Discuss competitive landscape affecting business environment with taking industry of ur choice?

A number of forces affect the competitive environment for businesses today, but these forces are not of equal importance. We believe one is clearly more important than the others Barriers to Entry. If there are barriers, it is difficult for new firms to enter the market and challenging for existing companies to expand. Put simply, no other feature has as much influence on a companys success as where it stands in regard to these barriers. Measured by potency and durability, economies of scale, when combined with some customer captivity, provide the strongest and most durable moats. Pipelines earn high grades on both counts. Although it may seem counterintuitive, most competitive advantages based on economies of scale are found in local and niche markets, where either geographical or product spaces are limited and fixed costs remain substantial. An attractive niche should be characterized by customer captivity, small size relative to the level of fixed costs and the absence of vigilant dominant competitors. In fact, companies can build quasi-monopolies in markets that are only large enough to support one company profitably, because it makes no economic sense for a new entrant to spend the necessary capital to enter the markets. Infrastructure firms provide an extraordinary example of niche domination. MLPs have high barriers to entry due to capital requirements and geographical monopolies. A business in the midstream is a toll collector that takes products from one point to another. Many have monopolistic characteristics as building a pipeline requires clearing multiple regulatory hurdles which can be challenging to overcome given ongoing environmental concerns. Furthermore, when there is not enough demand between two points to profitably support multiple pipelines, a single pipeline enjoys niche economics and can charge the maximum allowable rates. Those rates can be quite attractive for owners as pipelines have a somewhat looser regulatory regime than utilities. Our Investment Thesis Thematically, MLPs represent an investment in the build-out of our domestic energy infrastructure over the next few decades. Nearly all other infrastructure is contingent upon pipelines and other energy assets to provide the lifeblood of our economy. These businesses operate toll-road business models supported by long-life real assets, with inflation hedges built into long-term contracts, regional monopolistic footprints, and relatively inelastic long-term energy demand growth. The resulting operating fundamentals allowed MLPs to generate predictable cash flows and pay consistent and growing quarterly cash distributions over the past few decades, which translate into very attractive investment characteristics: long-term stability and low volatility, attractive risk-adjusted returns, diversification via low correlation with other asset classes, and the potential for an effective inflation hedge. The two most comparable asset classes to MLPs are Utilities and Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs). Both Utilities and MLPs benefit from inelastic long-term energy demand growth. However, Utilities are subject to a more local and highly scrutinized regulatory body focused on returning cost savings to their constituents. The interstate pipelines owned by MLPs, on the other hand, are predominantly regulated at the federal level by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), where infrastructure assets are viewed as critical to energy security. The commercial buildings held inside REITs are viewed as hard assets with inherent tangible value. Similarly, the steel pipelines and storage tanks that transport and store the nations energy are hard assets with associated permanent value. The useful life of MLP income-producing assets is typically over fifty years. REIT rental income tends to fluctuate with macro-economic conditions and market demand; whereas MLPs benefit from inelastic energy demand and inflation-adjusted tariffs.

Meaningful new infrastructure investment requires capital, and both are needed to efficiently connect growing areas of energy demand with new areas of supply. Pipeline and related infrastructure assets are expected to support growing population centers and facilitate the transportation of natural gas and crude oil across North America, creating a compelling investment opportunity in the coming decades. Growth in the asset class will stem from additional organic projects, asset acquisitions from integrated majors, as well as the monetization of assets held in private hands. According to the Interstate Natural Gas Association of America, over the next two decades, roughly $130 to $210 billion of additional capital expenditures will need to be spent on natural gas infrastructure development to meet growing and shifting energy demands. On the acquisition front, we estimate that at least $200 billion of midstream assets are housed at public and private corporate structures, all of which could eventually be acquired by MLPs. Longer-term, we believe new midstream infrastructure development represents a highly sustainable secular growth story, with MLPs the natural structure to undertake the vast majority of such investment. Put simply, we are likely on the verge of the largest energy infrastructure build-out since World War II.

7-S Framework of McKinsey

The 7-S framework of McKinsey is a Value Based Management (VBM) model that describes how one can holistically and effectively organize a company. Together these factors determine the way in which a corporation operates. Shared Value The interconnecting center of McKinsey's model is: Shared Values. What does the organization stands for and what it believes in. Central beliefs and attitudes. Strategy Plans for the allocation of a firms scarce resources, over time, to reach identified goals. Environment, competition, customers. Structure The way the organization's units relate to each other: centralized, functional divisions (topdown); decentralized (the trend in larger organizations); matrix, network, holding, etc. System The procedures, processes and routines that characterize how important work is to be done: financial systems; hiring, promotion and performance appraisal systems; information systems. Staff Numbers and types of personnel within the organization. Style Cultural style of the organization and how key managers behave in achieving the organizations goals. Management Styles. Skill Distinctive capabilities of personnel or of the organization as a whole. Core Competences. Element of 7S Application to digital marketing team model Strategy Key issues from practice and literature

The significance of digital marketing in Gaining appropriate budgets and

influencing and supporting organisations' strategy

demonstrating / delivering value and ROI from budgets. Annual planning approach. Techniques for using digital marketing to impact organisation strategy Techniques for aligning digital strategy with organisational and marketing strategy

