Digital Strategy, Technology and Architecture for the Enterprise

Introduction to
Data, Information, Knowledge, Wisdom (DIKW)
and
Information /Digital Systems for Competitive Advantage

Session 01
Prof. Milind kamat
 Introductions

• Faculty,
• Course
• Course outline
• Assessment components , Group Assignment
• Reference Resources: Class notes , Articles distributes , summary per session will
be distributed
• Pedagogy

Introduction to Information Systems

Agenda for
What is information in analogue form vs Information in Digital
Form?

session 01 Why is Information Fundamental to competitive advantage for

Enterprises?

What are Various Information Systems in Enterprise for Business

Management?

What are Standalone IS, Functional IS, Enterprise IS, E-commerce

IS, and Social IS?
Introduction

SPJIMR Proprietary & Confidential 3

Faculty Introduction Master of Financial Management Incharge of
Program Head – Global
Management Programme
(JBIMS, Mumbai) Global MBA/MS
(GMP), SPJIMR B.E. Electrical Mumbai Analytics program from
SPJIMR
Work on Boards of some Core faculty: Information Currently pursuing : Doctoral Program
companies focusing on Management, SPJIMR with University of Bradford, UK
UK, Germany,
Digital/AI France, Netherland

USA
Stevens School of
Business
Subjects taught
• 1996 -2018: Atos: Since 2007, EVP Brandies school
• Tech Consulting & Digital and CEO of Atos India (18000
• Digital Transformation headcount,450M+ euros of business
Robert smith school
• Intelligent Automation using RPA, in India), Member of Group of Business
Chatbots , AI Executive Committee USC Marshall school
• Business Development in the
Technology Sector • 2011 to 2018: Chief Architect and
• Platform Business, Big tech & Strategy
Mentor DIGITAL Business and
Technology Innovation centre for
• Enterprise Architecture in Digital Age
Atos Data Analytics and Business
• Artificial Intelligence & Machine
learning • TCS/CMC: 1982 to 1996: Sr. 1.Modeling using Excel /Power
Contact • Python, R in workshop Mode manager: Banking and financial BI
milind.kamat@spjimr.org • Spreadsheet Business Modelling and services 2. Data science using R
9820136644 Data visualisation is Power BI 3. Data Science using Python
Also available on WhatsApp 4. Business Analytics
 Email id: Milind.kamat@spjimr.org
M: +919820136644

My contact Also available on

If you want to meet in person at the institute for
details any difficulty: I am available at the SPJIMR Global
MBA/MS Program Office.
B wing 3Rd Floor : Faculty Room : B03/05/08
Course outline
 Digital Strategy, Technology and Architecture
for the Enterprise
PGDM (BM) 22-24 | Term IV : Specially Curated Course SPJIMR- Course outline
Digital Strategy, Technology and Architecture for Course
Course Name For the future
the Enterprise code
Prof. Milind Kamat, Dr. Jyoti Jagasia &
Instructor(s) Credits 1.5
Dr. Aditi Divatia

Course description:
IT Strategy:
This course presents a broad framework for designing an overall Information Technology Strategy (ITS)and
Roadmap for a user organization that is seeking to “leverage a variety of relevant technologies for
business”. This strategy is meant to be based on the business strategy and the state of the organization.

Enterprise Architecture:
The digital revolution continues to transform our world. Businesses today are fast moving and in a
constant cycle of change and adaptation. One of the key disciplines to support you in this change journey
is the discipline of "architecting" a business, commonly referred to as Enterprise Architecture. Enterprise
Architecture is a conceptual blueprint that defines the structure and operation of an organization. The
intent of an enterprise architecture is to determine how an organization can most effectively achieve its
current and future objectives to embrace business transformation in the journey towards digital
enterprises.

