Competitive Strategies for Think Childcare, Marriot Hotel Australia and University of Melbourne

This article discusses the competitive strategies of Think Childcare, Marriot Hotel Australia and University of Melbourne. It uses Porter's Generic Strategy, Ansoff Matrix and Blue Ocean Strategy to analyze the companies. The article provides insights into the strategies that can be used to achieve above average performance in a particular industry.

Running head: COMPETITVE STRATEGIES
Competitive Strategies
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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The following table shows the names of the different companies chosen from the
provided list of industries, the industries from which the companies have been chosen and the
strategy which is to be applied to each of the companies.
Industry Name of Company/ Institution Strategy
Childcare Think Childcare Limited Porter’s Generic Strategy
Tourism and travel Marriot Hotel Australia Ansoff Matrix
Education University of Melbourne Blue Ocean Strategy
About Think Childcare Limited:
Think Childcare Limited is one of the leading Australian firms in the consumer services
segment of the market. Think Childcare Limited is responsible for redefining the methods of
conducting business in the Consumer Services Industry. The Company is listed on the Australian
Securities Exchange (ASX) and have a relevant presence in the stock market as well.
Tool Used: Porter’s Generic Competitive Strategy:
The relative position of any company inside its specific industry helps find whether the
company’s productivity has been above or below the average of the industry. The main basis of
the “above average profitability” in the long run is “sustainable competitive advantage”. There
are two noteworthy kinds of competitive advantage of a firm, namely “low cost” and

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“differentiation”. The two main types of “competitive advantage” along with the capacity of
performance which an establishment seeks to achieve leads to three main generic strategies for
the achievement of above average performance in a particular industry. The three main strategies
for the achievement of above average performance in an industry is that of cost leadership,
differentiation and focus. In this connection it can be said that the focus strategy has two variants
namely “cost focus” and “differentiation focus” (Sumer and Bayraktar 2012).
Analysis:
The cost leadership strategy focuses on being the low cost producer in a particular
industry concerned for a given level. In case of Think Childcare Limited, the company needs to
innovate its products and services for bringing valuable customers to the fold and gives
customers suitable reason to buy their products. The pricing of the products also need to be
lowered such that the fixed cost per unit can be lowered. There should also be capacities and
spending money on the different forms of research and development. Therefore in order to gain
market share, the organisation needs to engage in the creation of products which are cost
effective as well as best in the market (Taylor 2012).
Differentiation strategy focuses on the development of unique characteristics which
customers value and which they consider to be better or different from the rest in a positive
sense. The value which is added by the uniqueness of the product might allow the company to
ask for a genuine price for the same. It is desirable that the organisation needs to be more service
oriented rather than simply being product oriented. There needs to be a proper understanding of
the major requirements of the customers in comparison to what the customer is actually buying.
The company needs to build a sustainable differentiation strategy so as to survive and build scale

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in order to compete better. The company can also collaborate with the competitors to increase the
overall market size.
The focus strategy is basically concentration on a narrow segment within which there is
an aim to achieve cost advantage or differentiation. In case companies use such strategies they
better enjoy customer loyalty. It can be said that this organisation needs to build a large customer
base and this will be helpful in reducing the power of buyers and will also put forward a chance
for the company to streamline sales. The company also needs to innovate its products fast
(Baroto, Abdullah and Wan 2012).
Ansoff Matrix: Marriot Hotel Australia:
Marriott International Inc is world famous as one of the top lodging companies. It has
over four thousand properties in more than eighty countries and territories. The company has
recorded huge revenues in the financial years 2014 and 2015. It also has a branch in Australia.
The strategy used to analyse this particular organisation is the Ansoff Matrix. The matrix
comprises of “market penetration, product development, market development and
diversification” (Tanwar 2013). The Ansoff matrix for this particular company is being shown as
follows:
Market Penetration
 The company sponsors several
international football clubs. This is
bound to improve the marketing and
loyalty towards the hotel.
Product Development
 There have been cases where
helicopters have been used to transport
guests from the airport to particular

