THE UNIVERSITY OF DODOMA

COLLEGE OF INFORMATICS AND VIRTUAL

EDUCATION

IS 210: INFORMATION SYSTEM SRATEGIES

GROUP ASSIGNMENT
SUPERVISOR: MADAM CARINA

GROUP MEMBERS
NAME REG NO COUSE
PRISCA A SANGA T/UDOM/2016/06929 BIS
IRENE MRAMBA T/UDOM/2016/06921 BIS
MARY URIO T/UDOM/2016/07003 BIS
MARTIN LAURENT KABOJA T/UDOM/2016/07009 BIS
ABDUKADIR Z.MATUTU T/UDOM/2016/06999 BIS
KARIM Y.HUSSEIN T/UDOM/2016/06950 BIS
RAJABU HUSSEIN MWENGA T/UDOM/2016/06914 BIS
MARYOBA ROSE CHARLSE T/UDOM/2016/07011 BIS
ELIZABETH A BENJAMIN T/UDOM/2016/06943 BIS
QUESTION: competitive analysis frameworks, such as the “5 forces”
and “value chain” concepts propagated by porter are ultimately
redundant since competitor firms will draw the same conclusions as each
other from their use and in any event, strategy is “emergent” and a result
of “tinkering” from the bottom-up. Discuss this view in light of
arguments porter puts forward in different IS books?

Competitive advantage is when two or more firms compete within the same
market, one firms possesses a competitive advantage over its rivals when it earns a
persistently higher rate of profit.
Competitive Analysis Framework; Michael Porter presents a framework for
analyzing competitors, this framework which is “5forces” and “chain value” is
based on four (4) keys which are:
1. Competitors Objectives
2. Competitors Assumptions
3. Competitors Strategy
4. Competitors Capabilities
The objectives and assumptions are what drive the competitors WHILE
Strategy and capabilities are what the competitors is doing or is capable of
doing. According to Michael Porters he just come with this framework in order
to analysis and identify the competitors and how the firms can pursue in
competitors advantage. This framework is
Five (5) porters forces; Porters five forces framework is a tool for analyzing
competition of a business. It draws from industrial organization (10) economic to
drive five forces that determine the competitive intensity and therefore the
attractiveness of an industry in term of its profitability. That five competitive
forces is
i. Traditional Competitors
ii. New Market Entrants
iii. Substitute Products And Services (Threat Of Substitutes)
iv. Suppliers (Bargaining Powers Of Suppliers)
v. Customers (Bargaining Power Of Customers)
 Value Chain Model; Is a high-level model developed by Porters used to
describe the process by which busin ess receive raw material, add value to the
raw material through various process to create a finished product and then sell
that end product to customers
OR
Highlights specific activities in a business where competitive strategies can best be
applied and where information systems are likely to have a strategy impact
i. Primary activities
ii. Support activities
iii. Benchmarking
Supplier; this force addresses how easily supplier can drive up
the price of goods and services.it is affected by numbers of supplier of key aspect
of goods and services, uniqueness of their product or service, relative size and
strength of the supplier, and cost of switching from one supplier to another. The
fewer the number of suppliers and the more a company depends up on a supplier,
the more power a supplier hold. Businesses are in a better position when there are a
multitude of suppliers.

Customer; this especially deals with the ability of a customers

have to drive price down.it is affected by how many buyers or customer a company
has, how significant each customer is, and how much it would cost a customer to
switch from one company to another. The power of customers grows if they can
easily switch to a competitor’s products and services. Customers have power when
there are not many of them, but lots of sellers, as well as when it is easy to switch
from one business's products or service to another. The smaller and more powerful
a client base, the more power it holds.

Substitutes product; competitor substitute that can be used in

place of company’s products or services pose a threat. There are substitutes that
your customers might use if your prices become too high. For example Ethanol can
substitute for gasoline in cars; vegetable oil for diesel fuel in trucks; and wind,
solar, coal, and hydropower for industrial electricity generation. If customer rely
on a company to provide a tool or services that can be substituted with another tool
or services, by performing the task manually and if the substitute is fairly easy and
of low cost, a company’s power can be weakened. In simple statement where close
substitute products exist in a market, it increases the likelihood of customers
switching to alternatives in response to price increases. This reduces both the
power of suppliers and the attractiveness of the market.

Figure 1: competitive force models.

New Market Entrants
In a free economy with mobile labor and financial resources, new companies are
always
Entering the marketplace. In some industries, there are very low barriers to entry,
whereas
In other industries, entry is very difficult. For example to start mamantilie business
is easy to enter since it need low capital, it doesn’t need experts because it takes
short time to learn compared to computer chip business it’s difficult to enter since
it need high capital and experts. New companies have several possible advantages:
They are not locked into old plants and equipment, they often hire younger
workers who are less expensive and perhaps more innovative, they are not
Encumbered by old worn-out brand names, and they are “more hungry” (more
highly
Motivated) than traditional occupants of an industry. These advantages are also
there
Weakness: They depend on outside financing for new plants and equipment, which
can be
Expensive; they have a less-experienced workforce; and they have little brand
recognition.

Competitors
All firms share market space with other competitors who are continuously devising
new,
More efficient ways to produce by introducing new products and services, and
attempting to
Attract customers by developing their brands and imposing switching costs on
there
Customers. Market place where there are more competitors the rate of competitive
advantage is little compared to the market place where there is little number of
competitors.

The Following Are Porter’s Strategies, Which Are Used To Manage Competitive
Forces.

1. Low Cost Leadership

This is when a company uses its information system to achieve lowest operational
cost and lowest prices, which will in turn lead to higher sales. E.g. a supply chain
management system can incorporate an efficient customer response system to
directly link consumer behavior to distribution and production and supply chains
helping lower inventory and distribution costs.
 2. Product Differentiation
This is when a company uses its information system to enable new products and
services to come into market or greatly change the way customers use the
companies existing product. When product differentiation occurs it will raise the
sales and revenues of the company.
3. Focus On Market Niche
This is when a company use information systems to collect vital information about
its customer which will help in marketing campaigns. E.g. Hilton hotels uses a
customer information system with detailed data about active guest to
4. Strengthen Customer And Supplier Intimacy
Use of information system to tighten linkages with suppliers and develop intimacy
with customers.

BUSINESS VALUE CHAIN

Is a set of protocols and systems that govern how company generates and earns
profit? The product or services that a company sells is parts of its business model
as is the way that it keeps its customer satisfied and coming back for more.
Business model address profitability as well as sales revenue describing the way
that a company invests capital in order to generate income by creating and selling
inventory business location that attracts customer.

CHA
IN
MO
DEL
The
value
chain
model is highlights specific activities in the business where competitive strategies
can best be applied (porter 1985) and where information systems are most likely to
have a strategic impact. This model identifies specific critical leverage points
where a firm can use information technology most effectively to enhance it is
competitive position. The value chain model view’s the firms as a series or chain
of basis activities that add a margin value to a firm’s products or services. These
activities can be categorized as either primary activities or support activities.
Primary activities;
Are most directly related to the production and distribution of the firm’s product
and services, which create value for the customer. Primary activities include
Inbound logistics, outbound logistics, sales and marketing and services.

 Inbound logistics
Include receiving and storing materials for distribution and production.
Operations transform inputs into finished products.
 Logistics Outbound
Entails storing and distributing finished products.
 Service
Includes maintenance and repair of the firm’s goods and services.
Support activities;
Make the delivery of the primary activities possible and consists of organization
infrastructure (administration and management), human resources, (employee,
recruiting, hiring and training) technology (improving products and the production
process) and procurement (purchasing input)

REFFERENCES
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