http://www.anderson.ucla.edu/faculty/dick.rumelt/Docs/Papers/WhatisCA_03.

pdf
http://maychuvietnam.com.vn/gioi-thieu-ve-ibm-tap-doan-cong-nghe-den-tu-usa/
http://www.provenmodels.com/577/diamond-model---competitive-advantage-ofnations/michael-e.-porter
http://maychuvietnam.com.vn/gioi-thieu-ve-ibm-tap-doan-cong-nghe-den-tu-usa/
https://vi.scribd.com/doc/72229491/5/Ch%C6%B0%C6%A1ng-5
https://scholar.google.com/scholar?
cluster=4607835450635595825&hl=vi&as_sdt=0,5 (IBM headquarter )

http://www.anpad.org.br/diversos/trabalhos/3Es/3es_2009/2009_3ES493.
pdf
The United States, country from which Apple comes from, is the richest single
market in the
world, which makes high technology products very affordable for the very
consumerist NorthAmerican
society. It is one country with easy access to technology and with large amount
of
investments on R&D. Factors that positively affects the emergence of computing
companies,
with demand support and qualified expertise. As mentioned by Peng, Wang and
Jiang (2008)
and Del Sol and Kogan (2007), the institutional scenario of the home country
may improve its
companies competitiveness. Nevertheless, many hardware and software
companies are from
the United States, because it is a country that it gathers favorable conditions for
computing
firms development. According to Porters (1990) view, the North-American
computing
industry has used the countrys technological strengths to develop a reference of
high-quality
and desirable products, since the majority of the most important companies from
the segment
are from the United States. This position would not be achieved without the
development of

the internal market, like argued by Dunning and Narula (1996).

In the Apples case, the external environment may have an extra influence, due
to the
fact that the company headquarters is situated on the Silicon Valley, a major
high-tech hub in
California, home to some of the most important companies in the computing
industry, which
holds a position of reference on product development and innovativeness. Both
founders of
the company, Steve Jobs and Stephen Wozniak grew up there, and the
technology-oriented
mentality of the place has probably influenced somehow their directions. Being
placed there,
near to some rivals and partners, as well as to qualified labor, has maintained
Apple in the
center from where much of the novelty inside its segment comes from.
It should also be considered that the United States is home of major record
labels, has
the largest music market in the world, and the majority of worldwide known
artists are
originated from country, which makes it the perfect place to launch a innovative
product like
the iPod and the iTunes. Although both of them are actually products sold in the
whole world,
it makes perfect sense that the origin of the products is from the United States,
because the
country offered the proper supply and demand conditions for the digital music
market to
grow.
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/apple-the-impact-of-branding-on-itssuccess-marketing-essay.php
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/competitive-advantage-apple-casestudy-marketing-essay.php
http://www.ukessays.com/search.php?
iscategory=1&q=apple+competive+market&sa=
http://panmore.com/apple-inc-five-forces-analysis-porters-model-case-study
http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/competitive-advantage-apple-casestudy-marketing-essay.php

http://www.ukessays.com/essays/marketing/the-bargaining-power-of-supplierand-generic-strategy-marketing-essay..php
(customer country ) For the management of Apple, developing a strong brand is
very important because it enables them to enjoy a myriad of benefits which is
reflective of their business operation. Some of the benefits that Apple reaps from
having a successful brand, according to Cravens and Piercy (2006) include the
following: repeat purchases that enhance the company's financial performance
because the brand enables the customer to identify and re-identify the product
compared to alternatives; the introduction of new products because the
customer is already aware and familiar with the brand because of the previous
experience from purchasing; promotional effectiveness, by providing a point of
focus; premium pricing by creating a basic level of differentiation among
competitors; market segmentation by communicating a coherent message to the
target audience; and brand loyalty. These things are among some of the
advantages which Apple is enjoying nowadays because they have successfully
marketed their brand, more than what they did with their products and services.
Another thing which is said to have contributed to the success of the company is
the simplicity in its product line. This branding decision has enabled the company
to establish their products in the market with easy recognition because of the
few models that they produce unlike its competitors who have produced a
myriad of models for a single brand. The product lien of the company is said to
be very simple characterized by the following: simple design, simple user
interface, components made at high quality, and coherent software and
hardware (Schumacher, 2009). These set of distinctive characteristics gave the
brand a success which is beyond imagination and is set to take the brand into
greater heights in the near future as it conquers more markets and develops
more products for the public to use and enjoy.
CONCLUSION
Apple. The bitten apple. The discussion which was presented above shows how
Apple was able to gain branding success putting the company at its current
position in the market. As acknowledged by any other companies, there is a
paramount concern to put an emphasis on brand since it is the backbone which
defines the personality of the company and its entire operations. The brand
conveys the general personality of the company and how it is committed to
serving the needs of its target market. With the branding strategies implemented
by Apple over the years, it is very clear that it was able to capture the hearts of
the public. Being one of the leading name sin the business world nowadays and
generating higher profit margins, it is safe to assume that Apple has indeed
reached a successful branding strategy putting the company's name at the top
of the game in the global market

