QUESTION
Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies
Overview
In this assignment, you are to use the same corporation you selected and focused on for the assignments, Strategic Management and Strategic Competitiveness and External and Internal Environments.
Research the company on its own website, the public filings on the Securities and Exchange Commission's Filing & Forms page,the Lexis Advance database, and any other sources you can find. The annual report will often provide insights that can help address some of these questions.
Use the Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Template [DOCX] to ensure that your assignment meets the requirements.
Requirements
Write a 6 page paper in which you do the following:
Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm and whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. Justify your opinion.
Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation's most significant competitor. Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice.
Determine whether your choice from Question 3 in the Business-Level and Corporate-Level Strategies Template [DOCX] would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets.
Use at least three quality references. Note: Wikipedia and other websites do not qualify as academic resources.
[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]
Template Instructions (delete this page before submitting)
This template is provided to help you meet the assignment requirements.
This page should NOT be submitted with your assignment, as it is not part of an academically written paper. Note the “Clarity, writing mechanics, and formatting requirements” section of the grading rubric.
HOW TO USE THIS TEMPLATE
- Read the explanations provided in the template for each section of your paper.
- The explanations are in blue font below.
- You should have already read the assignment instructions in Blackboard.
- Type your response to each of the assignment requirements within the designated sections.
- Each assignment requirement is identified using a section Heading that is in black font
- DO NOT add extra spaces between sections.
- DO NOT change the margins.
- You are required to have a heading for each of the sections in your paper.
- The required headings have been provided for you.
- DO NOT delete, alter, or add anything to the section Headings.
- DO NOT type the assignment instructions into the sections.
- After typing your responses, change the font color to black and make sure it is not in bold.
- Be sure to change the font color on the title page to black after typing your name, professor’s name, and date.
- Everything in blue font below should be deleted and replaced with your responses.
- DELETE this entire page before you submit your assignment to avoid losing points. Do not leave a blank page here.
REMINDERS
- The assignment is due in week 8. Late submissions negatively impact your grade.
- Use the same public corporation you used for assignments in Week 3 and 6.
- Do not copy content from previous assignments in this class or others.
- Include at least 6 full and complete academically written pages that address the requirements. The title page, this instruction page, and the source page do not count.
- Use at least 3 quality sources, one of which MUST be the course textbook.
- Strayer uses SafeAssign – an automated plagiarism checker. It is advised that you do your own writing and use external resources to support what you have written in your own words.
[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]
Write your introduction to this 6 page paper here. Include one paragraph (not more than 6 lines of text) that explains what your paper will discuss. Much of your introduction may be taken from the assignment instructions (in your own words). Read all assignment resources to understand what should be included in your paper. Be sure to review the assignment instructions in Blackboard, the grading rubric, and relevant course announcements to understand the requirements. Do not exceed 6 lines of text in this introduction. There should be no direct quotes in this section. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your introduction and change the font color to black.
Business-Level Strategies
Analyze the business-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the business-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm. You will also need to determine whether or not you judge this to be a good choice (Note: in this step you need to choose and write about only one business-level strategy from the text book (not Google). Hint: See Figure 4.1 in the textbook. Include a thorough justification for your choice that is backed by facts and sound judgement. For background, be sure to research and explain the industry in which your selected corporation operates. You could also briefly (1 – 2 sentences) define the business-level strategy (cite your sources) you are writing about using the textbook/Learn, as an introduction to your analysis. Read Chapter 4 in the course textbook. Review the Week 4 Learn Reading for supporting content. Your response here should demonstrate that you understand the key concepts regarding the selected business-level strategy and can apply them to a real-world corporation. Keep in mind that this is a 6 page paper and as such your analysis should thoroughly address the concepts discussed in the course. Avoid unsubstantiated statements, extended introductory commentary, direct quotes, and unrelated content. Strive for about 1 ½ to 2 pages of well-constructed, in-depth analysis in this section.
In this section, you could research and identify the core competencies your chosen firm uses to implement its business-level strategies and discuss their effectiveness. You could also demonstrate from your research how the firm uses its core competencies to create and sell its products in the marketplace. Consider the actions & choices your firm has made to compete in individual product markets. Review Chapters 4-9 for specifics on the business-level strategies. Your response should clearly identify the one business-level strategy from the textbook that you think is most important to the long-term success of the corporation. Your response must also include a clearly stated and justified judgement on whether that strategy is a good choice. Include enough content and depth to demonstrate a thorough analysis of your selected corporation’s business-level strategy. Remember that this is a 6 page paper and as such, you will need to dig deep. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your analysis and change the font color to black.
