MGT 499 Week 3 response
Brian Rehmann
1. I would say that Domino’s focuses on the shareholder
perspective. This is largely in part to the fact that when you
visit their website, right off the bat they have a tab for investors
(aka future stakeholders). Looking even deeper into the website,
it has multiple sections where it talks about the returns made to
investors, its competitive advantage of using effective business
strategies, as well as stock pricing and past amounts made in the
stock market.
2. Some disadvantages of using the shareholder perspective for
a company is first off, that information is always retroactive.
You’re constantly looking at past successes hoping that they
will follow suit and predict future trends. A huge issue with this
is the notion of correlation doesn’t account for causation.
Furthermore, it is just a small glimpse of the company itself.
This information isn’t always compared to outside forces giving
it a very narrow view.
Mark Kaschalk
Question 1:
I believe Domino’s Pizza is focusing on the shareholder
perspective. Under the strengths section they mention they are
the largest pizza company in the world based on global retail
sales, and the number one pizza delivery company in the United
States. Also, they emphasize technological innovations and
product innovations. For example, by focusing on technology
customers can reorder their favorite menu item in less than 30
seconds. Potential and current investors will see these strengths

and how Domino’s is planning to sustain a competitive
advantage in the pizza industry, which in turn will have more
people investing in Domino’s and hoping for a nice return on
their investment.
Question 2:
One disadvantage of the shareholder perspective is
macroeconomic factors. Right now the unemployment rate is
really high in Michigan and the country due to the corona virus.
This has caused a lot of stocks to plummet and lose value. By
solely focusing on the shareholder perspective one can lose
sight of other important advantages of company. Another
disadvantage of the shareholder perspective is the psychological
mood of investors. For example, there are times when stocks
have a lot of hype around them causing people to panic buy
which inflates the value of the stock. In reality, the stock should
not be valued that high. Typically, after a few weeks of
excitement surrounding the stock, it adjusts to appropriate value
which usually means people lose money on their investment.
MKT 310 week 5 response
Marisa Bourn
1. Within the past 5 days I have learned so much about digital
privacy from Note to Self's series. Although most people do not
like how much data the Internet has on us, it almost feels as if
there is nothing we can do about it. We are giving so many
websites free data on us without even realizing it. I learned
some applications can access our contacts and sell them, which
is probably why we get so many spam phone calls. We give
away our rights in just a few clicks, invisibly. We live in a
world where our age, address, and family tree is public
knowledge. On day five I learned that the United Kingdom
created an "investigative powers bill" which keeps record of
every single click you make online for a year. Founder of the

World Wide Web, Sir Tim Berners Lee, finds this bill a massive
invasion of privacy. He created a plan to keep our personal data
in personal data stores. We would have the right to sell our own
data if we want to and we can have it back at any time. He
wants the World Wide Web to be the utopia he had always had
in his head.
2. Social Media advertising is so effective because the
Internet has infinite knowledge about us. Websites use cookies
to collect data on peoples searches and clicks. With this data
they are able to advertise items or services similar to what we
have previously found interest in. I see this all of the time. I
was shopping for bracelets online, and the next ad I saw was
from Pura Vida showcasing their bracelets. The
podcasts mentioned a story about a women who was trying to
search online for help since she was an alcoholic. The next
advertisement she saw was for her local liquor store. This is
absolutely disgusting because it reminds her of a habit she is
trying to break. Although there are times where I like the
personal ads, sometimes it is just creepy.
3. The activity I found most scary while listening to the
podcats was "apply magic sauce". This is a website where you
can upload information from either Facebook, Twitter,
or Linkedin, and recieve a prediction about your personality. I
uploaded my Facebook information to the website and the
scariest part is, the only thing it got wrong was my age. Based
on my posts, it predicted I was 38, and based on my comments
it said I was 26. For the rest of the data I stuck to reading what
it predicted based on only my posts. It said I am 100%
feminine, slightly conservative, organized and hardworking,
good in teams, and laid back and relaxed. All of this was
correct. They were even able to predict my personality type,
Extroverted Sensing Feeling Judging (ESFJ). I had gotten this
result when taking a personality test for my psychology class 2
years ago. It also said
I had 60% leadership potential, which was something new I
learned about myself. From a marketing communications