Technology Infrastructure for the Digital Age:

The course aims at enabling participants to understand role of corporate CIO and IT infra services
consultants for management and service delivery of IT enabled services. They should be able to manage
designers of IT Services for various businesses (banking, retail, manufacturing, ITES, etc.) The solution
Architecture (hardware, software, and applications), provisioning, installing, managing and maintaining is
explained.

Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs):

By the end of this course, students should be able to:
1. Evaluate the role of emerging technologies and their impact on IT strategy in modern businesses.
2. Interpret the portfolio investment approach for technology investments for a user organization.
3. Understand the role of Enterprise Architecture and how it helps in digital transformation.
4. Use business architecture to plan digital transformation opportunities and shape the data,
application and technology architecture.
5. Reflect on issues related to Data Centres, service desk facilities, security and quality.
6. Recognize businesses based on IT infrastructure.

Please describe the SDGs (based on SPJIMR's SDGs) if any that will be covered in the course.

UN SDG Goals UN SDG Tick the SDG covered

Targets
GOAL 4: Quality Education 4.7 √
GOAL 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth 8.2
8.3
GOAL 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure 9.1
9.4
Assessment components

01 02 03 04 05 06
C;ass Quiz 1 10% Quiz 2 10% Quiz 3 10% project 30% End Term
Participation 30%
10%
Project

Group Project outline will be released by Ms. Medha from IMA department
Pedagogy for sessions
• Each session may have 10 mins small articles for reading and
discussions or May be a video and reflection
• My sessions have Questions based discussions to raise curiosity
• Powerpoint slides for debriefing and viewpoint curated by
myself
Introduction to Information
Systems/Digital Systems &
Competitive Advnatge
 Information Systems
are all of us Today

People, Govt, students,

Managers, CEOs
Top companies of Today are built on data/information
 What is
Analog Data
vs
digitized Data?

Bits world!
 0 = OFF
1= ON
Binary
representation

Analog Vs Digital
World of bits
On and off … large number
Ever evolving
Bits world
 Birth of Silicon ,
Silicon valley and
digital computers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M4VP7TuZjt8
History input devices
Computer processing

• Batch processing
• Intercative terminal-based
inputs
• Graphics terminals
• Online Earlier it was computer
centre, computer
• Realtime processing beuro
 New age self-serviced
Users enter most of the data.
Evolution of Bits World
3 Main dimensions
Progress
 https://www.computerhistory.org/timeline/computers
History of computing /

Every Iteration,
• Computing power went Up
• The scale of production has gone up
• Power consumption went down
• Size has gone down
• Cost/price has down
• more user-friendly and accessible to the incremental human population
Cellphones as an
extension of humans

Samsung Fold
 Welcome
to
New Digital World
• 1G : Focused purely on Voice
• 2G : Focused on Voice & Text
• 3G : focused on voice and text , Data
• 4G : centered around the growing consumption of data with Video
• 5G :The Internet of Things (IoT) was at the heart of 5G,
• 6G : is to deliver multi-sensory experiences that will be almost
inseparable from reality. This has been coined as the Internet of
Senses (IoS). The Internet of Senses will rely on AI, VR, AR and
Automation to interact with our five senses of sight, sound, taste,
smell and touch.
Bits world economy
laws changed

• Marginal cost of Digital product unit is

zero
• Distribution cost of the digital product is
close to zero
• Scalability of digital products/services is
infinite
 What are
Digital/IT/Communication
Technologies?
 Power of Information Connectivity(Internet: Digital Highway)
and
Rise of Computing Technologies
=
Digital Technologies
ATOM to BITS
IT = More atoms than Bits Fueling New Economic Progress
Digital = Business has more
bits than Atoms
Massive Hyper-scale
Digital technologies

1 SMAC

2 IOT/Blockchains

Accessibility at an 3 3D Visualization/immersion
affordable price
4 3D Material production

