【正文】 ome myths about lowcost businesses. The Sustainability of LowCost Businesses Be it in the classroom or the boardroom, executives invariably ask me the same question: Are lowcost businesses a permanent, enduring threat? Most managers believe they aren’t。 Olufsen do. Continually innovate in the tradition of Gillette and 3M. Offer a unique product mix, like that of Sharper Image and Whole Foods. Brand a munity 224。 and finally differentiated its services in several ways. BA now concentrates on longhaul flights, for which there are no lowcost carriers. In the shorthaul market, the carrier has held on to some market share by emulating the best practices of lowcost rivals, such as persuading customers to use electronic tickets. On every flight, BA offer。 Olufsen is able to pete effectively against lowcost electronics manufacturers with its design capabilities. That approach works well because the Danish pany also keeps introducing new products, cultivates an upscale brand image, and invests time and money in creating coollooking retail outlets. Second, panies must be able to persuade consumers to pay for benefits. The ability to do so usually depends on the products they sell. For instance, Gillette, finding that it can push the ―closer shave‖ envelope for men, has launched the Atra, Atra Plus, Sensor, Sensor Excel, Mach 3, Mach 3 Turbo, and Centro shaving systems at ever higher prices over the past 20 years. However, when the pany deployed a similar strategy for Duracell batteries by emphasizing longer life, many consumers balked at paying higher prices after a certain point. That’s because they found it almost impossible to notice the better performance and longer life of Duracell Ultra batteries. Energizer and Rayovac fought back by offering more batteries for the same price, which negated Duracell Ultra’s longlife advantage. Eventually, Gillette had to back away from this differentiation gambit. Many panies find it tough to persuade consumers to pay for additional benefits. A small premium for greater services or benefits is a powerful defense, as Target and Walgreens have shown. Target stocks inexpensive kitchenware and clothes developed by wellknown designers such as Michael Graves and Isaac Mizrahi. It charges a bit more for products of better quality and design than those WalMart sells. In like vein, Walgreens emphasizes convenience by setting up its stores close to shopping centers and providing drivethrough windows for pickups, promising short checkout lines, and offering easy navigation because of smart store layouts. Both Target and Walgreens have therefore managed to hold their own against WalMart. All too often, though, incumbents incur huge costs in order to deliver benefits, forcing them to ask for price premiums so large that they drive away consumers. The third condition necessary for a successful differentiation strategy is simple: Companies must bring costs and benefits in line before implementing it. That takes time. After years of restructuring, HewlettPackard may finally be catching up with Dell in the personal puter business. HP has shrunk Dell’s cost advantage from 20% to 10%, and since average PC prices have fallen, the absolute difference in prices is relatively small. Consumers are shopping for HP puters once again because of such benefits as instant delivery and the ability to see, feel, and touch products in stores. Unless sizable numbers of consumers demand additional benefits, however, panies may have to yield some markets to the price warriors. Take the case of British Airways, which initially ignored lowcost rivals such as easyJet and Ryanair。 they deliver the basic product or provide one benefit better than rivals do。s price change or another potential entry into the market 出處： Harvard Business Review,Sept 01,2020 (二） 標題： Strategies to Fight LowCost Rivals 原文： It’s easier to fight the enemy you know than one you don’t. With galeforce winds of petition lashing every industry, panies must invest a lot of money, people, and time to fight archrivals. They find it tough, challenging, and yet strangely reassuring to take on familiar opponents, whose ambitions, strategies, weaknesses, and even strengths resemble their own. CEOs can easily pare their game plans and prowess with their doppelg228。 petitor issues, such as a rival’s cost structures, capabilities, and strategic positioning。 T’s stock dropped % the day of the announcement. MCI’s stock price dropped %。 T acknowledged that revenue from its consumer longdistance business was falling, and the pany cut its longdistance rates to 7 cents per minute all day, everyday, for a monthly fee of $ . AT amp。 pany issues such as a business’s cost structures, capabilities, and strategic positioning。s regular price in response to a petitor39。 they’re convinced that a business that sells at prices dramatically lower than those incumbents charge must go bankrupt. They cite the experience of . airlines, which, after the industry’s deregulation in the 1980s, succeeded in beating off cutprice providers such as People Express. What they fet is that lowcost airlines soon reemerged. By slashing fares and cutting frills, entrants like Southwest Airlines and JetBlue have grabbed a chunk of America’s domestic air travel market. Unlike their predecessors, they’re making money hand over fist, too. Successful price warriors stay ahead of bigger rivals by using several tactics: They focus on just one or a few consumer segments。 la HarleyDavidson and Red Bull. Sell experiences, as Four Seasons, Nordstrom, and Starbucks do. Since the tactics I’ve mentioned are wellknown, I will not discuss them in detail. My research shows, however, that three conditions determine their efficacy. First, smart businesses don’t use these tactics in isolation. For instance, Bang a