CIS 2200 Chapter 3 Homework

According to the text, Amazon, along with many other firms that have risen during the digital age, has a highly __________ cost structure when compared to traditional rivals.

scalable

According to the text, platitudes such as __________ can put firms dangerously at risk.

"follow, don't lead"

An approach known as the __________ view of competitive advantage shows that if a firm is to maintain sustainable competitive advantage, it must control a set of exploitable resources with four critical characteristics.  These resources must be (1) valuable, (2) rare, (3) imperfectly imitable, and (4) nonsubstitutable.

Resource-based

Apple successfully leveraged their _________ to become the industry leader in all retail chain categories in the United States.

distribution channels

Firms like Blockbuster, Sotheby's, and Barnes & Noble were put at risk by operating under the following platitude:

Follow, don't lead. 

How did Apple overcome Google as the dominant mapping platform on iOS?

Apple's control of iOS gave it control of the distribution channel to reach its users, kicking Google out as the default mapping app and capturing the majority of user engagement.

In the crowded market space of 175 mattress firms, CNBC's report that "you can't tell them apart" reinforces the idea that similar offerings become 

commoditized

Michael Porter says that the reason many firms suffer margin-eroding competition is because they have defined themselves according to operational effectiveness rather than __________.

strategic positioning

Network effects earned OpenTable the position of world's largest online restaurant reservation system because

they made the restaurant reservation market more efficient.

One of the most popular frameworks for examining a firm’s competitive environment is Porter’s __________ forces.

five