5 Natural Language
Understanding/processing

Marginal Cost of 6 Artificial Intelligence

Production/Distribution bits = Speed, Quality/Reliability, Ease of USE: wireless and broadband Connectivity/
ZERO Handheld Computing at scale
Material is Proprietary & confidential and can not be reproduced without express permission of Prof. M kamat( Head – Global MBA/MS USA/Europe/SPJIMR) Courage . Heart
What are the 3 eras of
the Internet?
 Digital Transformation 1.0
Internet of People
Content & Information Intensive industries disrupted and New Digital Natives Emerge

AI is fully
penetrated with
these
technologies

Enterprises Adopted Mobile and Social and Transformed Marketing , Customer service & Sales(e/M-commerce)
Nos of Market Places emerge , Cloud adoption was mixed !!
 Digital Transformation 2.0
Industrial Internet : Internet of Things : Sensors across the value Chains & supply
chains
New Cyber Physical world

BLOCKCHAINS

SMARTPHONE, WEARABLES, EDGE

VOICE ASSISTANTS, 3D PRINTING,
AR/VR COMPUTING

With 5G
STRUCTURED DATA, AUDIO,
VIDEO, TEXT, IMAGES ,
REALTIME MACHINE DATA ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE ,
WITH VOLUME, VELOCITY, AUTOMATION TECHNOLOGIES, BOTS
VERACITY
 Digital Transformation 3.0 is Coming
“Internet of Value “
• The “Internet of value” is in a world where money changes hands at the speed of
information movement today.
• Transactions can occur in real-time and across global networks, addressing the
problem of cross-border payment systems that are not interoperable today.
DATA NEW Oil
 Data generated every 60 sec in 2019
Huge Big data to be leveraged by New digital enterprises for new business models
1 2 3

Communications Planet of the apps

Touch here
Convergence New modes for content and
A new order in Devices
Voice to all-data media consumption
Global connectivity turns
4 5 6
the consumer into an
iproducers

Social ubiquity YouVideo Retail 3.0

Platform shifts , monetization Rise of user-controlled Beyond multichannel to the
challenges programming and distribution store of future

Source : 2019
Courage . Heart
 • Variety: The analytic environment has expanded
from pulling data from enterprise systems to
including big data and unstructured sources.
• Volume: Large volumes of structured and
unstructured data are analysed.
Four V’s of • Velocity: Speed of access to reports that are
drawn from data defines the difference between
Data Analytics effective and ineffective analytics.
• Veracity: Validating data and extracting insight
that managers and workers can trust is key to
successful analytics. Trust in analytics. Trust
analytics has grown more difficult with the
explosion of data sources.
Mega shift find out data is telling
Data Visualisation & Analytics

PAST

FUTURE
Prediction
Machines
The domain of
Machine
learning

Courage . Heart
 • To interpret the output of analytics, Big Data
Specialists and Business Intelligence
Analysts perform many tasks
Data Analytics: • Data preparation for analysis through data
Human cleansing techniques to eliminate
Expertise is duplicates or incomplete data
• Dirty data degrade the value of analytics
Needed
• Data must be put into a meaningful
context
•
 • Creating Business Value
• Data Mining: software that enables users to
analyse data from various dimensions or angles,
Data categorise them, and find correlative patterns
among fields in the data warehouse
Discovery: • Text Mining: broad category involving
Data and Text interpreted words and concepts in the context
Mining • Sentiment Analysis: trying to understand
consumer intent

•
 • Data visualisation
• Presentation of data in a graphical format
• Easier for decision-makers to grasp difficult concepts or
identify new patterns in the data
• Drill down

Data • Searching for something on a computer moving from

general information to more detailed information by
Visualization: focusing on something of interest, e.g., quarterly sales –
monthly sales – daily sales
Terminology • Geospatial data
• Has an explicitly geographic component, ranging from
vector and raster data to tabular data with site locations
•

Courage . Heart
Data Visualization Technologies
Tools and technologies fall into three related categories.

