Professional Documents
Culture Documents
School of Management
Business Strategy
Discussion
Questions
for
Enterprise
Rent-A-Car
Synopsis
Although
they
are
a
privately
held
company,
there
is
every
indication
that
Enterprise
Rent-A-Car
has
not
just
outperformed
other
car
rental
firms
over
the
last
many
yearsEnterprise
has
thrived
in
an
otherwise
low-profit
industry.
Our
case
discussion
will
examine
the
particular
assets
that
Enterprise
has
assembled
that
enable
them
to
carry
out
a
distinctive
set
of
activities
in
order
to
generate
competitive
advantage.
In
the
discussion,
we
will
pay
attention
to
the
various
aspects
of
Enterprises
strategy
that
illustrate
trade-offsthat
is,
the
extent
to
which
the
firm,
over
time,
has
given
things
up
in
order
to
better
or
more
profitably
do
what
it
does.
Assignment
Analysis
1. All
car
rental
companies
provide
customers
with
the
temporary
use
of
a
car.
How
do
Enterprises
original
target
customers
in
the
local
or
home-city
marketand
their
needs
differ
from
the
target
customers
of
their
major
competitors
such
as
Hertz
and
Avis?
How
does
Enterprise
match
(or
not)
the
needs
of
their
local
market
customers?
2. What
choices
of
assets
and
activities
has
Enterprise
made
in
order
to
provide
car
rentals
with
the
attributes
you
described
in
Question
1?
In
other
words,
what
makes
their
particular
car
rental
product
possible
and
profitable?
Pay
particular
attention
to
trade-offs.
3. Enterprises
HR
strategy
contributes
significantly
to
the
firms
success
and
consistent
profitability.
Why
are
people
so
important
to
Enterprise?
What
are
the
strengths
and
weaknesses
of
this
HR
strategy?
Are
you
troubled
by
Enterprises
high
employee
turnover
rate,
given
their
substantial
upfront
investment
in
employee
recruiting
and
training?
4. The
case
mentions
that
both
Avis
and
Hertz
have
begun
to
enter
the
local
(home-city)
car
rental
market.
Do
you
think
they
will
be
able
to
replicate
Enterprises
success
in
this
market?
Why
or
why
not?
(In
answering
this
question,
you
should
think
about
the
feedback
from
activities
to
assets.
In
other
words,
think
about
how
the
Enterprises
choice
of
activities
may
have
helped
them
create
assets
that
they
might
not
otherwise
have
had.)
Synthesis
5. What
do
we
learn
from
the
Enterprise
case?
Extension
How
do
you
think
growth
in
the
popularity
of
Zipcar
and
other
car-sharing
services
will
affect
(positively
or
negatively)
Enterprises
future
profitability?
What,
if
anything,
should
Enterprise
do
in
anticipation
of
continued
growth
in
residential
car-sharing?