Background: The purpose of this master thesis was to investigate what generic strategies are utilized by big players in the solar photovoltaic industry to improve their competitive positions. The continuous expansion of the solar market indicated the significance of this research, since the correctly chosen strategy has a direct influence on the success and prosperity of the growing and developing high tech companies.Aim: The first aim of the study was to examine the applicability of Michael Porter‟s theory of generic strategies to the high tech industry, to be more precise the solar photovoltaic industry. The second aim of the study was to explore the cases, if any, when the simultaneous pursuit of more than one generic strategy was possible. The last but not the least aim was to deeply investigate the potential of the differentiation strategy and the effect it has on the companies.Definitions: The continuous utilization of the following concepts is present in the research: Generic strategies – the three different strategic approaches – cost leadership, differentiation, and focus – the companies can undertake to build a strong competitive advantage and outperform their competitors Differentiation – a case when a firm‟s offering is preferred, on some buying occasions (or by some customers all of the time) over rival firm‟s offerings Solar energy – alternative solutions of receiving energy directly from the sun – using solar modules which convert sunrays into electricityMethodology: Qualitative research methodology was used in this study. The in depth analyses of three case companies were done mainly by means of collecting the secondary data. In addition to that two out of three companies were contacted in order to conduct personal interviews via phone and email. Their answers were used as a supportive tool for the developed propositions.Results: The collected and analyzed secondary data together with the outcomes of the interviews revealed the flaws and limitations of Porter‟s theory. The simultaneous pursuit of two strategies was proven not only to be taking place, furthermore, to be leading to prosperity in some situations. The new model was developed which showed that the pursuit of two strategies is more of a necessity under certain circumstances. A thorough examination of the differentiation concept resulted in discovering the ways and methods which could be used by companies to strengthen their market positions.

Bachelor thesis in Logistics Management, School of Management and Economics, Växjö University, EKL 361, Spring 2006-05-24 Authors: Jesper Ericsson, Olov Nordgren, Henrik Frick Tutor: Åsa Gustafsson/ Helena Forslund Examiner: Helena Forslund Title: Road cabotage in the Swedish haulage industry Author supplied keywords: Transportation, European Union, Haulage Company, Road Cabotage, Five Forces Model and Generic Strategies. Background: In 1998 the European Union introduced the concept of free road cabotage. The concept implies that haulers from different Member States are allowed to perform domestic transportation in another Member State as long as it is conducted on a temporary basis. The introduction of cabotage has given rise to new competitive conditions on domestic markets within the European Union. Not all haulage companies within the European Union have the same competitive prerequisites. Swedish haulers have a high cost structure in comparison with foreign haulers and therefore it is interesting to see how they are affected by cabotage. Research Questions: o How do Swedish haulers perceive cabotage in their industry and how do they manage it today? o Which improvements can be achieved strategically to sustain and/or improve Swedish haulers’ competitive situation towards foreign haulers? Purpose: The objective of this bachelor thesis is to investigate how Swedish haulers’ are affected by competition concerning road cabotage. Depending on how they are affected by road cabotage we also intend to present strategic improvements that can sustain and/or improve their competitive ability. Methodology: Survey on three haulage companies Theoretical Framework: For our first research question we have chosen to present the concept of cabotage to enlighten readers. To be able to understand what characterises the Swedish haulage industry we have chosen Porter’s Five Forces Model as a foundation. The results from the Five Forces Model are used as inputs to the theories concerning Porter’s generic strategy. Conclusions: Through this bachelor thesis we have concluded that Swedish haulers are in different ways affected by road cabotage. Depending on their type of business, they are more or less affected by cabotage. Through differentiation Swedish haulers can sustain and improve their competitive situation. The differentiation should be focused on issues regarding markets, customers, and specific service characteristics that are difficult for foreign competitors to imitate.

