Umuc Haircuts: Stage One Case Studies Example

Introduction

The opening of a new Hair Cuttery has increased pressure on Myra, the owner of UMUC Haircuts, to scan the business industry and find out new ways to achieve and sustain competitive business position. The major problem identified is that the customers and employees are causing problem to Myra that needs a proper scheduling to ease the process which forces the business to use a technology solution. The use of technology solution will speed up the process and update UMUC Haircuts with current technology. Thus, the paper will discuss Porter’s five forces model, strategies for competitive advantage and change in business process for the problems identified by UMUC Haircuts.

Five Forces Analysis

The Porter's Five Forces analysis helps to analyze the existing competition within the industry in which a firm is operating (Riley, 2012). The following table shows analysis of each force for UMUC Haircuts and provides its positive, negative or neutral impact. Moreover, the table also provides view point whether each force will affect Myra’s strategy, i.e., incorporating the technology solution and scheduling of customers and employees at the UMUC Haircuts.

FIVE FORCES ANALYSIS

Justification of Selected Strategy for Competitive Advantage
The strategy of operational effectiveness will work well for the current situation that is being experienced by Myra. The operational effectiveness strategy helps to improve the business process by improving the internal process (Hemmatfar, Salehi and Bayat, 2010). The threat of substitute services and large number of rivals in the industry has increased the demand of introducing technology solutions to UMUC Haircuts. In addition, the reason behind incorporating technology solution in the business is to minimize the threat of new entrants in the industry. Thus, the strategy of operational effectiveness will have positive impact on the UMUC Haircuts to improve its business proves and achieve competitive advantage.

Business Process

The improvement in the business process through operational effectiveness strategy will allow UMUC Haircuts to easily schedule employees and customers. In general, the use of technology solution in any organization helps to schedule clients and employees in an improved way which will help to increase operational effectiveness and achieve competitive advantage from rivals. Moreover, the use of technology solutions have positive impact on customers as through it, the organizations can inform clients about their appointments, send discount advertisements, update client and employee database, set training schedules, set structure of pay scale of employees etc. Thus, the change in business process, i.e., incorporating technology solution will help UMUC Haircuts to achieve competitive edge from its rivals.

References

Hemmatfar, M., Salehi, M., and Bayat, M. (2010). Competitive Advantages and Strategic Information Systems. International Journal of Business and Management, 5 (7), 158-169.
Riley, J. (2012). Porter's Five Forces Model: Analysing industry structure. Retrieved from http://www.tutor2u.net/business/strategy/porter_five_forces.htm