perspective, this form of data collection is great because it can
semi-accurately know who I am just based on my
Facebook posts. They are then able to advertise products based
on my personality and gender. I would not suggest they use the
age prediction because that was inaccurate.
Jordyn Solka
1.) The podcasts I chose to watch included “A Different Kind of
Streaking”, “Why We Need No Filter”, “Terms of Service”,
“How to Create Good Digital Citizens”, “Dear (Data) Diary”
and “Your Metadata is Showing.” The first one dealt with
Snapchat. It didn’t touch too deep on privacy concerns, but it
talked about the persuasiveness of apps and how they draw you
in to the app. Snapchat is interesting to me because like the
book states, Snapchat has had their share of privacy concerns to
the point that the Federal Trade Commission is going to monitor
their privacy policies for the next 20 years (Andrews, Shimp,
2018 p. 303). The podcasts “Terms of Service” was the most
interesting to me. This one dealt more with privacy
concerns because it talked about a couple who encountered legal
issues when they got sued by a company for leaving an honest
review on the internet. While all of these podcasts touched on
different topics, I found a common theme between all 6
podcasts. Nothing is private.Terms of Services and privacy
policiesare basically you granting the apps access to all of your
information.
2.) Social media advertising is extremely effective. These apps
are trying heir hardest to keep your attention and persuade users

to continue using. Because they have your attention already,
you are highly likely to not ignore the ads. Also, these ads can
be tailored based off your cookie information stored on your
computer. There’s a reason a majority of your ads are things
you are interested in or recently looked up or spoke about.
3.) One form of data collection that really freaks me out is
the location tracking. I get that apps collect your basic
information like name, email address, phone number, etc. While
location services are freaky to me, location services can be used
for geodemographic targeting for ads. Plus, data researchers can
use location information to see where people are visiting. There
could be hidden trends or tell-tales of certain lifestyles. I wish
the book touched on data collection issues more. I think this
topic is extremely important and not as familiar with people as
it should be.
References:
Andrews, J., & Shimp, T. (2018). Integrated Marketing
Communications (Tenth ed.). Boston,
MA: Cengage Learning.
Manoush Zomorodi. NPR Podcast. 2017. Available at:
http:// https://www.npr.org/. Accessed
June 3, 2020.
Teaching by Example: Discussion Board Rubric (Grade
Assessment)
The objective is the DB Rubric is give clear direction on DB
grading outcomes. The rubric gives examples of what is
expected to earn an A, B, C, or failing grade on the DB’s each
week. Of course most students want to earn an A! So, if an A is
your goal, aim for ‘Outstanding’ and complete all of the criteria
for an outstanding grade!
Criteria

A (25 points)
Outstanding
B (20 points)
Proficient
C (15 points)
Basis)
D/F (10 points and below)
Below Expectations
Critical Thinking
· rich in content
· full of thought, insight, and analysis
· substantial information
· thought, insight, and analysis has taken place
· generally competent
· information is thin and commonplace
· rudimentary and superficial
· no analysis or insight is displayed
Connections
Clear connections
· to previous or current content
· to real-life situations
· connections are made,
· not really clear or too obvious
· limited, if any connections
· vague generalities

· no connections are made
· off topic
Uniqueness
· new ideas
· new connections
· made with depth and detail
· new ideas or connections
· lack depth and/or detail
· few, if any new ideas or connections
· rehash or summarize other postings
· no new ideas
· “I agree with …” statement
Timeliness
· 1 post, 2 replies, 2 different days
· early in discussion
· throughout the discussion
· post/reply, same day
· some not in time for others to read & respond
· 1 post or 1 reply
· most at the last minute without allowing for response time
· some, or all, required postings missing
· very little content
Stylistics
· few grammatical or stylistic errors
· key ideas are in bold font

· proper references when needed (or page numbers to text)
· several grammatical or stylistic errors
· key ideas in bold font
· obvious grammatical or stylistic errors
· errors interfere with content
· no bold font
· obvious grammatical or stylistic errors
· makes understanding impossible
Discussion Board Rubric
Original: Lynnda L. Brown, October 2002, amended by Deborah
M. Gray, Ph.D,(2015)
MKT 310 week 5 Discussion
This week the DB will require about 60 minutes of listening to
a podcast called "Note To Self". This week you are encouraged
to only post one post on Saturday or Sunday of this week (yes,
you can post sooner than that if you are done with the
listening). We are going to embark on what is called "The
Privacy Paradox". You can download itunes, stitcher, or almost
any other phone app and listen to
these podcasts while exercising, walking to class or on your
daily commute. If you can't listen to them all at once, follow
this schedule:
Monday: What's happening with all that social media
data? Episode #58 (24 Minutes)
Monday: What your phone knows Episode #57 (11 Minutes)
Tuesday: The Search for Your Identity Episode #56 (15
Minutes)
Wednesday: Something to Hide Episode #55 (11 Minutes)
Thursday: 15 Minutes of Anonymity Episode #54 (11 Minutes)

