Select a real-world organization and identify the basic (or generic) strategic position it is using to achieve competitive advantage and explain why you think it is using this particular strategic position

Your task is as follows: select a real-world organization and identify the basic (or generic) strategic position it is using to achieve competitive advantage and explain why you think it is using this particular strategic position (i.e., defend/justify your conclusion).

The special topic is: Strategic Positioning. In this discussion, we’ll explore one of the most enduring concepts in the field of strategic management—Michael Porter’s concept of the generic strategies (i.e., cost leadership, differentiation, and focus) by which firms develop defensible strategic positions. Strategic positioning refers to the ways managers situate a firm relative to its rivals along important competitive dimensions. Porter’s generic strategy model hinges on two important competitive dimensions: the potential source of the strategic advantage (low-cost advantage or differentiation advantage) and the breadth of the strategic target market (broad or narrow focus). These two competitive dimensions (i.e., the potential source of the strategic advantage and the breadth of the strategic target market) yield four basic (or generic) strategic positions: broad low-cost leadership, broad differentiation, focused low-cost leadership, and focused differentiation. Stated differently, the three generic strategies (i.e., cost leadership, differentiation, and focus) yield four basic (or generic) strategic positions (i.e., broad low-cost leadership, broad differentiation, focused low-cost leadership, and focused differentiation).

(Note: It is important to understand that Michael Porter’s generic strategy model is a classic framework in the field of strategic management. Introduced in 1980, it is an integrated theory of strategy based on principles of industrial organization (IO) economics. In essence, Porter’s model revised the concept of how firm’s achieve competitive advantage by going beyond the basic (and often wrong) notion that market share is the key to profitability. According to porter, building a defensible strategic position is the key to profitability.)