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INITIAL POST - As outlined there are seven common game-winning moves that can be leveraged to differentiate and strengthen competitive positioning

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INITIAL POST - As outlined there are seven common game-winning moves that can be leveraged to differentiate and strengthen competitive positioning. They include: Geographic Expansion, New Price Tiers, Vertical Integration, Moving Into Adjacent Product Segments, New Distribution Channels, Discontinuous Innovation, and Mergers & Acquisitions.

• Identify an organization in the fast food industry that used one of the seven common winning moves.
• Which move did they use and why do you think they elected to use this move?
• How effective was this move in establishing meaningful differentiation?

PART A - PLEASE RESPOND TO CLASSMATE DISCUSSION WHETHER YOU AGREE OR NOT & A DETAILED WHY: I found an article about the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine that I believe meets the criteria for this weeks discussion post. There was a brief time in which the J&J Covid 19 vaccine was pulled from circulation due to side effects that it caused to some patients ( mostly women) who suffered from blood clots. There were already two vaccines on the market that required 2 doses (Moderna and Pfizer) instead of just the one dose which J&J is offering there consumers. The traps that enclosed J&J were first mover trap as they were the first company to offer a covid vaccine that only required one dose. The other trap that enclosed J&J was sporadic-innovation trap, J&J were trying to be innovators in the covid-19 vaccination market, and in some ways it backfired. The last trap that enclosed J & J is the quality trap, J & J's vaccines are not as plentiful as their rivals due to manufacturing bottlenecks. For those consumers who were already on the fence about getting the vaccine had there fears confirmed when details came out about the side effects of the J&J's vaccine.

The FDA issued updated informational guidelines that inform vaccine recipients and doctors of the risk of blood-clotting that primarily has affected adult women under 50. The overall risk is about 1.9 cases per million people, though the risk is about 3.5 times higher for women ages 18 to 49, officials said. J&J’s shot achieves immunity with one shot rather than two as required for Pfizer's and Moderna's vaccines. J&J’s shot is easier to keep refrigerated and for longer periods .States and hospitals are taking advantage of the simpler dosing to vaccinate people who are less likely or able to return for a second shot, such as those who are homeless, people who travel frequently for business and older people confined to their homes.

PART B - PLEASE RESPOND TO CLASSMATE DISCUSSION WHETHER YOU AGREE OR NOT & A DETAILED WHY:

The article I chose is An American icon that fell victim to the competency trap. It is about Xerox. Identify the trap(s) and discuss why you believe the company’s management missed the warning signs.

The company was good at producing high end paper processing, but once email took off, paper processing started to decline because people could just send the document electronically.

The first mover trap: Xerox was very strong with paper processing and creating machines for companies that would be about to handle large amount of printing. The superiority trap: Xerox created paper processing and copiers better than most.

What were the impacts that resulted from falling for the trap(s)? Xerox did not create a strategy for the future and but then Xerox fell behind. They were so good at doing high end paper processing. Then the company had a hard time adapting as desktop computing and e-mail took off and, eventually, photocopying declined (1).

Drawing on the guidance offered by Sherman in Chapter 6, what could they have done differently to avoid the trap(s)? Looking at chapter 6 of Sherman’s book, continuous innovation on Xerox part would have helped them in avoiding the trap. Xerox has since created new products and services that has helped the company, but having a hard time adapting to change could have cost them a lot that did not need to happen. If they were more willing to grow with the changes, work with adapting to the changes, and come up with products and services, they probably would not have had the decline in their profits.