Friday: Your Personal Terms of Service Episode 53 (11
Minutes)
After listening to the podcasts all week please answer the
following:
1. What did you learn from each podcast about your privacy and
data collection via social media?
2. Why, based on the 6 podcasts above, is social media
advertising so effective?
3. Which one of the data collection activities did you find to be
most offensive and why? From a marketing communications
perspective, why is this form of data collection actually the
best?
CHAPTER 5
Competitive Advantage, Firm Performance, and Business
Models
©ISerg/iStock/Getty Images RF
©McGraw-Hill Education. All rights reserved. Authorized only
for instructor use in the classroom. No reproduction or further
distribution permitted without the prior written consent of
McGraw-Hill Education.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Be sure to see the NEW Teacher’s Resource Manual located in
the Connect Library under Instructor’s Resources.
1

The AFI Strategy Framework
Exhibit 1.3
Jump to Appendix 1 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
2
Learning Objectives
LO 5-1 Conduct a firm profitability analysis using accounting
data to assess and evaluate competitive advantage.
LO 5-2 Apply shareholder value creation to assess and
evaluate competitive advantage.
LO 5-3 Explain economic value creation and different
sources of competitive advantage.
LO 5-4 Apply a balanced scorecard to assess and evaluate
competitive advantage.
LO 5-5 Apply a triple bottom line to assess and evaluate
competitive advantage.
LO 5-6 Use the why, what, who, and how of business models
framework to put strategy into action.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
3
An Overview of Frameworks Discussed
To measure and assess firm performance:
Accounting profitability
Shareholder value creation
Economic value creation
Integrative frameworks, combining quantitative data with
qualitative assessments:

The balanced scorecard
The triple bottom line
©McGraw-Hill Education.
4
Three Standard Performance Dimensions
What is the firm’s accounting profitability?
How much shareholder value does the firm create?
How much economic value does the firm generate?
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Instructors:
The digital companion to this book McGraw-Hill Connect has
an animated video on the drivers of profitability. It builds
student confidence on the a variety of profit measures (LO 5-1).
5
Accounting Profitability
Accurately assesses firm performance
Compares firm performance to competitors / industry average
Available through:
Standardized accounting metrics (GAAP, FASB)
Form 10-K statements
Profitability ratios
Return on invested capital (ROIC), return on equity (ROE),
return on assets (ROA), and return on revenue (ROR)

©McGraw-Hill Education.
One of the most commonly used metrics in assessing firm
financial performance is return on invested capital (ROIC),
where ROIC = (Net profits/Invested capital). ROIC is a popular
metric because it is a good proxy for firm profitability. In
particular, the ratio measures how effectively a company uses
its total invested capital, which consists of two components: (1)
shareholders’ equity through the selling of shares to the public,
and (2) interest-bearing debt through borrowing from financial
institutions and bond holders.
To explore further drivers of this difference, we break down
return on revenue into three additional financial ratios:
Cost of goods sold (COGS) / Revenue.
Research & development (R&D) expense / Revenue.
Selling, general, & administrative (SG&A) expense / Revenue.
6
Comparing Apple and Microsoft:
Drivers of Firm Performance
Exhibit 5.1
Source: Analysis of publicly available data
Jump to Appendix 2 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Instructors:
The digital companion to this book McGraw-Hill Connect has
an application exercise on this section of the textbook. It I
under “financial review” inside Connect and provides a variety
of exercises around calculating financial ratios. These are
intended as ‘refresher’ materials for students that have already

had accounting and finance classes but still need or would like
more practice.
7
Elements of ROIC Explained
Return on revenue
How much of the firm’s sales is converted into profits
Working capital turnover
How effectively capital is being used to generate revenue
©McGraw-Hill Education.
8
Return on Revenue Elements
Cost of goods sold (COGS) / Revenue
How efficiently a company can produce a good
Research & development expense / Revenue
How much of each dollar earned is invested in R&D
Selling, general, & administrative expense / Revenue
How much of each dollar earned is invested in SG&A
©McGraw-Hill Education.
9
Working Capital Turnover Elements
Working capital / Revenue
How much working capital the firm has tied up in its operations
PPE / Revenue
How much of a firm’s revenues are dedicated to cover plant,
property, and equipment

