Toyota Competitive Strategies Essay Example

Toyota Competitive Strategies Paper Competitive  Strategy Asia-Pacific Marketing Federation Certified Professional Marketer Copyright Marketing Institute of Singapore Outline * Introduction * Sustainable  competitive  advantage (SCA) * Sources of SCA * Strategies for * Market Leaders * Challengers * Followers, and * Nichers Introduction Having a  competitive  advantage  is necessary for a firm to compete in the market * But what is more important is whether the  competitiveadvantage is sustainable * A firm must identify its position relative to the competition in the market * By knowing if it is a leader, challenger, follower or nicher, it can adopt appropriate strategies to compete Sustainable  Competitive  Advantage * A good strategist seeks not only to â€Å"win the hill, but hold on to it. †Ã‚  Ã‚  Subash Jain * Sustaining  competitive  advantage requires erecting barriers against the competition * Aakers suggested looking at the following: How you compete * Basis of competition * Where you compete * Whom you are competing against Examples of SCA * For many years, Singapore Airlines were riding on its SCA of having the best in-flight service * As more airlines improved their service and   narrowed the gap, SIA sought othercompetitive  advantages among which are * The most modern fleet * Outstanding Service on the Ground * A super entertainment system in its cabins * Comfort in its First Class cabins at an unparallel level * Discuss whether the later initiatives had been sustainable We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Competitive Strategies specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Competitive Strategies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Toyota Competitive Strategies specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Sun Tze’s defensive  strategy â€Å"Do not assume the enemy will not come but be prepared for his coming†¦ Do not presume he will not attack, but instead make your own position unassailable. † Sun Tze’s Offensive Strategies * Overt-offensive  strategy * To knock out a business rival so as to take over his company * To knock out a competing product so as to take over its market share * Covert-offensive  strategy * Keep as low a profile as possible while making offensive moves Strategies for Market Leaders Market Leader’s objectives: * Expand the total market by * Finding new users Creating new uses, and * Encouraging more usage * Protect its current market share by * Adopting defense strategies (see following slides) * Increase its market share * Note the relationship between market share and profitability Which  strategy  to use? Depends on your answer to the following: * Is it worth fighting? * Are you strong enough to fight? * How strong i s your defense? * Do you have any choice but to fight? Defense  Strategy * A market leader should generally adopt a defense  strategy * Six commonly used defense strategies * Position Defense * Mobile Defense Flanking Defense * Contraction Defense * Pre-emptive Defense * Counter-Offensive Defense Defense  Strategy  (cont’d) Position Defense * Least successful of the defense strategies * â€Å"A company attempting a fortress defense will find itself retreating from line after line of fortification into shrinking product markets. †Ã‚   Saunders (1987) * e. g. Mercedes was using a position defense  strategy  untilToyota  launched a frontal attack with its Lexus. Defense  Strategy  (cont’d) Mobile Defense * By market broadening and diversification * For marketing broadening, there is a need to Redefine the business (principle of objective), and * Focus efforts on the competition (the principle of mass) * e. g. Legend Holdings, the top China PC maker Legend has announced a joint venture with AOL to broaden its business to provide Internet services in the mainland Defense  Strategy  (cont’d) Flanking Defense: * Secondary markets (flanks) are the weaker areas and prone to being attacked * P ay attention to the flanks * e. g. San Miguel introduced a flanking brand in the Philippines, Gold Eagle, as a defense against APB’s Beerhausen Defense  Strategy  (cont’d) Contraction Defense * Withdraw from the most vulnerable segments and redirect resources to those that are more defendable * By planned contraction or strategic withdrawal * e. g. India’s TATA Group sold its soaps and detergents business units to Unilever in 1993 Defense  Strategy  (cont’d) Pre-emptive Defense * Detect potential attacks and attack the enemies first * Let it be known how it will retaliate * Product or brand proliferation is a form of pre-emptive defense e. g. Seiko has over 2,000 models Defense  Strategy  (cont’d) Counter-Offensive Defense Responding to competitors’ head-on attack by identifying the attacker’s weakness and then launch a counter attack * e. g. Toyota  launched the Lexus to respond to Mercedes attack Market Challenger Strategies The market challengers’ strategic objective is to gain market share and to become the leader eventually How? * By attacking the market leader * By attacking other firms of the same size * By attacking smaller firms Market Challenger Strategies (cont’d) Types of Attack Strategies * Frontal attack * Flank attack * Encirclement attack * Bypass attack * Guerrilla attack Frontal Attack * Seldom work  unless The challenger has sufficient fire-power (a 3:1 advantage) and staying power, and * The challenger has clear distinctive advantage(s) * e. g. Japanese and Korean firms launched frontal attacks in various ASPAC countries through quality, price and low cost Flank attack * Attack the enemy at its weak points or blind spots i. e. its flanks * Ideal for challenger who does not have sufficient resources * e. g. In the 1990s, Yaohan attacked Mitsukoshi and Seibu’s flanks by opening numerous stores in overseas markets Encirclement attack * Attack the enemy at many fronts at the same time Ideal for challenger having superior resources * e. g. Seiko attacked on fashion, features, user preferences and anything that might interest the consumer Bypass attack * By diversifying into unrelated products or markets neglected by the leader * Could overtake the leader by using new technologies * e. g. Pepsi use a bypass attack  strategy  against Coke in China by locating its bottling plants in the interior provinces Guerrilla attack * By launching small, intermittent hit-and-run attacks to harass and destabilize the leader * Usually use to precede a stronger attack e. g. airlines use short promotions to attack the national carriers especially when passenger loads in certain routes are low Which Attack  Strategy  should a Challenger Choose? Use a combination of several strategies to improve market share over time Market-Follower Strategies * Theodore Levitt in his article,  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Innovative Imitation†Ã‚  argued that a product imitation  strategy  might be just as profitable as a product innovation  strategy   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  e. g. Product innovationSony Product-imitationPanasonic Market-Follower Strategies (cont’d) Each follower tries to bring distinctive advantages to its target marketlocation, services, financing * Four broad follower strategies: * Counterfeiter (which is illegal) * Cloner e. g. the IBM PC clones * Imitator e. g. car manufacturers imitate the style of one another * Adapter e. g. many Japanese firms are excellent adapters initially before developing into challengers and eventually leaders Market-Nicher Strategies * Smaller firms can avoid larger firms by targeting smaller markets or niches that are of little or no interest to the larger firms   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  e. g. Logitechmice Microbrewersspecial beers Market-Nicher Strategies (cont’d) * Nichers must create niches, expand the niches and protect them * e. g. Nike constantly created new nichescycling, walking, hiking, cheerleading, etc * What is the major risk faced by nichers? * Market niche may be attacked by larger firms once they notice the niches are successful Multiple Niching â€Å"[A] firm should `stick to its niching’ but not necessarily to its niche. That is why multiple niching is preferable to single niching. By developing strength in two or more niches the company increases its chances for survival. † Philip Kotler

