Exploiting Strategy & Information for Competitive Advantage - Essay Example

The Porter’s value chain model can also be aligned with information strategies whereby information could be used in the reorganization of activities to achieve lower costs and at the same time add value to products. Finally we discuss the strategy of thrust by Wiseman which describes defensive and offensive competitive moves which require information to achieve desired strategy. The five force strategy by Porter highlights the 5 major strategies a firm can adopt in order to gain competitive advantages, Porter (1999) highlighted five major factors that models firms in an industry and this include threat of substitutes, buyer power, supplier power, barrier to entry and the degree of rivalry.

The first factor in the five force strategy is threat of substitution and according to Pearlson (2006) this threat can be minimized by using information whereby products will be differentiated and also prices should be improved. A firm will collect information in the market regarding new threats and improvise ways in which to meet the consumer needs through product differentiation. Buyer power is also a factor that shapes an industry, according to Pearlson (2006) information could be used in the selection of buyers and also in differentiation of products.

Regarding supplier power firms will utilize information in the selection of low cost suppliers and finally the firm will use information to create barriers to entry into an industry. The strength of this strategy is that it aids a firm in the identification of areas to apply information strategies. This can easily be applied whereby it describes locations to use information to gain competitive advantage. Pearlson (2006) states that this strategy also helps in the identification of threats over time, this can e applied whereby the firms have access to competitors cost information.

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