Critical assets and difficult to get rid of
Intangibles / Revenue
Intangibles include patents, copyrights, and trademarks,
goodwill, and brand value
©McGraw-Hill Education.
10
Limitations of Accounting Data
Historical and backward-looking
Does not consider off–balance sheet items:
Pension obligations
Leasing obligations
Focuses mainly on tangible assets
May not be the most important
Consider: innovation, quality, customer experience
©McGraw-Hill Education.
11
The Declining Importance of Book Value in a Firm’s Stock
Market Valuation
Exhibit 5.2
Source: Analysis and depiction of data from Compustat, 1980–
2015
Jump to Appendix 3 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
In 1980, about 80 percent of a firm’s stock market valuation
was based on its book value with 20 percent based on the

market’s expectations concerning the firm’s future performance.
This almost reversed by 2000 (at the height of the internet
bubble), when firm valuations were based only 15 percent on
assets captured by accounting data. The important take-away is
that intangibles not captured in firms’ accounting data have
become much more important to a firm’s competitive advantage.
By 2015, about 75 percent of a firm’s market valuation was
determined by its intangibles.
12
Shareholder Value Creation - Definitions
Shareholders
Own shares of stock, are legal owners
Risk Capital
Money provided for an equity share
Total Return to Shareholders
Stock price appreciation + dividends
Market Capitalization
Dollar value of total shares outstanding
Number of outstanding shares x share price
©McGraw-Hill Education.
All public companies in the United States are required to report
total return to shareholders annually in the statements they file
with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). In
addition, companies must also provide benchmarks, usually one
comparison to the industry average and another to a broader
market index that is relevant for more diversified firm.
Investors also adjust their expectations over time. Since the
business in the slow-growth industry surprised them by
delivering higher than expected growth, they adjust their
expectations upward. The next year, they expect this firm to
again deliver 4 percent growth. On the other hand, if the
industry average is 10 percent a year in the high-tech business,

the firm that delivered 8 percent growth will again be expected
to deliver at least the industry average growth rate; otherwise,
its stock will be further discounted.
13
Stock Market Valuations of Apple and Microsoft, 1990–2017
Exhibit 5.3
Source: Depiction of publicly available data
Jump to Appendix 4 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
14
Limitations of Shareholder Value Creation
Stock prices can be volatile
Difficult to assess firm performance
Macroeconomic factors affect stock prices
Economic growth or contraction
Unemployment, interest and exchange rates
Stock prices can reflect the mood of investors
Investors can be irrational
©McGraw-Hill Education.
15
Economic Value Creation
The difference between:
A buyer’s willingness to pay for a product / service
And the firm’s total cost to produce it
The difference between value (V) and cost (C)

©McGraw-Hill Education.
Competitive advantage can be based on: economic value
creation because of superior product differentiation, or a
relative cost advantage over rivals.
Instructors:
The digital companion to this book McGraw-Hill Connect has
an application exercise on this section of the textbook. It builds
student confidence on the economic value perspective (LO 5-3).
16
Firm B’s Competitive Advantage
Same cost as firm A but firm B creates more economic value.
Firm B’s advantage is based on superior differentiation.
Exhibit 5.4
Jump to Appendix 5 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Only Firm A and Firm B are competing in the market for
laptops. Assuming that both Firm A and Firm B have the same
total unit cost of producing the particular laptop models under
consideration ($400) and the market at large has preferences
similar to yours, then Firm B will have a competitive advantage.
This is because Firm B creates more economic value than Firm
A (by $200), but has the same total cost.
The amount of total perceived consumer benefits equals the
maximum willingness to pay, or the reservation price. This
amount is then split into economic value creation and the firm’s
total unit cost. Firm A and Firm B have identical total unit cost,