(partner country ) Although Apple works closely with its outsourced partners on
manufacturing schedules, any delay would affect the company production
schedule. The purchases of components are done for a scheduled period of 30150 days and this gives the manufacturers a short lead time and for avoiding
material constraints due to short supply, Apple has tied up with a huge chain of
suppliers who would be able to supply without any limitations. All of these

components arrive from various parts of the world and are finally assembled at
its own factory in Ireland and third party clients in China, Korea, etc. The
products are then supplied to the 3 business sectors from where it is supplied to
the wholesalers and retailer. Warehousing of inventories is limited as they
produce as per the demand and have a fixed schedule. Many software solutions
of Apple are constructed by 3rd parties.

(supplier country ) n this twenty first century, globalisation has an impact in

every economy. World of today is considered to be united as a bunch countries
with no boundaries. Raw materials from different countries are being processed
in another country to manufacture goods & products are being marketed in
another country. It is the modern concept of the globalisation. A company goes
international for so many reasons like, small domestic market, adverse
government policy in home country, high demand of the product in foreign
market etc. FDI across the globe had a fixed upswing with a sharp growth in the
second quarter of 2008. Even it was not affected so much by financial crisis
during recession in 2008. FDI is mainly originated from the advanced economy
like USA.[ Peter Dicken]

In this essay we have chosen famous electronic gadget manufacturer APPLE as

our company, which is mainly based in USA, has expanded its production unit in
EUROPE and ASIA. It is manly famous for introduction of a new age in mobile
phone industry by brining iPHONE & MACBOOK in pc section. Recently they have
launched iPAD in the market which turn to be a great success. How their strategy
has been affected when they go global by the main three factors
(1.Technology.2.geography.3.goverment policies ) has been described below.

TECHNOLOGY:
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For a product to become more acceptable by quality, implied technology of

production plays an important role. Foreign direct investment prospects can be
propelled to a new level if the quality of production can be retained in a cost
effective manner. Hence, investment opportunity of a country is significantly
influenced by its internal development, technology and growth. These intrinsic
developments are always in the lamplight of MNCs and are effectively made use
by them.

Apple has met its investment prospects in China as this country maintains the
unique work quality in assembling the inputs for final production. As a part of
corporate global strategy, company has given outsourcing more importance at
the same time imparting mandate high control over product integrity. When
apple produce iPods in China, it is not produced in a factory owned by Apple. It is
been contracted with third party to produce IPods with the specifications Apple
provides.

Moreover from outsourcing, Apple is sourcing quality products for assemblage

from foreign countries and some even from China itself by fragmenting its supply
chain very effectively. The standard of factors of production is set to meet the
requirements set by Apple Inc. If the company is not successful in monitoring the
strategy which is being implemented in a country, it will eventually destroy
company's reputation. The subtle implementation of internationalisation strategy
is been spawned in such a way that Apple products are leveraged to its
maximum utility. For leveraging the products to its maximum levels,
sophisticated research and development is being carried out through
international investments and intrinsic ground-breaking technologies.

Trade theory gives light by how much proportions the various factors of inputs
needed at each stage of a production process, together with various inputs' at
comparative costs, influencing the investment proposal. As technology is one of
the important input of production, while framing up an international strategy it
has to be dealt well while investing in a foreign country. The comparative cost of
the technology brought forth for production is very significant as it contributes to
the international pricing strategy. The quality technology which is been
generated in China holds cost advantage when it is compared to the same
technology implemented in US. Advanced technology is pioneer to production of
any innovative products but this technology has to be accessed in a cost
effective manner to produce competitively priced product. Skilled labour is
another requisite which should be considered in quality production. High cost of
labour in United States of America can be a down beating factor in home country
which can be eliminated through foreign direct investment. Hence, advantage is
been derived in the host country in terms of technology implementation through
skilled labour force at low cost. Apple Inc's business establishment in China is a
subtle example for their tactical part in internationalisation strategy.

