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7/29/2019 Comm210 Week04 G

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/comm210-week04-g 1/18

•

long‐term

competitive

advantage

’

theory and

find

examples

of

them• r ca n ng: rac ce n ng an

presenting your own evidence for a claim

7/29/2019 Comm210 Week04 G


Zenn to cease electric car production

Toronto‐based Zenn Motor Company has announced it will cease production of its electric

car, which had been hailed as a mini‐revolution in the industry.

Instead, CEO Ian Clifford said the company now wants to focus on marketing its highway‐

.

The current

Zenn vehicle

— an

acronym

for

Zero

Emission

No

Noise

— is

intended

for

urban

commuters and use in places such as resorts, gated communities, airports and campuses.

The three‐door hatchback, made in St‐Jérôme, Que., can reach a speed of 40 kilometres an

hour and has a range of up to 80 kilometres.

Clifford said the decision to halt production on the vehicle came down to sales.

In a statement,

the

company

said

it

would

launch

the

2010

model

of

the

current

Zenn car

in

‐

…

In the past two years, he said the company has sold only about 500 vehicles.

"The number of vehicles sold was obviously limited, but we gained tremendous experience

w t

t at pro uct,

or

sa .

In August, Zenn Motors reported a third‐quarter loss of $2.6 million as revenue fell almost

70 per cent.

Zenn was excluded from a recentl announced Ontario electric car rebate ro ram which

offers buyers up to $10,000 toward plug‐in hybrid and battery electric vehicles, because

Zenn's cars have

not

been

deemed

safe

for

highway

use.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/09/28/zenn-cease-production.html

7/29/2019 Comm210 Week04 G


http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2009/04/30/f-electric-cars.html

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Author, management consultant,

Harvard Business

School

professor

Considered by many to be the

father of

modern

business

strategy, and possibly the world’s

most famous business academic

7/29/2019 Comm210 Week04 G


•

activities better

than

your

competitors

your

competitors,

or

the

same

activities

in

• Operational effectiveness is necessary, but

not su c ent

7/29/2019 Comm210 Week04 G


Porter: What is

s ra egy

• Strategy – Importance of valuable uniqueness

– ar e y‐ ase pos on ng = e un que y av ng

distinctive products or services

–

‐special group of customers

‐

your customers

in

special

ways

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•

position, you

choose

NOT

to

use

other approaches

– These trade‐offs are essential and

make imitation

(straddling)

difficult

• Fit = Production, marketing, personnel, etc. should all be

cons s en– When all activities work together

,

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• ‐

– Review what

Porter

says

about

the

concept

– Take note of an example that Porter

describes

– Referring to the Macdonald article, “Open

wide,” ive exam les of how Porter’s ideas

may have

been

useful

to

an

“entrepreneurial” dentist in the 1990s

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Exercise: 2 groups will work on each of the

following concepts

GROUP #

1 &

7 Operational

effectiveness

vs strategy

3 & 9 Needs‐based positioning

‐

5 & 11 Trade‐offs

ra eg c

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7/29/2019 Comm210 Week04 G


Comm 210 ‐ Section G

"What

size

company

do

you

imagine

yourself

working

in"small big either (both)/medium

6%

43%

51%

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organized

5% impactWhy I want to work for a big firm

money &

4%

reputation

20%travel

7%

advancement

32%

learning

21%

stability

5%

diverse roles

2%

relationships

2%

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money &

reputation

2%

passion &

satisfaction of a

job well

done

diversity

advancementcreativity

easier/ less stress

10%

2%

diverse roles

14%

relationshi s

experience &

learning

8%21%

ex y2%have an impact

27%

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• Achievable when ou have o erational effectiveness

AND competitors

cannot

copy

your

approach

• Many CEOs don’t have a strategy!

– Afraid of making trade‐offs

– Seduced by the concreteness of operational effectiveness

– . maintaining strategic continuity

– “Benchmarking best‐practices” & “outsourcing” lead to

easy

m a on…

ompe ve convergence

– Strong leaders & strong choices are essential

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Exercise: Write an essay on

effective business strategy

• Man e ‐Camp e c apter 5 c ronic es many usiness

decisions made

by

the

leaders

of

Canadian

companies.

’

the errors that were made at one or more of these

companies?

• Decide on your position and write down your claim, noting the location of evidence for your claim

7/29/2019 Comm210 Week04 G


Exercise: Essay writing

.

Write a one‐page essay to present your argument (20

minutes)

–Use

a clean

sheet

and

write

your

name;

I will

collect

the essays at the end of class

– Leave a three‐inch margin on the left‐hand side on

the page

Evaluate your own essay

•

forefinger

. Evaluate

your

evidence,

with

reference

to

the

six

qualities of good evidence

• Write your comments in the margin (10 minutes)

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•

– Precise

–

– Authoritative

– ccura e

– Representative

–ear y

expresse

• Did you explicitly mention Porter in your essay? How

m g c ng m mprove your wor

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•

– Read: New critical thinking skill: Underlying

assum tions and values cha ter 4

– Read Collins & Porras on vision

– Read: Mandel‐Cam bell, cha ter 7

• Progress report #1 is due

comm210 week04 g

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