Corporate-Level Strategies
Analyze the corporate-level strategies for the corporation you chose to determine the corporate-level strategy you think is most important to the long-term success of the firm. You will also need to determine whether or not you judge this to be a good choice. (Note: in this step you need to choose and write about only one corporate-level strategy from the text book (not Google). Hint: See chapter 6 in the textbook. Include a thorough justification for your choice that is backed by facts and sound judgement. You could also briefly (1 – 2 sentences) define the corporate-level strategy (cite your sources) you are writing about using the textbook/Learn, as an introduction to your analysis. Read Chapter 6 in the course textbook. Review the Week 6 Learn Reading for supporting content. Your response here should demonstrate that you understand the key concepts regarding the selected corporate-level strategy and can apply them to a real-world corporation. Keep in mind that this is a 6-page paper and as such your analysis should thoroughly address the concepts discussed in the course. Avoid unsubstantiated statements, extended introductory commentary, direct quotes, and unrelated content. Strive for about 1 ½ to 2 pages of well-constructed, in-depth analysis in this section.
Your response should clearly identify the one corporate-level strategy from the textbook that you think is most important to the long-term success of the corporation. Your response must also include a clearly stated and justified judgement on whether that strategy is a good choice. Include enough content and depth to demonstrate a thorough analysis of your selected corporation’s corporate-level strategy. Remember that this is a 6 page paper and as such, you will need to dig deep. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your analysis and change the font color to black.
Competitive Environment
Analyze the competitive environment to determine the corporation's most significant competitor (this will require research outside of the course material). Compare their strategies at each level and evaluate which company you think is most likely to be successful in the long term. Justify your choice. Hint: read chapters 1 through 10 in the course textbook as they provide a solid background for this section. Review the Week 1 through 8 Learn readings for supporting content. Remember that this is a 6 page paper and requires a thorough competitive analysis. Strive for about a 1 ½ to 2 pages of well-constructed, in-depth analysis in this section. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your analysis and change the font color to black.
Market Cycles
Determine whether your choice from Question 3 (Competitive Environment section above) would differ in slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets. It would be a good idea to briefly explain what the slow-cycle and fast-cycle markets are from the textbook (cite your sources) as a short introduction to your determination. Hint: read Chapter 5 in the course textbook. Remember that this is a 6-page paper and therefore each section requires a thorough response that demonstrates your understanding of key concepts covered in the course and your ability to apply them to a real-world corporation. Cite your sources and avoid the use of direct quotes. After reading these instructions, replace this blue text with your response and change the font color to black.
Sources
- Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2020. Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competitiveness and globalization (13th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning
- Author. Publication Date. Title. Page # (written as p. #). How to Find (e.g. web address)
- Author. Publication Date. Title. Page # (written as p. #). How to Find (e.g. web address)
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| Subject | Business | Pages | 5 | Style | APA |
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Answer
BUS499 Business Administration Capstone
[Title Here, up to 12 Words, on One to Two Lines]
This paper analyses the business-level strategies; corporate-level strategies; competitive environment, and market cycles of Amazon Company. It discusses the four main points that act as a framework of the company’s business-level strategies. It further highlights concentric diversification, cost leadership, competitive advantage as corporate-level strategies of the company. Lastly, it presents Amazon as the most likely successful company in the future vis-à-vis its competitor Walmart before explaining its competitive environment and market cycles.
Business-Level Strategies
The business-level strategies of Amazon Company consist of four main points that act as a framework of the company’s business strategy. The first business-level strategy is rooted in the company’s regular entry into new segments and business niches (Dudovskiy, 2020). Amazon has an e-commerce strategy that finds new segments and business niches; it further finds real solutions for challenges faced by its customers. For example, it has a Web Services that is a stark example; it further has internal systems for the company’s own needs to facilitate infrastructure work like storage of database and computing tasks. This with other strategies has made Amazon a highly skilled and cost-effective business center (LaVecchia, & Mitchell, 2016). The other business-level strategy is the one of strengthening the company’s ecosystem; Amazon’s ecosystem is well situated at the very core of the corporate strategy and incorporates reviewers, app developers, analysts, publishers, etc. (Wirtz, & Zeithaml, 2018).
The company’s top leadership takes center stage in obtaining maximum benefit and strengthening working relations from each and every component of its ecosystem. Furthermore, Amazon has an uncompromised focus in line with customer service which is the best strategy (Wirtz, & Zeithaml, 2018). Amazon has a formidable fascination with customers’ needs; the company seeks to be the global most customer-centric enterprise. It dreams of its customers and how best they can be represented in the decision-making processes of the organization and to be reminded of innovation on their behalf. In the same breath, Amazon focuses on top leadership and employee values that keep its corporate image at great heights (LaVecchia, & Mitchell, 2016). The top leadership values entail customer obsession which insists on the greatest standard in increasing the input from human capital and resources (Dudovskiy, 2020).
Corporate-Level Strategies
One of the corporate-level strategies for Amazon is concentric diversification. This strategy is based on leveraging innovative abilities for the success of the business in line with cost leadership techniques geared towards providing maximum value for consumers at a low price (Mazzei, & Noble, 2017). The strategy had bared good fruits for the company and has consistently made the company the greatest in the market segments (LaVecchia, & Mitchell, 2016). The same strategy in line with cost leadership follows the law of diminishing returns that allows steep discounts for the company’s regular consumers (Althafairi et al., 2019). Another corporate-level strategy is the company’s propelling and driving force driven by its sources of competitive advantage.