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 The organisation also targets the
specific middle class customers who
are considerable in number. This is
bound to add to the customer base of
the organisation because the middle
class customer base is huge. Luxury
does not always find many takers as
does middle class requirement (Hussain
et al. 2013).
 There are several new offers and
discounts which are offered by the hotel
group in order to attract and lure
customers of all types and categories to
ultimately help facilitate the business
 There have been world famous shows
hosted which have helped in the hotel
growth.
hotels
 There have been several exhibitions for
1-2 weeks with a range of special offers
in the Marriott Hotels all over the world
 There have been initiatives to facilitate
the plates and dishes production. This
has helped a lot in minimizing costs.
Market Development
 There have been new branches which
have been developed in several
countries which did not have Marriott
Hotels earlier
Diversification
 There has been the development of a
new chain of shops known as Marriott
Coffee chain
 There have been several collaborations
with tourism and travel companies to

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 There have been proper maintenance of
standards in all of the different
countries and continents.
facilitate business.

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Blue Ocean Strategy: University of Melbourne:
Blue Ocean Strategy is the concept which focuses on innovation. The concept of “Blue
Ocean strategy” is “the simultaneous pursuit of both low cost and differentiation strategy”. It is
considered to be “a systemized, fully sequenced and replicable methodology”. This concept
allows organisations and institutions to stop considering their competitors seriously and rather
focus on redefining their own market boundaries as well as strategic assumptions (Mi 2015). The
concept basically states that when the companies break free from the shackles of age old
thoughts and limitations they find territories which are unexplored. These unexplored territories
are referred to as Blue Oceans. It is believed that when a particular organisation or company
values innovation, they can create leaps in value for both their businesses and customers alike
(Borgianni, Cascini and Rotini 2012).
The University of Melbourne is a public university that focuses on research and it is
located in the city of Melbourne in the country of Australia. It is desirable that university focus
on the scholarships which give importance to students from all walks of life and from different
backgrounds. There also needs to be cost effective programs which help in the expansion of the
student base of the university. In case students from different backgrounds come to study in the
university, it is bound to have various laurels in the educational genre. The policy of the
university should not focus on any sort of differentiation between the customers and the people.
Thus the blue ocean strategy of the University should be a proper focus on multinational and
cross cultural teachers and students as well as cost effective methods of teaching.

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References ad Bibliography:
Baroto, M.B., Abdullah, M.M.B. and Wan, H.L., 2012. Hybrid strategy: A new strategy for
competitive advantage. International Journal of Business and Management, 7(20), p.120.
Borgianni, Y., Cascini, G. and Rotini, F., 2012. Investigating the patterns of value-oriented
innovations in blue ocean strategy. International Journal of Innovation Science, 4(3), pp.123-
142.
Hussain, S., Khattak, J., Rizwan, A. and Latif, M.A., 2013. ANSOFF matrix, environment, and
growth-an interactive triangle. Management and Administrative Sciences Review, 2(2), pp.196-
206.
Kim, W.C. and Mauborgne, R.A., 2014. Blue ocean strategy, expanded edition: How to create
uncontested market space and make the competition irrelevant. Harvard business review Press.
Mi, J., 2015. Blue ocean strategy. Wiley Encyclopedia of Management.
Salavou, H.E., 2015. Competitive strategies and their shift to the future. European Business
Review, 27(1), pp.80-99.
Sumer, K. and Bayraktar, C.A., 2012. Business strategies and gaps in Porter's typology: a
literature review. Journal of Management Research, 4(3), pp.100-119.
Tanwar, R., 2013. Porter’s generic competitive strategies. Journal of business and
management, 15(1), pp.11-17.
Taylor, E.C., 2012, January. Competitive improvement planning: using ansoff's matrix with
abell's model to inform the strategic management process. In Allied Academies International

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Conference. Academy of Strategic Management. Proceedings (Vol. 11, No. 1, p. 21). Jordan
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