strategy Boeing VS airbus Head to head competition especially in larger planes. Airbus assumes no new gates and as demand increases on major routes need new planes. Airbus wins market share for larger planes. What will Boeing do? What are you going to DO? Strategic planning Relevant for new markets Relevant for entire corporations Need to look at the whole industrial sector and assess how to enter and compete with existing firms in an industrial sector. Top Managers as the commanding Generals Key words Competitive advantage—the ability of the firm to win consistently over the long term. Sustainability. Think in military terms—What made the US so competitive with Military? What do we have that others do not have? Same is true in business. Examples of competitive advantage Wal Mart and logistics Patents Honda and motors (knowledge/patents) Microsoft—near monopoly (note its slowly eroding). Hickory Park How these provide competitive advantage Superiority/value—What you choose to do, you need to be best at it. Its not directly price—its how you do it. If you do it well, price will be low or customers will be attracted to qua