The Impressionistic Period essays

The Impressionistic Period essays The Impressionistic Period took place during the latter half of the 19th century and the beginning half of the 20th century. Impressionistic music was first started by Claude Debussy, a French composer. He also founded the impressionist school of music. The Impressionistic Period started as a revolt against German romanticism. The influence of the French impressionist paintings also helped form this style of music. Debussys music was brief, elegant, and rather cold, unlike the period before, which held sentimental music. At one point in his life, he broke away and composed a piece which was more conventional, called "La Mer", which means "the sea". There were many different composers during the Impressionistic Period. Some of them were Manuel de Falla, Fredrick Delius, Ralph Williams Vaughan, and Ottorino Respighi. These and other composers helped to make up the Impressionistic Period. Delius and Vaughan were English composers. La Falla was a Spanish composer. Impressionistic music was especially popular in the European countries. Impressionistic music was influenced by Claude Monets painting, Sunrise. Other impressionistic artists were Camile Pissaro, Auguste Renior, Edgar Degas, and Berthe Morisot. Many people of the time rejected this style of art. The paintings were flooded with bright colors applied directly to the canvas in small textured strokes. This style broke the consistency of the clearly outlined and represented paintings of this time. Impressionistic music had a vagueness of form and the elusive mark of impressionism. Some characteristics are the use of unconventional chord changes, comparative unimportance of melody, and pentatonic scales often replaced the major and minor scales. The Impressionistic Period was also famous for its literature. Impressionism in literature often is used broadly, including symbolism, imagism, and other styles that were not forma ...

