Competitive Strategy Analysis: Amazon, eBay, Apple, and Microsoft

This report provides an analysis of the competitive strategies employed by four major companies: Amazon, eBay, Apple, and Microsoft. It examines how these organizations have achieved success in the global market through effective target market identification, strategic modes of entry, and the development of strong global brands. The report delves into the specific approaches each company has taken, highlighting Amazon's focus on online retail and cloud computing, eBay's e-commerce platform, Apple's premium product offerings and brand loyalty, and Microsoft's software and hardware dominance. The report emphasizes the importance of global branding in establishing a sustainable competitive advantage and discusses the strategies used by each company to position themselves effectively in the international market. It covers topics such as target market selection, licensing agreements, and the innovative use of technology to enhance customer satisfaction and build brand recognition. The report ultimately underscores how these companies have leveraged their branding and market entry strategies to gain a significant competitive edge in their respective industries.

Running Head: Competitive Strategy
Competitive Strategy

Competitive Strategy 1
Executive Summary
Target market, mode of entry and global branding are few crucial aspects which help an
organization to successfully become sustainable in the target market. Target market helps an
organization to identify the right person who can purchase their product. Mode of entry helps an
organization to enter the international market in such a way that goodwill of the company is
created in the mind of people. Further global branding helps an organization maintain a
competitive advantage in the international market. The below-mentioned task talks about four
organizations Amazon, eBay, Apple and Microsoft which initiated their activities in such a way
that all the companies gained identification in the target market. It is important for companies to
provide some special feature in their business process so as to promote the product in the
international market. More details about the strategies used by the organization are discussed
below:

Competitive Strategy 2
Contents
Executive Summary.....................................................................................................................................1
Global Branding...........................................................................................................................................3
Amazon....................................................................................................................................................3
eBay.........................................................................................................................................................4
Target market and modes of entry..............................................................................................................5
Apple.......................................................................................................................................................5
Microsoft.................................................................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8
References...................................................................................................................................................9

Competitive Strategy 3
Global Branding
In the current scenario, the companies are focusing on creating brand image of the product in the
global market. Being placed in the domestic market does not provide adequate growth to the
companies due to which they aim to change their domestic brand into the global brand so as to
gain more profit. Once an image of the product and the company is created in the market, then it
becomes easier for the organization to gain competitive advantage as well. Thus, the fact shall be
noted that a global brand can help a company to gain a sustainable competitive advantage in the
market (Dinnie 2015). A premium price for the product and services help the company to place
themselves in the premium market. Also, the brand position helps the company to raise theirs
above the value of competitors present in the market. Global positioning refers to the process
with which a company attains its position in the market and the customers perceive it as the best
position for the company (Verbeke 2013). Further, the companies which gained advantage using
the global branding strategies are discussed below:
Amazon
Amazon is an American electronic commerce and cloud computing company situated in
Washington. The company was originated in the year 1994 by Jeff Bezon. Now Amazon is
regarded as largest internet retailer in the world which was initially originated with a motive to
sell books online but later with time the company started selling all types of products in the
market. The organization played smart, that initially, they started their business with all available
resources and later when the company found that the market is growing along with their share of
the market. So, they introduced new product lines so as to create amazon a global brand (Knight
2015).
Amazon in today’s world is called a global online brand all products are sold at reasonable
prices. Further, the company created its name by providing quality services to the customers and
the vision and mission statement of Amazon pushed them to become one of the largest global
brands in the international market along with the domestic market. The vision of the company
states that they want to create global dominance in the international market. And the mission
statement of the company states that Amazon they want to achieve effectiveness along with high-

Competitive Strategy 4
quality services as well. So the vision and mission fulfilled all the requirements which the
company needed to become a global brand (Winston, and Weinstein 2016).
The company did not rush to initiate innovation in their process instead they maintained their
growth and slowed created a position in the global market. Further situated in a retail market the
company placed themselves in a position which was afforded by all. Thus, in this way slowly
steadily Amazon created the company as a global brand in the market.
eBay
The global branding strategy includes a structure which is initiated by the organizations to
promote their working in the global environment. Global branding and positioning strategies are
implemented by the organizations to create brand structure. This structure tells about the way in
which brand is framed in the market and place where it is positioned according to its attributes.
Thus, in this way, the brand of a particular company is formed and positioned in the market
(Patton, DeLozier, and Thompson 2015).
Further talking about the company eBay which is working as e-commerce organization; the
company is known providing goods of different brands on their website. From their sites people
purchase product, so basically, the company is indulged in delivering services to the customer for
the product which they have bought from their website. Relating the activities of the company to
the global branding strategy, it shall be noted that as the mission of eBay states that they want to
pioneer new communities’ worldwide building through commerce and sustained by trust, and
inspired by opportunities in the market. Thus the branding messages of the eBay assisted their
activities to position the company in the correct market. The company was originated in the year
1995 as an online goods and service provider company which managed to buy and selling online.
One major reason which helped eBay to build global brand worldwide was the innovative use of
technology in the market which attracted more and customers towards the activities of the
company (Aiello, and Donvito 2016).
It is one of the fastest e-commerce businesses in the whole world which gives an identified brand
structure to the company. Talking about the approach which the company used to initiate global
branding in the market, it shall be noted that the company eBay used an innovative model under
which they increased the satisfaction level of customer by providing them valuable products and

