Discussion—Competitive Advantage and Globalization Competitive advantage implies the creation of a system that has a unique advantage over competitors.

Assignment 2: Discussion—Competitive Advantage and Globalization
Competitive advantage implies the creation of a system that has a unique advantage over competitors. With the advent of globalization, the competition has become stronger and can be located anywhere in the world. The idea behind competitive advantage is to create customer value in an efficient and sustainable way. One approach to address this issue would be the use of resource-based theories of competitive advantage.
Resources are not simply raw materials but include all the inputs, such as intellectual capital, necessary to produce a good or service. Consider this as you address globalization strategies for Fortune 500 firms in this assignment. Be mindful of constraints, such as transportation costs and cultural barriers, as you complete this assignment.
Review the article “Resource-Based Theories of Competitive Advantage: A Ten-Year Retrospective on the Resource-Based View” by J. B. Barney from the readings for this module.
Based on your analysis of this article and other readings for this module, respond to the following:

• Explain how resource-based competitive advantage drives globalization strategies for Fortune 500 firms.
• Why are application of project management principles critical to effective business operations?

Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120. (ProQuest Document ID: 215258436)http://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=auo&turl=http://search.proquest.com/docview/215258436
Barney, J. B. (2001). Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. Journal of Management, 27(6), 643–650. Retrieved fromhttp://www.thecampuscommon.com/library/ezproxy/ticketdemocs.asp?sch=auo&turl=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=bth&AN=5777193&site=ehost-live
By Saturday, August 29, 2015, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, September 2, 2015, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses.
Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation

Do the following when responding to your peers:

• Read your peers’ answers.
• Provide substantive comments by
• contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources;
• building on the remarks or questions of others; or
• sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences
• Respond to feedback on your posting and provide feedback to other students on their ideas.
• Make sure your writing
• is clear, concise, and organized;
• demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and
• displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Grading Criteria