Performance Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words

Performance Management - Essay Example It involves establishment of within reach targets as well as clearly outlining roles (Kanigher, 2005). Development of Performance Management This discipline traces its origin in the 20th century, where managers developed the process to determine whether the remuneration paid to workers was reasonable (Kanigher, 2005). One of the earliest contributors to this theory was Fredrick Taylor, with his scientific management theory, which he developed by studying the work process scientifically. In his work, he studied how work was done and how it affected people productivity (Kanigher, 2005). His findings were that workers and managers need to cooperate with each other, work needs to be simplified for efficient results to be achieved and, he advanced the idea of â€Å"a fair day’s pay for a fair day’s work (Kanigher, 2005). This was during the industrialization era, and at that time, factory managers had little contact with workers leaving them to produce on their own. This le ft workers with poor motivation, because continuation of employment was the only incentive at that time. In his, â€Å"time and motion† studies, Taylor concluded that certain workers were suitable for certain jobs, to achieve efficiency (Kanigher, 2005). This is the basis of role definition in the contemporary business environment. This theory concerns itself with managing people’s performance. It attempts to understand the fundamental factors, which enhance employee relations to yield maximum organizational output. Taylor suggestions of presence of certain conditions to improve work performance paved way for future scholars and theorists in understanding what influences performance (Kanigher, 2005). This is the foundation of performance management and there would be no practical application of this concept in the absence of this theory. Douglas McGregor is another major contributor to the development of performance management theory and practical applications in moder n business world. In his, â€Å"The Human Side of Enterprise† book, he proposed theory X and Y, which was a constructive and modest reminder of the ordinary rules for handling people, which are overlooked under the density of day-to-day business (Koontz & Weihrich, 2007). His ideas suggested there are only two fundamental ways of managing people; one is by treating them as lazy and disliking work, hence they will do anything to avoid work. They ought to be directed, assured job safety in order to consent accountability. This is theory X, which suggests dictatorial management style (Koontz & Weihrich, 2007). Another war regards workers as people devoted to objectives and, they will admit and pursue responsibility. They are self-disciplined and pursue organizational objectives without threat of punishment (Koontz & Weihrich, 2007). He regarded this as theory Y that proposes a democratic management style. Performance management entails understanding people’s behavior. Thi s theory sheds lights on the sophistication side of employees. Though it suggests only two kinds of employee, it paved way for organizations to realize that the human aspect of an enterprise is complex, and exhibits numerous characters. After inception of

DIscussion questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

DIscussion questions - Assignment Example Getting paid more than your fellow employees gives you a psychological advantage and one is made to believe that is getting treated special. But keeping in mind the tasks I had to deliver and the number of hours I was forced to work in order to meet deadlines never gave me personal satisfaction. I had friends in others companies in the same industry and they were getting paid almost as much as me but there was one major difference. The difference was that they were only responsible for accounts related work. They had a separate tax department that handled tax related works and had a storage supervisor who was responsible for checking and maintaining the stock level. So that meant I was doing task of three people all alone. Although the level of pay made things look reasonable, the level of commitment, focus and hard work always made me feel that I was being over worked and the incentive giving me was comparatively less. This feeling and heavy schedule went on forcing me to resign fro m work and opting for a different place. Technology has really made it easier for us to gather information on compensation; explore the Glassdoor website at http://www.glassdoor.com Click on the Companies and Reviews, then Best Places to Work feature and check out some of the company reviews and salary information, remembering that this is unsubstantiated, anonymous information. What did you find on this site? How useful do you think it is? The website contains a vast number of things related both, to the companies and the employees. The overview of the company is given along with a list of salaries being taken by employees at different positions. The average salary and the range of salaries for each department/position are given. This gives a fair idea of what starting pay should one expect and as time goes on how much raise in pay scale should be expected while staying at the company. A percentage of number successful, unsuccessful and waiting list (neutral) candidates are also gi ven. A prospective employee may analyze his chances of getting through in the interviews. Reviews of employees is also an important aspect, as one may get to know how well a company is treating its employees and understand whether he/she can adjust to such an environment. The number of jobs and positions available along with the job description helps one to assess whether to apply for the job or not. The thing that I found most useful was the information and split in categories of how people manage to get an interview. Most prospective employees don’t know how to apply and what is the best mode of applying. Some may simply use the online portal while others may try getting a referral in a company before they even apply. They may be some individuals who go straight up to recruiting agencies and ask for their help and guidance. By analysing the information on people actually getting an interview, the possibility of managing to get an interview becomes much higher. Using Table 1 2.1, which two programs for recognizing employee contributions do you feel are most worthwhile from an employee motivation standpoint and why? Table 12.1 Employee Motivation Merit Pay Incentive Pay Profit Sharing Owner-Ship Gain Sharing Skill-Based Design features Payment method Changes base pay Bonus Bonus Equity Bonus Change in base pay when skill Frequency at payout Annually Weekly Semiannually or annually When stock sold Monthly or quarterly When skill or competency Performance measures Supervisor’

