Business Strategy & Competitors

MAD CASE QS

1. Business strategy& competitors

! What is the business strategy adopted by Ecco? How does this compare with the approach of Ecco's competitors?

! Sem.2 What is Lego's current strategy (ie at the time of the case)?

! P1011 Identify the main factors that drive Apple Inc.'s business strategy and discuss how they are utilised to strengthen the company's competitive position. (b) To what extent does the company benchmark its performance against its main competitors?

! P1112 Assess the main factors that drive BMW's business strategy and to what extent they benchmark against their main competitors? Based on your answer in part (a), advise in what way management of BMW should compete against their main competitors.

2. Value chain

! Sem.1 Describe the value chain of Ecco's products.

! P1011 Briefly define and discuss customers' value drivers and value chain analysis and how they can

be used by Apple Inc. to maintain high customer satisfaction.

! P1112 Briefly describe product's value attributes perceived by BMW's customers and advise how

BMW introduced these attributes into its value chain in order to maintain high customers' satisfaction.

! P1213 What is meant by a company's value chain?

3. Strengths & weakness

! Sem.1 What are Ecco's strengths? Are there areas of weakness or concern that you think should be addressed, and if so how?

! Sem.2 What are strengths and weaknesses of the company in relation to the market and competitive environment?

! P1213 Outline LEGO's current strategy and evaluate the company's strengths and weaknesses.

4. Target costing& Sustainable competitive advantage

! Sem.1 What are the situations in which target costing is a useful tool? To what extent would it be useful?

Sem.1



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! P1011 Discuss, with reference to both the case study and the academic literature, why target costing is crucial for Apple Inc.'s sustainable competitive advantage.

! P1112 Using the information provided in the case study and the additional material you have collected as a result of your own research on BMW, discuss why target costing is crucial for BMW's sustainable competitive advantage, illustrating