GEOGRAPHY:
The geographical dispersion means that company's activities are not
concentrated to a single country rather it is dispersed between different
countries. The production in foreign country can be commenced in two ways
namely Merges & acquisition and Greenfield investment. Greenfield investment
means setting up a new plant and physical assets in the foreign country whereas
Merges & acquisition means merging with a foreign firm or buying existing assets

in a foreign country. The cost of geographical dispersion can be of three types

which is firm level, plant level and the economies of integration foregone.

Almost 54% company's geographical market place is situated in United States.

Final assembly of company's product is mainly done in Ireland & by external
vendors in California, Texas, China, Korea, etc. Manufacturing & supply of many
critical components is executed by sole sourced third party vendors from Taiwan,
Germany, US, Germany, Korea, Netherlands etc. But main assembly part is done
in China by sole sourced third party vendors. That means its production input has
been divided into sub category & situated in different countries. So it is an
example of centralized vertical Foreign Direct investment by apple where it's
headquartering is situated in US.

The benefit of geographical dispersion for the company is that, it is able to

reduce the cost of primary input as the price for inputs varies in different
locations. It also helps the company to lower operating cost and reduces the
company's direct control over the production and distribution. This also helps in
lowering the trade cost and enables it to capture the markets. For example, the
investment decision to manufacture the products from China helps the company
to have a better control over the Asian markets. Also the cost incurred in
exporting the products from United States to Asian market is much lower when it
is from China. The firm also enjoys economies of scale as the cost of production
is less due the dispersion and the company is able to employ skilled and cheap
labor.
In spite of its benefits, it's uncertain what negative effects will this have on the
company. The diminished operational control may have an effect on the quality
of the products or services or its flexibility to respond to changes. This may
adversely affect the reputation of the company. Another problem is that, if the
manufacturing or providing logistical services in the other country is disturbed
for any causes like natural disaster, war, political issues, public health, failure in
information technology system, financial crises may materially affect the
company's financial condition and operation.

GOVERNMENT POLICIES:
The vertical foreign direct investment strategy of Apple is advantageously and
manifestly framed up by the influence of political environment or trade policies
that operate within the country. The supply chain is fragmented and for
assemblage, the Apple's input commodities are sourced from special enterprise
zones of China where much of import duties and taxes are waived. The
government trade policy influences the intricate supply chain management and
outsourcing of the company.

Apple being an American multinational propels a strategy that insulates itself

from foreign exchange risks. The price the company has to pay for a specific

input item in a specific country is influenced by the exchange rates of currencies

at the time. The company exhibits a pattern of a good net receiver of currencies
except the American dollar. As the US dollars gains strength, it will negatively
affect the Apple's net sales and gross margin articulated in American dollars.
Financial innovations are spawned by the international financial flows. The
financial innovations are greatly influenced by the monetary and fiscal policy of a
government. This level of influence determines the stability of economic
performance. As US government tends to maintain very low interest rates to
support the demand for housing and promoting the revival of building industry,
international capital flows are possible. It may result in more capital outflows and
a weaker dollar. An immediate effect can be noticed in the US output as a result
of more US exports. Thus for Apple, weaker dollar gives more euro earning and
allows it to state an elevated profit rate to it stakeholders. [Linden 2008]

Many financial innovations are spawned out from the introduction of capital
flows. There is an economic significance of international financial instruments
like forwards or options when Apple deals with it. July 2008 Company reports
stated that the Apple inc was willing to enter into forward and option dealings of
foreign currencies. This also included some strategically committed transactions,
the investment company possessed in foreign subsidiaries, forecasted future
cash flows etc. Evidently, practice of the company was to hedge a large number
of its material foreign exchange exposures for some months. [Apple inc, 2008]

The progression of this model imparts light into the strategy framed up by Apple
in tackling the effect of rising prices too. A developing country like China has
remarkable success in controlling the inflation. Apple has a peculiar stake in
China where country exhibits success in managing its economy from extreme
pressures and creating higher inflation rates. Chinese central bank put forward a
straight policy in framing up the exchange rates. Till July 2005, the policy upheld
was to fix the rate it levied to exchange Chinese currencies for American dollars.
In this context, Apple could assertively forecast the exchange rates weeks in
advance. [Apple inc, 2005]

Apple endeavours to do outsourcing in the country where there is minimal legal

regulations as they can maximise their profits. As the operations are mainly
concentrated in China, Apple Company has got relaxation from heavy tax
burdens. Vertical specialisation with internalisation keeps the production cost low
at the same time company benefits from low trade cost. The company is getting
more and more innovative by research and development. Proper caution is taken
as the economy breeds the risk of a global financial downturn that could have
disastrous effect in their business.

