Similar cases have made us understand that the willingness/ unwillingness of firms to exploit IT capabilities could have significant effects. 1- The Crisis at Encyclopedia Britannica We would recall the refusal of Britannica to partner with Microsoft on a multimedia CD-ROM version of the encyclopedia, owing to its “traditional way of selling. They regarded an IT initiative that would have reduced the cost of printing encyclopaedias as one that would ‘both cannibalize revenue and reduce the company’s strong profit margins’. We recollect how those series of event led to the birth of Encarta.
The Encarta team decided to distinguish the product from the traditional encyclopedias currently on the market. How? It aimed to stress Microsoft’s core competency-multimedia software presentation. Ultimately, the success of Encarta led to Britannica’s troubles and eventual ‘failure’. This case is a vivid illustration of what Lands’ End did and what Britannica did not do early enough. Lands’ End was able to leverage on technology to save cost of printing catalogues. IT initiatives can be said to be cost-saving for businesses if channelled properly and utilized effectively. Skype The acquisition of Skype by eBay which proved to be a wrong move reminds us of the importance of carefully weighing the competitive advantage of IT-based acquisitions. eBay users felt email communication was good enough. Communication in voice also compromised some of the anonymity of bidding, which to many users was a significant upside in online auctions. ”
Skype CEO, Donahoe, a former management consultant with two decades’ experience at Bain & Co, admitted: “Skype is a strong standalone business, but it does not have synergies with our e-commerce and online payments businesses. In contrast, Sears’ acquisition of Lands’ End was a step in the right direction. Experts agree that they were a good fit. About 70% of sears’ customers buy only appliances at sears while they go elsewhere for apparels. Lands’ End coming on board, on the brink of its successful IT-driven strategy on clothings, could benefit Sears. The brand — known for its customer service, product quality and value — can beef up its reach to shoppers by going into retail, which accounts for 90% of all apparel sales.
The presence of Lands’ End apparel in Sears’ full-line stores was expected to give Sears the strong brand-name recognition in apparel that they currently have. 3- The rise and fall of Iridium Here, we see how Iridium failed on its competitive advantage quest due to its inability to adequately determine if consumers would embrace its technological initiative. Iridium was built to be a constellation of satellites that would allow subscribers make calls from any global location. Motorola saw this project as an opportunity to break a technological ground.
One of the reasons for Iridium’s failure could be attributed to the design, operational and cost problems of its phones which were noticed but neglected. It was necessary to adequately test the project and analyse its result before launching into the market. Lands’ End, having carefully tested the web-based ordering system, only introduced custom tailored chinos to the market. It was the wide acceptance of the initiative that facilitated the introduction of other apparels and subsequently, other technology-driven innovations. Competitive advantage is central to business goals.
Ensuring that such technology is time-conscious is equally important. The competitive advantage of Lands’ End’s IT system was imminent because market research had shown a vacuum that could be filled at that point in time. 4- Amazon Amazon and Lands’ End share the same goal in consumer loyalty and meeting client’s person needs. Its Information Technology framework offers top of the line advanced framework, including dispersion and client administration focuses, personalization, and a single tick innovation intended to put each client in the focal point of the Amazon shopping universe.
Amazon’s syndicated offering project has point by point data on clients and can regularly improve a suited proposal than a normal customary book agent. In the dress clothing market, Lands’ End’s “exceptionally customized attire” system offers large portions of their clothing items lines in tweaked size, shading, length, styles, and other fitting criteria to coordinate their clients’ necessities.. The attention on customization has turned out to be a noteworthy accomplishment for both organizations.
Amazon gets awesome criticism on its clients’ online experience and the personalization innovation. Through its novel individualized client administration, Amazon had the capacity expand its item line determinations to music and features, offering lower expenses and better worth to its clients. Lands’ End was likewise ready to widen item lines that are offered in adjustable styles from chinos to pants, trousers, and shirts. 5- H. E. B HEB, just like Lands’ End utilized IT in achieving competitive advantage.
In augmentations, both Land’s End and HEB concentrated on enhancing their profit utilizing IT and saving cost. One principal path in which the two organizations decided to utilize technology was supply chain management, as HEB decided to fundamentally create economies of scale utilizing ECR (Efficient Consumer Response) while Land’s End decided to seek a partnership with ASI (Archetype Solution, Inc) with a specific end goal to add to its mass customization framework.
Both strategies prompted upgrades in organization proficiency nd synergistic vertical associations with suppliers and producers. Before the end of HEB’s patching up of their POS framework and full usage of the CRP framework, both Land’s End and HEB had a comparable framework of taking out the requirement for manual purchasing and contact with makers. HEB was able to use their CRP and POS scanning system to allow manufacturers to access their inventory levels and supply them based on forecast demand and other constraining factors (McFarlan, 1997).
Land’s End has a comparable thought in which e-commerce based requests for altered merchandise would go specifically to the producer, ASI, and would consider a lessening in stock administration inside of the firm. This additionally considered cooperative energies between the retailers and their point of view producers and suppliers in which stock levels at both the retailer and producer could be kept at a base level in this manner authorizing extra living up to expectations capital inside the organizations.