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1.Which corporations exhibited a Differentiation Advantage? Which corporations exhibited a Cost Advantage? Be sure to provide examples for each corporation illustrating the type of competitive advantage.

In relation to "cost drivers" What are some of the factors which cause one firm’s unit costs to differ from those of its competitors?  Please provide examples.

Which competitive advantage is more sustainable Cost Advantage or Differentiation Advantage? Please explain.

2. Managing Innovation Example

The ultrasound unit is an important diagnostic tool, producing images of organs. The technology is very valuable, but the equipment is bulky, heavy, and expensive, so it is used primarily in dedicated hospital facilities. ATL, a leading ultrasound company, decided to reduce the size of an ultrasound set-up to about the size and weight of a laptop computer. This would be accomplished by replacing many of the machine’s solid circuits with software (in a process called “digitalizing”), reducing size and costs. The researchers reasoned that a portable and inexpensive ultrasound unit would find market opportunities in totally new niches. Smaller size and lower cost would allow the units to be placed on ambulances or into physician’s offices - market niches that were impossible to reach with the technology of the day. The researchers later became part of a project team within ATL, and thereafter became an entirely new company, SonoSite. Late in 1999, SonoSite introduced its first unit, which weighed just 6 pounds and cost about $25,000. SonoSite targeted niches that full-sized ultrasound products could not reach: ambulatory care and foreign markets that could not afford the more expensive equipment. In 2010, the company sold over $275 million of product.

Now it's your turn, research a company that has managed an innovation and provide the story. Include, The company, the technology, the impact made with the innovation and short history of the industry and need for the innovation.

Along with providing your example, please answer the following question:How are companies coming up with strategies to exploit and benefit from the new era of digitalization?

3. To what extent is the Chipotle restaurant concept, its strategy, and its business system suited to overseas markets? Do overseas consumers have fundamentally different preferences from those in North America?

Can Chipotle recreate in overseas markets the resources and capabilities that make it so successful in the US?

If overseas opportunities are attractive to Chipotle, how should the company adapt its US strategy and

organizational model to meet the circumstances of foreign markets, and what mode of entry should it adopt?

4. In how many different industries is Honeywell involved?

Would you describe Honeywell as a related or unrelated diversification company?

Has Honeywell’s diversification strategy increased profitability over time?

5. What will be the key developments in the global environment of business during the next five years?

On the basis of these, what will be the greatest challenges that firms from the advanced industrialized countries will face?

What strategies will firms need to adopt in order to prosper in the environment you foresee?

What are the implications for these developments for firms’ organizational structures, management systems, and leadership styles?