Please
download the "Need to complete-Focal task template", This template
need to be complete. The company is WBA (Walgreens Boots Alliance). This
assignment is the continuous assignment of part 1,2,3,4. So please read those
part again to gain more insight more this assignment. Utilize the concept of
the “Business Level Strategy” for this assignment. I’m retail pharmacist at
Walgreens so please input a lot of insights about pharmacy for this project.
Read the grading rubric carefully. Provide specific detail for each example
III. Steps to Perform This Analysis
1. Basis of competitive advantage
•
Identify whether the basis of competitive advantage for your firm is
differentiation (uniqueness and value drivers) or cost leadership (low cost and
efficiency).
•
Support this with a list of cost and/or value drivers within the table on page
two.
2. Scope
• Identify whether the business has a specific set of
customers (narrow scope) or a broad customer base (wide
scope). • Support this with a brief explanation within the second table on page
three. 3. Position in matrix
• Based on the above factors, place your firm on the
generic business strategies chart on page three. A cautionary note: many people
believe their firm pursues a blue ocean strategy as a result of steps one and
two. Please be careful to show that your firm can radically reduce the cost of
the product or service compared with industry average and dramatically increase
the value the consumer is willing to pay (again, far higher than industry
average).
4.
Position industry competitor strategies
• Identify some of the major competitors in your industry and place those businesses on the same chart based on their respective scope and competitive advantage factors. o If there are not many rivals in your industry you do not need to fill out all firm examples (e.g., if your company is Boeing then you may only have Airbus, Embraer and Bombardier within your matrix).
Cost
Leadership
·
Firm 1: CVS is
considered a better company for annual savings on medical and healthcare
products than WBA. CVS reduces the costs of retail pharmacies and the cost of
obtaining good formulas for their products to reduce the products' cost for
consumer purchase (Anderson, 2019).
• Firm 2: Walmart is popular for cost leadership
since it retails products from manufacturers at lower prices than other retail
brands. Little focus on other strategies that increase sales has contributed to
the high-cost leadership (Ferguson, 2018).
• Focus cost leadership
• CVS focuses on the middle social class since it consists of people focused on the price of goods (CVS Generic and Intensive Growth Strategies, 2022). Supply chain efficiency is also a strategy the company uses to reduce the cost of production and, thus, the price of the goods provided.
•Walmart's cost differentiation is mostly evident in the retailer's packaging, which creates differentiation in the minds of consumers (Ferguson, 2018). All strategies applied by Walmart are meant to reduce the costs of differentiation and to increase the discounts given to customers by providing goods at low prices (Ferguson, 2018).
• Differentiation:
• CVS has changed its
brand name to CVS health to differentiate itself from the previous image of
dealing with tobacco health products (Jones, 2018).
Additionally, moving from crowded centers has improved sales and market base (Jones,
2018).
• Walmart has low
product differentiation, which places it at an advantage in cost leadership (Ferguson,
2018). As a retailer, the brand focuses on providing
customers with products, not changing the branding or making radical decisions
on product differentiation.
Focus Differentiation
·CVS has an ExtraCoupon Center that customers can access to get discounts on the brand's health and retail products. Additionally, the brand consistently has promotional services such as the "buy one get one free" service which provides consumers with goods at lower prices (Lazarus, 2018). The brand uses innovation and technological methods to identify ways to improve the quality of products based on consumer preferences (CVS Generic and Intensive Growth Strategies, 2022).
· Walmart does not employ focused differentiation since it is only a retailer for manufacturers.
Blue Ocean Strategy
· CVS's blue ocean strategy involves using innovation and technology to improve the awareness of its products and their uses among its consumer population (Kaila, 2022).
· Walmart's blue ocean strategy involves using eCommerce, implying that the brand seeks to use every legal and commonly used eCommerce innovation to attract most customers (Johnson, 2020).