...Firm Rivalry This part of the diamond focuses on the affect that competition has on rival firms in a relevant industry. Firms identify their strengths and capabilities to build on their market position and use a variety of strategies to remain competitive. True rivalry exists between firms that are comparable in size, power, product or service offering and their actions induce a response from their closest competitor. There are many strategies that firms engage in their attempt to gain a leadership position in the market, they include, pricing, product differentiation, brand image and the support services offered to consumers. A strategy based on solely on pricing can be detrimental to a firm as the reduction in prices also reduces profits and encourages competitors to follow suit, which in turn can spark a price war. This was evident in the 2011 milk war. Coles, followed closely by Woolworths reduced the cost of Homebrand milk to $1 a litre, the chief for Coles reported that they were the losers in the battle as the competition has made it impossible to return milk prices to a position of positive return (Anon, 2011). Intense rivalry can reduce the available profits within an industry with consumers reaping the rewards that remain for the taking due to firms continually lowering prices in an attempt to remain competitive. The differentiation of the products or services offered by firms remains the key indicator of profit levels, as firms that offer little difference...
Words: 791 - Pages: 4
...STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT ASSIGNMENT ASSIGNMENT ON ANALYSIS OF THE SECTOR USING PORTERS DOUBLE DIAMOND MODEL ON INDIAN AUTOMOBILE INDUSTRY Submitted To Prof. A. K. Kher Submitted By Rameez Bagban 03 Shahanawaz Mujawar 11 For the academic year 2014-15 INTRODUCTION: The Indian automobile industry is one of the key drivers of industrial growth and employment, which will gain rapid importance. In order to accelerate and sustain growth in the automotive sector, a roadmap is needed to steer, coordinate and synergize the efforts of all stakeholders. Exogenous and endogenous factors affecting industry also affects the competitiveness of the firms. Competitiveness captures the awareness of both the limitations and the challenges posed by global competition as an exogenous factor. Underdeveloped economies tend to be competitive by producing cheaper products, developing economies by producing better products, and developed economies by producing innovative products continuously. Though Indian automobile manufacturers are manufacturing innovative products and leading India to a new summit, there are various roadblocks, which prevent this industry from being a global player. COMPETITIVENESS DEFINED: Competitiveness has emerged as a paradigm towards the economic development. Michael Porter has defined competitiveness as productivity with which a nation utilizes its human, capital and natural resources. To understand competitiveness, the starting...
Words: 1907 - Pages: 8
...Porter’s Diamond of National Competitive Advantage as an aid to understanding national competitiveness. Table of Contents Table of Contents 2 1. The diamond model by Michael Porter 3 1.1 Introduction 3 1.2 Diamond model Theory 4 1.2.1 Factor Condition 4 1.2.2 Demand conditions 5 1.2.3 Firm strategy, structure and rivalry 5 1.2.4 Related and supported industries 6 1.2.5 The role of Government 6 1.3 Criticism of the framework 7 1.4 Practical Example 7 1.5 Conclusion 8 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 1. The diamond model by Michael Porter 1 1.1 Introduction According to Recklies (2001), increasingly corporate strategies have to be seen in global context and even if an organization does not plan to import or to export has to look at an international business environment, in which actions of competitors, buyers, sellers, new entrants of providers of substitutes may influence the domestic market and information technology has been reinforcing this trend. The classical models and theories related to international trade before Michael Porter’s Diamond theory, mainly proposed that the comparative advantage resides in the factors endowments that a country may be fortunate enough to inherit and these factors mainly consisted of land, natural resources, labour and the size of the local population but Porter argued though his diamond model that a...
Words: 2779 - Pages: 12
...Review 7 (1998) 135–150 A generalized double diamond approach to the global competitiveness of Korea and Singapore H. Chang Moona,*, Alan M. Rugmanb, Alain Verbekec a Graduate Institute for International & Area Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul 151–742, South Korea b Templeton College, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 5NY, UK c Solvay Business School, University of Brussels (V.U.B.), Brussels, Belgium Abstract Globalization is very important for small economies such as Korea and Singapore. The single diamond model (Porter, 1990, The competitive advantage of nations) suggests some important determinants for a nation’s global competitiveness. However, this model is incomplete, mainly because it does not incorporate multinational activities. A new approach, the generalized double diamond model (Moon et al., 1995, in Research in global strategic management: Volume 5: Beyond the diamond) offers some important extensions to Porter’s original model. To test the validity of these two models this paper evaluates relevant data for both domestic and international variables in the case of Korea and Singapore. The results generally support the generalized double diamond model © 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved. Keywords: International competitiveness; Double diamond; Porter’s single diamond; Korea; Singapore; Small open economies 1. Introduction In his famous book, The competitive advantage of nations, Porter (1990) studied eight developed countries and two...
