Porters Strategy and the internet Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Porters Strategy and the internet - Essay Example Economic value is important because it influences consumer decision to buy a product even above its production cost. Secondly, potential profitability is higher if a company sets itself apart from other businesses as much as possible from the benefits it offers, to the conduct of its business and to the necessary trade-offs it decides to make. A company’s ability to set itself apart from the rest in the market is also reflected in the way it makes and adopts business choices and practices that are integrated into and interdependent with the rest of the system making itself virtually difficult to duplicate. All of the above, however, is only feasible if the company adopts and maintains a continuity of direction repudiating if need be, emerging business practices that tend to veer it away from its established reputation and practices. 2.0Criticisms of the Strategic Positioning View There are several perspectives that conflict with the strategic positioning view of Porter. Barney (1991), for example, although essentially echoing Porter’s six-point formula for strategic positioning especially with respect to good value, uniqueness and inimitability, leans towards resource-based perspective rather than the market-based perspective of Porter (1996) (1991 p 106). On the other hand, Prahalad (1990) subscribes to the idea that a company that can easily adapt itself to the changing market boundaries by an ability to invent or enter new markets or swing customer choices has the more competitive edge.... A company’s ability to set itself apart from the rest in the market is also reflected in the way it makes and adopts business choices and practices that are integrated into and interdependent with the rest of the system making itself virtually difficult to duplicate. All of the above, however, are only feasible if the company adopts and maintains a continuity of direction repudiating, if need be, emerging business practices that tend to veer it away from its established reputation and practices (Porter 2001 63-78; Porter 1996 61-78). 2.0 Criticisms of the Strategic Positioning View There are several perspectives that conflict with the strategic positioning view of Porter. Barney (1991), for example, although essentially echoing Porter’s six-point formula for strategic positioning especially with respect to good value, uniqueness and inimitability, leans towards resource-based perspective rather than the market-based perspective of Porter (1996) (1991 p 106). On the othe r hand, Prahalad (1990) subscribes to the idea that a company that can easily adapt itself to the changing market boundaries by an ability to invent or enter new markets or swing customer choices has more competitive edge. This dynamism essentially conflicts with Porter’s advocacy for strategic continuity to preserve firm identity and reputation. For Prahalad, core competencies or a firm’s collective learning is the heart of a company’s competitive advantage as opposed to Porter’s strategic positioning. Pitt (2001) likewise believes that changes that are now taking place are too fast and the best thing that companies can do is not to rely only on tangible assets but more on intangible assets such as

Case Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Case Analysis - Essay Example m, and CollegeWikis.com—hope to come in.† (Facebook Faces Up, 2008) Facebook has increased it user base by opening admission to all: â€Å"In June, 11.5 million of the individual visitors to the site were 35 or older, more than double the number a year before, according to market researcher ComScore Media Metrix† (Facebook Faces Up, 2008). Now at 33 Million subscribers total Facebook’s worth has been estimated between 1 and 4 billion dollars. However the increase in size has contributed to more site downtime and possible problems with security that are slowly being addressed. In analyzing Facebook’s position in the marketplace, as table 1 on the next page shows, there are some key factors for the company as well as its competition to be explored. Facebook is the number two site for all social networking website as of April 2008. While MySpace is certainly dominating the field it has not grown as dramatically as Facebook has done. More recent numbers, as stated above, have put Facebook even closer with 33 million subscribers since opening its doors to all users in May. Furthermore, according to most reports, the college age users that have currently been using Facebook do not seem to be switching services any time soon. While other companies are attempting to fill the college niche market, they have not successfully created an easier to use platform with as much Web presence as Facebook. However, as this table reveals and many analysts agree with, LinkedIn is quickly increasing its user base and with some changes in its website structure and presence, may soon represent some valid competition for both Facebook and MySpace. While Facebook is certainly growing by leaps and bounds it may be time to consider partnering with other companies whose infrastructures have proven successful and who may assist FaceBook with the challenge of growth and security that it currently faces. Recent refusal to partner with Googel, Yahoo1 and others may only be