At last , after analysing the all the factors that affects company's
internationalisation & foreign direct investment we can conclude Apple is truly
globalised . That means it has stretched its corporate arms in such a way that we
can say that for Apple the difference across countries does not matter. They have

fragmented their production parts across countries & sell its products all most
around the world just to take the benefit of the internationalisation & globalised
concept. Their main strategy is to take advantage from different counties'
favourable condition that helps their business to gain more revenue using
economics of scale. As we have discussed the main reason of their expansion of
business in China are cheap labour costs, higher productivity of Chinese labour
output & huge demand of Asian market. They also want to take benefit from the
exchange rate & investment friendly government policy. It is proved from their
establishment of unit in China & Ireland. Their well organized globalised business
strategy has helped them to spread their products world wide almost in every
country, which is much more appreciated from the point of view of
internationalisation of a company. In every of their business strategy the concept
of true globalised company can be visualised.[ Peter Dicken]

When talking about the relationships with suppliers, intermediaries and endusers in an organisation two things should be taken into criterion:

Porter's five forces analysis

The bargaining power of supplier
More bargaining power of supplier can determine less profitability in any
companies (Smit, 2006). On the other hand, it can refer to the benefit of the
buyer who may get better quality products. Apple Company has published the
supplier responsibility report which explains the detail of Apple's supplier
standard (Apple, 2010). In addition, as can be seen from this report, Apple has
tried to improve the efficiency of their supplier in order to meet their expectation
and may reduce the bargaining power of their supplier.

There is no doubt that Apple Company is still rapidly growing (Apple, 2010a),
therefore the company still looking for new suppliers. Moreover, Apple has
developed an ecosystem to obtain the best possible value and benefit to their
customers and stakeholders.

To decrease the bargaining power of Apple's suppliers, the company allows new
suppliers to register online on the company's website (Apple, 2010). Moreover,
due to Apple is the leader technology company which has large demand of raw
material. Thus, there are a plenty of suppliers which have been registered in
order to be the Apple's suppliers. Then, when there are more competitive among
large number of suppliers, the bargaining power of them will be decreased.

Apple has several things I consider to be keys to their competitive advantage.

Fundamental advantages that when you study become clear differentiators as
well as roadblocks for Apple competitors. However if I were to prioritize, their
retail strategy would be near the top as a key to their competitive advantage
here is why.
Retail Experience Matters
If you think about your electronics retail shopping experience, depending on the
type of shopper you are, you either love it or you hate it. If you love it chances
are you are tech savvy and you walk into the store knowing exactly what you are
looking for, knocking sales people down as you go.
If you hate it or have bad experiences, the cause is typically because you arent
sure what you are looking for and find very little knowledgeable help in making a
decision. On top of that, you have too many choices and weighing the benefits of
different brands, configurations, or specs becomes daunting especially when you
have little help.
This is the brilliance of the Apple retail strategy. By controlling not only their own
in store experience they have simplified how people shop, catering to those only
interested in the Apple ecosystem.

This strategy is paying off. If you look at Apples retail stats from the latest
quarter:
325 stores in 11 countries, 87 outside the U.S.
Apples retail stores hosted 71.1 million visitors in the quarter, for an increase
of 51% year-over-year
Mac sales in our retail stores totaled 797,000, up 32% from the year ago
quarter, and 50% were to people new to the Mac
Apples retail stores brought in $3.19 billion in the quarter, which is a new Q2
record and a 90% increase year-over-year
Traditional US retailers could not provide stats anywhere near those numbers and
those stats represent interest primarily in just one brand, Apple.
Retail is a Challenge for Apple Competitors
I interact quite a bit with all the manufactures of PCs and other electronics. The
challenge of retail is a constant conversation and frustration. Brands are
competing for shelf space, discounts, promotions, signage, messaging and
positioning and the list goes on.
Vendors like HP, Dell, Toshiba, Acer, Asus and soon to be Samsung are all fighting
a political battle with their retail outlets. Yet Apple has none of these headaches
and in their stores they have no competition.
In fact even in traditional retail outlets like Best Buy, Apple gets their own
section. Part of this is Apples doing but its also because Best Buy knows how
high in demand Apple products are and they want to move boxes.

This reality is very difficult to compete with, and I see no signs that this is
changing anytime soon.
So here is to Apples 10th anniversary of their first retail store. I was of the many
skeptics in the beginning but this strategy is one of the major contributors to
their success and their brand loyalty.