Courage . Heart
Data Visualization:
Heat Maps

• The heat map is like a

spreadsheet whose cells are
formatted with colors instead of
numbers. This heat map uses
three colors to convey
information at a glance.
•

Courage . Heart
Examples of
Visualizations

• Dials, charts, graphs,

timelines, geospatial maps,
and heat maps with
interactivity and drill-downs
making it easier to
understand data and identify
patterns, trends, and
relationships
• Require human expertise to
interpret

Courage . Heart
Data Discovery Tools pull data from multiple data sources, manipulates the data and displays the
metrics

44
Courage . Heart
 Data Technologies Evolution
Acquire/store/analyse/Visualise
and distribute/Generate
 Different types of information /automation/visualisation/Generative
Technologies
Technology
Definition Examples
Category
Computer technologies are hardware and Central Processing Units (CPUs), Random Access Memory (RAM), Hard Disk
Computer software components that enable the processing, Drives (HDD), Solid State Drives (SSD), Input/Output Devices (keyboard,
Technologies storage, and retrieval of data using electronic mouse, etc.), Computer Peripherals (printers, scanners, etc.), Operating
devices. Systems, Cloud Computing.
Database Management Systems, Data Mining, Geographic Information
Information technologies are tools and systems
Information Systems (GIS), Cloud Computing, Content Management Systems, Enterprise
that enable the creation, management,
Technologies Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM),
processing, storage, and sharing of information.
: Electronic Data Interchange (EDI).
Communication technologies are toolsD and
Communication Wireless Networks, Email, Video Conferencing, Social Media, Web Browsers,
systems that enable the transmission of
Technologies Satellite Communication, Instant Messaging.
information and data between people or devices.
Search Engines, E-commerce Platforms, Cloud Computing, Social Media,
Internet-based digital technologies are tools and Web-based Email, Online Streaming Services, Digital Advertising Platforms,
Internet-Based Digital
systems that are accessed and utilized over the Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning
Technologies
internet. (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Language Models (LLMs), chatbots
(such as GPT).
AI is a field of computer science that focuses on
Image and Speech Recognition, Autonomous Vehicles, Chatbots, Robotics,
creating intelligent machines that can learn and
Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP), Language
make decisions like humans. Generative AI is a
(AI) Models (LLMs), Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs), Variational
subset of AI that involves the use of algorithms to
Autoencoders (VAEs), Recurrent Neural Networks (RNNs).
generate new content or data.
Data acquisition technologies refer to the sensors,
Data Acquisition Cameras, LIDAR sensors, GPS devices, temperature sensors, accelerometers,
cameras, and other devices used to collect data
Technologies gyroscopes, pressure sensors.
from the physical world.
3D rendering technologies are used to create and
3D Rendering Virtual Reality (VR) systems, 3D printing, Computer-Aided Design (CAD)
display three-dimensional images, animations,
Technologies software, 3D modeling software, gaming engines, 3D animation software.
and simulations.
Automation technologies involve the use of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), Industrial Automation, Autonomous
Automation
machines, software, and systems to automate Systems, Machine Vision, Control Systems, Robotics, Collaborative Robots
Technologies
tasks and processes. (Cobots).
M. Porter’s Five Forces analysis is a framework that helps analyse the level of competition
within a certain industry.
Industry Competitiveness
M Porter’s Value Chain Analysis [Firm Level
Analysis]
Business networks get forms with many
players in Industry Value system

49
M Porter’s Generic Strategy Matrix
 What is Competitive Advantage?
• Competitive advantage refers to the ways that a company can
produce goods or deliver services better than its competitors. It
allows a company to achieve superior margins and generate value
for the company and its shareholders.

