AB 219 Unit 2 Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage

AB 219 Unit 2: Strategic Marketing for Competitive Advantage

Discussion:

Respond to your Discussion topic after you have completed your Reading and Learning Activity.

Strategic Planning for Competitive Advantage

Chapter 2 discusses the notion of competitive advantage. Is it possible to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage, or is a sustainable competitive advantage just a theory?

Do Apple’s iPad, TiVo, Netflix, Starbucks, Walmart, etc. have a competitive advantage? Why or why not? Explain your thoughts.

ID: AB219-02-07-D

unit 2 discussion

hello professor and class,

when it comes to these big brands that we all know I certainly believe that they have a competitive advantages. Competitive advantage are conditions that allow a company or country to produce a good or service at a lower price or in a more desirable fashion for customers. These conditions allow the productive company to accumulate more sales or superior margins than its competition. For instance, Walmart definitely get the advantage because many electronics that you can go to the apple store and buy, but when you go to Walmart those same apple products are $100-200 cheaper than the actual price. Walmart is a enormous production and many brands allow them to have competitive advantages due to its vast store wide options and revenue.

Comparing and contrasting competitive advantage rests on the notion of cheap labor and natural resources are not necessary for good economy, while comparative advantage can lead to countries specializing in exporting goods and raw materials that trap countries in low wage economies because of trading terms.

Unit 3: Ethics and the Marketing Environment

Respond to your Discussion topic after you have completed your Reading and Learning Activity.

A Retailer Case Study

Zappos®, the world’s largest online shoe retailer, discusses its commitment to social responsibility and to ethical behavior. Developing employee activities and long-term relationships with charitable organizations allows Zappos to ingrain the importance of helping the greater good into its organizational culture. Zappos culture also guides its employees to make ethical decisions (Lamb, Hair, & McDaniel, 2014). To learn more about Zappos, review the company blog with the Ethics and Social Responsibility concepts learned in Chapter 3 in mind:http://blogs.zappos.com/

(©2009-2013 Zappos IP, Inc.)

To learn how a company employs Corporate Social Responsibility, watch the following video on Zappos below, a popular online retailer.

Using research from Chapter 3 in your textbook, write your response to the following questions:

Does Zappos employ a societal marketing orientation, or is it just a company that has a large amount of corporate giving?

Visit and explore the Zappos blog (©2009-2013 Zappos IP, Inc.). How is Zappos using this website to practice Corporate Social Responsibility?

At which level of the pyramid of corporate social responsibility is Zappos operating? Why?

At which level of morality does Zappos appear to operate? Why?

Lamb, C. W., Hair, J. F., & McDaniel, C. (2014). MKTG7. Mason, OH: Cengage.