$400 per laptop. However, Firm B’s laptop (e.g., Apple’s
MacBook Pro) is perceived to provide more utility than Firm
A’s laptop (e.g., Dell’s generic laptop), which implies that Firm
B creates more economic value ($1,200 – $400 = $800) than
Firm A ($1,000 – $400 = $600). Taken together, Firm B has a
competitive advantage over Firm A because Firm B creates
more economic value. This is because Firm B’s offering has
greater total perceived consumer benefits than Firm A’s, while
the firms have the same total cost. In short, Firm B’s advantage
is based on superior differentiation leading to higher perceived
value. Further, the competitive advantage can be quantified: It
is $200 (or, $1,200 – $1,000) per laptop sold for Firm B over
Firm A.
17
Firm C’s Competitive Advantage
Exhibit 5.5
Same total perceived consumer benefits as firm D, but firm C
creates more economic value.
Jump to Appendix 6 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
In this image, two different laptop makers each offer a model
that has the same perceived consumer benefits ($1,200). Firm C,
however, creates greater economic value ($900, or $1,200 –
$300) than that of Firm D ($600, or $1,200 – $600). This is
because Firm C’s total unit cost ($300) is lower than Firm D’s
($600). Firm C has a relative cost advantage over Firm D, while
both products provide identical total perceived consumer
benefits ($1,200). In this example, Firm C could be Lenovo with
lower cost structure than Firm D, which could be HP, but both
firms offer the same value. As this image shows, Firm C has a
competitive advantage over Firm D because it has lower costs.
Firm C’s competitive advantage over Firm D is in the amount of

$300 for each laptop sold. Here, the source of the competitive
advantage is a relative cost advantage over its rival.
18
Producer & Consumer Surplus
Producer surplus (also called profit)
Price charged minus cost to produce
Consumer surplus
What you were willing to pay minus what you paid
Both parties capture some of the value created.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Value denotes the dollar amount (V) a consumer attaches to a
good or service. Value captures a consumer’s willingness to pay
and is determined by the perceived benefits a good or service
provides to the buyer. The cost (C) to produce the good or
service matters little to the consumer, but it matters a great deal
to the producer (supplier) of the good or service since it has a
direct bearing on the profit margin.
19
Competitive Advantage and
Economic Value Created
Exhibit 5.7
Jump to Appendix 7 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Instructors:
The digital companion to this book McGraw-Hill Connect has
an animated video on economic value creation. It builds student
confidence on the a variety of value aspects (LO 5-3).

20
Opportunity Costs and Limitations of
Economic Value Creation
Opportunity costs
The value of the best forgone alternative
Limitations of Economic Value Creation
Valuing a consumer good isn’t easy
The value of a good changes in the eyes of consumers
Income, preferences, time, etc.
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Example of Opportunity Costs of an Entrepreneur: (1) forgone
wages if employed elsewhere; (2) the cost of capital invested in
the business vs. the stock market vs. U.S. Treasury bonds.
21
The Balanced Scorecard
Helps managers achieve their strategic objectives
Uses internal and external performance metrics
Balances both financial and strategic goals
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Just as airplane pilots rely on a number of instruments to
provide constant information about key variables—such as
altitude, airspeed, fuel, position of other aircraft in the vicinity,
and destination—to ensure a safe flight, so should managers
rely on multiple yardsticks to more accurately assess company
performance in an integrative way.
22

The Balanced Scorecard Approach
Exhibit 5.8
Jump to Appendix 8 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
23
Examples of Metrics for Each
Balanced Scorecard Section
Customers
Revenue, profit, customer satisfaction
Value Creation
Competitiveness, innovation, organizational learning
Core Competencies
Key business processes
Shareholders
Cash flow, operating income, ROIC, ROE, total returns to
shareholders
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Customer view: In the air-express industry, for example,
managers learned from their customers that many don’t really
need next-day delivery for most of their documents and
packages; rather what they really cared about was the ability to
track the shipments. This discovery led to the development of
steeply discounted second-day delivery by UPS and FedEx,
combined with sophisticated real-time tracking tools online.
Value Creation: For example, 3M requires that 30 percent of
revenues must come from products introduced within the past
four years.

