Juan Jose

1. Three questions can be used to test the merits of one strategy versus another and
distinguish a winning strategy from a losing or mediocre strategy:
1- How well does the strategy fit the companys situation?
This is a fit test that determines if the companys strategy fits the market and
competitive conditions both internally and externally
2- Can the strategy help the company achieve a sustainable competitive advantage?
This is basically the competitive advantage test to see if the company strategy is
competitive in the market field.
3- Is the strategy resulting in good company performance?
There is two kinds of performance test:
(1) Increases in profitability and financial strength
(2) Increase in the companys competitive strength and market standing.


2. Strategy is about the HOWs of getting there, give some examples of the HOWs that must
be answered
This is some of the HOWs that companies have to answer
How to attract and please customers.
How to compete against rivals.
How to position the company in the marketplace.
How best to respond to changing economic and market conditions.
How to capitalize on attractive opportunities to grow the business.
How to achieve the companys performance targets.
Executing and performing strategy requires figuring out all the HOWs that are needed for a
smooth strategy-supportive operation. Once this is done then its all about implementing it.
3. Strategy is about competing differently from rival- give some example of what this
means?
Every strategy needs an individual element that attracts consumers and produces a competitive
advantage over the industry rivals. An example of this is how Samsung has created more
advance phones than apple in order to edge them out of the market. Their strategy is to have the
BEST and MOST POWERFUL phone in the market, while Apples is to have the most simple
and confortable phone in the market.

4. What are some of the strategic approaches to building a competitive advantage?
Some of the strategic approaches to building a competitive advantage are:
a) The first approach is any strategy in the market place that managers utilize to improve the
companys financial performance, strengthen its long-term competitive position, and gain
a competitive edge over rivals.
b) A company achieves a competitive advantage whenever it has some type of edge over
rivals in attracting buyers.
c) Strategy is about competing differently from rivals or doing what competitors dont do
or, even better, cant do. All good strategies need a unique element that attracts
consumers and produces a competitive edge.

5. What are some of the ways to develop a sustainable competitive advantage?
Four of the most frequently used strategic approaches to setting a company apart from rivals and
achieving a sustainable competitive advantage are:
a. Striving to be the industrys low-cost provider, so targeting for a cost-based
competitive advantage over rivals as the Low Cost Leader. Achieving lower costs
than rivals can produce a durable competitive edge when rivals find it hard to
match the low-cost leaders approach to driving costs out of the business.
b. Outcompeting rivals on the basis of differentiating features, such as higher
quality, wider product selection, added performance, value-added services, more
attractive styling, and technological superiority can make the different.
Differentiation strategies can be powerful so long as a company is sufficiently
innovative to prevent clever rivals in finding ways to copy or closely imitate the
features of a successful differentiators product offering
c. Developing an advantage based on offering more value for the money as the Best
Cost Provider. That means developing expertise and resource strengths that give
the company competitive capabilities that rivals cant easily imitate or outdo with
capabilities of their own. Very often, winning a durable competitive edge over
rivals, focuses more on building competitively valuable expertise and capabilities
than it does on having a distinctive product..
d. Focusing on a narrow market niche within an industry as Niche Market. So,
focusing on a narrow market niche and winning a competitive edge by doing a
better job than rivals of serving the special needs and tastes of buyers comprising
the niche
6. Identify some of the factors that a company must respond to that causes their strategy to
evolve over time
a) Every company must be willing and ready to modify the strategy in response to
changing market conditions, advancing technology, unexpected moves by
competitors, shifting buyer needs, emerging market opportunities, and mounting
evidence that the strategy is not working well.
b) Most of the time, a companys strategy evolves incrementally from managements
ongoing efforts to fine-tune the strategy and to adjust certain strategy elements in
response to new learning and unfolding events.
c) Industry environments characterized by high velocity change require companies to
repeatedly adapt their strategies.
d) 4 The important point is that the task of crafting strategy is not a one-time event but
always a work in progress.

7. Crafting and Executing Strategy are Important tasks. Give some examples of what
strategy provides in order to complete the equation: Good Strategy + Good Strategy
Execution = Good Management

Good Strategy + Good Strategy Execution = Good Management
1- Crafting and executing strategy are core management functions.
2- Among all the things managers do, nothing affects a companys success or failure
more essentially than how well its management team plans the companys
direction, develops competitively effective strategic moves and business
approaches.
3- Good strategy and good strategy execution are the most trustworthy signs of good
management.
4- The better conceived a companys strategy and the more expertly it is executed,
the more likely it is that the company will be a standout performer in the
marketplace.
5- Being first off the starting block turns out to be competitively important only
when pioneering early introduction of a technology or product delivers clear and
substantial benefits to early adopters and buyers.