Self‐Study Questions

1. Among the industries listed in Table 3.1 in Chapter 3, which would you consider to be
the most “hypercompetitive” (i.e., ones in which competitive advantage and market
leadership are frequently overturned)?
It would be Walt Disney. Walt Disney operates in a lot of segments and services but recently
what Walt Disney is experiencing would be following the trend and not a pioneer of such trend.
A good example would be Disney+ and Hulu in a segment where Netflix is the king of streaming
services and the rest are just in tertiary places however there are recent popularity spikes in the
streaming services in Disney platforms and ordered a restructuring in its streaming services.
What this would emphasize is that not only is Disney losing in the theme park industry but also
in different forms of media and of course this is due to the pandemic and the rise of new popular
theme parks in the US.
1. During 2010, the Apple iPhone replaced RIM's Blackberry as global market leader in
smartphones. By 2017, the world market for smartphones was dominated by Apple and
Google's Android; RIM and Microsoft each held market shares of less than 0.1%. Why
did Google succeed in this market while Microsoft and RIM failed?
There are reasons why Microsoft failed the smartphone market. During 2007 the Microsoft
Company was focused on their personal computers and the recent Windows Vista and with its
issues to deal with. Leaving Microsoft to its own issues regarding windows vista and their focus
on computers, they’re entry in the cell phone or smartphone industry was late. At a point in 2007
Microsoft was the dominant company in terms of computing programming and computers
however their focus on their own market left them wanting for the new market being created at
that time. At 2007 was the release of iPhone and also at that time the smartphone industry was
still starting but Microsoft pay no heed to it, it wasn’t even Microsoft’s priority. Until 2 years
later Apple was able to prove successfully the need for smartphones. At this point Blackberry’s
stubbornness to change is apparent and looks like that they won’t change their stance on their
product. With the release of iPhone, one of the top companies in the smartphone industry was
still Blackberry but due to their inability to adapt to change the following happened: Blackberry
ignored the application of touchscreen and still continued to provide phones with keyboards
instead of a full-on touchscreen keyboard. Even with their touchscreen Blackberry still opted for
the keyboard meaning in the phone design it was quite redundant making the phone quite bulky
compared to the iPhone. Google entered into the market not by the smartphone but by program.
During 2008 with the release of google chrome in the market Google quickly formulated a
solution to the emerging market of smartphones and it was through Android they found their
answer. Android operating system was released by Google for free which was commonly used
by many smartphones today and still keeps growing compared to Apple’s premium
programming. However, this was the time that Blackberry’s programming was still a premium
and still kept on its own. Blackberry was still unmoving from its position even with its BBM it
was a messaging app exclusive to the Blackberry mobile. Not only that they were unmoving they
insisted on their own programming which of course the new apps of 2008 were suitable but not
 smoothly functioning at that time. Apps like twitter cannot be fully utilized due to Blackberry’s
operating system and phone design turning customers off In short both Microsoft and Blackberry
did not give proper notice to the emerging market and refused change costing them both behind
in the competition.
3. HP, Canon, Epson, and other manufacturers of inkjet printers make most of their profits
from their ink cartridges. Why are cartridges more profitable than printers? Would the
situation be different:
a. if cartridges were manufactured by different firms from those which make
printers?
Cartridges are more profitable than printers. The reason why that it is because of the
industry competitors. Assuming the person bought a printer from Epson, the person
would reluctant to change to other printers because of high switching cost. Instead of
focusing on the price focused competition in the printer segment why not give more
improvement to the ink cartridges that will help the consumer earn you the sum money in
future use. Printer manufacturers would be able to focus more on their printers, though at
the instance it would give rise to cartridges rather than printers. The market would also be
different and competition would be a lot more prevalent in the cartridge rather than the
printer itself.
b. if cartridges were interchangeable between different printers?
Cartridges are necessary for the printer to enable its function to print. To a degree where
even printer manufacturers put chips in their own cartridges for the instance that the
consumer use a different cartridge other than the original one, the printer won’t be able to
print. This countermeasure was to prevent the rise of 3rd party cartridges and since
cartridges are more profitable it is a security measure to protect that stream of income. So
if in the case that cartridges are interchangeable the competition would be stiffer and
chances are the prices of cartridges would drop down
a. if patent and copyright restrictions did not prevent other firms from supplying
ink cartridges that could be used in the leading brands of printer?
Well printer manufacturers made sure that consumers won’t be able to use3rd party
cartridges and put safety measures against. What would happen if copyright and patent
were not even there at all to prevent 3rd parties from entering the market? It would surely
affect the competition between the printer manufacturers and in the case of being able to
use the printer even though that the cartridge in use is of 3rd party origin the competitors
would surely rise and printer manufacturers in a sense focus more on their printers rather
than the cartridges.
4. In November 2005, six of Paris's most luxurious hotels—including George V, Le Bristol,
the Ritz, and Hotel de Crillon—were fined for colluding on room rates. Regular guests
showed little concern—noting that, whatever the listed rack rate, it was always possible
to negotiate substantial discounts. Using the prisoners' dilemma model, can you explain
why the hotels were able to collude over their listed rates but not over discounts?
 The prisoner dilemma was described as a paradox, a decision analysis where 2 individuals acting
on their own self-interest do not produce the optimal outcome. In this case both parties or all
parties choose to protect themselves at the expense of the other participant which was the
customers, guest and maybe foreigners or sojourners. According to the report the price ranges
from 500 euros in low seasons to a whopping 8080 euros for a single room stay in high season.
For the hotels to provide such drastic changes in the price racks instead of discounts it is for the
collective advantage of the hotels at the expense of the consumers. Because there is a high
season and low season and based on those seasons the prices change meaning consumers are a
resource that is to be kept in check during season for the hotels. In order to keep that resource in
check it would be in the common good of the hotels to cooperate and work on the price needed
for each season colluding it with each partner.
5. During 2017, Amazon made its first major foray into bricks‐and‐mortar retailing with
the acquisition of Whole Foods Market, the up‐market supermarket chain. The
acquisition followed Amazon's entry into online food retailing with Amazon Fresh. The
shares of Kroger, the biggest supermarket chain in the United States, fell by 11% on news
of the deal. How might Kroger use the competitor analysis framework outlined in Figure
4.4 to predict Amazon's competitive strategy in the US grocery market?
Kroger may use the framework for competitor analysis to determine what the next steps of
Amazon maybe. According to Amazon themselves Amazon fresh is a service for prime members
only and it is a food delivery service. What Kroger can do is predict Amazon next movements
and prepare an equal movement to match them or make use of the framework to determine the
weaknesses of Amazon fresh and apply appropriate opportunities to capitalize on those
weaknesses. Another would be to also capitalize on the opportunities of Amazon and their
threats and combine it to become a strength of Kroger.
6. How would you segment the restaurant market in your hometown? How would you
advise someone thinking of starting a new restaurant which segments might be most
attractive in terms of profit potential?
In my hometown there is this restaurant that offers Filipino foods and beside is its competition
which offers Chinese cuisine. If I were to segment it the restaurant that offers Filipino cuisine is
entering into large servings and caterings, additionally it is also in deliveries and such. In terms
of food it practically has everything from pastas, meat to soups and different variants of rice. If I
were to advise someone who is going to put a restaurant. I think it would be wise to offer
something that is famous or what is on the fad today for example that would be Korean foods
which are almost will entice young adults to going to your restaurant because of the recent craze
in k-drama. Another would be to make the restaurant known in popular delivery apps such as
Food Panda, Grab and the like so there would be increase in exposure and increase in popularity.
7. Consider either the North American or European markets for air travel. Can these
markets be segmented? If so, by what variables and into which categories? Can an
airline be financially viable by specializing in certain segments or must airlines seek to
compete across all (or most) segments?
Air travel segmentation according to [CITATION Seg \l 2057 ] airline travel segmentation is
complex and granular. One of the few examples of airline travel market segmentation depends
 on the travelers like urgent travelers, loyalty-to-loyalty which was given by [ CITATION Mar \l
2057 ]. The market segmentation used for airline travel as discussed by [ CITATION Seg \l
2057 ] Behavior-based ancillary segmentation and by that the airline companies’ match their
services with the needs of their customers. If specializing their service, there is a plethora of
airline services offered in the U.S. and Europe like for example airline travel providing
sightseeing services others are for local travel only which conform with certain types of
customers. If airline companies were to specialize in different market segments it can be
profitable depending on the location and operation. Because only a handful of local airline
services would be available for each market segment and the rest are for local and international
travel which is the bread and butter of the airline industry.