Core Competencies: Honda’s core competency is to design and
manufacture small but powerful and highly reliable engines. Its
business model is to find places to put its engines. Beginning
with motorcycles in 1948, Honda nurtured this core competency
over many decades and is leveraging it to reach stretch goals in
the design, development, and manufacture of small airplanes.
24
Advantages of the Balanced Scorecard
Links strategic vision to responsible parties
Translates vision into measurable goals
Designs and plans business processes
Implements feedback and organizational learning
Alerts to needed strategic goal adaptation
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Implementing a balanced scorecard allowed FMC’s managers to
align their different perspectives to create a more focused
corporation overall. General managers now review progress
along the chosen metrics every month, and corporate executives
do so on a quarterly basis. Implementing a balanced-scorecard
approach is not a onetime effort, but requires continuous
tracking of metrics and updating of strategic objectives, if
needed. It is a continuous process, feeding performance back
into the strategy process to assess its effectiveness.
25
Disadvantages of the Balanced Scorecard
Focused on implementation
Not formulation
Managers must identify the right metrics to track

Lacks guidance:
Which metrics to use?
How to address setbacks?
©McGraw-Hill Education.
All of the three approaches to measuring competitive
advantage—accounting profitability, shareholder value creation,
and economic value creation—in addition to other quantitative
and qualitative measures can be helpful when using a balanced-
scorecard approach.
26
The Triple Bottom Line
Focus: economic, social and ecological performance
Three dimensions:
Economic Dimension: Profits
Businesses must be profitable to survive
Social Dimension: People
Ecological Dimension: Planet
Considers the natural environment
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Rather than emphasizing sustaining a competitive advantage
over time, sustainable strategy means a strategy that can be
pursued over time without detrimental effects on people or the
planet. Using renewable energy sources such as wind or solar
power, for example, is sustainable over time. It can also be
good for profits, or simply put “green is green,” as Jeffrey
Immelt was fond of saying while CEO at GE. GE’s renewable
energy business brought in more than $9 billion in revenues in
2016 (up from $3 billion in 2006). Immelt retired in 2017.

Instructors:
The digital companion to this book McGraw-Hill Connect has a
video case exercise from a mining industry executive on this
section of the textbook. It builds student confidence on the
triple bottom line (LO 5-5).
27
Sustainable Strategy
Exhibit 5.9
Jump to Appendix 9 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
28
What Is a Business Model?
Details competitive tactics and initiatives
Explains how the firm:
Intends to make money
Conducts its business
With buyers, suppliers, and partners
©McGraw-Hill Education.
How companies do business can sometimes be as important, if
not more so, to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage as
what they do. Indeed, a slight majority (54 percent) of senior
executives responded to a recent survey stating that they
consider business model innovation to be more important than
process or product innovation.
29

Why, What, Who, and How of Business Models (1 of 2)
Details competitive tactics and initiatives
Explains how the firm:
Intends to make money
Conducts its business
With buyers, suppliers, and partners
©McGraw-Hill Education.
How companies do business can sometimes be as important, if
not more so, to gaining and sustaining competitive advantage as
what they do. Indeed, a slight majority (54 percent) of senior
executives responded to a recent survey stating that they
consider business model innovation to be more important than
process or product innovation.
30
Why, What, Who, and How of Business Models (2 of 2)
Exhibit 5.10
Source: Adapted from R. Amit and C. Zott (2012), “Creating
value through business model innovation,” MIT Sloan
Management Review: 41–49.
Jump to Appendix 10 long image description
©McGraw-Hill Education.
31
Popular Business Models
Razor-razorblade: pay for replacements
Subscription: pay for access
Pay as you go: pay for what you consume
Freemium: pay for extra features / add-ons
Wholesale: products sold at a discount

Agency: products sold on commission
Bundling: more than one product sold at a discount
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Razor-razorblade: was invented by Gillette, which gave away its
razors and sold the replacement cartridges for relatively high
prices. The razor–razor-blade model is found in many business
applications today. For example, HP charges little for its laser
printers but imposes high prices for its replacement toner
cartridges.
Subscription: Microsoft uses a subscription-based model for its
new Office 365 suite of application software. Other industries
that use this model presently are cable television, cellular
service providers, satellite radio, internet service providers, and
health clubs. Netflix also uses a subscription model.
Pay as you go: most widely used by utilities providing power
and water and cell phone service plans, but it is gaining
momentum in other areas such as rental cars and cloud
computing such Microsoft’s Azure.
Freemium: examples include Spirit Airlines (in the United
States), Ryanair (in Europe), or AirAsia, which provide minimal
flight services but allow customers to pay for additional
services and upgrades à la carte, often at a premium.
Wholesale: book publishers sell books to retailers at a fixed
price (usually 50 percent below the recommended retail price).
Retailers, however, were free to set their own price on any book
and profit from the difference between their selling price and
the cost to buy the book from the publisher (or wholesaler).
Agency: long used in the entertainment industry, where agents

