Challenge Questions:
Description:
For Strategic Management and Competitive Advantage (Fourth Edition), Chapter, answer the following questions:
1. Are international strategies always just a special care of diversification strategies that a firm might pursue?What, if anything, is different about international strategies and diversification strategies?
2. In your view, is gaining access to low-cost labor a sufficient reason for a firm to pursue an international strategy? Why or why not? In your view, is gaining access to special tax breaks a sufficient reason for a firm to pursue an international strategy? Why or why not ?
For chapter, answer the following questions:
1. Ryanair, Wal-Mart, Timex, Casio, and Hyundai are all cited as examples of firm pursuing cost leadership strategies, but these firms make substantial investments in advertising,which seems more likely to be associated with a product differentiation strategy. Are these firms really pursuing a cost leadership strategy, or are they pursuing a product differentiation strategy by emphasizing their lower costs?
2. Firms engage in an activity called ‘forward pricing’ when they establish,during the early stages of the learning curve, a price for their products that is lower than their actual costs, in anticipation of lower costs later on, after significant learning has occurred. Under what conditions, if any,does forward pricing make sense? What risks, if any, do firms engaging in forward pricing face?