Competitive Strategy 5
services at reasonable prices. eBay initiated a strategic approach to purchase products at low
prices in bulk and then sell them to the customers at reasonable prices. Also, the company being
placed online diversified their services providing model by placing themselves in all
approachable places. Furthermore, innovation was used by the company in such a way that they
implied the customer to customer services model under which the customers itself posted
products on the website and people purchased those products from the customers only. The
company involved in between to give authenticity to the transaction and deliver the goods to the
customer (Schlegelmilch 2016).
Lastly, it shall be noted that all such activities of the company helped to initiate global branding
strategy for them. eBay initiated product dominant brand structure in the market which displayed
that the products are mainly focused on the company as they shall deliver adequate satisfaction
to the customers according to the prices. Now the company has become a corporate brand
because of their business strategies and the trust of customers on the brand (Steenkamp 2017).
Target market and modes of entry
It is important for an organization to select an adequate market under which they shall initiate
and sustain the business activities in the market. For that purpose selection of right market and
right way to enter in the market is very important. As correct way to enter will help the
customers to create goodwill of the company in the market and correct target market will help
the company to grow in a global context (Amos 2016). Further, right target market selection will
attract the correct customer for the company who will actually initiate sales for the organization.
Entry mode helps an organization to enter into new surroundings in a competitive way. Right
entry mode will help the organization to reduce the risk and gain brand image in new
environment as well. Further, the companies which used these strategies to achieve competitive
advantage are discussed below:
Apple
Apple Inc. is an international electronic product and software producing company. The company
is famous for providing products like iPhone, iPod, MacBook, IOS software etc. These products
and services of the company are sold worldwide through direct, retails and online stores. The
company is leading the electronic market and attaining maximum satisfaction of the customers

Competitive Strategy 6
through its quality products and services provided in the industry. The products of the company
are considered as one of the most efficient products which adequately serve the expectation of
customers (Dempsey 2014). Further, it shall be noted that the brand of the company is created
due to repurchasing of the products in the market. It is said in the external market that if once a
person has started using the IOS software then they cannot turn back to purchase any other
software in the market. Thus, due to quality services provided by the company in the market they
have earned the satisfaction level of customers (Hennart, and Slangen 2015).
Further, the fact shall be considered that the company has earned such a reputation in the market
because they have adequately placed themselves at the right position in the right market and
targeted the right people for the sales. Target market selection and entry mode are very important
for companies to enter the market as they decide the brand position of the company and it also
creates a value in the eyes of the customers. Suppose if an organization has a weak or inefficient
mode of entry then the customer will create a negative impression of the company in their mind
even if the organization provides efficient services in the market. So selection of adequate target
market and mode of entry is very important. The company aimed to target the richer segment of
the market to purchase their premium services in the market. Tech-savvy people who prefer IOS
software were preferred and the upper class of the society was targeted. As the products served
by the company hold a premium value in them, so considering that fact Apple target the people
who can actually afford the software provided by them. So the organization initially examined
the value addition in the services offered by the company and then they targeted the customers
according to features of their product. In this way, the actual prospective buyers were targeted by
the organization (Ang, Benischke, and Doh 2015).
Apart from that mode of entry is very important for an organization to expand their business in
the new and international market. The management of Apple identified that they have adequately
captured the domestic market and now they need to target the international market. With respect
to which they entered in the international market through licensing agreement with other
organizations of different countries. This gave an ease to famous foreign country firms to
provide services of the Apple to the people present in their local market. Thus due to this
process, the company entered in the international market through safe entry process as the local
firms of the company created and provided services under the name of Apple; due to which