Amazon focuses on realizing the benefits of economies of scale, technological inventions, and leveraging competencies from the company’s internal resources and external factors (Mazzei, & Noble, 2017). It further uses the big data analytics corporate technique as a strategy to align consumer attitude and behavior. Lastly, Amazon’s corporate-level strategies are also anchored around the convenience facet whereby the consumers don’t need to pay a visit to the warehouse or wait for their purchases to get to them after some period of time (Althafairi et al., 2019). This is because the company has introduced a same day delivery strategy globally; it also focuses on retail product channels like cloud-based services. Amazon has also popularized a strategy on selling where consumers can purchase products from its portal in the shortest time possible. Going with the pace at which Amazon is progress, it is evident that its corporate-level strategies are clicking well with its consumers (LaVecchia, & Mitchell, 2016).
Competitive Environment
Amazon Company uses a generic strategy known as cost leadership for competitive advantage. The main objective for such a strategy is to minimize operational costs; it uses, for example, advanced networking inventions and computing technologies for maximum operational effectiveness which in return minimize costs (Wirtz, & Zeithaml, 2018). The company is well known for the provision of free shipping and convenience, easy checkout experience, and provision of a vast selection of goods and products at competitive prices (Farooq, 2019). Furthermore, it has an enormous repository of reviews that makes it unique and attractive to many consumers (Smale, 2020).
One of Amazon’s most significant competitors is Walmart which has unique generic and intensive growth strategies and consumer confidence vis-à-vis Amazon Inc. Walmart has numerous physical locations which are not at the level of warehouse infrastructure that Amazon has. The two both have rewarding strategies that drive consumers towards goods and products via created links (Smale, 2020). However, it is crucial to note that Amazon is likely to be more successful in the future; this is because of its good corporate image and well-built customer experience, customer loyalty, and prime membership strategies that are of great advantage to the company (Wirtz, & Zeithaml, 2018). For example, its provision of e-commerce services outside the home country displays great business plans for global growth which can go down to posterity internationally (Farooq, 2019).
Market Cycles
There are two cycle markets that can determine the prosperity of the market namely slow-cycle markets and fast-cycle markets (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2020). Slow-cycle markets are where the enterprise’s competitive advantages and resources are protected or sheltered from imitation for a long time as the company enjoys a monopoly over the market (Nosratpour et al., 2010). In this kind of cycle, the market is devoid of innovative products within a short period of hence changing only takes place in a very long time. The fast-cycle market is where the factors of the enterprise that result in competitive advantage are not protected from being copied hence has quick levels of imitation and not expensive per se (Meyer, 2010); there is a change in the products in the market over time as new products are produced within a short period of time.
Amazon’s competitive environment would experience some change in the slow-cycle market in line with business-level and corporate-level strategies while the fast-cycle market would not guarantee such change (Nosratpour et al., 2010). This is because the market would not be searching for anything new to come out hence there will be no need for customers to go and buy new products since they will be comfortable with what the company gives (Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2020). This means Amazon will have a new competitor especially because of its low prices (Meyer, 2010).
engender and perpetuate health inequalities.
References
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Althafairi, B., Alhoumaida, N., Saxena, M., & Almsri, Z. (2019). Case study-AMAZON. Journal of the Community Development in Asia, 2(2). Dudovskiy, J. (2020). Amazon Business Strategy: cost leadership & customer centricity. Retrieved on March, 17, 2021, from: https://research-methodology.net/amazon-business-strategy-benefiting-cost-leadership-diversification/ Farooq, U. (2019). Amazon Competitors. Retrieved on March, 17, 2021, from: https://www.marketingtutor.net/amazon-competitors/ Hitt, Ireland, & Hoskisson. 2020. Strategic management: Concepts and cases: Competitiveness and globalization (13th ed.). Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning LaVecchia, O., & Mitchell, S. (2016). Amazon’s stranglehold. Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Mazzei, M. J., & Noble, D. (2017). Big data dreams: A framework for corporate strategy. Business Horizons, 60(3), 405-414. Meyer, C. (2010). Fast Cycle Time: How to Align Purpose, Strategy, and Structure for. Simon and Schuster. Nosratpour, N., Maleki, H., Salehi, S., Nosoudi, N., & Zadeh, A. H. (2010, November). Dynamic model of strategic alliances formation in fabric industries. In 2010 international conference on education and management technology (pp. 387-390). IEEE. Smale, T. (2020). Amazon Versus Walmart Is a Blueprint for Competitive Advantage. Retrieved on March 17, 2021, from: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/345170 Wirtz, J., & Zeithaml, V. (2018). Cost-effective service excellence. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, 46(1), 59-80. |