• A competitive advantage is something that cannot be easily

replicated and is exclusive to a company or business. This value is
created internally and is what sets the business apart from its
competition.
Industry Eco-system for create Value web

52
Porter’s Generic
strategies
• Porter identified the three strategies to achieve a
competitive advantage
• Cost leadership: superior profits through lower costs
• Differentiation: higher profits by adding value to the
product areas which are of real significance for customers
who in turn are willing to pay premium prices
• Focus strategy: concentrating on a limited part of the
market Focus strategy is then subdivided into focus cost
leadership and focus differentiation
 • Competitive advantage refers to how a
company can produce goods or deliver
What is services better than its competitors. It allows a
Competitive company to achieve superior margins and
Advantage? generate shareholder value.

• A competitive advantage cannot be easily

replicated and is exclusive to a company or
business. This value is created internally and
sets the business apart from its competition.
 Competitive Advantage: A competitive scope is a
powerful tool for creating a competitive advantage
• In the search for competitive advantage, companies often differ in competitive scope or the breadth of
their activities.
• Competitive scope has four key dimensions:
• segment scope,
• vertical scope (degree of vertical integration),
• geographic scope, and
• industry scope (or the range of related industries in which the company competes).

Broad scope can allow the company to exploit interrelationships

between the value chains serving different industry segments,
geographic areas, or related industries. For example, two
business units may share one sales force to sell their products, or
the units may coordinate the procurement of common
components. Competing nationally or globally with a
coordinated strategy can yield a competitive advantage over
local or domestic rivals. By employing a broad vertical scope, a
company can exploit the potential benefits of performing more
activities internally rather than use outside suppliers.
By selecting narrow scope, the company may tailor the
value chain to a particular target segment to achieve lower
cost or differentiation. The competitive advantage of a
narrow scope comes from customising the value chain to
serve best particular product varieties, buyers, or
geographic regions. If the target segment has unusual
needs, broad-scope competitors will not serve it well.

55
 • Industry: Ecosystem: Customers, Suppliers, Competitors, New players
trying to enter the industry, Innovators (substitute)
Players in the industry offer products/services to customers to solve
their problems/needs with solutions for prices customers are willing
to pay. The industry has a demand /supply equilibrium in a steady
state.

Recap M • Five forces analysis for Industry competitiveness

Study the industry thru the lens of Five forces;

Porter [A market leader always keeps all forces WEAK by always reengineering and
reconfiguring VALUE CHAIN ]
• Identify Firms Strengths and Weaknesses and Select the strategic

Strategy choice from generic strategies

choices
• Identify sources of competitive advantage: Focus on the strengths of
the firm and Identify & select the generic strategy from four broad
strategies (Cost leader, Differentiation (across the market), Focus Cost,

framework
Focus differentiation(selected market focus)

• Value Chain Reconfiguration/Reengineering: Any force becoming a

Strong … Firm needs to work on the Value chain, reengineer, and
reconfiguration of value chain activities
 Business strategy and IT strategy alignment
• Business strategy = choosing between cost vs differentiation or with focus
Cost vs differentiation or combinations based competitiveness within
Industry
• Analysed Value chain to identify sources of competitive advantage aligned
with choices
• Sources of competitive advantage = Many initiatives to reorganise,
reconfiguration VALUE CHAIN
• Each Initiative then needs to configure with Information technology
/Information systems
• These will result in IT initiatives
• Then prioritise based on Desirability ,Feasibility, viability
 Internal capability
analysis for value chain
reconfiguration

• Resource Based View

• Analyze process and
infrastructure
• Evaluate people (skills,
competencies), partners
• Organization & culture
• Leadership and governance

58
Recap M Porter’s Framework to
identify sources of Competitive
Advantage
 Porter’s Generic Strategies
Advantage
Advantage
Product uniqueness
Target scope Low cost

Broad
Cost leadership strategy Differentiation strategy
(industry wide)

