Using Porters Five Forces Model to Evaluate Movie Rentals

Using Porters Five Forces Model to Evaluate Movie Rentals Free Online Research Papers One hotly contested and highly competitive industry is the movie rental business. You can rent videos from local video rental stores, you can order pay-per-view from the comfort of your own home, and you can rent videos from the Web at such sites as NetFlix. Using Porters Five Forces Model, evaluate the relative attractiveness of entering the movie rental business. Is buyer power low or high? Is supplier power low or high? Which substitute products and services are perceived as threats? Can new entrants easily enter the market? What are the barriers to entry? What is the level of rivalry among existing competitors? What is your overall view of the movie rental business? Is it a good or bad industry to enter? Why? The model I will be using to evaluate the relative attractiveness of entering the movie rental business is the Redbox model. Redbox has become a leader in kiosk DVD rentals with low prices and ease of renting movies. Buying power is high in the general video market because there are many choices for consumers. However Redbox because of their low overhead costs, machines versus people, they can offer their product at a lower price giving them a competitive advantage. Even though prices for newer types of DVD’s (Blu-ray) have gone up, consumers are still only willing to pay a set price for that product, so companies make less of a profit on each sale, Supplier power is low because there are only a few distributors and they all sell their products at similar price levels. The bargaining power of the customer determines the pressure customers put on a particular market. Redbox’s business model considers this in the following ways: Customers generally do not buy large volumes of the product. There are only a few operators in the industry. The fixed cost by suppliers is high, but this applies to competitors as well. There is really no legal substitute for the product. Customers are price-sensitive, but Redbox provides the product cheaper then all of its competitors. Customers cannot produce the product. The product is of strategically importance – entertainment. The threat of alternative products does not exist. It is only the distribution of the product that has alternative modes. The customer gets the same brand of the same quality with Redbox as with any other seller in the industry. There is no notable difference in the price for performance – except the ease of obtaining Redbox’s products. One of the downsides of the Redbox model is there is no direct customer service. However, customer service can be accessed online but it is not immediate. Redbox’s business model deals with the different pressures of new entrants in the following ways: Competition would have to develop an enterprise of significant size to be considered a threat. The have secured many of the prize locations for their kiosks (Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, Walgreen’s). A company would be hard pressed to find better locations to compete on the same level as redbox. Considering the volume of hardware, software and personnel; the initial cost to competitors would be very high. The machines are extremely expensive plus having the software and personnel to run them are another cost barrier. Existing competitors, (Blockbusters, Netflix) though experienced, are not prepared to compete in a kiosk rental capacity. But Blockbuster is moving in that direction. Blockbuster has said that they will close some of their stores and put in kiosks instead. The new business will be called Blockbuster Express. The loyalty in this industry is to the product, not the distributor. Existing competitors will have to completely reinvent their business to compete in that market. Most competitors’ strategies are out-dated and are playing catch up to Redbox’s business model, The product is the same between competitors; it is Redbox’s kiosk presence and price point that makes it more attractive. The market growth is constant. Rivalry among competitors is very high and they are always looking for more ways to bring the customer to them and away from the competition. They use advertising, promotions, and price cuts to get customers to use them. Redbox has done a good job of competing by using the low price of its product verses its competition. Before Redbox, an average rental was between three and four dollars for one or two nights. With redbox lowering the price to one dollar a night and using the convenience of an ATM style platform, it set the competitors scrambling to match that price point. I have a different view of the movie industry then most because I have owned my own video rental store for the last ten years. When I first started out, we only had VHS tapes and they were very expensive to buy for rentals, but this was offset by the fact that you could not buy new releases at Wal-Mart for 30 to 45 days after their initial release. So the customer had to rent from you, if they wanted to see the movie sooner. With the invention of the DVD, the studios began selling to Wal-Mart on the same day it came out at the video store. So now customers could buy it instead of renting it. For the store, my cost came down, but so did the profits. Then with Redbox entering the market the total price point changed. The dollar price point does not leave much room for profit unless there is a large turnover. The small mom and pop stores are hard pressed to compete in this market because they can not buy in volume or sell as many products to make it affordable. The movie rental business is still a good business to enter because there will always be a demand for movie rentals. Not everyone is interested in owning all of the movies that come out. However, if I were starting my business today, I would not open a brick and mortar store; I would try to get into the kiosk market. However, I would do it in a way that would be unique. I would enter smaller markets with less competition and sell my product at a higher price than Redbox, but cheaper then the brick and mortar stores. I would also offer movies that are hard to get or have a cult following, such as John Wayne movies. The movie rental business is not dead, but the rules have definitely changed. slashfilm.com/2009/09/16/blockbuster-may-close-20-of-locations-is-the-chains-future-kiosk-only Research Papers on Using Porter's Five Forces Model to Evaluate Movie RentalsAnalysis of Ebay Expanding into AsiaRiordan Manufacturing Production PlanDefinition of Export QuotasMarketing of Lifeboy Soap A Unilever ProductIncorporating Risk and Uncertainty Factor in CapitalBionic Assembly System: A New Concept of SelfOpen Architechture a white paperWhere Wild and West MeetNever Been Kicked Out of a Place This NicePETSTEL analysis of India

