Discussion: Wireless Trust‐Buster
Discussion: Wireless Trust‐Buster
Search engine optimization (actions that a firm can take to improve its prominence in search results) has served as a barrier to entry for some businesses. Consider the Web site that has the number one position in a user’s search. There is only one number one position, making it an advantage for the company enjoying that position and a barrier for all other Web sites seeking that position.
Bargaining Power of Suppliers
3
Bargaining Power of Buyers
2
Strategic use • Cost effectiveness • Market access • Differentiation of product or service
Strategic use • Switching costs • Access to distribution channels • Economies of scale
Strategic use • Selection of supplier • Threat of backward integration
Strategic use • Buyer selection • Switching costs • Differentiation
Strategic use • Redefine products and services • Improve price/performance
Potential Threat of New Entrants
1
Threat of Substitute Products
4
Industry Competitors
5
FIGURE 2.3 Five competitive forces with potential strategic use of information resources. Sources: Adapted from M. Porter, Competitive Strategy (New York: The Free Press, 1998); and Lynda M. Applegate, F. Warren McFarlan, and James L. McKenney, Corporate Information Systems Management : The Issues Facing Senior Executives, 4th ed. (Homewood, IL: Irwin, 1996).
6 “Viewed as a Monopoly in Europe, Google Takes on Role as a Wireless Trust‐Buster in U.S.,” New York Times (May 8, 2015), B1, B6.
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39How Can Information Resources Be Used Strategically?
Bargaining Power of Buyers Customers often have substantial power to affect the competitive environment. This power can take the form of easy consumer access to several retail outlets to purchase the same product or the opportunity to purchase in large volumes at superstores like Walmart. Information resources can be used to build switching costs that make it less attractive for customers to purchase from competitors. Switching costs can be any aspect of a buyer’s purchas- ing decision that decreases the likelihood of “switching” his or her purchase to a competitor. Such an approach requires a deep understanding of how a customer obtains the product or service. For example, Amazon.com’s patented One Click option encourages return purchases by making buying easier. Amazon.com stores buyer information, including a default credit card number, shipping method, and “ship‐to” address so that purchases can be made with one click, saving consumers the effort of data reentry and further repetitive choices. Similarly, Apple’s iTunes simple‐to‐use interface and proprietary software for downloading and listening to music makes it difficult for customers to use other formats and technologies, effectively reducing the power of the buyers, the customers.
You must proofread your paper. But do not strictly rely on your computer’s spell-checker and grammar-checker; failure to do so indicates a lack of effort on your part and you can expect your grade to suffer accordingly. Papers with numerous misspelled words and grammatical mistakes will be penalized. Read over your paper – in silence and then aloud – before handing it in and make corrections as necessary. Often it is advantageous to have a friend proofread your paper for obvious errors. Handwritten corrections are preferable to uncorrected mistakes.
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
