Strategy and Value

Assignment type Research Paper
Discipline Business and Management
Description APA FORMAT IN-TEXT CITATION, REFERENCES & RUNNING HEAD Reading • Grant, R. M. (1991). The resource based theory of competitive advantage: Implications for strategy formulation, California Management Review, 33(3). 114-135. • Schmitz, A. (Trans.). 2012. Resource-based theory. • Thousand Insights. Porter’s generic strategies • Roy, A. (2003). Game theory in strategic analysis. Journal of Management Research (09725814), 3(3), 127-138. Multimedia • Anand, B.N. (Speaker). (2006). Harvard FSS: Crafting business strategy and environmental scanning[Video podcast]. • Johnson, J. [eCornell]. (2014, May 8). Game theory and business strategy [Video file]. • Johnson, J. [eCornell]. (2014, May 8). Game theory: How apple changed the phone market [Video file]. Assignments • Discussion assignment • Individual Paper: TATA Strategy Simulation Game Individual Paper (10%): Strategy Simulation Game Paper The following is a highly educational interactive exercise, which visually demonstrates the impact of various strategic decisions that you can make, under different kinds of industry characteristics. You may play the simulation as many times as you like. Tata Interactive Systems. Economics for Managerial Decision Making. Tata Strategy Simulation Model IMPORTANT: ACCESSING THE TATA SIMULATION EXERCISE Sometimes, as new versions of internet browsers come out, they may make it difficult to access the Tata Simulation. We have just tested IE8, Mozilla Firefox, Opera and Google Chrome and they all are able to access the simulation. Sorry for any inconvenience, but we know you will find the simulation of great educational value. NOTE: You may have to copy this link and put it directly in your browser window to reach the simulation. If you are having any difficulty accessing the simulation please contact your Teaching Assistant for advice. After reading your materials, play the Tata simulation. Think about it. Try alternatives. Play it again. Get the most that you can from it. Just because the simulation says “Priced right” after you plug in a choice doesn’t mean you should stop. Look at other choices and try to understand the difference in results. Now, write up your assignment. Assume it is 9 weeks from now and your CEO has asked you and a number of your colleagues to play the simulation and to send a memo to her explaining what you have learned and how it relates to material she has asked you to read. She has played the simulation and is very familiar with it. She is also using this assignment as part of her decision as to who to promote to some important positions which have opened up. Give specific details of the results you obtained and alternatives you looked at while playing the simulation. Discuss why one decision is more appropriate than others. It is your decision as to how to make your response effective. Just as in real life, your CEO will decide if you have made appropriate choices. How do you write it? How do you format it? Do you have an executive summary? Do you have an introduction, a conclusion? Do you have someone else proofread and offer criticism? You are about to have an MBA. When people know you have an MBA, they will ask YOU these questions. Remember, anyone off the street can play the game and talk about it. You are an MBA, relate your experience to what you learned in the assigned readings and previous course work, (and other research, if you have time). First, do the basics well and then expand. Don’t just throw a lot of poorly written material together. Provide sufficient detail so the reader knows which industry structure scenarios you made specific strategy decisions for and how the concepts, tools and frameworks from the assigned readings and/or from prior MBA courses supported those decisions. After playing the simulation game, write a 5-6 page paper covering the following questions. 1. Please define each type of market structure (monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition, and perfect competition). Be sure to paraphrase information in your own words, and cite your sources. 2. Describe the competitive advantage/unique resources Quasar Computers possesses in the monopoly market scenario. To this end, describe why intellectual property rights are important in a capitalistic market system. How might a firm hedge against an expiring patent so they can maintain some sort of competitive advantage into the future? 3. In an oligopoly firms try to avoid competing on prices, and probably try to avoid competing in other aspects to the marketing mix (products, promotion, placing). Is this possible in this market? 4. In a monopoly scenario, the firm does not need to worry about generic strategies. However, as firms move through successively more competitive market structures, they need to consider which type of generic strategy to implement. After referring to Porter’s Generic Strategies in the MBA Reference Guide, comment on which strategy you recommend depending on the oligopoly, monopolistic competition, and perfect competition scenarios. Please make sure to justify 5. Consider the perfect competition scenario. After reading the Porter’s Five Forces that is included in the MBA Reference Guide, rate each of the forces as high-medium-low and justify your rankings. In a perfect competition scenario, is the computer industry attractive? Why, or why not? • (Thousand Insights. Porter’s generic strategies)