Becoming a Hybrid Company: Competition Strategies in A Digital Age

In a 10-year period, Apple Inc. grew 100 times bigger to become the largest company in the world. How can a computer company grow bigger than an oil company? Is such growth due to technology or strategy? We all know that the Internet has a long-tail effect that allows niche markets to expand into major sectors of the economy. We also know that the connected electronic network makes competition keener. To any network-mediated platform, technology matters. However, adopting the right strategy can magnify a business by 10 or even 100 times. This book looks into hybrid competition strategies that integrate both hardware strategies and software strategies. The covered topics include network effect, penguin effect, pricing strategies, bundling and packaging, winner-take-all effect, envelopment attacks, fast follower strategies, cannibalization, and Galapagos syndrome. It uses examples that are easy to understand. Examples include strategies adopted by Apple, Samsung, Amazon, Google, Microsoft, NTT DoCoMo, Facebook, and others. This book is suitable for MBA or EMBA students, and those managers and professionals who are interested in self-study. It provides takeaways at the end of each chapter for summary.