How Strong Is Your Firm S Competitive Advantage

Perhaps the most confounding characteristic of the competitive marketplace is that everyone wants a piece of the action. If a firm successfully enters a new market, creates a new product, or designs new innovations for an existing product, it’s just a matter of time before competitors follow suit. And the influx of competition inevitably places downward pressure on both price and profitability. Whether you’re an economics student or a manager with absolutely no background in economics, this book will help you make better decisions and learn more about the Five Forces Model, first published in 1979 by Harvard economist Michael Porter, which identifies the characteristics that can help insulate a firm from competitive forces. Unlike most managerial economics textbooks that devote an inordinate amount of space to elements of theory of a firm (which is a bit useful to economics as a social science), this book brings microeconomic theory into the world of the business manager rather than the other way around. Marburger believes if an element of theory has no practical application, there is no reason to discuss it. In short, Marburger’s intent is to expound on microeconomic theory that can be taken back to the office and put into use.

According to the economic theory of the firm, businesses strive to determine the single price that maximizes profits. In fact, many firms can extract more revenue and increase profits with pricing strategies that are far more innovative than the single-price strategy. However, in the world of pricing, there is no Òone size fits allÓ strategy. Some pricing strategies are better suited to some situations than others. Sam's Club, owned by Walmart Stores, Inc., for example, charge a membership fee for the right to purchase the store's inventory whereas Walmart Supercenters do not. If Suddenlink Communications bundles Internet, cable, and phone service to increase profits, why does it also sell the same items separately? Is it true that passengers seated next to each other on the same flight might pay dramatically different fares? Inside you'll learn how various pricing strategies, including price discrimination, two-part tariffs, bundling, peak-load pricing, and dynamic pricing need specific and necessary ingredients in order to succeed. The authors show you how to use microeconomic theory to determine which pricing strategies will succeed, and under what conditions.

According to the economic theory of the firm, businesses strive to determine the single price that maximizes profits. In fact, many firms can extract more revenue and increase profits with pricing strategies that are far more innovative than the single-price strategy. However, in the world of pricing, there is no one size fits all strategy. Some pricing strategies are better suited to some situations than others. Sam's Club, owned by Walmart Stores, Inc., for example, charge a membership fee for the right to purchase the store's inventory whereas Walmart Supercenters do not. If Suddenlink Communications bundles Internet, cable, and phone service to increase profits, why does it also sell the same items separately? Is it true that passengers seated next to each other on the same flight might pay dramatically different fares? Inside you'll learn how various pricing strategies, including price discrimination, two-part tariffs, bundling, peak-load pricing, and dynamic pricing need specific and necessary ingredients in order to succeed. The authors show you how to use microeconomic theory to determine which pricing strategies will succeed, and under what conditions.

Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

The Tale of Edison Andrews - A SEER I am apparently a very slow learner or I was so as a child. My mother used to like to tell stories about how I would ask why the color of people’s eyes were changing so much. With much laughter, or fury, or exasperation, or downright anger depending upon her mood, my mother would say that I saw things that simply were not there. My mother was wrong on this one. I did see eyes change and knowing how that change worked gave me an advantage in my life. My ‘gift’ was turned against me and against those I loved when I was an adult, costing me everything that was dear to me. Revenge may be sweetest when cold, but I believe revenge must be exacted! Some things are never forgiven.

Strategic Management (2020) is a 325-page open educational resource designed as an introduction to the key topics and themes of strategic management. The open textbook is intended for a senior capstone course in an undergraduate business program and suitable for a wide range of undergraduate business students including those majoring in marketing, management, business administration, accounting, finance, real estate, business information technology, and hospitality and tourism. The text presents examples of familiar companies and personalities to illustrate the different strategies used by today's firms and how they go about implementing those strategies. It includes case studies, end of section key takeaways, exercises, and links to external videos, and an end-of-book glossary. The text is ideal for courses which focus on how organizations operate at the strategic level to be successful. Students will learn how to conduct case analyses, measure organizational performance, and conduct external and internal analyses.

The 'Resource-Based View of the Firm' has emerged over the last fifteen years as one of the dominant perspectives used in strategic management. It addresses the fundamental research question of strategic management: Why it is that some firms persistently outperform others? Resource-Based Theory provides a considered overview of this theory, including the latest developments, from one of the key thinkers in its development. In broad terms it offers an alternative to Michael Porter's approach, focusing more on the competences and capabilities of the firm, rather than its positioning in its chosen markets. Jay B. Barney has long been recognised as one of the leading contributor to the resource-based theory literature. In this book he has collaborated with Delwyn N. Clark to produce the first book to examine the theory in a holistic and in-depth manner. The authors explore not only the applications of the theory in research, teaching, and practice, but also its early roots in traditional economic theory, development and proliferation in the 1990s, and later influence on management thinking.