Welcome to Week 10
Week 9 Exam is Over!
Entrepreneurship: Chapter 5
Ashton Converse
Business Level Strategies and Plan Professionalization
Objectives/Schedule
 Welcome
 Review/Exam Talk
 Vision for rest of semester and more
 Business Plan Professionalism Talk
 Converse about Concepts and Chapter 5
 Article Discussion
 Application
 Application in Plans and Homework
Review
 Here are some of the things we have been talking
about:
 Value Chain Analysis
 Primary Activities and Support Activities
 Business Plans
 How are business plans going?
 Competition
 In summary, Chapter 4 is about Competing
Vision for the Semester
 To Further in the understanding of the material in this
book
 To better understand the processes and actions for
starting up a business (entrepreneur)
 To Create Professional Looking Business Plans and
Presentations that could be used to possibly be used in
the future to start a business
 To stretch your ideas and help you see more potentials in
this world
 To have fun and to learn!
Business Plan Professional Talk
 Let me just show you some ideas from plans and
presentations in the past that really showed
professionalism, creativity, and possible entrepreneurship
ideas.
Objectives of Chapter 5
 Studying this chapter will help us:
 Define business level strategy
 Discuss the relationship between customers and
strategies
 Explain the differences among strategies
 Understand risks
 Know more about how to use the 5 forces of
competition to have better strategies
Start Chapter 5!
First we must look at what business-level strategy is…
 A detailed set of commitments and actions the firm uses
to gain a competitive advantage
 Helps define core competencies in specific product
markets
 Shows the choices and actions that a firm will take to
compete
 *Choices are important because long-term
performance is linked to a firm’s strategies
Converse about Concepts
Customers:
 Strategic Competitiveness can only be reached when a
firm is able to satisfy a group of customers
 A firm’s relationship with its customers is strengthen and
satisfied when the firm gives superior (very good) value
to the customer
 The better and stronger the relationship, the easier a firm
can meet a customer’s needs.
Converse about Concepts
Firm’s relationships with customers are defined by 3 areas
 Reach:
 Concerned with the firm’s access and connection to customers
 Richness:
 Concerned with the depth and detail of the flow of information
between the firm and customer (communications)
 Affiliation:
 Concerned with facilitating useful interactions with customers.
 Working to view the world through the customers’ eyes
Determining the Customers
to Serve
Market Segmentation [WHO IS?]
 Process used to group people with similar needs into
individual and clearly defined groups
 Helps divide a market into groups
 Why is this good to do?
 Helps us define each segment better to meet their
needs in the best way possible
Market Segmentation
What: Determining Which Customers Need to be Satisfied
 After deciding who the firm will serve, it must decide what are
the targets (market segment) needs
 Helps us see what goods and services the customers need
How: Determining Core Competencies Needed to Satisfy
Customers
 Corecompetencies are resources and capabilities that are a
source of competitive advantage for the firm over its rivals
Business Level Strategy
Wrap-Up
 The Purpose:
 Create differences between the firm’s goals and position,
and the goals and position of its competitors
The big question is will the firm
 Perform activities differently than competitors
 Or Perform different activities
Types of Business-Level
Strategy
 Cost Leadership Strategy
 Differentiation Strategy
 Focused Cost Leadership
 Focused Differentiation
 Integrated Cost/Leadership Differentiation
 Image directed on page 110
Article Discussion!
 http://news.yahoo.com/man-climbs-chicago-skyscraperbionic-leg-224307175--finance.html
 WOW!
Application
 On Page 127 and in your teams, answer questions 1 – 5.
 Work on your company business plans and start thinking
more about these things:
 Your competitive advantage
 The specific location of your company
 Why that city will be accepting of your business