Assignment Components	Max Points
Initial response was: Insightful, original, accurate, and timely. Substantive and demonstrated advanced understanding of concepts. Compiled/synthesized theories and concepts drawn from a variety of sources to support statements and conclusions.	16
Discussion Response and Participation: Responded to a minimum of two peers in a timely manner. Offered points of view supported by research. Asked challenging questions that promoted discussion. Drew relationships between one or more points in the discussion.	16
Writing: Wrote in a clear, concise, formal, and organized manner. Responses were error free. Information from sources, where applicable, was paraphrased appropriately and accurately cited.	8
Total: Assignment 1: Discussion—Outsourcing: A Strategic Advantage? Outsourcing may provide tremendous advantages for firms. It may allow companies to specialize, reduce costs, and focus narrowly on the core competencies they deem strategic; however, companies also have to think about what they may lose both qualitatively and quantitatively. For example, when outsourcing, managers need to be certain that what they source from outside is not a key component of their value proposition. A way to reduce those risks is to use an approach called vertical integration. The meaning of vertical integration is developing the ability to produce goods or services previously purchased or to actually buy a supplier or a distributor. It can take two forms: backward and forward. These forms relate to how the corporation moves in its supply chain to pursue the vertical integration. If the movement is towards the suppliers, it is called backward integration. Conversely, it is known as forward integration. Using the module readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, research outsourcing. Based on your research, respond to the following: What are the risks and benefits of the outsourcing approach? What are the strategic advantages of outsourcing to vertically integrated firms? By Saturday, September 5, 2015, post your response to the appropriateDiscussion Area. Through Wednesday, September 9, 2015, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses. Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation Do the following when responding to your peers: Read your peers’ answers. Provide substantive comments by contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources; building on the remarks or questions of others; or sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences Respond to feedback on your posting and provide feedback to other students on their ideas. Make sure your writing is clear, concise, and organized; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Grading Criteria Assignment Components Max Points Initial response was: Insightful, original, accurate, and timely. Substantive and demonstrated advanced understanding of concepts. Compiled/synthesized theories and concepts drawn from a variety of sources to support statements and conclusions. 16 Discussion Response and Participation: Responded to a minimum of two peers in a timely manner. Offered points of view supported by research. Asked challenging questions that promoted discussion. Drew relationships between one or more points in the discussion. 16 Writing: Wrote in a clear, concise, formal, and organized manner. Responses were error free. Information from sources, where applicable, was paraphrased appropriately and accurately cited. 8 Total: 40 CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS, GET A NON PLAGIARIZED PAPER FROM OUR EXPERTS…… CLICK HERE AND ORDER NOW……………………….  ssignment 1: Discussion—General Electric Sustained profits come from building a competitive advantage. This advantage can be accomplished not only through good financial return on a specific process but also through the correct capacity decisions that must be integrated into the organization’s mission and strategy. Jack Welch, former CEO of General Electric (GE), understood this better than anyone else. Although GE was a profitable and respected company when Welch took over, its financial results during the1970s were troubling to both its investors and senior management. Welch immediately made changes to the company’s structure and management practices. From the beginning, he stressed the importance of being one of the top players in the industry. He told his colleagues that GE should always be number one or number two in all its businesses; if it was not, then their only options would be to fix, sell, or shut down. Because of this strategic direction, GE today usually dominates the markets in which it participates; and if it does not, then it divests. A major part of GE’s strategy is to be the first or second in every market. As you review the module readings for this week, consider the complexity of GE’s products and its emphasis on vertical integration and capacity planning. GE’s Profile The General Electric Company, or GE, is a diversified company that offers infostructure, media and finance products and services. The company was originally founded by electrical innovator Thomas Edison. It is also listed as one of the most admired companies, ranking as number one in electronics and 16th overall according to Fortune Magazine. For the company's innovation focus, it was ranked as one of the world's most innovative companies byBusiness Week. GE’s Reach The General Electric Company is organized into 5 divisions including “’NBC Universal", "Technology Infrastructure", "Consumer & Industrial", "Energy Infrastructure" and "Capital Finance". The company functions in over 100 countries and has over 300,000 employees. For 2009, the company achieved $11.2 billion in earnings and an industrial cash flow of $16.6 billion. Effective January 1, 2011, it reorganized the Technology Infrastructure segment into three segments: Aviation, Healthcare and Transportation. Services Chemicals, Petrochemicals, and Fertilizers Food & Beverage Government & Public Administration Metals and Metals Fabrication Mining (Coal, Minerals, Metals) Oil & Gas Upstream Power Generation GE. (2013). The History of General Electric. Retrieved fromhttp://www.ge.com/about-us/history/1878-1904. GE. (2013). GE fact sheet. Retrieved from http://www.ge.com/pdf/news/GE-Fact-Sheet.pdf Using the information above, the module readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, respond to the following: How does GE’s framework give it the opportunity to be at the forefront of the markets in which it participates? Examine your own firm or a firm you would like to work for in the light of GE’s framework and respond to the following: Does this firm have the means to execute like GE? Which type of resources would the firm require? How could GE’s lessons be applied to this firm? By Saturday, September 12, 2015, post your response to the appropriateDiscussion Area. Through Wednesday, September 16, 2015, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses related to their firm of choice. Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation Do the following when responding to your peers: Read your peers’ answers. Provide substantive comments by contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources; building on the remarks or questions of others; or sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences Respond to feedback on your posting and provide feedback to other students on their ideas. Make sure your writing is clear, concise, and organized; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Grading Criteria Assignment 1: Discussion—Supply Chain Management as a Value Driver A successful supply chain strategy includes good design and implementation. However, supply chain strategy is not considered truly successful until there is a measurable contribution to the bottom line. To be successful, managers must plan, forecast, and execute the operational plan as well as face and overcome the organizational, partner-based, and personnel-based factors that can diminish value. Effective supply chain management continues to grow in importance as a competitive differentiator for most companies. However, most companies fail to realize a competitive advantage or value for the customer. Using the module readings, Argosy University online library resources, and the Internet, research supply chain management. As you examine the readings in this module, consider how change affects all stakeholders in the supply chain and apply those reflections to the following questions: What do you consider are some of the problems that affect supply chain management success? Using at least two current examples, discuss effective supply chain strategies that were used by a company to positively impact organizational effectiveness and yield desirable results. By Saturday, September 19, 2015, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, September 23, 2015, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses. Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation Do the following when responding to your peers: Read your peers’ answers. Provide substantive comments by contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources; building on the remarks or questions of others; or sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences Respond to feedback on your posting and provide feedback to other students on their ideas. Make sure your writing is clear, concise, and organized; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution Reflect on the readings for this module as well as those from previous modules when you consider this module’s discussion question. In your response, take into account the time constraints on modern businesses in terms of time to market and demand for innovation. As an aside, and not as part of the assignment, you may wish to consider how your answers would or would not change if you were considering a craftsmen-type or vertically-integrated business. Based on the above information and on your reflection of the readings for the course, respond to the following: If continuous improvement is the key to remain competitive, then why do firms codify so many processes into enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems? Does this limit innovation and if so, how can that risk be reduced? If you were an ERP vendor what would be your perspective? By Monday, September 28, 2015, post your response to the appropriate Discussion Area. Through Wednesday, September 30, 2015, review and comment on at least two peers’ responses. Write your initial response in 300–500 words. Your response should be thorough and address all components of the discussion question in detail, include citations of all sources, where needed, according to the APA Style, and demonstrate accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation Do the following when responding to your peers: Read your peers’ answers. Provide substantive comments by contributing new, relevant information from course readings, Web sites, or other sources; building on the remarks or questions of others; or sharing practical examples of key concepts from your professional or personal experiences Respond to feedback on your posting and provide feedback to other students on their ideas. Make sure your writing is clear, concise, and organized; demonstrates ethical scholarship in accurate representation and attribution of sources; and displays accurate spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Grading Criteria Assignment Components Max Points Initial response was: Insightful, original, accurate, and timely. Substantive and demonstrated advanced understanding of concepts. Compiled/synthesized theories and concepts drawn from a variety of sources to support statements and conclusions. 16 Discussion Response and Participation: Responded to a minimum of two peers in a timely manner. Offered points of view supported by research. Asked challenging questions that promoted discussion. Drew relationships between one or more points in the discussion. 16 Writing: Wrote in a clear, concise, formal, and organized manner. Responses were error free. Information from sources, where applicable, was paraphrased appropriately and accurately cited. 8 Total: CLICK HERE TO GET A PROFESSIONAL WRITER TO WORK ON THIS PAPER AND OTHER SIMILAR PAPERS, GET A NON PLAGIARIZED PAPER FROM OUR EXPERTS…… CLICK HERE AND ORDER NOW……………………….