Dowling Spring Term 2007

BA 469

Dowling – Spring Term 2007

Chapter 5 – Discussion Questions 6e

Pay attention to the following tables & figures in the text: Fig 5.1 The Dynamics of Business-Level Strategy; Table 5.1 Generic Competitive Strategies; Fig 5.2 Focus Strategies; and, Table 5.2 Business Level Investment Strategies.

1. What is meant by a “business model”? Before a firm can choose an appropriate business-level strategy, why does it need to understand the dimensions of its business model?

1. What is the role of business-level strategy in overall corporate strategy?

1. What are the characteristics of a cost leadership strategy in terms of product differentiation, market segmentation, and distinctive competencies? What are advantages and disadvantages of a cost leadership strategy? What are examples of companies pursuing this strategy?

1. How can a company pursuing a cost leadership strategy become ‘stuck in the middle’? How can a company in this situation regain its competitive advantage?

1. What are the characteristics of a differentiation strategy in terms of product differentiation, market segmentation, and distinctive competencies? What are advantages and disadvantages of a differentiation strategy? Can you think of companies pursuing this type of business strategy?

1. How can a company pursuing a differentiation strategy become ‘stuck in the middle’? How can a company in this situation regain its competitive advantage?

1. What are the characteristics of a focus strategy in terms of product differentiation, market segmentation, and distinctive competencies? What are advantages and disadvantages of a focus strategy? What are examples of companies pursuing a ‘focused cost-leadership’ strategy? A ‘focused differentiation’ strategy?

1. How can a company pursuing a focus strategy become ‘stuck in the middle’? How can a company in this situation regain its competitive advantage?

1. What business-level generic strategy(ies) relies (rely) most heavily on R&D and innovation?

1. Why does each generic competitive strategy require a different set of product/market/distinctive competency choices?

1. How do new developments in science and technology affect the generic business strategies pursued by firms in an industry? How might these developments do so in the future?

1. Over an industry’s life cycle, what investment strategy choices should be made by (a) differentiators in a strong competitive position, and (b) differentiators in a weak competitive position?

1. Why is it difficult for a company in one strategic group to change to a different strategic group?

1. What is game theory? How can business competition be modeled using game theory? What are principles of game theory that can be used to model the competitive environment? What are the limitations of game theory in modeling competition?