Apple recently reported record third quarter results with revenue up 82 percent
and profits up 125 percent. By the end of this fiscal year, Apple will likely pass
the $100 billion mark in sales, and will become larger than IBM, something
simply unthinkable just a few years ago.

Pretty remarkable!

Still, Apple's story is unique. Many have tried to explain what makes Apple
innovative -- Simon Sinek offers great insights in a TED Talk on how Apple leads,
thinks and communicates differently. However, I find that too many times the
debate around Apple gets reduced to a debate around the presence of Steve Jobs
at the helm. It seems like a company of this size and success relies only on the
genius and inspiration of one person. I believe this thinking is greatly unfair and
might lead observers to overlook the many competitive advantages that Apple
has built over the years -- qualities that are intertwined with its way of working,
its operational set up, and ultimately its DNA.

I had the opportunity to observe Apple's behaviour and choices from a privileged
point of view, as CEO of a large Consumer Electronics company. I also had
context to compare it with the prevailing industry policies and behaviours. From
this perspective, I have thoughts on the reasons why Apple has an almost
unbeatable competitive advantage that is intertwined with its organisational
choices and management style and embedded in its practices. As such, it will
only require solid management skills and not "genius" to consolidate and grow
the company for years to come.

1) Apple says "no" much more than "yes." Whilst the mantra of Consumer
Electronics (CE) companies is "expanding into new categories" and generating
large volumes by multiplying the product offering, Apple has a remarkably slim
product line. The company has the courage to say 'no' to a range of appealing
volume opportunities if it cannot make a difference in a given category and/or
create a seamless consumer experience. Even in the lean years, the company
had the courage to stick to this principle, resisting many temptations to move
into territories that would have ensured easy increases in volume at the expense
of brand equity and operational flexibility. Ultimately, this approach has led to
large volumes and huge profits.

2) Apple is organised differently from all other competitors. All Consumer

Electronics companies are organised in Business Units, which tend to be fully
integrated with their own R&D and P&L. The result? Essentially the Business
Units are in competition with each other. Additionally, this silo-focused approach
often perpetuates a cumbersome consumer experience where products of the
same brand do not "talk" easily to each other, technologies are overlapping or
just different for similar purposes, feature different plugs and wires and subject
consumers to a lot of useless complexity. This carries a high risk of weakening
the brand equity and lowering the loyalty to any company. In contrast, Apple is
organised as one company and manages products, not categories. Apple has one
R&D base that is common across most products, and looks at one P&L, despite
its huge turnover. As a result, products are fully compatible with one another,
accessories can be used on multiple products and in short, consumers enjoy a
great brand experience. This approach breeds incredible trust among consumers
- so much so that they are running to buy newly launched products even before
they are reviewed. Of course this can only happen if you use tremendous
restraint in adding new products and categories to your offering. Ultimately, the
habit of saying "no" more than "yes" is critical to succeed here (see point 1).

3) Apple has an approach to product launches that is more similar to Fast Moving
Consumer Goods companies than to the world of Consumer Electronics. Most
Consumer Electronics companies have separate P&Ls for different categories, so
each product's advertising is a percentage of its sales, generally rather low since
CE is a low margin industry. A product is launched, and only if it quickly
generates a large amount of sales, is it going to have a continued and
substantial advertising support. If the product doesn't immediately take off, there
is a fair chance that its advertising support will quickly be reduced and/or
disappear. Also, CE companies typically have a very short focus on a given
product. They work on a very short product replacement cycle, and keep
launching new products every six months or a year. These products, with a few
exceptions, are identified with a serial number, not a name, and so every six
months CE companies have to rebuild almost from scratch consumers'
awareness and interest around new products. Now consider Apple's approach.
They launch product families that stay for a long period of time (iPhone, iPod,
iPad, etc). They price them at the right price to generate competitive advertising
support and solid profitability, and they build long-term launch plans, like a
Procter and Gamble would do. They are willing to be patient and give time to a
new concept to establish itself in consumer minds, and if it takes 2 years, so be
it. Their products have a serial number too, but only on a small corner of their
packaging, and instead are identified and communicated as an iPhone 2, 3 or 4,
not as a 9134plfft...

