5. Maximizing the profitability of a company’s business model is about making the right choices concerning value creation through generic business-level strategies, given the demand and competitive conditions the company faces. There are several generic business-level strategies. Briefly describe TWO generic business-level strategies, using two examples in Trinidad and Tobago to support your answer. A complete answer will identify the generic business-level strategy as defined by Michael Porter and use an example from a locally operating company in Trinidad and Tobago, to support the explanation.

Given the projected changes in America’sdemographics, name five products that will faceincreasing demand and five that will face decliningdemand

A company's strategic options for internally performed value chain activities do not include: A) implementing the use of best practices, particularly for high-cost activities.   B) switching to activity-based costing.   C) investing in productivity-enhancing, cost-saving technological improvements.   D) revamping its value chain to eliminate or bypass some cost-producing activities (particularly low value-added activities).   E) outsourcing the performance of high-cost activities to vendors that can perform them more cheaply.

How is the source at IKEA?   Source: It includes the selection of suppliers that will deliver the goods and services to create the company's product.

Select the criteria to choose the best Alternative (BUYING) Explain what would make you choose one over the other?

Identify and describe an American firm of your choice that is challenged in its production operations to support its basic business needs to manufacture a high-quality product, safely, within budget, and on schedule. Its operations management is characterized by a culture that supports the vision and mission statements. This business problem (its production operations) includes a mismanaged supply chain, massive overtime wage payouts to make up for lost time injuries, increasing turnover and no shows at the work site, and where there is a spike in customer complaints resulting in business loss and narrowing profit margins.   As a decision maker, what action plan would you recommend to the senior leadership of the organization to take it from its current conditions to bring it closer to its ideal operating conditions (to become a company known for zero-defects, excellence in supply chain management, customer satisfaction, safe and reliable high-quality products, value to the customer,…

A company achieves sustainable competitive advantage when:  Answer        D)    its strategy and its business model are well-matched and in sync.        C)      it is consistently able to achieve both its strategic and financial objectives.        B)    it has a profitable business model.           A)    an attractive number of buyers have a lasting preference for its products or services as compared to the offerings of competitors.

Tests of market efficiency are often referred to as “joint tests” of two hypotheses. Explain the meaning of this. Further, try to speculate on the difficulty this poses for tests of market efficiency.