Business Finance Homework Help

“Competition”

        The company I chose to review for outsourcing is Nike. They take advantage of three specific benefits of outsourcing in order to strengthen their competitive advantage. Nike cuts costs by outsourcing their labor to countries that charge less to produce their products. This in turn increases their competitiveness in the market by allowing them to reduce their prices while increasing profits. Nike also reduces their risk by subcontracting to these other sources (McDaniel, 2019). This has been wildly successful for Nike since they are one of the largest producers of sports equipment and apparel in the United States. 

           Two companies that created a strategic alliance to improve their competitive advantage in the marketplace are Starbucks and Barnes & Noble. Partnering together to provide an enjoyable customer experience, these two companies provide great reading material and coffee or snacks to the consumer (Nwadike, 2021). This has been a very successful alliance and has become a staple of going to Barnes & Noble. The coffee is expected to be there. This creates a nice hang out spot, drives shoppers to the store while they are at the mall, and a quite place to study or get some work done. 

           The final company I will discuss is Crocs. They successfully implemented multiple joint ventures with established companies and influencers. The shoe brand known for comfort personalized many of their shoes with different colors and jibbitz to make them more enjoyable for the consumer. The name recognition they attached to their brand through partnerships with Post Malone, Bad Bunny, and KFC added to the companies unique competitive advantage in the market (Fast Company, 2021). 

References

Fast Company. (2021, March 10). The 10 most Innovative Joint Ventures of 2021. Fast Company. Retrieved November 11, 2021, from https://www.fastcompany.com/90600225/joint-ventures-most-innovative-companies-2021.

McDaniel, R. (2019, February 11). The advantages of outsourcing for Nike. Bizfluent. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://bizfluent.com/list-7704795-advantages-outsourcing-nike.html.

Nwadike, P. (2021, May 29). Strategic alliance: Types & examples in 2021. Business Yield. Retrieved November 8, 2021, from https://businessyield.com/business-strategies/strategic-alliance/.

Part 1(b)must be between 50-100 words and use a website that is based in the United States with in text citation

Choose a company that outsources and discusses why it chose that method of strengthening its competitive position and how, in your opinion, it has been successful or unsuccessful.

I choose Apple Inc since it outsources its production of products to a Chinese manufacturing firm called “Foxconn.” Apple has been outsourcing the assembly of its iPad, iPhone, and various other products and has benefited from cheaper manufacturing costs across the world for many years now.  Apple chooses to outsource the manufacturing of its products due to multiple reasons. It was first being the shortage of skilled labor in the US and the higher cost of manufacturing. Apple spends a lot of money designing its products in the USA and keeps its intellectual capital within the US. Thus, the strength of Apple remains intact. It enjoys lower production costs by outsourcing without compromising on quality which makes it possible for Apple to price its product competitively. In my opinion, outsourcing has saved Apple tremendous costs, and it has been a successful strategy so far. Apple has focused on its design and innovation without worrying about production, thus producing more breakthrough products and gaining market share. 

Choose a company that created a strategic alliance and discusses why it chose that method of strengthening its competitive advantage and how, in your opinion, it has been successful or unsuccessful.
I chose Uber and Spotify as I found this strategic alliance very unique. Uber riders can stream their Spotify playlist while taking any ride, thus making the experience more personalized and also, in turn, encouraging uber riders to subscribe to the premium services of Spotify. Since rivals of both Uber and Spotify don’t give such experience, it has given them a unique advantage. Both the companies will also gain access to new and broader audiences, making it a win-win alliance. In my view, it has been successful in its objective.
Choose a company that engages in a joint venture and discusses how, in your opinion, it has been successful or unsuccessful in terms of a strategy to enhance the company’s competitive position in its industry.
The most significant joint venture that strikes me is between Boeing and Lockheed Martin. The JV is United Launch Alliance (ULA), formed in 2006. The JV helped pool resources and talent from both organizations to achieve cost reduction and enable some special missions like the Curiosity rover that landed on Mars in 2012. Earlier, both the companies used to compete to provide launch services to the US government, but with new entrant SpaceX undercutting their prices, this JV was formed to reduce costs and become more competitive. In my opinion, it has been a very successful strategy for JV, since after creating a joint venture, they have facilitated some ground-breaking innovations and have become more competitive in the industry. 

References

Karuntzos, K. (2015, March). United Launch Alliance rideshare capabilities for providing low-cost access to space. In 2015 IEEE Aerospace Conference (pp. 1-9). IEEE.

Urakami, K. (2012). Outsourcing and corporate social responsibility: Apple in China.

Muminova, G. B. (2019). The innovative marketing applications and online consumer behavior. Amazonia Investiga, 8(20), 388-394.