<p>Bachelor thesis in Logistics Management, School of Management and Economics, Växjö University, EKL 361, Spring 2006-05-24</p><p>Authors: Jesper Ericsson, Olov Nordgren, Henrik Frick</p><p>Tutor: Åsa Gustafsson/ Helena Forslund</p><p>Examiner: Helena Forslund</p><p>Title: Road cabotage in the Swedish haulage industry</p><p>Author supplied keywords: Transportation, European Union, Haulage Company, Road Cabotage, Five Forces Model and Generic Strategies.</p><p>Background: In 1998 the European Union introduced the concept of free road cabotage. The concept implies that haulers from different Member States are allowed to perform domestic transportation in another Member State as long as it is conducted on a temporary basis. The introduction of cabotage has given rise to new competitive conditions on domestic markets within the European Union. Not all haulage companies within the European Union have the same competitive prerequisites. Swedish haulers have a high cost structure in comparison with foreign haulers and therefore it is interesting to see how they are affected by cabotage.</p><p>Research Questions:</p><p>o How do Swedish haulers perceive cabotage in their industry and how do they manage it today?</p><p>o Which improvements can be achieved strategically to sustain and/or improve Swedish haulers’ competitive situation towards foreign haulers?</p><p>Purpose: The objective of this bachelor thesis is to investigate how Swedish haulers’ are affected by competition concerning road cabotage. Depending on how they are affected by road cabotage we also intend to present strategic improvements that can sustain and/or improve their competitive ability.</p><p>Methodology: Survey on three haulage companies</p><p>Theoretical Framework: For our first research question we have chosen to present the concept of cabotage to enlighten readers. To be able to understand what characterises the Swedish haulage industry we have chosen Porter’s Five Forces Model as a foundation. The results from the Five Forces Model are used as inputs to the theories concerning Porter’s generic strategy.</p><p>Conclusions: Through this bachelor thesis we have concluded that Swedish haulers are in different ways affected by road cabotage. Depending on their type of business, they are more or less affected by cabotage. Through differentiation Swedish haulers can sustain and improve their competitive situation. The differentiation should be focused on issues regarding markets, customers, and specific service characteristics that are difficult for foreign competitors to imitate.</p>

This study investigates the relationship between firm resources, positioning strategies and performance in the smaller firm. Porter’s generic strategies have been useful in describing how firms compete in the marketplace, and the resource based view has shown that resources can lead to a sustained competitive advantage. The strategic management field has begun to combine the two theories and examine the link between them. Small firms must make the best use of their relatively scarce resources. It is proposed that the relationship between resources and performance is contingent upon the positioning strategy the firm competes on, although there has only been limited supporting research to date. This research builds on work by Edelman et al. (2005) by examining the relationship between human, organisational and physical resources, and the strategies of quality/ customer service, innovation, and cost leadership in 447 retail, engineering, and professional service firms in New Zealand. Using Structural Equations Modelling this research finds that positioning strategies are the mechanism by which firms can leverage their resources into higher performance. This relationship can be modelled as mediated or moderated, with statistical analysis sensitive to model complexity. The firm’s environment influences this relationship with different resources required to support each position depending on the industry. Specifically human, organisational, and physical resources appear to be viable sources of competitive advantage when they are leveraged by a strategy of quality/ customer service, innovation or cost leadership when the industry environment is conducive to the resource – strategy combination.

In this study the relationship between three companies brand strategies and business strategies were investigated based on Aaker’s view on brand architecture. The concept and its strategies are characterized by the driving roles brands possess. At the top of the spectrum, “House of Brands” allows the brands to have the entire driver role which decreases moving downwards on the spectrum, first comes “Endorsed Brands” where the master brand has a little driver role, followed by “Subbrands” where the master brand and the subbrand share the driver roles. At the bottom “Branded House” strategy can be found, it is characterized by allowing the master brand to have the entire driver role. Considering (Porter, 1998) and his three generic strategies, three companies: Colgate-Palmolive Company, Kellogg’s, BMW Group and their relationship between brand and business strategy was investigated. All of these three companies are characterized by possessing leading roles within their industries where they operate. All three companies, BMW Group, Kellogg’s and Colgate-Palmolive Company differentiate themselves with help of the brand strategies. In the Kellogg’s case, except the “House of Brands” strategy, they also use “Endorsed Brands” and “Subbrands”. The BMW Group applies “House of Brands” and “Branded House” to achieve differentiation. When it comes to Colgate-Palmolive Company, the main difference is that, both BMW Group and Kellogg’s achieve differentiation through applying several brand strategies. Colgate-Palmolive Company’s differentiation efforts is limited to the “House of Brands” strategy. Despite their different choices of brand strategies the study shows that each company achieves differentiation. Furthermore, the study shows that one differentiation can also be achieved by implementing a single brand strategy, as in the case with Colgate-Palmolive Company. However, the study shows that each of the investigated companies succeeds to target the desired segments and position their offerings on specific attributes.