Narrow Focus strategy Focus strategy

(market wide) (low cost) (differentiation)
 Generic strategies at a glance

Differentiation Focus
Adding value through Niche markets
Low cost
-product features Targeting
Low cost culture
-product quality Limited territory
Economies of scale
-distinctive offering Focus on a specific group of
Eliminate unnecessary costs
Offer something new or customers
Enjoy high profits through
different Either cost leader or
cost advantage
High costs but charge differentiation with in the
premium price segment
 • This strategy concentrates on aiming to become
the lowest-cost producer in the industry through
economies of scale
• In this way, the firm can compete on price with
every other producer in the industry and earn
Cost higher unit profits
leadership • Cost reduction provides the focus of the
organisation’s strategy
• Competitive advantage is achieved by driving
down costs
 • Cost leadership is based on
• Efficiency to drive down costs
• Effectiveness- knowing what is and what is not
important to customers and saving on the latter
• But there is room for only one cost leader
Cost • A successful cost leadership strategy requires that
leadership the firm is the cost leader and is unchallenged in
this position
• Cost leadership is especially beneficial in markets
where customers are price sensitive
 • Size - economies of scale
• Greater labour efficiency and effectiveness
• Control of overheads
• Superior management
• Greater operating efficiency and effectiveness
Sources of • Low-cost production

CA •
•
Low-cost labour
Design for low-cost production
cost • Use the latest technology to reduce costs and or enhance
productivity
leadership • Relocation to a low-cost site
• Favourable access to low-cost sources of supply
• Reduction in waste, lean manufacturing

Now evaluate each thru lens of Information Technology /Information

systems/Digital Technologies
 • Firms that succeed in cost leadership have
the following strengths:
• Access to the capital required to make a
Firms that significant investment in fixed assets
succeed in • Design skills for efficient manufacture
cost • A high level of expertise in
leadership manufacturing process engineering
• Efficient distribution channels
• Examples of cost leadership: Toyota, Wal-
Mart
 • Enjoy higher-than-average profits
• Engage in a price war
• Eliminate competitors
Benefits of • Defend market share
cost • Increase market share
leadership • Build barriers to the entry of newcomers to
the market
• Decline the threat of substitutes
• Enter new markets
 Five Forces Impact thru Cost Leadership
strategy
The five forces The cost leader is

Entry barriers Able to cut prices to discourage potential competitors to the market

Buyer power Able to offer a competitive price to buyers with power

Supplier power Protected from a powerful buyer by low costs(Large Orders)

Threat of substitution Able to make use of low price as defence against substitutes

Competition Is better able to compete on price

 • A differentiation strategy calls for the
development of a product or service that
offers attributes that are both unique and
valued by customers
• Customers perceive the product to be
Differentiation different and better than that of
competitors
• As a result, the value added by the
uniqueness of the product may allow the
firm to charge a premium price for it.
 • Success in a differentiation strategy means
• Gaining a competitive advantage by making
their product different from competitors
• Competing based on value added to customers
• Encouragement customers that the firm’s
product is superior to that offered by
competitors
• Customers being willing to pay a premium price
Differentiation to cover higher costs
• Differentiation can be based on product image or
durability, after-sales, quality, additional features,
after-sales
• And it requires talent, research capability and
strong marketing
 • Differentiation adds costs to add value
• The extra costs can only be recovered if
the market is willing to pay a premium
price
Extra costs • For a successful differentiation strategy,
and premium it is insufficient only to add value -
prices customers must recognise and
appreciate the difference
• Extra costs should be added only in
areas that customers perceive to be
important
 • Creation of a strong brand
• Superior performance
• High quality
• Additional features offered
• Innovation in packaging
• Speed of distribution
Sources of CA
• Higher service levels
differentiation
• Greater flexibility
• Delivery
• Quality of the materials

Now evaluate each thru lens of Information Technology /Information

systems/Digital Technologies
 • Firms that succeed in a differentiation
strategy have:
• Have access to leading scientific
research
• A strong creative product development
Firms that team
succeed in a • Strong sales team with the ability to
successfully communicate the strengths
differentiation of the product
strategy • reputation for quality and innovation
• Examples:
• BMW
• Mercedes
 • Differentiation offers the
prospect of charging a premium
price
• Differentiation can result in
Differentiation:
benefits above-average profits
• Differentiation can create
additional barriers to entry to the
market for newcomers
 The five forces impact thru differentiation strategy

