Competitive Strategies for Australian Securities Exchange

Question: Discuss about the Competitive Strategies for Australian Securities Exchange. Answer: The following table shows the names of the different companies chosen from the provided list of industries, the industries from which the companies have been chosen and the strategy which is to be applied to each of the companies. Industry Name of Company/ Institution Strategy Childcare Think Childcare Limited Porters Generic Strategy Tourism and travel Marriot Hotel Australia Ansoff Matrix Education University of Melbourne Blue Ocean Strategy About Think Childcare Limited: Think Childcare Limited is one of the leading Australian firms in the consumer services segment of the market. Think Childcare Limited is responsible for redefining the methods of conducting business in the Consumer Services Industry. The Company is listed on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and have a relevant presence in the stock market as well. Tool Used: Porters Generic Competitive Strategy: The relative position of any company inside its specific industry helps find whether the companys productivity has been above or below the average of the industry. The main basis of the above average profitability in the long run is sustainable competitive advantage. There are two noteworthy kinds of competitive advantage of a firm, namely low cost and differentiation. The two main types of competitive advantage along with the capacity of performance which an establishment seeks to achieve leads to three main generic strategies for the achievement of above average performance in a particular industry. The three main strategies for the achievement of above average performance in an industry is that of cost leadership, differentiation and focus. In this connection it can be said that the focus strategy has two variants namely cost focus and differentiation focus (Sumer and Bayraktar 2012). Analysis: The cost leadership strategy focuses on being the low cost producer in a particular industry concerned for a given level. In case of Think Childcare Limited, the company needs to innovate its products and services for bringing valuable customers to the fold and gives customers suitable reason to buy their products. The pricing of the products also need to be lowered such that the fixed cost per unit can be lowered. There should also be capacities and spending money on the different forms of research and development. Therefore in order to gain market share, the organisation needs to engage in the creation of products which are cost effective as well as best in the market (Taylor 2012). Differentiation strategy focuses on the development of unique characteristics which customers value and which they consider to be better or different from the rest in a positive sense. The value which is added by the uniqueness of the product might allow the company to ask for a genuine price for the same. It is desirable that the organisation needs to be more service oriented rather than simply being product oriented. There needs to be a proper understanding of the major requirements of the customers in comparison to what the customer is actually buying. The company needs to build a sustainable differentiation strategy so as to survive and build scale in order to compete better. The company can also collaborate with the competitors to increase the overall market size. The focus strategy is basically concentration on a narrow segment within which there is an aim to achieve cost advantage or differentiation. In case companies use such strategies they better enjoy customer loyalty. It can be said that this organisation needs to build a large customer base and this will be helpful in reducing the power of buyers and will also put forward a chance for the company to streamline sales. The company also needs to innovate its products fast (Baroto, Abdullah and Wan 2012). Ansoff Matrix: Marriot Hotel Australia: Marriott International Inc is world famous as one of the top lodging companies. It has over four thousand properties in more than eighty countries and territories. The company has recorded huge revenues in the financial years 2014 and 2015. It also has a branch in Australia. The strategy used to analyse this particular organisation is the Ansoff Matrix. The matrix comprises of market penetration, product development, market development and diversification (Tanwar 2013). The Ansoff matrix for this particular company is being shown as follows: Market Penetration The company sponsors several international football clubs. This is bound to improve the marketing and loyalty towards the hotel. The organisation also targets the specific middle class customers who are considerable in number. This is bound to add to the customer base of the organisation because the middle class customer base is huge. Luxury does not always find many takers as does middle class requirement (Hussain et al. 2013). There are several new offers and discounts which are offered by the hotel group in order to attract and lure customers of all types and categories to ultimately help facilitate the business There have been world famous shows hosted which have helped in the hotel growth. Product Development There have been cases where helicopters have been used to transport guests from the airport to particular hotels There have been several exhibitions for 1-2 weeks with a range of special offers in the Marriott Hotels all over the world There have been initiatives to facilitate the plates and dishes production. This has helped a lot in minimizing costs. Market Development There have been new branches which have been developed in several countries which did not have Marriott Hotels earlier There have been proper maintenance of standards in all of the different countries and continents. Diversification There has been the development of a new chain of shops known as Marriott Coffee chain There have been several collaborations with tourism and travel companies to facilitate business. Blue Ocean Strategy: University of Melbourne: Blue Ocean Strategy is the concept which focuses on innovation. The concept of Blue Ocean strategy is the simultaneous pursuit of both low cost and differentiation strategy. It is considered to be a systemized, fully sequenced and replicable methodology. This concept allows organisations and institutions to stop considering their competitors seriously and rather focus on redefining their own market boundaries as well as strategic assumptions (Mi 2015). The concept basically states that when the companies break free from the shackles of age old thoughts and limitations they find territories which are unexplored. These unexplored territories are referred to as Blue Oceans. It is believed that when a particular organisation or company values innovation, they can create leaps in value for both their businesses and customers alike (Borgianni, Cascini and Rotini 2012). The University of Melbourne is a public university that focuses on research and it is located in the city of Melbourne in the country of Australia. It is desirable that university focus on the scholarships which give importance to students from all walks of life and from different backgrounds. There also needs to be cost effective programs which help in the expansion of the student base of the university. In case students from different backgrounds come to study in the university, it is bound to have various laurels in the educational genre. The policy of the university should not focus on any sort of differentiation between the customers and the people. Thus the blue ocean strategy of the University should be a proper focus on multinational and cross cultural teachers and students as well as cost effective methods of teaching. References ad Bibliography: Baroto, M.B., Abdullah, M.M.B. and Wan, H.L., 2012. Hybrid strategy: A new strategy for competitive advantage.International Journal of Business and Management,7(20), p.120. Borgianni, Y., Cascini, G. and Rotini, F., 2012. Investigating the patterns of value-oriented innovations in blue ocean strategy.International Journal of Innovation Science,4(3), pp.123-142. Hussain, S., Khattak, J., Rizwan, A. and Latif, M.A., 2013. ANSOFF matrix, environment, and growth-an interactive triangle.Management and Administrative Sciences Review,2(2), pp.196-206. Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R.A., 2014.Blue ocean strategy, expanded edition: How to create uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. Harvard business review Press. Mi, J., 2015. Blue ocean strategy.Wiley Encyclopedia of Management. Salavou, H.E., 2015. Competitive strategies and their shift to the future.European Business Review,27(1), pp.80-99. Sumer, K. and Bayraktar, C.A., 2012. Business strategies and gaps in Porter's typology: a literature review.Journal of Management Research,4(3), pp.100-119. Tanwar, R., 2013. Porters generic competitive strategies.Journal of business and management,15(1), pp.11-17. Taylor, E.C., 2012, January. Competitive improvement planning: using ansoff's matrix with abell's model to inform the strategic management process. InAllied Academies International Conference. Academy of Strategic Management. Proceedings(Vol. 11, No. 1, p. 21). Jordan Whitney Enterprises, Inc. Team, F.M.E., 2013. Ansoff Matrix, Strategy Skills.free-management-ebook. com.