Submitted by JOSIANE SANTOS DE OLIVEIRA (josianeso) on 2019-01-22T13:03:15Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcos Aurelio Vicenzi_.pdf: 1057778 bytes, checksum: a347e917d015650a6b7cb6cf79d47293 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2019-01-22T13:03:15Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcos Aurelio Vicenzi_.pdf: 1057778 bytes, checksum: a347e917d015650a6b7cb6cf79d47293 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-08-30 / Nenhuma / O desempenho é uma preocupação constante nas empresas, necessitando seus gestores estarem sempre alinhados com as melhores práticas estratégicas para manterem-se no topo da vantagem competitiva. O presente trabalho analisou a relação do posicionamento estratégico das empresas inseridas na indústria metal mecânica de Santa Catarina sobre seu desempenho dentro da abordagem das estratégias genéricas de Porter. Foi realizada uma pesquisa descritiva, com abordagem quantitativa em micro, pequenas e médias empresas por meio de uma survey em 153 empresas catarinenses, exclusivamente da indústria metal mecânica. O resultado encontrado demonstra que empresas que se posicionam por diferenciação tendem a alcançar melhor desempenho financeiro, estratégico e de satisfação. O porte e experiência foram utilizadas como variáveis de controle para analisar sua influência no desempenho. Empresas com faturamento maior tendem a ter melhores ganhos financeiros e estão mais satisfeitas com os resultados. A experiência não influenciou o desempenho. / The performance is a constant concern in companies, requiring their managers to be always updated with the best strategic practices to keep on top of the competitive advantage. Furthermore, the present work analyzed the relationship of the strategic positioning of the companies inserted in the metal-mechanical industry of Santa Catarina on its performance within the approach of Porter’s generic strategies. Regarding the methodology, a descriptive research was carried out, with a quantitative approach in micro, small and medium companies, through a survey of 153 companies in Santa Catarina, specifically from the metal-mechanical industry. Regarding the results, the research shows that companies that position themselves by differentiation tend to achieve better financial, strategic and satisfaction performance. Additionally, size and experience were used as control variables to analyze their influence on performance. Thus, companies with higher turnovers mind to have better financial gains and are more satisfied with their results. Finally, experience has not influenced performance.

Access to federal contracts is often a challenge for service-disabled, veteran-owned business (SDVOB) leaders because of business size and competition in the environment. The purpose of this qualitative, multiple case study was to explore the strategies that 5 SDVOB leaders from 5 different businesses in the Northeastern United States used to win federal contracts. Porter's generic strategies for competitive advantage was the conceptual framework for the study. Five company leaders who won $1 million or more in federal contracts were contacted from the Vendor Information Pages database of the Department of Veterans Affairs to participate in the study. Data were collected via semistructured interviews and archival documents. Data analysis consisted of compiling the data, coding for emergent and a priori codes, disassembling the data into common codes, reassembling the data into themes, interpreting the meaning, and reporting the themes (strategies). Eight themes regarding winning federal contracts emerged. The eight themes were process improvement/optimization, understanding requirements, preventing trial and error, personalizing services, understanding the client, access to external capital/resources, understanding the procurement process, and forward-planning. SDVOB leaders may use the results of this study to secure larger contracts in less time by adopting successful strategies that have won federal contracts. Positive social change implications include the potential for further empowerment, success, and profitability of SDVOBs, as well as other minority-owned firms. Further success of SDVOBs may provide long-term employment and increased tax revenue for communities.

The fact that we have entered turbulent times has been a central theme in the recent strategy literature. Turbulent environments are commonly described by increased competitive intensity, disruptive changes in the industry structure, volatility of demand, and unpredictability of customer behaviour, alongside instability of economic, social and political factors. In such a context, the adoption of traditional approaches to strategy, which assumes a relatively stable world, have been questioned by new approaches. Mixed strategy, which emerged as a contingency option to Porter's generic strategies model, defends that in a turbulent environment the simultaneous pursuit of the low-cost and differentiation approaches is fundamental for the short-term performance and long-term survival of the firm. A vast corpus of literature supports the benefits of adopting a mixed approach strategy: several empirical studies have proved that a combination of low-cost and differentiation strategic elements establishes a firm's performance superiority over the pure strategy choice. The mixed literature has concentrated on the performance linkage and on the debate countering the pure strategy approach, however very little attention has been paid to the challenges presented by the mixed strategy implementation. In fact, despite the rich empirical literature, it is still not clear how firms that adopt a mixed strategy may successfully integrate the inherent contradiction of the low-cost and differentiation approaches. The aim of this study is to investigate how a firm has been implementing the mixed strategy approach, unveiling its managerial characteristics and to generate a proposed managerial framework that could serve as a guide for further implementation. This study approaches the subject of mixed strategy implementation on three levels: environment, strategy definition and making process, and value chain activity. After having elucidated several ambiguities related to the concept of mixed strategy present in the literature and having proposed a normalized definition, this study investigates through a unique case study approach, an in-depth explorative process using causal process methods the managerial implication of the mixed strategy. Several characteristics are revealed from the unique case study and represent a major contribution to the field of strategy management. Furthermore, a managerial framework is proposed which could serve as support in the implementation of a mixed strategy.

