Sun Microsystems - Case Study Example

Sun Microsystems have good financial capabilities and ideas how to improve its position and increase productivity. Sun Microsystems forecasts developments, predicts logical consequences, translates them into potential opportunities, and plans to capitalize on profitable alternatives. In the company, the assessment of market opportunity is closely linked to the innovative process. Market opportunity encourages innovation and stimulates and extends markets. In fact, the assessment of market opportunity may be considered one of the early phases of the total innovative process.

Yet innovation is not equated with market opportunity. Innovation requires the supportive system of marketing resources to cultivate opportunity. Both the stimulation of a continuing flow of ideas and products that can better satisfy wants and needs, and the supply of a marketing system to support them, are requisites of opportunity realization (Annual Report 2007). International expansion and acquisition strategy allow Sun Microsystems to develop unique approach to marketing and boost sales.

Jabbar developed a strategy that focused on five countries that were each potential billion-dollar-a-year markets for Sun's server business. They were Brazil, Spain, China, India and Italy. Shareholders were optimistic about Sun's potential for growth" (Jacobs and Ensign 2008, C 237). Thus, for Sun a philosophy that competition is essential for innovation. For management expects new developments to destroy existing product positions. Assuredly, firms want to secure future opportunities and "capture" markets.

New products are developed for this purpose. Innovations result in two groups of forces, competitive and monopolistic. The monopolistic forces, or the delayed action of competition, offer the innovator incentives to innovate. The competitive features diffuse the benefits of past innovations into the public domain. This puts the innovator under pressure to make further innovations if he is to maintain his competitive advantage and the better-than-minimum profits that go with it. Innovation is, then, one of the competitive tools of the business firm.

It is a major means of creating a differential advantage, albeit sometimes short-lived. In adjusting to change, and in attempting to meet the demands of the marketplace, it must be managed, and programmed innovation is becoming one of the foundations of business strategy (Hollensen 2007). This places additional pressure on management to understand more fully the process of managing change and programming innovation through manipulation of knowledge. Innovation approaches manageability when participation in the process becomes part of the continuing responsibility of all levels of management.

Sun develops the appropriate environment and set of attitudes to encourage innovation. Only then can a firm hope to deploy its resources most profitably in order to meet the challenge of change. Innovating firms face a range of possible marketing policies (Annual Report 2007). 2. The chief elements of Sun's strategy are acquisition strategy and investments, expended portfolio, reduced costs through unit volumes and consulting services. For Sun, innovation is a core of differentiation. This combination of strategic policies allows Sun to "improve operating income by nearly $1.

2 billion" during the first half of 2007 (Sun