place artists or artistic properties and then take their
commission. More recently we see this approach at work in a
number of online sales venues, as in Apple’s pricing of book
products or its app sales.
Bundling: In the Microsoft Office Suite, a user might value
Word more than Excel and vice versa. Instead of selling both
products for $120 each, Microsoft bundles them in a suite and
sells them combined at a discount, say $150.
32
Dynamic Nature of Business Models
Business Models:
Can be combined
Can evolve
Can be disrupted
Businesses must respond to disruption & adapt
Legal conflicts can arise
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Examples:
Business models can be combined: AT&T uses both razor-
razorblade & subscription models
Business models can evolve: Freemium is an evolution of razor-
razorblade
Business models can be disrupted: Amazon disrupted wholesale
models of publishers
Businesses must respond to disruption & adapt: Many book
publishers worked with Apple on an agency approach, in which
the publishers would set the price for Apple and receive 70

percent of the revenue, while Apple received 30 percent.
Publishers inked their deals with Apple, but how could they get
Amazon to play ball? For leverage, publishers withheld new
releases from Amazon. This forced Amazon to raise prices on
newly released e-books in line with the agency model to around
$14.95
Legal conflicts can arise: In 2012 the Department of Justice
determined that Apple and major publishers had conspired to
raise prices of e-books. A year later, Apple was found guilty of
colluding with several major book publishers to fix prices on e-
books and had to change its agency model.
33
Appendices
Descriptions of Visual Graphics to Support
Student Accessibility Needs
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Appendix 1 The AFI Strategy Framework
The important inside circle is titled "Gaining and Sustaining a
Competitive Advantage" that is at the very center of the image,
with five different circles on the outside of it. Arrows go back
and forth from the center circle to each of the five outer circles.
The five outer circles are labeled: (1) Getting Started, (2)
External and Internal Analysis, (3) Formulation: Business
Strategy, (4) Formulation, Corporate Strategy, and (5)
Implementation.
Each of these outer five circles have a brief description beside
them to explain what the circle means:
Under the first outer circle titled "Getting Started," it says: Part
1, Strategy Analysis, "What is Strategy (Chapter 1)" and
"Strategic Leadership: Managing the Strategy Process (Chapter

2)."
Under the second outer circle titled "External and Internal
Analysis," it says: Part 1, Strategy Analysis, "External
Analysis: Industry Structure, Competitive Forces and Strategic
Groups (Chapter 3)," "Internal Analysis: Resources,
Capabilities and Core Competencies (Chapter 4)," and
"Competitive Advantage, Firm Performance, and Business
Models (Chapter 5)."
Under the third outer circle titled "Formulation: Business
Strategy," it says: Part 2, Strategy Formulation, "Business
Strategy: Differentiation, Cost Leadership and Integration
(Chapter 6)" and "Business Strategy, Innovation and
Entrepreneurship (Chapter 7)."
Under the fourth outer circle titled "Formulation: Corporate
Strategy," it says: Part 2, Strategy Formulation, "Corporate
Strategy: Vertical Integration and Diversification (Chapter 8),"
"Corporate Strategy: Strategic Alliances, Mergers and
Acquisitions (Chapter 9)," and "Global Strategy: Competing
Around the World (Chapter 10)."
Under the fifth outer circle titled "Implementation," it says: Part
3, Strategy Implementation, "Organizational Design: Structure,
Culture and Control (Chapter 11)," and "Corporate Governance
and Business Ethics.”
Return to slide
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Appendix 2 Comparing Apple and Microsoft:
Drivers of Firm Performance
This image shows the R O I C for Apple and Microsoft as of
fiscal year 2016. It further breaks down R O I C into its
constituent components.
On the left is a box that says R O I C, that points to two boxes
on the right, one which says Return on Revenue, and the other
says Working Capital Turnover. Return on Revenue points to
three boxes that say: C O G S/Revenue, R and D/Revenue, S G

