Generic Market Strategies and Business Being Stuck in the "Middle" (Essay Sample)

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1. What generic strategy was the new CEO of JCPenny apparently seeking to implement? Try and find some other retailer that might have attempted the similar transformation.
JCPenny is a retail that deals with brands such as Levi’s IZOD, Liz Claiborne and Martha Stewart products. According to Porter, “The generic strategies include; cost leadership, focus and differentiation”. This strategies offer an approach that strengthens the company’s competitiveness. The new CEO incorporated Differentiation and Cost leadership as the main strategies. For cost leadership, the CEO announced a layoff of workers which led reduction in costs. This reduction of workers led saving of money for JCPeeny. Also, he gave the customers a good purchasing approach where he used selected discount pricing in the products being offered to the customers. For Differentiation strategy he converted the a third of the stores to be newly built thus, retaining and attracting customers since he created a brand loyalty for the products that JCPenny stores sold. This strategy later declined because not all stores were newly built as the old stores sales didn’t created a brand loyalty, leading to declined sales. Walmart is a retail that has succeeded due to using this transformations especially the cost of leadership. The retail has always cut down on the excess during production therefore selling to customers high quality products at reduced prices.
2. (Chapter 4 Mini-Case, Item 4)
Business not incorporating or incorporating the wrong different market strategies puts them at the risk of being stuck in the middle. Also a business can be stuck in the middle of two strategies which can even led to a business exiting the market. Think of the various strategies of product differentiation, and cost leadership from used by JCPenny which led to a slight increase in sales then a decline in sales leading the layoff of the CEO CITATION Hit16 \l 1033 (Hitt, 2016). Other strategies include, the entrepreneurial handling practices that dividends business into defenders, prospectors, analyzers and reactors. Lastly, the product strategies of high pricing, which counter competition. I think, a business should just by incorporating one of these strategies to see how effectively a strategy can survive in the market. According to Michael, “Strategies is about executives deciding what the firm is going to do”. Think of the IBM’s computer example where the business decide to offer their computers at high prices while providing excellent customer service. I think, this was a wrong market strategy which resulted to stiff competition from Dell which provided equal services but at lower computer prices making IBM to be stuck in the middle and exiting the market CITATION Mas \l 1033 (Management, n.d.). Thus, when business are coming up with strategies they should try to stand out from their competitors to avoid exiting from the industry.
4. What it means to be stuck in the middle
Being stuck in an unattractive business position without a viable exist is one of the worst situations. Think of the position many business call the ‘middle’. In this position many business are in a state where they are creating products that are not competitive enough to attract customers. Thus, to avoid a business being stuck in the middle, one nee