Russia and China Foreign Policies on Central Asia Research Paper

Russia and China Foreign Policies on Central Asia - Research Paper Example The interest that China has in Central Asia is not new. The course of the interest in Central Asia entails their concern to extent control over the territory as well as control the territorial security. The sign of interest in this complex advancement is evident from the sustained rhythm of successive visits, since the first tour of Prime Minister Li Peng in 1994. Thus, the guiding thread of China’s foreign policy in relation to Central Asia is essentially to achieve â€Å"stability†. The country of China exists in a political territory that continues to experience restlessness from je frontier zones to the periphery, despite the ending of the Cold War, a course that raises new series of risks. The collapse of the Soviet system and eventual independence of the Central Asian republics marked a remarkable fragmentation of the region in additional to continued autonomisation of the entire region. The effect is that a multitude of opportunities that existed and the stakes entailed for the Peoples Republic of China received a remarkable blow, becoming rather complicated (Lanteigne, 2009). The course is that the movement towards achieving the foreign policy compromises is yet far from conclusions. Another concept entailed in the foreign policy regarding Central Asia is the end of the communism practice in 1989 I the USSR, which in effect granted the republics in the Central Asia region greater liberty (Lanteigne, 2009). Moreover, this development unfortunately coincided with the resurgence of the democratic calls entailed in Beijing, which marked a beginning of a period of agitation in China and the larger region. Notably, the disappearance of the Soviet threat in the region from the end of the Cold War marked the beginning of bilateral relations of the dimensions between China and Central Asia. The course in the 1990s, seemed to take a positive direction as China sought to weave

Cultural Traits Of Lysistrata Analysis Religion Essay

Cultural Traits Of Lysistrata Analysis Religion Essay It is interesting to see how much culture varies from one civilization to another across the world and throughout history, but amazingly enough they all have many similarities. By reading these ancient poems and stories, I can relate too many of their cultural traits. I find the Greek culture to be the most interesting, and through the literature such as Aristophanes Lysistrata, I can see many cultural similarities. From the story Lysistrata, the women of Greece join together to voice their opinion that they should be treated as equals. The Peloponnesian War is taking place during the story and all the women are left at home alone because their husbands are off fighting in the war. The women are tired of their husbands being gone and want the war to end before all of Greece is destroyed. Led by Lysistrata, the women of Greece join together and take over the Akropolis and devise a plan to end the war by withholding sex from the men. From this culture we see that women are presumed to be kind of a slave for the men. Their duties should be the care of the house and the children. Cooking, cleaning, sewing and pleasing the husband were their jobs. Even in our culture today these things are considered to be the womans responsibilities. Their opinions did not matter to the men and were better left unsaid, the same as our culture in earlier years. Even today the opinion of a woman does not matter to som e men. They are believed to be not as intelligent as the man and should only concern themselves with house hold chores, caring for the children, and pleasing the husband. The men of this culture were dominant over the women and fought the wars, took care of the finances and headed the government. All of the decisions for Greece and the people of Greece were made by the men. Through Lysistrata, we can clearly see that the woman of Greece are tired of being treated as thought they were inferior, a common problem that we have had throughout our culture and history and probably always will. They believed they should have some influence in the government as well as the household, and that their opinion should be taken into consideration. In order for the women to be taken seriously, they withheld sex from the men and locked themselves in the Akropolis, vowing not to return home until the war had ended and their opinions be heard equally alongside the men. This fight for womens rights has been seen throughout our cultural history as well and seems, in a way, to still be going on today. The Greek culture and most of our culture has been dominated by the man. Our country was founded and ran by the men, with the women having many of the same responsibilities as the Greek women did in the story of Lysistrata. The Greek men did not believe the women had the right to have a say in the government or with matters of war, the same as the men throughout our cultural history. The same battle that is being fought by the women in Lysistrata for their rights has been fought by the women of our culture. The Greek men finally learned a lesson. They gave into the women and listened to what they had to say and ended the war, vowing that the women would have a say in things. This is similar to our culture in that, since the fight for womens rights has begun, they are now allowed to be government officials, hold jobs outside of the home, and even fight in wars. Another cultural trait of the Greek people was the worship of many Gods. Many of the ancient cultures back then believed in and worshiped more than one God. The people built their lives around these Gods. They lived in fear of these Gods and obeyed all of what they were told. They would have dreams and visions of these Gods or events of the future and believed they would come true since the Gods put it before their eyes. All that they did revolved around the worship of these Gods, even in their battles, they fought the way they believed the Gods wanted. They fought for the Gods with all they had never to do them unjust or have them disgraced. Unlike today where many people in our culture do not even worship a God or either show little in their respect or love for him. Our culture differs from the ancient Greeks, in that we are a monotheistic culture. We only believe in one God where as the Greeks had a dozen or more Gods. While the Greek culture revolved around the Gods, our religiou s culture, it seems, is slowly dying. You can see the importance of these Gods to the Greek culture by the many different statues and monuments they built to honor them. They made separate statues and monuments to worship each one of these Gods. You can also see the importance of the Gods through their literature. Almost every story or poem that I have read from the ancient Greeks has references to the gods and many are written about the Gods. We do not see this in our culture today since most of our literature contains nothing about our God. Our culture as a whole probably shows less respect or loyalty for our God than the Greeks did even for the least important God they had. Though many years apart, it is interesting to see how the cultural traits vary from one culture to the next throughout history. It is clearly seen, by reading the ancient poems and stories of the Greeks, how our culture and theirs compare and contrast. Although there are many different beliefs between our present culture and the ones of the past, many of their traits seem to have been carried over and are still present in our culture today.

