Is Supply Chain Management a source of Competitive Advantage within Wal-Mart, Dell and Toyota?

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Competitive Advantages1

Types of Competitive Advantage1

Cost Leadership2

Differentiation2

Defensive Strategies3

Alliances3

Core Competences4

The Resource Based View5

Supply Chain Management in Toyota, Wal-Mart and Dell5

Dell Supply Chain Management5

Wal-Mart Supply Chain Management7

Toyota Supply Chain Management8

Use of Supply Chain Management within Wal-Mart, Dell and Toyota10

Comparison between the Competitors of the Industry11

Supply Chain Management a major source of Competitive Advantage in Dell, Wal-Mart and Toyota12

Conclusion13

REFERENCES15

Is Supply Chain Management a source of Competitive Advantage within Wal-Mart, Dell and Toyota?

Competitive Advantages

A firm is able to gain a competitive advantage when it delivers the same benefits to the consumers but at a lower cost or offer them benefits that exceeds the benefits provided by the competitors products. It is a theory that addresses a few criticisms of a comparative advantage. The theory of competitive advantage suggests that businesses and states must pursue the policies that create higher quality goods for selling it at greater prices in the market. Competitive advantage is based on the notion that cheap labour is everywhere and the natural resources are not important for a good economy. Competitive advantage is important for the satisfaction of the customers as they receive greater value in the products that are delivered to them for greater income and this kind of requirements are fulfilled with the organisation of production, greater application and a possibly lower cost of production.

Types of Competitive Advantage

A competitive advantage can be achieved by four different strategies.

Cost Leadership

Cost leadership is the first and the foremost advantage that companies try to achieve. Cost leadership is an advantage that occurs when an organisation offers product of same quality as offered by its competitors, but comparatively at a lower cost. Cost leadership occurs when an organisation focuses on finding new ways to produce goods at a lower cost by achieving perfection in the methods of production or by utilising the resources in an efficient manner in comparison to their competitors. Technology can be another factor to gain a competitive advantage over competitors. Cost leadership can be considered offensive, whereas a number of businesses use this strategy in order to drive out the competitors with the use of pricing strategies that are designed attract the consumers.

Differentiation

Differentiation strategy is used by businesses as it makes them stand out among their competitors. In differentiation strategy, it not necessary that low cost is used as factor for the business to make it different from others. Businesses that differentiate themselves look for attributes that helps them to market themselves and make them have a distinctive identity. After focusing on a marketable attribute the businesses than look for the segments where they can market themselves. This process can also work in a direction that the businesses conduct research for determining things that the consumers find most important then develops a niche market for those characteristics or products.

Defensive Strategies

Businesses also gain a competitive advantage by utilising a defensive strategy. The advantage that is gained by such kind of strategy is that it provides businesses to ...