 Strategic Management: Strategic Managment Gregory G. Dess,
University of Texas at Dallas
G.T. Lumpkin,
University of Illinois--Chicago
Business-Level Strategy: Creating and Sustaining Competitive Advantages
Application Questions| Application Questions and Exercises
1. Go to the Internet and look up www.walmart.com. How has this firm been able to combine overall cost leadership and differentiation strategies.
2. Choose a firm with which you are familiar in your local business community. Is the firm successful in following one (or more) generic strategies. Why or why not? What do you think are some of the challenges it faces in implementing these strategies in an effective manner?
3. Think of a firm that has attained a differentiation focus or cost focus strategy. Are their advantages sustainable? Why? Why not? (Hint: Consider its position vis-à-vis Porter’s five forces.)
4. Think of a firm that successfully achieved a combination overall cost leadership and differentiation strategy. What can be learned from this example? Are these advantages sustainable? Why? Why not? (Hint: Consider its competitive position vis-à-vis Porter’s five forces.)
Ethics Questions
1. Can you think of a company (other than the opening case of Food Lion) that suffered ethical consequences as a result of an overemphasis on a cost leadership strategy. What do you think were the financial and nonfinancial implications?
2. In the introductory stage of the product life cycle, what are some of the unethical practices that managers could engage in to enhance their firm’s market position? What could be some of the long-term implications of such actions? |
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2002 A McGraw-Hill Online Learning Centre