Competitive Advantage Discussion Essay Assignment
Order ID 53563633773 Type Essay Writer Level Masters Style APA Sources/References 4 Perfect Number of Pages to Order 5-10 Pages Description/Paper Instructions
Competitive Advantage Discussion Essay Assignment
STUDENT 1 (Johanna):
Warren Buffet has been successful in picking winners. He has said that, “The key to investing is not assessing how much an industry is going affect society, or how much it will grow but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and above all, the durability of that advantage”.
The term competitive advantage refers to a unique advantage a company has over the company offering comparable goods and services, allow it to generate higher sales volumes, or attract more customers. In establishing a strategic competitive advantage there are three attributes to consider: Cost leadership, differentiation, and focus (Amadeo, 2020).
Cost leadership is a strategy in which a company can utilize economies of scale and produce products at a reduced cost. With this strategy, the company would be able to gain profits due to its advantage over its competitors (Amadeo, 2020). McDonald’s or the Dollar general store is a great example of how they utilize economies of scale and produce products at a lower cost, compared to their competitors.
Differentiation is a strategy in which the company’s products differ from its competitors (Amadeo, 2020). This can be achieved by offering higher quality products, offer coupons, sales and discounts, or a loyalty program. A company that utilizes this advantage is Christian Louboutin. The company focuses to be a leader in the luxury market of shoes and clothing. Customers pay substantial amounts of money to possess a pair of red bottom shoes.
The final strategy is a focus oriented. A company focuses its product to a certain market or group of consumers.
An example of a company trying to capture a competitive advantage and is marred in ethical violations is Nike. In May of 1998, the CEO of Nike received criticism for child labor practices. The criticism was due to retaining child workers and subpar working conditions at Nike factories in Indonesia, Thailand, and Pakistan (1998).
Not only is scandals of this nature occur in corporate America. But also, within the world of Government Contracting. An example, is a former Air Force Chief Acquisition Official, Darleen Druyun was sentenced to a nine-month prison sentence for her part in the Boeing Tanker Scandal and trying to negotiate a job. She was in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 208, which deals with personal financial conflicts of interest.
References:
Amadeo, K. (2020, July 12). What Is Competitive Advantage? Retrieved from
https://www.thebalance.com/what-is-competitive-adv…
Federal Contractor Misconduct Database. Retrieved July 14, 2020,
from http://www.contractormisconduct.org/index.cfm/1,73,222,html?CaseID=48
Nike CEO Knight on new labor tack. (1998, May 12). Retrieved July 14, 2020,
fromhttps://money.cnn.com/1998/05/12/companies/nike/
STUDENT 2 (Jeremy):
I hope you all are doing great, I know we are coming to an end very soon, but let’s finish strong and retain what we can for the future. I know this week is ethics, which has been one of my first picks when the opportunity arises for papers. Remember ethics doesn’t stop with contracting but the conversation we have outside the office, and in every step, we take, and word we say to those around us.
Forum Question:
Summarize strategies to achieve a competitive advantage and describe potential ethical issues or ethical problems that may arise when attempting to accomplish an organization’s mission of achieving a competitive advantage.
Strategies to achieve a competitive advantage would be understanding your business background, and brand. The ability to push you brand and, and to be consistent in the work done is a huge step forward. Additionally, finding our niche and how you want to operate in the federal government.
Through those few steps it will provide the next phase of the contracting, which is, the business model or strategies, and how to accomplish them. Lastly is the ability to be unique in the market, which drives the need for your company.
Ethical issues that could arise through this phase is the falsification of niches, or even the quality of your work. Ethically, the business should provide accurate numbers, and plans when acquiring a government contract, not to mention acquiring those numbers through proper channels. Sadly, some contractor finds out more information than they should have access too, through a close contact working near the project at hand.
Competition is great, but if it breaches the ethics laid out, the possibility of recovering when caught would be almost catastrophic.
Search for a report on a current event that has happened in contract management that violated ethics rules.
I found a great article covering this week ethical issues we will face in the contracting world. The reality we will face is there will be companies, and even personal that would attempt to manipulate and award contracts when the information provided does not suffice. This is what happened with The McKinsey’s, (Macdougall, I. 2019). The article attached in the references below, describes the situation being, when the contracting officer requested additional information on pricing to satisfy the federal contracting rules, McKinsey went above and beyond to not follow the rules.