Five forces A firm pursuing a differentiation strategy…

Entry barriers Benefits from customer loyalty which discourages potential entrants

Buyer power Enjoys some protection since large buyers have less power to
negotiate because of the absence of close alternatives

Supplier power Is better able to pass on supplier price increases to customers

Threat of substitution Is protected from the threat of substitutes by customer loyalty

Rivalry Benefits from brand loyalty to keep customers from rivals

 • There are difficulties of sustaining
differentiation
• Differentiation involves higher costs
Risks of • There is a risk of creating differences
differentiation that customers do not value
strategy • Customers might become price
sensitive and choose on price rather
than uniqueness
 • In a focus strategy, the firm
concentrates on one (or at most a
limited number of) segments of the
Focus market
strategy • The principle behind this strategy is
that the needs of the group can be
served by focusing entirely on it.
 A focus strategy requires…
• The identification of a suitable target customer
group
• Identification of the specific needs of that group
Requirements • Confirmation that the market is sufficiently large to
sustain the business
of a focus
• Estimation of the extent of competition within the
strategy segment
• Production of products to meet the specific needs
of that group
• A decision on whether to opt for cost leadership or
differentiation within the segment
 • It involves lower investment in resources
• The firm benefits from specialisation
• It provides scope for greater knowledge
of a segment of the market
Benefits of a
• It makes entry to new markets easier and
focus
less costly
strategy
• Firms using a focus strategy often enjoy a
high degree of customer loyalty
 • A strategy that aims…
• To attract one type of customer
with a low-cost product
Focussed cost • To be the lowest-cost operator in
leadership one particular niche segment of
the market
• Example: Hyundai(Hyundai Accent. The Accent is priced competitively with other economy cars, yet it
offers features and quality that are comparable to more expensive models. By keeping costs low and
passing those savings onto customers, Hyundai is able to attract budget-conscious consumers who
still want a quality product.
 • A strategy that aims to attract one
type of customer with a
differentiated product
• It involves uniqueness in one segment
• Aims to exploit a unique position in a
Focussed niche segment of the market
differentiation • Not the cheapest but the best or most
unique in that segment
• Example: BMW, Mercedes
 • Limited opportunities for growth
• The firm could expand the market
• Danger of decline in the chosen segment or
Problems niche
associated • A reputation for specialisation inhibits move
with focus into new sectors

strategy • Risk of imitation

• Risk of changes in the target segment
 • Cost leadership
• Being the lowest-cost producer in the industry as a whole
• Differentiation

Generic • The exploitation of a product or service which is believed to

be unique
strategies: • Focus
summary • Restricting activities to only part of the market through:
• Providing goods or services at a lower cost to that segment
(cost focus)
• Providing a differentiated product or service to that
segment (differentiation focus)
Strategy, Competitive Advantage & Information

Threats
New entrants

The firm of Interest

operates in Industry.
Suppliers Customers
And compete with
Force Force
competitors to gain SWOT
market share

Threats of
Subtitites
List of Initiatives which can move the firm
towards gaining a competitive advantage
IT/Digital initiatives to make better,
Strong Force within Industry erodes Margin
sustainable, effective
 What is Business strategy?
What frameworks of Prof? M Porter are
used in building Business strategy?
Next class

What is a Value chain?

What are the 5 Forces?
What are the 4 generic competitive strategies mentioned by Prof. M Porter?
What are the sources of competitive advantage ?

Select firm for your academic group and create list sources of competitive advantage using Information
and digital technologies
A example excel sheet is attached for reftrence
Example guidelines & template

Ilustration to IT /Digital startegy Class only

Thank you