51 explanations
Strategic Management
How firms create and defend competitive advantage. Industry analysis, generic strategies, value chain, dynamic capabilities, and corporate-level strategy.
What is Generic Competitive Strategies?
Concept overviewPorter's generic strategies — cost leadership, differentiation, and focus — describe the three fundamental ways a firm can achieve competitive advantage in an industry. The choice constrains every subseq…
Explain Generic Competitive Strategies in detail.
The full picturePorter's generic strategies — cost leadership, differentiation, and focus — describe the three fundamental ways a firm can achieve competitive advantage in an industry. The choice constrains every subseq…
How is Generic Competitive Strategies applied in real-world business decisions?
Where it shows up in practiceIn practice, porter's generic strategies — cost leadership, differentiation, and focus — describe the three fundamental ways a firm can achieve competitive advantage in an industry. The choi…
Give a worked example of Generic Competitive Strategies.
Worked exampleWalmart's scale-driven cost position lets it compete on price unmatchable by smaller rivals. A boutique outdoor outfitter cannot beat Walmart on price but can win the segment of customers who value technic…
What are the most common mistakes students make about Generic Competitive Strategies?
Why this trips students upPursuing both cost and differentiation simultaneously usually fails because they require conflicting investments — process standardization vs. product innovation, lean overhead vs. marketing-he…
Analyze Generic Competitive Strategies for an MBA-style case study.
Case-style analysisFor a case-style analysis of Generic Competitive Strategies, start with the definition and move through framework, evidence, evaluation, and recommendation.DefinitionPorter's generic strategies — cost…
How do you evaluate Generic Competitive Strategies in a business strategy?
How to evaluate itTest strategic clarity by asking what the firm has deliberately decided NOT to do. A strategy that does not specify trade-offs is not a strategy.What we are evaluatingPorter's generic strategies — cost…
What is Value Chain Analysis?
Concept overviewThe value chain is a sequence of activities a firm performs to design, produce, market, deliver, and support its product. Value chain analysis identifies where competitive advantage is created, where cos…
Explain Value Chain Analysis in detail.
The full pictureThe value chain is a sequence of activities a firm performs to design, produce, market, deliver, and support its product. Value chain analysis identifies where competitive advantage is created, where cos…
How is Value Chain Analysis applied in real-world business decisions?
Where it shows up in practiceIn practice, the value chain is a sequence of activities a firm performs to design, produce, market, deliver, and support its product. Value chain analysis identifies where competitive advan…
Give a worked example of Value Chain Analysis.
Worked exampleA specialty coffee retailer might find that its in-store barista training (a support activity) is the differentiator customers pay for, while its supplier relationships (procurement) are commodity. Investi…
What are the most common mistakes students make about Value Chain Analysis?
Why this trips students upAnalyzing the value chain in isolation, without comparing to competitors' chains, hides the relative-advantage question. Cutting costs in activities that produce differentiation destroys advant…
Analyze Value Chain Analysis for an MBA-style case study.
Case-style analysisFor a case-style analysis of Value Chain Analysis, start with the definition and move through framework, evidence, evaluation, and recommendation.DefinitionThe value chain is a sequence of activities …
How do you evaluate Value Chain Analysis in a business strategy?
How to evaluate itA useful value chain analysis ends with two short lists: activities to invest in (because they create disproportionate value) and activities to commoditize, automate, or outsource (because they consume…
What is Resource-Based View?
Concept overviewThe resource-based view holds that sustained competitive advantage stems from the firm's bundle of resources and capabilities, not from industry positioning alone. Resources that are valuable, rare, inim…
Explain Resource-Based View in detail.
The full pictureThe resource-based view holds that sustained competitive advantage stems from the firm's bundle of resources and capabilities, not from industry positioning alone. Resources that are valuable, rare, inim…
How is Resource-Based View applied in real-world business decisions?
Where it shows up in practiceIn practice, the resource-based view holds that sustained competitive advantage stems from the firm's bundle of resources and capabilities, not from industry positioning alone. Resources tha…
Give a worked example of Resource-Based View.
Worked exampleA pharmaceutical firm's portfolio of patents is valuable and rare but eventually expires, so it must be paired with a capability to discover and develop the next generation. The discovery capability — the …
What are the most common mistakes students make about Resource-Based View?
Why this trips students upTreating any unique resource as advantage ignores whether the resource is actually valuable to customers. Strategy built on resources that are not VRIO-passing creates only temporary advantage.…
Analyze Resource-Based View for an MBA-style case study.
Case-style analysisFor a case-style analysis of Resource-Based View, start with the definition and move through framework, evidence, evaluation, and recommendation.DefinitionThe resource-based view holds that sustained …
How do you evaluate Resource-Based View in a business strategy?
How to evaluate itRun the VRIO test on each major resource. Resources that fail any one of the four criteria do not generate advantage; they generate competitive parity at best.What we are evaluatingThe resource-based v…
What is Blue Ocean Strategy?
Concept overviewBlue ocean strategy advocates creating uncontested market space — a "blue ocean" — rather than competing in saturated existing markets ("red oceans"). Value innovation, the simultaneous pursuit of differ…
Explain Blue Ocean Strategy in detail.
The full pictureBlue ocean strategy advocates creating uncontested market space — a "blue ocean" — rather than competing in saturated existing markets ("red oceans"). Value innovation, the simultaneous pursuit of differ…
How is Blue Ocean Strategy applied in real-world business decisions?
Where it shows up in practiceIn practice, blue ocean strategy advocates creating uncontested market space — a "blue ocean" — rather than competing in saturated existing markets ("red oceans"). Value innovation, the simu…