Structure

Integration of team with other management, marketing (corporate communications, brand marketing, direct marketing) and IT staff Use of cross-functional teams and steering groups Insourcing vs. outsourcing The development of specific processes, Campaign planning approachSystems procedures or information systems to integration support digital marketing Managing/sharing customer information Managing content quality Unified reporting of digital marketing effectiveness In-house vs. external best-of-breed vs. external integrated technology solutions Staff The breakdown of staff in terms of their Insourcing vs. outsourcing background and characteristics such as IT vs. Marketing, use of Achieving senior management buycontractors/consultants, age and sex. in/involvement with digital marketing Staff recruitment and retention. Virtual working Staff development and training Includes both the way in which key Relates to role of digital marketing Style managers behave in achieving the team in influencing strategy organizations' goals and the cultural it is it dynamic and influential or style of the organization as a whole. conservative and looking for a voice Skills Staff skills in specific areas: supplier Distinctive capabilities of key staff, but selection, project management, can be interpreted as specific skill-sets Content management, specific eof team members. marketing approaches (SEO,PPC, affiliate marketing, e-mail marketing, online advertising) The guiding concepts of the digital Improving the perception of the Superordinate marketing organisation which are also importance and effectiveness of the goals part of shared values and culture. The digital marketing team amongst internal and external perception of senior managers and staff it works these goals may vary with (marketing generalists and IT)

The modification of organizational structure to support digital marketing.

The challenge for a marketing strategy is to find a way of achieving a sustainable competitive advantage over the other competing products and firms in a market. A competitive advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering consumers greater value, either by means of lower prices or by providing greater benefits and service that justifies higher prices. Porter suggested four "generic" business strategies that could be adopted in order to gain competitive advantage. The strategies relate to the extent to which the scope of a business' activities are narrow versus broad and the extent to which a business seeks to differentiate its products. The differentiation and cost leadership strategies seek competitive advantage in a broad range of market or industry segments. By contrast, the differentiation focus and cost focus strategies are adopted in a narrow market or industry.

Cost leadership
With this strategy, the objective is to become the lowest-cost producer in the industry. The traditional method to achieve this objective is to produce on a large scale which enables the business to exploit economies of scale. Why is cost leadership potentially so important? Many (perhaps all) market segments in the industry are supplied with the emphasis placed on minimising costs. If the achieved selling price can at least equal (or near) the average for the market, then the lowest-cost producer will (in theory) enjoy the best profits. This strategy is usually associated with large-scale businesses offering "standard" products with relatively little differentiation that are readily acceptable to the majority of customers. Occasionally, a low-cost leader will also discount its product to maximise sales, particularly if it has a significant cost advantage over the competition and, in doing so, it can further increase its market share. A strategy of cost leadership requires close cooperation between all the functional areas of a business. To be the lowest-cost producer, a firm is likely to achieve or use several of the following:

High levels of productivity High capacity utilisation Use of bargaining power to negotiate the lowest prices for production inputs Lean production methods (e.g. JIT) Effective use of technology in the production process Access to the most effective distribution channels

Cost focus

Here a business seeks a lower-cost advantage in just one or a small number of market segments. The product will be basic - perhaps a similar product to the higher-priced and featured market leader, but acceptable to sufficient consumers. Such products are often called "me-too's".

Differentiation focus
In the differentiation focus strategy, a business aims to differentiate within just one or a small number of target market segments. The special customer needs of the segment mean that there are opportunities to provide products that are clearly different from competitors who may be targeting a broader group of customers. The important issue for any business adopting this strategy is to ensure that customers really do have different needs and wants - in other words that there is a valid basis for differentiation - and that existing competitor products are not meeting those needs and wants. Differentiation focus is the classic niche marketing strategy. Many small businesses are able to establish themselves in a niche market segment using this strategy, achieving higher prices than un-differentiated products through specialist expertise or other ways to add value for customers. There are many successful examples of differentiation focus. A good one is Tyrrells Crisps which focused on the smaller hand-fried, premium segment of the crisps industry.

Differentiation leadership
With differentiation leadership, the business targets much larger markets and aims to achieve competitive advantage across the whole of an industry. This strategy involves selecting one or more criteria used by buyers in a market - and then positioning the business uniquely to meet those criteria. This strategy is usually associated with charging a premium price for the product - often to reflect the higher production costs and extra value-added features provided for the consumer. Differentiation is about charging a premium price that more than covers the additional production costs, and about giving customers clear reasons to prefer the product over other, less differentiated products. There are several ways in which this can be achieved, though it is not easy and it requires substantial and sustained marketing investment. The methods include:

Superior product quality (features, benefits, durability, reliability) Branding (strong customer recognition & desire; brand loyalty) Industry-wide distribution across all major channels (i.e. the product or brand is an essential item to be stocked by retailers) Consistent promotional support often dominated by advertising, sponsorship etc

Great examples of a differentiation leadership include global brands like Nike and Mercedes. These brands achieve significant economies of scale, but they do not rely on a cost leadership strategy to compete. Their business and brands are built on persuading customers to become brand loyal and paying a premium for their products

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