Assignment: Differentiation Advantage and Cost Advantage
This week we will discuss competitive advantages, both differentiation and cost advantage. Please be sure to review the following three cases in order to support this discussion:
1. AirAsia: The World's Lowest Cost Airline pp. 532-542 Course Text: R. M. Grant, Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases, 9th edn., Wiley, 2016
2. Starbucks Corporation, May 2015 pp. 442-459 Course Text: R. M. Grant, Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases, 9th edn., Wiley, 2016
3. Harley-Davidson Inc., May 2015 pp. 502-514 Course Text: R. M. Grant, Contemporary Strategy Analysis: Text and Cases, 9th edn., Wiley, 2016
Once you have reviewed the cases answer the following questions:
• Which corporations exhibited a Differentiation Advantage? Which corporations exhibited a Cost Advantage? Be sure to provide examples for each corporation illustrating the type of competitive advantage.
• In relation to "cost drivers" What are some of the factors which cause one firm's unit costs to differ from those of its competitors? Please provide examples.
• Which competitive advantage is more sustainable Cost Advantage or Differentiation Advantage? Please explain.