Firms can achieve overall, organization-wide competitive advantage through the following strategies: Competing on Differentiation Competing on...

There are several companies a student might select for this assignment. One of the most interesting is Amazon, a company that has very effectively used network effects and data analytics to grow and capture market share over the past decade.

It competes in two areas, responsiveness and cost, simultaneously. Due to its storefronts existing in the cloud, it avoids many of the costs that bricks and mortar stores incur while managing to serve a national...

There are several companies a student might select for this assignment. One of the most interesting is Amazon, a company that has very effectively used network effects and data analytics to grow and capture market share over the past decade.

It competes in two areas, responsiveness and cost, simultaneously. Due to its storefronts existing in the cloud, it avoids many of the costs that bricks and mortar stores incur while managing to serve a national market effectively due to a superb logistics networks. Although in one sense it does not differentiate itself in terms of products, as the items it sells are normally available from other retailers, its Amazon Prime membership tends to facilitate customer loyalty, and the sheer breadth of its offerings makes it a go-to place for many shoppers. In terms of responsiveness, it offers a simple interface and sophisticated search options for shoppers, and its logistics networks ensure ultra-fast delivery.

Of the OM decisions, perhaps the most important for Amazon are logistical, encompassing supply chains, inventory, location, and scheduling. Amazon saves money by having numerous third-party sellers for which it acts as a platform, meaning that it does not deal with the physical inventory for those sellers at all. For the products that Amazon itself sells, it has an extensive regional warehouse network, has invested heavily in logistics companies, and uses data analytics extensively to predict demand and ensure it has the capability for same-day (or in some markets, one-hour) delivery.

Amazon also uses data analytics to maximize the effectiveness of human resources by analyzing multiple metrics to streamline its processes.