Against Animal Experimentation Essay -- social issues

Against Animal Experimentation Imagine having a headache and not having aspirin to take, or being diabetic and not being able to take certain types of insulin (Williams 3). It seems impossible that these drugs could be unavailable to humans, but they would not be attainable had scientists not tested these drugs on non-animal subjects. Contrary to what many people believe, testing drugs on animals often give defective results. â€Å"More than 205,000 new drugs are marketed worldwide every year, most undergo the most archaic and unreliable testing methods still in use: animal studies† (PETA 1). Although animals may seem the like ideal specimens for testing new drugs, the experiments are untrustworthy and can cause unknown side effects. Research on animals is deemed necessary to develop vaccines, treatments, and cures for diseases and to ensure that new products are safe for humans to use. â€Å"The development of immunization against such diseases as polio, diphtheria, mumps, measles, rubella, pertussis, and hepatitis all involved research on animals [†¦]† (AMPEF 1). Scientists have found many drugs by means of animal experimentation. To some people, animals are viewed as better test subjects than anything else. Scientists can control many aspects in an animal’s life such as their diet, the temperature, lighting, environment, and more. Animals are biologically similar, but not identical to humans and can form some of the same health problems. When these health problems are injected into an animal it can have the same physical reactions as a human could. Brettner -2- Experimenting on animals, to some, is important if humans want to continue with improving our medical advances (AMPEF 1). Although animals have helped form useful medicines for humans like anesthesia, they have also helped put dangerous drugs on the market (AMPEF 1). Practolol, a drug for heart disorders that passed animal test was pulled off the shelves when the drug caused blindness in people. Also, arsenic, which is toxic and causes cancer in humans, has not caused cancer in any animals that were tested (PETA 1). â€Å"According to the General Accounting Office, more than half of the prescription drugs approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) between 1976 and 1985 caused serious side effects that later caused the drugs to be either relabeled or removed from the market. Drugs app... ... are many other ways to get the same results as humans receive from animal experiments. These methods are viewed as more moral, practical, effective, and less expensive, why wouldn’t we use these methods? By using these methods, scientists were able to invent aspirin and certain types of insulin (Williams 3). Although animals may seem like the ideal specimen for experimenting with, these experiments are untrustworthy and can cause unknown side effects. Works Cited AMPEF. â€Å"Point Counterpoint†. Americans For Medical Progress Education Foundation. 1998. 4 May 2002. Best, Lonnie Lee. â€Å"Are Humans Animals?† The Hardcore Truth. 1998. 1 May 2002. British Anti-Vivisection Association. â€Å"Animal Experimentation: No Lie Can Live Forever†. 2 May 2002. Cohen, Et. Al. â€Å"A Critical Look at Animal Experimentation†. 1998. 3 May 2002. People For the Ethical Treatment of Animals. â€Å"Animal Experimentation†. PETA. 2001. 4 May 2002. Thacher, Wendy. â€Å"Chimpanzees: Test Results That Don’t Apply To Humans†. PCRM Animal Experimentation Issues. September 2, 1999. 5 May 2002. Williams, Joy. â€Å"Do Creatures Have The Same Rights That We Do?† Harper’s Magazine. 1997. 6 May 2002.