Competitive Strategy 7
Apple created goodwill in the external markets as well. Thus, in this way the company earned
reputation through target market and mode of entry (Kraus, et., al., 2015).
Microsoft
Microsoft is world largest software and hardware producing company. Microsoft is an American
company which is mainly providing software in the market. The software supplied by the
company used worldwide and there is no replacement for the services provided by the company.
The company was originated in the year 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. Initially, the
company sold basic interpreters for Altair 8800. Afterwards, with growth and expansion, they
emerged as organization selling software for increasing the efficiency of computers. Further, one
fact shall be noted that like Microsoft, all other organizations also earned name and fame in the
target market by correctly entering in the right market with right entry mode as well. Thus, it
shall be noted that an organization can initiate its working in the market and grow only if they
get the right environment to sustain their activities in the market like Microsoft received
(Anderson, and Sutherland 2015).
Microsoft is long-standing company running 1975 when very few people had computer with
them. The company adequately targeted the people who have computers with them or are
interested in the electronic equipment. Initially the target market for the company was small but
still, Microsoft placed itself firmly in the market. Due to which later with the emergence of
internet and growth of computer equipment the company also increased their share in the market.
Furthermore talking about the market entry mode which Microsoft used to expand their business
in a global context it shall be noted that company used Greenfield Investment strategy (den
Hartigh, et. al., 2016). Greenfield Investment strategy refers to the strategy under which an
organization opens their subsidiaries in different parts of the world. It means that an organization
totally opens up their store in a different market with help of any other local organization. This
type of strategy helps an organization to understand the market capabilities and work in a way so
that the external market features matches o the services provided by the company (Gollnhofer,
and Turkina 2015). Microsoft opened their subsidiaries in a different part of the world. Thus, this
process helped the company in such a way that the company increased the trust level of the
customers and sales subsequently increased.

Competitive Strategy 8
Conclusion
Thus, the above-mentioned task adequately talks about the competitive strategies which different
companies used to sustain their growth in the international market and earn competitive
advantage as well. It also tells about the innovative activities which company implemented and
focused on to produce output for the company in the market.

Competitive Strategy 9
References
Aiello, G. and Donvito, R. eds., 2016. Global Branding and Country of Origin: Creativity and
Passion. Routledge.
Amos, D., 2016. How to Define Your Target Market. Viewed on January 29, 2018 from <
http://scorecinci.org/define-target-market/>
Anderson, J. and Sutherland, D., 2015. Entry mode and emerging market MNEs: An analysis of
Chinese greenfield and acquisition FDI in the United States. Research in International Business
and Finance, 35, pp.88-103.
Ang, S.H., Benischke, M.H. and Doh, J.P., 2015. The interactions of institutions on foreign
market entry mode. Strategic Management Journal, 36(10), pp.1536-1553.
Dempsey, P., 2014. The Teardown: Microsoft Surface Pro 3. Engineering & Technology, 9(8),
pp.90-91.
den Hartigh, E., Ortt, J.R., van de Kaa, G. and Stolwijk, C.C., 2016. Platform control during
battles for market dominance: The case of Apple versus IBM in the early personal computer
industry. Technovation, 48, pp.4-12.
Dinnie, K., 2015. Nation branding: Concepts, issues, practice. Routledge.
Gollnhofer, J.F. and Turkina, E., 2015. Cultural distance and entry modes: implications for
global expansion strategy. Cross cultural management, 22(1), pp.21-41.
Hennart, J.F. and Slangen, A.H., 2015. Yes, we really do need more entry mode studies! A
commentary on Shaver. Journal of International Business Studies, 46(1), pp.114-122.
Knight, J., 2015. Five myths about internationalization. International Higher Education, (62).
Kraus, S., Ambos, T.C., Eggers, F. and Cesinger, B., 2015. Distance and perceptions of risk in
internationalization decisions. Journal of Business Research, 68(7), pp.1501-1505.

Competitive Strategy 10
Patton, C.R., DeLozier, M.W. and Thompson, W.W., 2015. Global Branding Policies by the Big
Three Soapmakers. In Proceedings of the 1989 Academy of Marketing Science (AMS) Annual
Conference (pp. 117-122). Springer, Cham.
Schlegelmilch, B.B., 2016. Global Branding and Communication. In Global Marketing
Strategy (pp. 153-176). Springer International Publishing.
Steenkamp, J.B., 2017. Global Brand Strategy: World-wise Marketing in the Age of Branding.
Springer.
Verbeke, A., 2013. International business strategy. Cambridge University Press.
Winston, W. and Weinstein, A., 2016. Defining your market: winning strategies for high-tech,
industrial, and service firms. Routledge.