Words: 5854 - Pages: 24
...national diamond model resolves around a number of assumptions that underlie it. As described by Davies and Ellis: "sustained prosperity may be achieved without a nation becoming 'innovation-driven', strong 'diamonds' are not in place in the home bases of many internationally successful industries and inward foreign direct investment does not indicate a lack of 'competitiveness' or low national productivity". In his famous book, The Competitive Advantage of Nations, Porter studied eight developed countries and two newly industrialized countries (NICs). The latter two are Korea and Singapore. Porter is quite optimistic about the future of the Korean economy. He argues that Korea may well reach true advanced status in the next decade (p. 383). In contrast, Porter is less optimistic about Singapore. In his view, Singapore will remain a factor-driven economy (p. 566) which reflects an early stage of economic development. Since the publication of Porter's work, however, Singapore has been more successful than Korea. This difference in performance raises important questions regarding the validity of Porter's diamond model of a nation's competitiveness. Porter has used the diamond model when consulting with the governments of Canada[4] and New Zealand.[5] While the variables of Porter's diamond model are useful terms of reference when analysing a nation's competitiveness, a weakness of Porter's work is his exclusive focus on the 'home base' concept. In the case of Canada, Porter did not...
Words: 410 - Pages: 2
...PORTER'S DIAMOND OF NATIONAL ADVANTAGE What is the Diamond Model? Description The Diamond Model of Michael Porter for the competitive advantage of Nations offers a model that can help understand the comparative position of a nation in global competition. The model can also be used for major geographic regions. Traditional country advantages Traditionally, economic theory mentions the following factors for comparative advantage for regions or countries: 1. Land 2. Location 3. Natural resources (minerals, energy) 4. Labor, and 5. Local population size. Because these 5 factors can hardly be influenced, this fits in a rather passive (inherited) view regarding national economic opportunity. Porter says that sustained industrial growth has hardly ever been built on above mentioned basic inherited factors. Abundance of such factors may actually undermine competitive advantage! He introduces a concept called "clusters" or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions, that arise in certain locations. Porter Diamond Nations According to Porter, as a rule competitive advantage of nations is the outcome of 4 interlinked advanced factors and activities in and between companies in these clusters. These can be influenced in a pro-active way by government. PORTER argued that a nation can create new advanced factor endowments such as skilled labor, a strong technology and knowledge base, government support, and culture. PORTER ...
Words: 693 - Pages: 3
...The competitive advantage of nations: is Porter’s Diamond Framework a new theory that explains the international competitiveness of countries? A.J. Smit ABSTRACT The focus of this article is to clarify the meaning of international competitiveness at the country level within in the context of Porter’s (1990a) thesis that countries, like companies, compete in international markets for their fair share of the world markets. At a country level, there are two schools of thought on country competitiveness: the economic school, which rejects Porter’s notion of country competitiveness, and the management school, which supports the notion of competitiveness at a country level. This article reviews and contrasts the theories pertaining to these two schools of thought with specific reference to trade theories and the ‘theory’ of the competitive advantage of nations originally advanced by Porter (1990a, 1997a, 1998b, 1998c, 2000). Although Porter’s Diamond Framework has been extensively discussed in the management literature, its actual contribution to the body of knowledge in the economic and management literature has never been clarified. The purpose of this article is to explain why Porter’s Diamond Framework is not a new theory that explains the competitiveness of countries but rather a framework that enhances our understanding of the international competitiveness of firms. Key words: Porter, Diamond Framework, international competition, competitiveness of countries, international business...
