Advanced Competitive Strategy

In this module we will look at strategies that can help us maintain our customer base. For this, we will take an analytical approach that helps us understand the point at which our customers will switch to a competitors and the amount of money a competitor is willing to spend to acquire our customers. Based on this understanding, we will derive applicable strategies that can help us lock in our customers strategically.

We will look at the benefits of price discrimination as a strategic tool that can help us to skim off our customer's willingness to pay and increase our utility accordingly. We are then going to learn the different ways of aligning a price discrimination strategy with successful product design and the three different ways in which a price discrimination strategy can be formulated.

In this module we will demonstrate that if you want to operate a business you have to keep in mind that there are some powerful external entities, so-called competition authorities, that highly value and safeguard competition. While this supports and opens up opportunities for your business if it is new or relatively small and would otherwise simply be crushed by larger incumbent firms – it can also put you in danger if you have already achieved a certain size.

In this module, we are going to discover two very important new concepts with which you can increase your business's returns: Network effects and boundaries of the firm. We will find that considering these two concepts in formulating our business strategy can help us improve our strategy's effectiveness and eventually increase our returns.

We will build upon our knowledge from module 4 and look into competition in network markets, adoption rates and the advantage of critical mass. Following from this, we will learn why this is essential for reaching the point of critical mass. We will moreover discuss ways in which companies can raise the attention of potential consumers and reduce their perceived risk.

We will look at the trends, goals and processes of mergers and acquisitions, differentiate the two terms and examine external and internal factors that can hinder the process. We will also find out about the striking advantages that can make a successful merger or an acquisition worthwhile if you have identified the right match for your company.

In this special bonus module, we will discuss the relationship between profitability and growth on the one hand and the limitations that are faced by small companies on the other. We will learn what organic growth is and that it can be achieved by either protecting and building up our existing customer base and product lines, or by developing new products or markets.

A final examination to test knowledge gained throughout the course.