In chapter 3, and in future chapters, we have read about, \"competitive prioriti

Question

In chapter 3, and in future chapters, we have read about, "competitive priorities." As our text states:

"In general organizations can compete on five key competitive priorities: Cost, Quality ,Time, Flexibility, Innovation
Using Amazon and Walmart, which of these competitive priorities, do each of these companies, most, compete on?

-Choose, no more than 2 "competitive priorities" for each company and, then -choose the one priority, they compete on the most
.Explain how/why you chose that, particular, "competitive priority?" -

Then, comment on the responses, from 2 of your cohorts, and explain why you do or do not agree with their choices and/or why your choices are a more logical choice.

Explanation / Answer

Amazon

Amazon began their business by selling books online. Nowadays, there isn’t much that the company does not do. They have evolved through the years and adapted to the market requirement and recently has become the second company (after Apple) to have a market cap of $1 trillion. If we look at their journey over the years we can clearly understand that while there are many of the competitive priorities that seem familiar with Amazon, the two most important competitive priorities are

The reason flexibility plays a big role is because we have seen Amazon in various different businesses across the years. It has been a book seller, ecommerce platform, logistics experts, cloud service providers, internet traffic leader and more. This is a clear sign of flexibility and innovation. Let us not forget that if they had remained solely with their online business, they would have likely never been profitable. Their effort, research and leadership in cloud services is one of the key reasons why they are a reputed and profitable company today.

Among the priorities, the competitive priority that Amazon focuses on the most is Innovation. This is because their entire business can be seen as an attempt to promote innovation and innovative approach internally. If we observe Amazon’s culture we find out that the organization promotes flat hierarchy, freedom and responsibility among employees, and entrepreneurial approach to problem solving. Such culture within the organization is created with the pure intention of promoting innovation within the teams. In addition to this, the organization has also proven that in spite of beginning as a service organization (e-commerce store), they can reposition themselves as tech leaders in the current market. While the organization used to compete with other ecommerce companies in the beginning, it is now a competitor to the likes of Google, Microsoft, etc. This has been possible due to their stand on innovation.

Walmart

Walmart is one of the fortune 5 companies of the world and has been that for years. This is due to the immense amount of revenue the organization brings in on a regular basis. Over the years there has been supporters and critics of Walmart and their business policies but one thing that can clearly be seen is that they have established themselves as market leaders in retail business. This has been done by prioritizing their competitive attributes. The two key competitive priorities of the organization are

One of the biggest reason Walmart is criticized on a regular basis is because of their cost leadership. This cost leadership has been established by creating efficient supply chain system and economies of scale that allows the company to price the products low. In addition to that the supply chain system efficiency also allows the company to serve customers through a wide network of over 6600 store in the USA. Timely delivery of inventory, replenishment, and efficient forecasting has been at the core of Walmart’s strategy.

Among the priorities, the most focused on competitive priority is Cost. Over the years, Walmart has been establishing new store across different cities, towns and states in USA and in doing so has been driving the local businesses out. In doing so, they have also acquired a large number of customer base across the country. For a retail store such as Walmart, the customer base is extremely important. This has been made possible through their cost leadership. This also in turn creates a barrier to entry for new entrants and provides a cushion for the company to operate.

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