4) Apple is relatively uninterested in competition. Obviously Apple wants to

succeed in the marketplace and beat competition, but the company's idea of
victory is linked to consumer response, much more than to the impact and
respect that they generate among their competitors. A good example is their
approach to industry fairs. All CE companies rush to show new concepts at the
various CE fairs in Las Vegas or Berlin, and take great pride in "being first" rather

than "being right." A CE company will be fundamentally happy with showing a

new concept to competitors six - nine months before it is going to be available in
stores, thus giving an incredible advantage to competitors to catch up and
neutralize their impact in the marketplace. Apple doesn't go to industry fairs,
instead it organizes Apple events right before or even after them, but during
these events shows new concepts that are going to be available to the public
basically "immediately."

5) Apple values the whole consumer experience more than the actual technical
performance. Many of Apple's competitors take pride in creating products that
feature a superior technical performance. In other words, they value what's
inside more than what is outside. The basic assumption is that consumers have
an obligation to understand and appreciate great technology and shouldn't be
bothered by some lack of quality in the construction of products, bad design or
cumbersome user interfaces. Basically CE companies are run by the mindset of
engineers who look down to consumers and believe that it is their fault if they
don't understand the amazing technology that they sell. Apple instead puts a
huge premium on the whole consumer experience, starting with the quality of
the build, the quality and sensory appeal of materials, and the excitement and
ease of use of the user interfaces. Apple products are often described as "sexy,"
and its users talk more about this sexiness than they talk about pure technology
features. In essence, Apple has mastered the art of keeping the relationship of
consumers with technology easy and exciting, while still maintaining a firm grip
on the "engine's" performance.

6) Apple has a healthy, rather distant relationship with retailers. Most CE retailers
don't really like Apple, the same way most FMCG retailers don't like companies
with strong brand equity, because they tend to resist the continued
"blackmailing" around shelf presence and margins. CE companies are caught in
the vicious circle of too many product introductions, products with low
differentiation that rely on price positioning to succeed, short life-cycles and
weak product equities that require a powerful support by trade. As a result, they
tend to indiscriminately accept the growing requests of trade, with an obvious
impact on margins and commercial flexibility. Also here, the strength of a "no" is
used continuously by Apple and as such, dictates how products have to be priced
and positioned in store. To top it off, Apple has had the courage to launch its own
large scale retailing effort.

7) Apple value people and rewards them handsomely for their contribution.
Managers at Apple have always been rewarded with big paychecks for their
individual contributions. This approach follows logic that is much more
emblematic of a Silicon Valley start up than that of the large traditional CE
conglomerate. This allows Apple to recruit and retain the best talents in the
world, make them feel at ease with a strong leadership, and maintain an
entrepreneurial spirit throughout the organisation. Most CE competitors are Asian
conglomerates which are organised around traditional reporting lines and reward
systems. They are not able to attract real unique talent and also struggle to

maintain the entrepreneurial spirit that guarantees extraordinary efforts and

results.

For decades, large CE organisations have operated in the same way. They are
tightly bound to industry practices at trade level and are surrounded by
competitors who all behave in a similar way. As a result, change is slow to come
and hard to accomplish. By the same token, Apple has now applied its own
different approach for decades and it will be very difficult for them too to revert
to more traditional industry practices.

This alone should be a guarantee of success for many years into the future.

Types of Strategic Alliances

in STRATEGIC ALLIANCES
Collaborative agreements between businesses can take a number of forms and
are becoming increasingly common as businesses aim to get the upper hand
over their competitors. The main types of strategic alliances are listed below:

Joint Ventures

A joint venture is an agreement by two or more parties to form a single entity to

undertake a certain project. Each of the businesses has an equity stake in the
individual business and share revenues, expenses and profits.

Joint Ventures are agreements between parties or firms for a particular purpose
or venture. Their formation may be very informal, such as a handshake and an
agreement for two firms to share a booth at a trade show. Other arrangements
can be extremely complex, such as the consortium of major U.S. electronics firms
to develop new microchips, says Charles P. Lickson in A Legal Guide for Small
Business.

Joint ventures between small firms are very rare, primarily because of the
required commitment and costs involved.

Outsourcing

The 1980s was the decade where outsourcing really rose to prominence, and this
trend continued throughout the 1990s to today, although to a slightly lesser
extent.

The early forecasts, such as the one from American Journalist Larry Elder, have
been shown to not always be true:

Outsourcing and globalization of manufacturing allows companies to reduce

costs, benefits consumers with lower cost goods and services, causes economic
expansion that reduces unemployment, and increases productivity and job
creation.

Affiliate Marketing

Affiliate marketing has exploded over recent years, with the most successful
online retailers using it to great effect. The nature of the internet means that
referrals can be accurately tracked right through the order process.

Amazon was the pioneer of affiliate marketing, and now has tens of thousands of
websites promoting its products on a performance-based basis.

