CLA 2 Comprehensive Learning Assessment 2 – CLO 2, CLO 5, CLO 8

Please read the following scenario and answer the questions below by providing the analysis

based on the relevant theories and applicable examples.

If your business earns superior profits, existing and potential competitors will do their best to

get a piece of the success. It is essential for firms to examine a variety of business strategies

to enhance the prospects of sustainable profitability. Out of all factors that impact an

industry’s sustainable profitability, this CLA 2 assessment focuses on the most damaging

threat to sustainable profit, the entry of competitors into the market.

Entry into the market heightens competition and reduces the margins of existing firms in a

wide variety of industry settings. For this reason, the ability of existing firms to sustain profits

depends on how barriers to entry affect the ease with which other firms can enter the industry

including the formation of new companies (Wendy’s entered the fast-food industry in the

1970s); globalization strategies by foreign companies (Toyota entered the U.S. automobile

market the middle of the last century) , and the introduction of new product lines by existing

firms (computer manufacturer Apple now also sells the popular iPhone).

Your CLA 2 is a paper of minimum eight pages, APA formatted, including one Industry Report

and one Company Report that you recommend to the CEO of a company on how to create a

moat and prevent the threat of entry to the market. AT LEAST 6 PEER REVIEWED REFERENCES!

1. Industry Report

Please select an industry and write a rigorous industry report for your selected industry that

incorporate the followings:

? The market structure of the industry by determining the concentration ratio in the

industry and how market structure affects the entry into the market

? The nature of industry and the network effects

? The production structure of the industry, initial capital requirements, sunk costs, and

economies of scale

? The prospect of industry in the future in regard to technological innovations

2. Company Report

Now assume you are managing a company in this industry and are asked to write a

Company Report about the long term strategic decision making of the company. The

purpose of this report is to recommend a few policies to the CEO that assures a

sustainable competitive advantage and long term profitability for the company.

Please include the following variables in your Company Report:

? Sustainable market share and how it can be achieved

? Branding, reputation, and a considerable base of loyal consumers

? The managerial efficiency in strategic decision making regarding:

o The integration and merger activity, vertical and horizontal integration

o Preventing entry of rivals by pricing and cost policies such as limit pricing,

predatory pricing, and raising rivals’ fixed or marginal costs