Free sample - Participative Leadership. translation missing

Participative Leadership. Participative LeadershipParticipative Leadership The purpose of this paragraph is to analyze Rok’s article â€Å"People and skills Ethical context of the participative leadership model: taking people into account† (2009). In this article, Rok states that participative leadership is a leadership that involves employees across levels of the hierarchy in decision-making. Participatory systems allow employees and external strategy, protects organizational responsiveness, and holds the managers accountable. Rok also states that it is possible for employees to participate, and when they do participate they see the whole system as one with equal opportunities for all, as a system that is more fair (2009, p. 468). Spreitzer claims that Participative Leaders expect from their subordinates to create and implement various decisions. They might seek from employees to participate in making important decisions and to evaluate others’ ideas or points of view. They might show more tolerant behavior to their employees when it comes to differences in the organization, because they know those differences can upgrade and bring better quality to making decisions. (2007, p. 1090). Bainbridge supports Speitzer, claiming that Participative Management style is a style that requires involvement of employees by â€Å"creating formal mechanisms through which employee voices can be heard† (1996, p. 25) by the managers that make decisions and, sometimes, by letting employees to state their opinion in the making of decisions. Participatory style might lead to greater job satisfaction, which, combined with the flexible work rules, results in a greater intensity of effort from that workers are willing to invest when dealing with tasks (1996, p. 25). Kahai also claims that a participative leader would encourage his followers to contribute when the problem-solving situation occur, without instructing any directions on how to approach the task that needs to be solved (et al. 2004, p. 72). Participative Leadership encourages involvement and participation of employees in making decisions related to the work of an organisation. They are more tolerant to opinion-differences and can provide employees with greater job satisfaction. Directive Leadership The purpose of this paragraph is to analyze Kahai’s article â€Å"Effects of Participative and Directive Leadership in Electronic Groups† (2004). In this article, Kahai states that the directive leaders present themselves as the ones in charge during solving problems and provided, and gave the directions to participants. Directive leadership improves performance by supporting participants to focus on relevant aspects of a problem (2004. p. 94). The structure that directive leader provided was relevant for keeping participants focused on relevant aspects of the tasks when the task was less structured (2004, p. 96). Andrews has also suggested that directive leaders make decisions, they allocate resources and direct action of their employees in order for them to complete the task (1998, p. 131). This type of leader can be related to traditional notions of a transactional leader (1998, p. 133). Pearce have stated that this type of leadership relies on power of the position (legitimate power). Directive leaders often use directions, give commands and use intimidation as main mechanisms to control subordinate behavior (2003, p. 275). He has, also, claimed that directive leaders initiated activities within the group, organized their activity, defined how the work has to be done, established clear and precise communication, supports achievement of a goal, assigned tasks to employees, suggested some views to the problems, and coordinated activities of subordinates (2003, p. 277). Directive Leadership excludes employees from decision-making process and determines how the work has to be done. This type of leadership should be preferred when tasks are less structured and when participants need to focus on relevant aspects of a problem. Entrepreneurial Leadership The purpose of this paragraph is to analyze Fl?istad’s article â€Å"Entrepreneurial Leadership† (1991). In this article, Fl?istad states that the entrepreneurial culture is a creative culture, which care about their employees, and this culture recognizes and supports employee's individual capabilities and talents. Instead of deciding what others must do, the task in this less pyramidal, organisation is under the influence of circumstances. Organisation supports employees' active participation in creative processes, and it allows employees to demonstrate and achieve their maximum (1991, p. 30). The group presents itself with several alternative ideas and solutions between which to decide (1991, p. 31). Prabhu suggests entrepreneurial leaders might have a mission that is the social change and development of their client group. These leaders are considered to have high levels of emotional energy, which can be seen in the persistence shown by them. They are capable of withstanding social censure, they are sensitive to feelings of others, can develop clear organisational vision, can develop confidence in employees, can think creatively, and they can work for long periods (1999, p. 142,143).   Peters have stated that entrepreneurial leader has an influence on the way employees evaluate job as finally only they are responsible to motivate employees (2005, p. 576). Ng and Thorpe stated that Entrepreneurial Leadership might be helpful to some organizations to grow and survive under family control (2010, p. 457). Entrepreneurial Leadership is committed welfare of their employees. It recognizes and supports employee's individual capabilities and talents, supports employees' active participation in process of decision-making and encourages employees’ creativity when dealing with tasks. References Andrews, J.P., Field, R.H.G. (1998). Regrounding the concept of leadership. Leadership Organization Development Journal 19/3, pp. 128–136 Bainbridge, S. M. (1996). Participatory Management within a Theory of the Firm. Available at SSRN: Fl?istad, G. (1991). Entrepreneurial Leadership. Leadership Organization Development Journal, Vol. 12 No. 7, 1991, pp. 28-31, Gretchen Spreitzer (2007). â€Å"Participative Organizational Leadership, Empowerment, and Sustainable Peace†, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Volume 28, Issue 8, pages 1077-1095 Kahai,   S.S., Sosik, J.J., Avolio, B.J. (2004). Effects of Participative and Directive Leadership in Electronic Groups. Group Organization Management   29: 67 Ng, W., Thorpe, R. (2010).Not another study of great leaders Entrepreneurial leadership in a mid-sized family firm for its further growth and development. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behaviour Research Vol. 16 No. 5, pp. 457-476 Pearce, C.L., Sims Jr, H.P., Cox, J.F., Ball, B., Schnell, E., Smith, K.A., Trevino, L. (2003). Transactors, transformers and beyond A multi-method development of a theoretical typology of leadership. Journal of Management Development Vol. 22 No. 4, pp. 273-307 Peters, M. (2005). Entrepreneurial skills in leadership and human resource management evaluated by apprentices in small tourism businesses. Education à ¾ Training Vol. 47 No. 8/9, 2005 pp. 575-591 Prabhu, G.N. (1999). Social entrepreneurial leadership. Career Development International 4/3, 140–145 Rok, B. (2009). People and skills Ethical context of the participative leadership model: taking people into account. Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Vol. 9 No. 4 2009, pp. 461-47