Technology Licensing

This is a contractual arrangement whereby trade marks, intellectual property and

trade secrets are licensed to an external firm. Its used mainly as a low cost way
to enter foreign markets. The main downside of licensing is the loss of control
over the technology as soon as it enters other hands the possibility of
exploitation arises.

Product Licensing

This is similar to technology licensing except that the license provided is only to
manufacture and sell a certain product. Usually each licensee will be given an
exclusive geographic area to which they can sell to. Its a lower-risk way of
expanding the reach of your product compared to building your manufacturing
base and distribution reach.

Franchising

Franchising is an excellent way of quickly rolling out a successful concept

nationwide. Franchisees pay a set-up fee and agree to ongoing payments so the

process is financially risk-free for the company. However, downsides do exist,

particularly with the loss of control over how franchisees run their franchise.

R&D

Strategic alliances based around R&D tend to fall into the joint venture category,
where two or more businesses decide to embark on a research venture through
forming a new entity.

Distributors

If you have a product one of the best ways to market it is to recruit distributors,
where each one has its own geographical area or type of product. This ensures
that each distributors success can be easily measured against other distributors.

Distribution Relationships

This is perhaps the most common form of alliance. Strategic alliances are usually
formed because the businesses involved want more customers.

The result is that cross-promotion agreements are established.

Consider the case of a bank. They send out bank statements every month. A
home insurance company may approach the bank and offer to make an exclusive
available to their customers if they can include it along with the next bank
statement that is sent out.

Its a win-win agreement the bank gains through offering a great deal to their
customers, the insurance company benefits through increased customer
numbers, and customers gain through receiving an exclusive offer.

the intergration- responsiveness framework summarizes two basic strategic

needs
to intergrate value chain activities globally

to create products and processes that are responsive to local market needs
IR framework
The IR framework is based on managerial perceptions of the environment along
two basic imperatives. The two imperatives are pressures for global integration
and pressures for local responsiveness.
Pressures for global integration are industry forces that necessitate worldwide
business resource deployments for strategic pursuits. Strategic decisions are
made to maximize the collective organization so that activities are integrated
across national boundaries.
In contrast, local responsiveness pressures are industry forces that necessitate
local context-sensitive strategic decisions. Responding to local pressures,
management must respond predominantly to each local market or industry
setting irrespective of the strategic consideration of sister business units.

phn ng competive l g? c microsoft v sony, theo sau ca apple dn

bt u u t vo kinh doanh bn l ca ring. l ng cho samsung c m
ca hng bn l Bc M c lp u tin ca mnh ti Vancouver vo nm 2012,
r rng c ly cm hng t apple
what is the competive response ? both microsoft and sony, already followed
apple's lead to start investing into own retail business. The same is true for
samsung that opened its first independent North American retail store in
Vancouver in 2012, being clearly inspired by apple
Hardware manufacturers liberally take cues from Apple products, so why not its
approach to customers?

For the seventh straight year, Apple has topped its competitors in the PC
industry in the University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index
(ACSI), achieving a score of 86 out of 100. Its Apple's highest ranking since the
annual survey began in 1995.

But the real story is how much further ahead of its peers Apple is in this area:
most of the rest of the field (Acer, Dell, HP, and others) is tied with a score of 77,
while HP's Compaq brand is ranked 74. All of the PC makers improved their
scores this year, but it didn't help them collectively avoid sinking further behind
Apple. The Mac maker's nine-point lead is now the largest lead any company has
over its competition in any of the 45 categories that the ACSI study surveys-including home appliances, gas stations, autos, e-commerce, airlines, and more.

The Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City is one of the company's flagship
stores in terms of both customer traffic and architecture and design.

The Apple Store on Fifth Avenue in New York City is one of the company's flagship
stores in terms of both customer traffic and architecture and design.
Marguerite Reardon/CNET
Apple's lead, while not insurmountable, can be attributed to a few things,
including a lineup of products that is broad yet connected, a meticulously
controlled retail experience, and a very particular brand of leadership at the top.
It's not just notoriously good customer service, said David VanAmburg, managing
editor of the ACSI, though that helps.

"I think it's a commitment to innovating and integrating products. Apple is still
somewhat uniquely positioned with Macs, the iPad, iPhone, and the iPod," he
said. "There's a plethora of IT products that have been integrated together
easily, and Apple has been able to capture 'IT' writ large, rather than just
personal computers."