Reference:
Disney reports fourth-quarter loss due to theme park closures, streaming service restructuring.
(2020, November 13). Retrieved from First Post: firstpost.com/entertainment/disney-reports-fourth-
quarter-loss-due-to-theme-park-closures-streaming-service-restructuring
9010891.html#:~:text=Disney%20Plus%20has%20boomed%20during,and%20Hulu%20—%20top%2012
0%20million.&text=Disney%20posted%20a%20loss%20of

Why Didn’t Microsoft Dominate the Smartphone Market? (n.d.). Retrieved from Predict:
https://medium.com/predict/why-didnt-microsoft-dominate-the-smartphone-market-e87e82d22f87

What happened to BlackBerry? (2018, December 19). Retrieved from Predict:

https://edwardmuldrew.medium.com/what-happened-to-blackberry
7f5f37623873#:~:text=To%20conclude%20BlackBerry%20was%20once,the%20downfall%20of%20the%
20phone.&
text=To%20summarise%20BlackBerry's%20failure%20to,to%20the%20demise%20of%20BlackBerry.
Why are cartridges more profitable than printers. (n.d.). Retrieved from CourseHero:
https://www.coursehero.com/file/p5365mm/Why-are-cartridges-more-profitable-than-printers-If-cartridges-
were/

Why the ink cartridges more expensive than the printer? (n.d.). Retrieved from v4ink: https://www.v4ink.com/why-
the-ink- cartridges-more-expensive-than-the-
printer#:~:text=Compared%20to%20raising%20the%20price,you%20a%20sum%20of%20money.

Prix-Fixe Indeed: 6 Luxury Hotels in Paris Fined for Collusion. (2005, December 11). Retrieved from New-york
Times : https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/11/travel/prixfixe-indeed-6-luxury-hotels-in-paris-fined-for-
collusion.html
Bacon, T. (2016, October 31). Segmentation in the Airline Industry. Retrieved from Accleya:
https://w3.accelya.com/blog/how-to-use-segmentation-to-personalize-airline-offers

Market segmentation example for airlines. (n.d.). Retrieved from Market Segmentation StudyGuide:
https://www.segmentationstudyguide.com/understanding-market-segmentation/market-segmentation-
examples/market-segmentation-example-airlines/

About Amazon Fresh. (n.d.). Retrieved from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=202052140