Words: 11039 - Pages: 45
..."The Diamond Model of Porter – Four Determinants of National Competitive Advantage Four attributes of a nation comprise Michael Porter's "Diamond" of national advantage. They are: 1. Factor conditions (i.e. the nation's position in factors of production, such as skilled labour and infrastructure), 2. Demand conditions (i.e. sophisticated customers in home market), 3. Related and supporting industries, and 4. Firm strategy, structure and rivalry (i.e. conditions for organization of companies, and the nature of domestic rivalry). Factor Conditions Factor conditions refers to inputs used as factors of production – such as labour, land, natural resources, capital and infrastructure. This sounds similar to standard economic theory, but Porter argues that the "key" factors of production (or specialized factors) are created, not inherited. Specialized factors of production are skilled labour, capital and infrastructure. "Non-key" factors or general use factors, such as unskilled labour and raw materials, can be obtained by any company and, hence, do not generate sustained competitive advantage. However, specialized factors involve heavy, sustained investment. They are more difficult to duplicate. This leads to a competitive advantage, because if other firms cannot easily duplicate these factors, they are valuable. Porter argues that a lack of resources often actually helps countries to become competitive (call it selected factor disadvantage). Abundance generates waste and scarcity...
Words: 1500 - Pages: 6
...markets, like China, to search for the higher return. However, resulted from the studies segment, there is not an exact theory or study can be regarded as guidelines for these internationalizing firms. Overall, Michael Porter’s theory on national completive advantage is a better theory to be adopted by the international firms which want to select a better country for new entry. The dominance of Porter’s theory are its comprehensiveness, the dynamic Diamond theoretical system and analysis form both inductive and deductive sides. Meanwhile, it is at a disadvantage in its assumption. Thus, this essay will explore both sides of Porter’s theory. Porter's model includes four key elements. The Diamond model is depicted as figure 1, where the four forces jointly constitute a firm's global competitiveness in a given industry ( Porter,1990) Source: Porter (1990) The Competitive Advantage of Nations. The first element of the model is known as factor endowments, which is the centre of the Heckscher-Ohlin theory (Hill, 2013).Porter subdivided factors into basic factors (e.g. natural resources and location) and advance ones (e.g. technology infrastructure and skilled labor). Although the limited basic factors can cause an initial disadvantage, more advanced factor conditions in the home market will positively...
Words: 1512 - Pages: 7
...discussions'] - “The contribution by Porter (1990) on the competitive advantage of nations has led to an extensive discussion among academics and practitioners on the sources of international competitiveness (Grant, 1991; Gray, 1991). However, in order to understand why so much emphasis is placed on the diamond framework in the management literature, this essay will discuss Porter’s concept of the Diamond and the factors that contribute to the development of national competitive advantage. This paper will begin with a theoretical approach followed by the reception of different authors and schools of thoughts who disagreed with his management thinking, and then goes on to consider empirical issues which have arisen subsequently, followed by a conclusion.” Theoretical Discussions (explain the 'main theory' [such as 'Late/Early industrialization', 'Managerial enterprise', 'Weber's theory about impacts of culture'] in this question) - “Porter’s theory of national competitive advantage is based upon a study of the characteristics of the national environment which identifies four sets of variables, and an additional two, which influences a company’s ability to establish and maintain competitive advantage within international markets. These interacting determinants are: factor conditions; demand conditions; related and supporting industries; and firm strategy, structure and rivalry and form what Porter refers to as the “national diamond.” The four main determinants can also be...
Words: 2872 - Pages: 12
...Exam question : “Globalisation Your consultancy is considering the use of Porter’s Diamond model in its analyses of national competitive advantage. Write a briefing note, giving examples, detailing a) how and why you would use the diamond model b) what limitations if any there are in doing so. ” Classical economics insists that a national competitive advantage grows out of a country’s natural endowments, its labor pools, its interest rates, and its currency’s value. However, according to Michael Porter theory, national prosperity is created, not inherited. A nation’s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade through new technologies or new ways of doing things, as a result of technology push or market pull. It is important to upgrade your competitive advantage. What is considered as a competitive advantage at the national level = productivity of the nation, which leads to high and rising standard of living for its citizens. Classic theory: success of nations depends from factors of production (labor, lands, etc) but it has been overshadowed in advanced industries and economics by globalization of competition and power of technology. Porter’s theory brings a comparative advantage to the competitive advantage of a nation. Porter says that a new theory must explain why a national provides a favorable home base for companies that compete internationally. It succeeds in reflecting conception of competition that includes: -...