and A/Revenue. Working Capital Turnover points to four boxes
that say: Fixed Asset Turnover, Inventory Turnover,
Receivables Turnover, Payables Turnover.
This image is intended to provide important clues for managers
on which areas to focus when attempting to improve firm
performance relative to their competitors.
Return to slide
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Appendix 3 The Declining Importance of Book Value in a
Firm’s Stock Market Valuation
This image shows the firm’s book value (accounting data
capturing the firm’s actual costs of assets minus depreciation)
as part of a firm’s total stock market valuation (number of
outstanding shares times share price).
The firm’s book value captures the historical cost of a firm’s
assets, whereas market valuation is based on future expectations
for a firm’s growth potential and performance.
Out of a firm’s stock market valuation, this image shows that in
1980, about 80 percent of a firm’s stock market valuation was
based on its book value with 20 percent based on the market’s
expectations concerning the firm’s future performance. This
almost reversed by 2000 (at the height of the internet bubble),
when firm valuations were based only 15 percent on assets
captured by accounting data. The important take-away is that
intangibles not captured in firms’ accounting data have become
much more important to a firm’s competitive advantage. By
2015, about 75 percent of a firm’s market valuation was
determined by its intangibles.
Return to slide
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Appendix 4 Stock Market Valuations of Apple and Microsoft,
1990–2017

Exhibit 5.3 shows the stock market valuations for Apple and
Microsoft from 1990 until 2017. Microsoft was once the most
valuable company worldwide (in December 1999 with close to
$600 billion in market cap), but its market valuation dropped in
the following decade.
Since a low of about $220 billion in early 2013, Microsoft’s
market cap more than doubled to over $500 billion by 2017.
Nonetheless, Microsoft remains below Apple, using market cap
as its metric.
The graph portrays that in the early 2000’s Microsoft had a
competitive advantage over Apple, but that shifted and in the
2010 – 2015 range, Apple had a competitive advantage over
Microsoft.
Return to slide
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Appendix 5 Firm B’s Competitive Advantage
Firm A and Firm B have identical total unit cost, $400.
However, Firm B is perceived to provide more utility ($1,200)
than Firm A’s ($1,000), which implies that Firm B creates more
economic value ($1,200 minus $400 = $800) than Firm A
($1,000 minus $400 = $600). Taken together, Firm B has a
competitive advantage over Firm A because Firm B creates
more economic value. This is because Firm B’s offering has
greater total perceived consumer benefits than Firm A’s, while
the firms have the same total cost. In short, Firm B’s advantage
is based on superior differentiation leading to higher perceived
value. Further, the competitive advantage can be quantified: It
is $200 (or, $1,200 minus $1,000) for Firm B over Firm A.
Return to slide
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Appendix 6 Firm C’s Competitive Advantage
In this example, two different producers each offer a product

that has the same perceived consumer benefits ($1,200).
However, Firm C's costs are only $300 whereas Firm D's costs
are $600. Firm C creates economic value greater ($900, or
$1,200 minus $300) than that of Firm B ($600, or $1,200 minus
$600). This is because Firm C’s total unit cost ($300) is lower
than Firm D’s ($600). Firm C has a relative cost advantage over
Firm D, while both products provide identical total perceived
consumer benefits ($1,200). In this example, both firms offer
the same value, but Firm C has a competitive advantage over
Firm D because it has lower costs. Firm C’s competitive
advantage over Firm D is in the amount of $300 for each
product sold. Here, the source of the competitive advantage is a
relative cost advantage over its rival.
Return to slide
©McGraw-Hill Education.
Appendix 7 Competitive Advantage and
Economic Value Created
On the left side of the graph is a rectangle which represents the
total perceived consumer benefits (V), as captured in the
consumer’s maximum willingness to pay.
In the lower part of the center bar, C is the cost to produce the
product or service (the unit cost). It follows that the difference
between the consumers’ maximum willingness to pay and the
firm’s cost (V - C) is the economic value created, which is the
upper part of the center bar.
The price of the product or service (P) is indicated in the dashed
line, in between the consumer surplus at the top part of the right
bar, and the firm's profit at the middle part of the right bar. The
economic value created (V - C), from the center bar, is split
between …
MGT 499 week 3 Discussion
Chapter 5
1. Domino’s Pizza has been in business for more than 50 years

and claims to be “#1 Worldwide in Pizza Delivery” with over
13,000 locations. Visit the company’s business-related
website https://biz.dominos.com/ and read the “our strengths”
section under the “Investors/Profile” tab. Does the firm focus
on the accounting, shareholder, or economic perspective in
describing its competitive advantage?
2. For many people, the shareholder perspective is perhaps the
most familiar measure of competitive advantage for publicly
traded firms. What are some of the disadvantages of using
shareholder value as the sole point of view for defining
competitive advantage?