The subject of the Graduation theses "Strategic Business Activities of Outward Bound - Česká cesta, s.r.o." is creation developing strategy of choosen enterprise. Starting point is the strategic analysis of external and internal environment, which show and describe the most important impacts taking effect at a given enterprise. Based on these impacts is deduced mission and vision of an enterprise and long-term goals. In closing part of the thesis is choosen one of the generic strategies and gives suggestions how to strategy realize.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-03-15T19:26:00Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcio Vieira de Almeida.pdf: 626751 bytes, checksum: 72eb4fc81be2e4ad4bc380a69c0574bb (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-08-07 / The main objective of this dissertation is to understand which elements inherent to physical distribution can lead manufacturers of fast consumer goods, specifically in the segment related to cleaning products, gain competitive advantage. The survey was conducted considering the perceptions of manufacturers and retailers about the physical distribution services. As a theoretical foundation it was used the resource-based view (RBV) including concepts of value, competitive advantage and competitive strategies, as well, the concepts of physical distribution and logistics. The exploratory research type and a descriptive qualitative methodology were used. Through a semi-structured script, eight executives, being three from the retail sector and five from industry manufacturers, were interviewed. The data was treated and analyzed considering the content analysis technician. It was noted that there are evidences that the combination of tangible and intangible resources are elements that can generate competitive advantage for manufacturers. It was noted the high importance given by the retailers on the stock availability and service level compliance by manufacturers. From the manufacturer s perspective, the establishment of "go to market" strategy in order to meet the retailers needs, as well, the cost management with the aim of generating economic value higher than the competitors are the basis of their perception about how the competitive advantage can be created. In light of the RBV, the conjunction of resources like warehouse and transportation networks, systems and personnel can create value for the retailers, but can not be considered strategic since they are imitable and not rare. In the other hand, culture of services and intellectual capital resources has characteristics of strategic resources. When the physical distribution services are related to the three biggest retailers of the market, it was noted that the manufactures have been using strategies of differentiation and cost leadership to gain competitive advantage. From the practical standpoint, it was noted that the manufacturers still have difficulty make use of strategic partners more effectively to improve services for physical distribution. Finally, retailers believe that the value is still in to delivery the basics in terms of physical distribution services and, in this way, there is still a long way to be covered by the manufacturers. / Essa dissertação tem como objetivo entender quais os recursos inerentes a distribuição física podem levar os fabricantes de produtos de consumo de massa, especificamente no segmento de produtos de limpeza e afins, a obterem vantagem competitiva. A pesquisa foi realizada a partir das percepções de fabricantes e varejistas sobre esses serviços. Como fundamentação teórica utilizou-se a visão baseada em recursos (VBR), incluídos os conceitos de valor, vantagem competitiva e estratégias competitivas, bem como os conceitos de distribuição física e logística. A pesquisa foi do tipo exploratória descritiva e utilizou a metodologia qualitativa. Foram entrevistados oito executivos, sendo três do setor de varejo e cinco do setor de fabricantes, por meio de roteiro semi-estruturado com perguntas abertas. Os dados foram tratados e analisados com base nas técnicas da Análise de Conteúdo. Observaram-se indícios de que a conjunção de recursos tangíveis e intangíveis constituintes dos serviços de distribuição física são elementos que podem gerar vantagem competitiva para os fabricantes. Constatou-se ainda a grande importância dada pelos varejistas na questão de disponibilidade de estoques e o cumprimento do nível de serviço por parte dos fabricantes. No que concerne aos fabricantes, o estabelecimento de uma estratégia go to market que vise atender às necessidades dos varejistas em termos de distribuição, bem como, a gestão de custos com objetivo de gerar valor econômico superior aos dos concorrentes, constituem-se a base da sua percepção de como se gerar vantagem competitiva para si mesmos. A conjunção de recursos como redes de armazéns, redes de transportes, sistemas e pessoal podem criar valor para os varejistas, porém não podem ser considerados estratégicos na medida em que são imitáveis e não raros. Por outro lado, a cultura de serviços e o capital intelectual possuem características de recursos estratégicos. Quando se trata dos serviços de distribuição física para os três grandes varejistas do mercado, observou-se que fabricantes se utilizam de estratégias de diferenciação e liderança de custos para obterem vantagem competitiva. Do ponto de vista prático, observou-se que os fabricantes ainda têm dificuldade de utilizar-se de parceiros estratégicos com maior efetividade para melhoria dos serviços de distribuição física. Por fim, os varejistas entendem que o valor ainda esta na entrega dos serviços básicos de distribuição e, neste sentido, ainda há um grande caminho a ser percorrido pelos fabricantes.