That is to say Apple, in comparison to its competitors making PCs, has an

ecosystem of hardware connected by its own software, iOS, iTunes, and Mac OS
X. Apple has total control over its products and has been able to branch out to
other types of devices beyond desktops and laptops. PC makers are somewhat
beholden to the product cycles of Microsoft and are seen as just that, PC
makers--not consumer device makers.

So why aren't they copying Apple? HP actually is beginning to take steps in this
direction. By buying Palm, it's looking to integrate mobile devices like phones
and tablets into its larger ecosystem of laptops and printers. But other large PC
makers like Dell and Acer are not there yet.

"It's taken a long time for other manufacturers to see the benefits that Apple is
getting from this," VanAmburg said. "We may be seeing it a bit with HP going out
and grabbing Palm, getting into the handheld business and integrating (WebOS)
within its systems."

"There is some movement in the industry now beyond Apple to grow past this
thinking of the PC per se, but I think the industry has been slower to do it," he
added. "But there's a reluctance to go down that route."

Face time with people and products

Apple Stores are the best example of what makes it different from its peers and
are illustrative of the company's approach.

The retail stores are one of the most important ways people interact with Apple.
Not just for those who are already customers but potential customers-sometimes more than 50 million customers tromp through Apple's doors every
three months, and half of them whomake purchases are first-timers, according to
Apple.

There are 300 Apple stores worldwide right now, mostly in the U.S., but growing
in major world capitals, like London, Paris, and Shanghai. Everything about the
store is intended to represent what it is like to own and use an Apple product:
Apple controls the whole experience, from the limited range of products on the
shelves, to the training of the young, intentionally geeky/hip employees, to the
manner in which some stores are designed with architectural flourishes normally
reserved for museums, to the tech support received at the Genius Bar, to the
educational classes offered in stores for using Apple products.

PC companies have dabbled in retail with varying results. Microsoft's current

experiment in retail--which borrows from Apple's retail look and feel--is still small:
four stores right now, with a few more planned. Dell's foray was brief, and
Gateway did well for a number of years until calling it quits before eventually
being sold to Acer.

Retail stores are expensive to maintain, but it can define a company's brand and
dictate how customers interact with a company. Apple takes that task on itself, in
addition to selling its products online and through some third-party retailers. PC
makers either rely on the direct approach on the Web or trust a salesperson to
properly present their product at Best Buy, Fry's, MicroCenter and others, or just
leave it up to the consumer wandering the aisles at Wal-Mart or Costco.

Putting the customer first

A lot of that "reluctance" to embrace Apple's well-regarded approach to
customers that VanAmburg spoke of may come down to the roots of these
companies. Some are much more technically oriented than customer oriented,
which has a sizable effect on how they prioritize, said Ira Kalb, clinical marketing
professor at the USC Marshall School of Business.

Apple was able to save face with customers by giving away free cases to iPhone
4 owners after complaints arose regarding its antenna.
Apple was able to save face with customers by giving away free cases to iPhone
4 owners after complaints arose regarding its antenna.
Josh Lowensohn/CNET

"The reason that a lot of these companies don't copy Apple's customer service is
they don't realize how important it is, that's the big one," Kalb said. "They look at
it as a cost rather than a return on investment item."

Though it sounds obvious that the customer being taken care of should be a
primary concern for any company dealing in consumer goods, it's not always
followed, he said. "A lot of these computer companies in particular were started
and run by technical people, who are notorious for caring about technology over
customers."

Things like customer service, marketing, and making technology easier to

understand for nontechnical people can make or break a customer's perception
of a company. Apple's customer service, which is perennially ranked highly, is
illustrative of the differences.

The other major difference between Apple and the rest of the field is that no
other company is as subject to a singular vision. At Apple, the only person whose
opinion really matters in the end is Steve Jobs, and that goes for product
decisions as well as how the company is run. That doesn't work for everyone. At
most large companies, there are competing agendas and fiefdoms that compete
for resources and weigh in with differing visions on products. Jobs' leadership
style cuts that out.

It's not that Apple does everything right of course. The most recent example is
"antennagate," which developed out of customers' distaste for the way Apple
handled problems related to the antenna design of the iPhone 4.

Apple's initially condescending response to the issue was eventually addressed

by the offer of a free case for iPhone 4 customers, though not without obvious
annoyance on Apple's part. Still, the lesson was a useful one for a company that
already handles its customer interactions mostly well, said Kalb. And it could be
why the company continues to improve in its customer satisfaction index despite
such hiccups.

"I think (Jobs) was shocked by the antennagate reaction," he said. "But I think
that woke them up further."