References
Macdougall, I. (2019). How McKinsey Makes Its Own Rules. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/14/sunday-review/mckinsey-ice-buttigieg.html
RUBRIC
QUALITY OF RESPONSE NO RESPONSE POOR / UNSATISFACTORY SATISFACTORY GOOD EXCELLENT Content (worth a maximum of 50% of the total points) Zero points: Student failed to submit the final paper. 20 points out of 50: The essay illustrates poor understanding of the relevant material by failing to address or incorrectly addressing the relevant content; failing to identify or inaccurately explaining/defining key concepts/ideas; ignoring or incorrectly explaining key points/claims and the reasoning behind them; and/or incorrectly or inappropriately using terminology; and elements of the response are lacking. 30 points out of 50: The essay illustrates a rudimentary understanding of the relevant material by mentioning but not full explaining the relevant content; identifying some of the key concepts/ideas though failing to fully or accurately explain many of them; using terminology, though sometimes inaccurately or inappropriately; and/or incorporating some key claims/points but failing to explain the reasoning behind them or doing so inaccurately. Elements of the required response may also be lacking. 40 points out of 50: The essay illustrates solid understanding of the relevant material by correctly addressing most of the relevant content; identifying and explaining most of the key concepts/ideas; using correct terminology; explaining the reasoning behind most of the key points/claims; and/or where necessary or useful, substantiating some points with accurate examples. The answer is complete. 50 points: The essay illustrates exemplary understanding of the relevant material by thoroughly and correctly addressing the relevant content; identifying and explaining all of the key concepts/ideas; using correct terminology explaining the reasoning behind key points/claims and substantiating, as necessary/useful, points with several accurate and illuminating examples. No aspects of the required answer are missing. Use of Sources (worth a maximum of 20% of the total points). Zero points: Student failed to include citations and/or references. Or the student failed to submit a final paper. 5 out 20 points: Sources are seldom cited to support statements and/or format of citations are not recognizable as APA 6th Edition format. There are major errors in the formation of the references and citations. And/or there is a major reliance on highly questionable. The Student fails to provide an adequate synthesis of research collected for the paper. 10 out 20 points: References to scholarly sources are occasionally given; many statements seem unsubstantiated. Frequent errors in APA 6th Edition format, leaving the reader confused about the source of the information. There are significant errors of the formation in the references and citations. And/or there is a significant use of highly questionable sources. 15 out 20 points: Credible Scholarly sources are used effectively support claims and are, for the most part, clear and fairly represented. APA 6th Edition is used with only a few minor errors. There are minor errors in reference and/or citations. And/or there is some use of questionable sources. 20 points: Credible scholarly sources are used to give compelling evidence to support claims and are clearly and fairly represented. APA 6th Edition format is used accurately and consistently. The student uses above the maximum required references in the development of the assignment. Grammar (worth maximum of 20% of total points) Zero points: Student failed to submit the final paper. 5 points out of 20: The paper does not communicate ideas/points clearly due to inappropriate use of terminology and vague language; thoughts and sentences are disjointed or incomprehensible; organization lacking; and/or numerous grammatical, spelling/punctuation errors 10 points out 20: The paper is often unclear and difficult to follow due to some inappropriate terminology and/or vague language; ideas may be fragmented, wandering and/or repetitive; poor organization; and/or some grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors 15 points out of 20: The paper is mostly clear as a result of appropriate use of terminology and minimal vagueness; no tangents and no repetition; fairly good organization; almost perfect grammar, spelling, punctuation, and word usage. 20 points: The paper is clear, concise, and a pleasure to read as a result of appropriate and precise use of terminology; total coherence of thoughts and presentation and logical organization; and the essay is error free. Structure of the Paper (worth 10% of total points) Zero points: Student failed to submit the final paper. 3 points out of 10: Student needs to develop better formatting skills. The paper omits significant structural elements required for and APA 6th edition paper. Formatting of the paper has major flaws. The paper does not conform to APA 6th edition requirements whatsoever. 5 points out of 10: Appearance of final paper demonstrates the student’s limited ability to format the paper. There are significant errors in formatting and/or the total omission of major components of an APA 6th edition paper. They can include the omission of the cover page, abstract, and page numbers. Additionally the page has major formatting issues with spacing or paragraph formation. Font size might not conform to size requirements. The student also significantly writes too large or too short of and paper 7 points out of 10: Research paper presents an above-average use of formatting skills. The paper has slight errors within the paper. This can include small errors or omissions with the cover page, abstract, page number, and headers. There could be also slight formatting issues with the document spacing or the font Additionally the paper might slightly exceed or undershoot the specific number of required written pages for the assignment. 10 points: Student provides a high-caliber, formatted paper. This includes an APA 6th edition cover page, abstract, page number, headers and is double spaced in 12’ Times Roman Font. Additionally, the paper conforms to the specific number of required written pages and neither goes over or under the specified length of the paper. GET THIS PROJECT NOW BY CLICKING ON THIS LINK TO PLACE THE ORDER
CLICK ON THE LINK HERE: https://www.perfectacademic.com/orders/ordernow
Also, you can place the order at www.collegepaper.us/orders/ordernow / www.phdwriters.us/orders/ordernow
Do You Have Any Other Essay/Assignment/Class Project/Homework Related to this? Click Here Now [CLICK ME]and Have It Done by Our PhD Qualified Writers!!