Presentation on Differentiation

Description
Differentiated instruction and assessment (also known as differentiated learning or, in education, simply, differentiation) is a framework or philosophy for effective teaching that involves providing students with different avenues to acquiring content; to processing, constructing, or making sense of ideas; and to developing teaching materials and assessment measures so that all students within a classroom can learn effectively, regardless of differences in ability

Differentiation
Chapter 4

What is differentiation ???
A firm differentiates itself from its competitors if it can be unique that something that is valuable to its buyers

Drivers of Uniqueness
They are the underlying reasons why an activity is unique and they are the same factors that were studied as cost drivers

Buyer value and differentiation
• Uniqueness does not lead to differentiation unless it is valuable to the buyer • A firm can create value for a buyer in two ways 1. By lowering buyer cost 2. By raising buyer performance

Lowering buyer cost
• Lowering delivery, installation or financing cost • Lowering the required rate of usage of the product • Lower the direct costs o fusing the product • Lowering the indirect costs of using the product • Lower the risk of product failure

Raising buyer performance
• It can be done by linking products and services to status, image or prestige

Buyer perception of value
• The buyer does not fully understand how to evaluate a product for purchase as he/she may assess direct costs but forget indirect costs or is unable to gauge performance or quality of the product • Buyer’s use indications like advertising, reputation, packaging, appearance, professionalism etc to infer the value a firm will or does create. This is known as “signals of value” • Using this the firm can signal value of its products and charge a premium

Buyer purchase criteria
It can be divided into two types: 1. Use criteria: It arises from the way in which supplier affects actual buyer through lowering costs and raising buyer performance like product quality, product features, delivery time etc 2. Signaling criteria: It arises from the signals of value used by the buyer to infer or judge what a supplier’s actual value is like advertising, reputation, attractiveness of facilities

Differentiation Strategy
1. Enhance the sources of differentiation • Proliferate the sources of differentiation in the value chain • Employ signals of value to reinforce differentiation • Employ information bundled with the product to facilitate both use and signalling

Differentiation Strategy
2. Make the cost of differentiation an advantage • Exploit all sources of differentiation that are not costly • Minimise the cost of differentiation by controlling cost drivers • Reduce cost in activities that do not affect value chain

Differentiation Strategy
3. Reconfigure the value chain to be unique in new ways • A new distribution channel or selling approach • Forward integration • Backward integration • Adoption of new process technology

The sustainability of differentiation
• The firm’s sources of uniqueness involve barriers • The firm has a cost advantage in differentiation • The sources of differentiation are multiple • A firm creates switching costs at the same time it differentiates

Pitfalls in differentiation
• • • • • • Uniqueness that is not valuable Too much differentiation Too much price premium Ignoring the need to signal value Not knowing the cost of differentiation Focus on product instead on the value chain

Steps in differentiation
1. Determine who is the real buyer 2. Identify the buyer’s value chain and the firm’s impact on it 3. Determine the ranked buyer purchasing criteria 4. Assess the existing and potential sources of uniqueness in a firm's value chain 5. Identify cost of existing and potential sources of differentiation 6. Choose the configuration of value activities that creates the most valuable differentiation for the buyer relative to cost of differentiation 7. Test the differentiation strategy 8. Reduce the cost in activities that do not affect the chosen forms of differentiation



doc_100576684.ppt
 

Attachments

Back
Top