Case
5: Home Video Game Industry
1. How did Nintendo successfully
recreate the home videogame business following the Atari-era boom and bust?
2.
How was Nintendo able to capture value from the home videogame business?
3.
How was Sega able to gain market share from Nintendo?
4.
Evaluate the competitive strategy of 3DO? What flaws can you see in 3DO’s
approach?
5.
How come the Sony Play Station has succeeded where 3DO failed?
6.
What drove Microsoft’s decision to enter the industry with its X-box offering?
7. What lessons can be learnt
from the history of the home videogame industry that have
been used to help launch the Sony PlayStation II and Microsoft’s X-Box? Do
Microsoft and Sony appear to have learned and applied these lessons?
Case 6: Google
1. Analyze the competitive
structure of the market for search-based advertising. What are the implications
of this structure for the long-run profitability of players in the market?
2. Why did entrepreneurial
startups, as opposed to established enterprises, pioneer the paid search market?
3. What explains Google’s success
in the paid search marketplace? How sustainable is its competitive advantage?
Is the competitive advantage geared toward cost or differentiation? Or both?
4. To what extent is Google’s
competitive advantage sustainable?
5. Does the pay-per-click
business model pioneered by GoTo.com and Google constitute a paradigm shift?
How? What are the implications for other enterprises?
6. What should be the role of
Google’s CEO (the strategic manager) at this stage?
Case 8: Amazon.com
1. Analyze the competitive
structure of the market for online retailing. What are the implications of this
structure for the long-run profitability of players in the market?
2. How does Amazon differentiate
its product in the marketplace? Which of these features are imitable?
3. To what extent is Amazon’s competitive
advantage sustainable?
4. What are the competencies that
Amazon has acquired via its pioneering activities, and is there any business
value in these competencies?
Case 9: eBay
1. Analyze the competitive
structure of the market for online retailing. What are the implications of this
structure for the long-run profitability of players in the market?
2. How is eBay’s business model
different from that of its competitors?
3. How is eBay leveraging its
auctions-based business model into new businesses?
4. To what extent is eBay’s
competitive advantage sustainable?
Case 17: Cola Wars
1. What is the overall economics
of the industry? How is the value created by the industry distributed across
different parts of the industry?
2. Why isn’t there a
winner-take-all mentality between Coke and Pepsi?
3. Who has been losing the cola
wars?
4. Coke and Pepsi have created a
very profitable industry that has lasted more than a century. What are the
likely challenges to the stability of the industry structure in the coming
decade? What are the potential drivers of structural change?
5. Will Coke and Pepsi be able to
repeat their success with CSD in the water segment, or will a new competitive
dynamic emerge?
Case 18: Staples
1.
How
would you characterize the office supplies industry in 1985?
2.
What
changes were taking place in the retail industry at this time?
3.
What
was Staples’ target market? Who else was supplying this market?
4.
What
was the basic value proposition and business model of the start-up? What was
required to turn that value proposition into a reality? What was the potential
source of economic returns that exceeded the cost of capital?
5.
Why
was Staples able to raise significant venture capital funds for what was, after
all, nothing more than a concept?
6.
What
were the managerial and organizational challenges facing the startup? How were
these challenges dealt with?
7.
How
important were the information systems to the successful execution of the
Staples concept?
8.
The
Staples concept was quickly imitated, but ultimately, the company emerged from
the pack of competitors to become an industry leader. Why?
9.
Does
the expansion of Staples into the delivery business make strategic and economic
sense?
Case 19: Whole Foods Market
1. What are WF’s distinctive
competencies? What are some of the challenges in maintaining these competencies?
2. How has the natural foods
industry changed since WF pioneered it?
3. What are the risks to WF’s
business model?
4. Outside of acquiring some
competitors, what are some other options that WF can pursue to grow faster than
the industry?
Case 28: 3M in 2006
1. What are the roots of 3M’s
culture of entrepreneurship and innovation? What were the key tenets of this
culture as they emerged over time?
2. How has the culture of
entrepreneurship and innovation nurtured at 3M from the era of McKnight through
to that of DeSimone? How has entrepreneurship been
institutionalized within the company?
3. What were the strengths of the
organization and culture of 3M during the McKnight to DeSimone
era? What were the potential weaknesses?
4. The expansion of 3M into
international markets was highly successful. What explains this?
5. What was the drawback with 3M’s
international expansion strategy?
6. By the 1990s 3M was starting
to develop some problems. What were the causes of these problems?
7. Why did 3M’s board hire an
outsider, McNerney, to run 3M after DeSimone.
What is McNerney trying to do at 3M? What are the
pros and cons of his approach?
Case 29: GE’s Growth Strategy
1.
In
2006, how well is GE doing? What are GE’s distinctive
parenting advantages?
2.
2.
What are some areas of vulnerability for GE?
3.
3.
How did Immelt’s leadership style contribute to his
new strategy for GE?