Words: 972 - Pages: 4
...In international business theory there are a number of useful models for the external environment analysis of specific countries. These methods can be applied by companies that aim to internationalise and so to define the right location(s) abroad in terms of institutional as well as cultural fit and success opportunities. Correspondingly, concepts like this also provide insightful information for explaining the location choices which organisations have already made. One such framework is the so called Diamond Model introduced by Michael Porter in 1990. This essay tries to determine its advantages and disadvantages as a tool for the examination of firm‟s home and host location decisions by focusing on two major MNEs: the world‟s second-largest high-street retailer –French Carrefour and UK‟s famous Marks & Spencer Porter s Diamond Model(1990: 73) argues that “nation‟s competitiveness depends on the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade” and therefore is determined by a nation‟s level of productivity. From an organisational perspective this means that national competitive advantage depends on the nations ability to provide a home base for companies to sustainably improve their products and services in terms of quality, features, technology and so to successfully compete in highly productive industries internationally. Hence, the advantage of the framework is that it identifies four important, interrelated factors that create and illustrate the essential national environment...
Words: 2952 - Pages: 12
...Introduction In international business theory there are a number of useful models for the externalenvironment analysis of specific countries. These methods can be applied bycompanies that aim to internationalise and so to define the right location(s) abroad interms of institutional as well as cultural fit and success opportunities. Correspondingly, concepts like this also provide insightful information for explaining the location choices which organisations have already made. One such framework isthe so called Diamond Model introduced by Michael Porter in 1990. This essay triesto determine its advantages and disadvantages as a tool for the examination of firm‟s home and host location decisions by focusing on two major MNEs: ikea and audi..Porter ‟s Diamond Model(1990: 73) argues that “nation‟s competitiveness dependson the capacity of its industry to innovate and upgrade and therefore is determined by a nation‟s level of productivity. From an organisational perspective this means that national competitive advantage depends on the nation’s ability to provide a home base for companies to sustainably improve their products and services in terms of quality, features, technology and so to successfully compete in highly productive industries internationally. Audi, a German automobile company, is a part of the Volkswagen group which is one the leading automobile manufacturers and the largest car maker in Europe. Ikea, Swedish furnishing companies known worldwide operating in 42...
Words: 1641 - Pages: 7
...RELATE M. PORTER’S DIAMOND OF NATIONAL ADVANTAGE TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS The national home base of an organisation plays an important role in shaping the extent to which it is likely to achieve advantage on a global scale. This paper seeks to identify how national competition can help businesses compete globally, hence relating M. Porter’s ‘diamond of national advantage’ to international business. International Business comprises all commercial transactions (private and governmental, sales, investments, logistics, and transportation) that take place between two or more regions, countries and nations beyond their political boundaries. Usually, private companies undertake such transactions for profit; governments undertake them for profit and for political reasons. It refers to all those business activities which involve cross border transactions of goods, services, resources between two or more nations. The Diamond Model of M. Porter for the competitive advantage of Nations, offer a model that can help understand the comparative position of a nation in global competition, PORTER says that sustained industrial growth has hardly ever been built on basic inherited factors. Abundance of such factors may actually undermine competitive advantage! He introduces a concept called "clusters" or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in certain locations. PORTER argued that a nation can create new advanced factor endowments...
Words: 1487 - Pages: 6
...match one’s product within a short space of time. Changes in customer tastes and preferences require robust systems and strategies to maintain current market share profitably and ensure growth. It is within this spectrum that Michael Porter has become a well-known contributor in the field of strategic management as he shades light on which elements to consider in coming up with a strategy for both domestic and international markets. A good strategy will result in the creation of a unique and valuable position, involving a different set of activities. Strategic position emerges from three distinct sources which are serving few needs of many customers, serving broad needs of few customers and serving broad needs of many customers in a narrow market. After positioning itself, an organisation must ensure that its strategic efforts results in creating “fit” among a company’s activities. Fit has to do with the ways a company’s activities interact and reinforce one another. In his endeavour to build strategic intent within organisations, Michael Porter is well known for the following contributions in the field of corporate strategy: 1. Generic Strategies 2. Value Chain 3. Competitive Advantage 4. Porter’s Diamond 5. Five Forces Model 1. Porter’s Generic Strategies Porter’s generic strategies is a frameworks used to outline the three major strategic options open to organizations that wish to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage. Each of the three options...
Words: 4555 - Pages: 19
