Compare two industries in term of key environmental influences and

competitive forces in them. Assess and compare the bargaining power of

suppliers and bargaining power of buyers in the two industries.

Answer:
To compare two industries in term of key environmental influences and competitive forces I choose (a)
Private University Industry and (b) Fast food Industry.

Key Environmental Influences:

Political:
 Private University: To reduce the gap between the supply of and demand for higher education the
government attracts private investment in higher education sector to meet the demand for higher
education.
 Fast food Industry: Government presses the fast food chains to include healthier items on their
menus and Inspections are carried out by government agencies to ensure the quality of these products.

Economical:
 Private University: Disposable income in Bangladesh is growing at an impressive rate. It would
translate into increased expenditure in education sector. New job opportunities also increase the
demand of private university.
 Fast food Industry: Growing Bangladeshi economy is fuelling up earning level of people and People
are willing to expend more for outside food.

Social:
 Private University: In Bangladesh rural population is gradually shifting in urban area. Urban people
are more interested in quality business education than rural people.
 Fast food Industry: Health and lifestyle trends also influence the fast food industry. Consumers’
changed attitude pressed the restaurant brands to include low calorie options.

Cultural:
 Private University: It is feeling by the students that in the modern world, private university provides
ample opportunities in all the need-related disciplines.
 Fast food Industry: The Bangladeshi culture is now a day is becoming found of eating out as the part
of refreshment and sometimes also part of their daily life.
Demographic:
 Private University: Highest percentage of the total population is at the age range of 20-39. This age
group is more likely to pursue a Higher Education Degree.
 Fast food Industry: There are no longer joint families, by rapid increase in nuclear families also
creates demand of fast foods, as they are more interested towards spending on Fast food.

Technological:
 Private University: The operation system of Private University has been renovated by introducing
form fill-up using internet, payment using mobile phone & script checking using OMR machines. So,
Private University education system is incorporating technology in almost all the aspects.
 Fast food Industry: Technological factors have brought huge changes to the way brands have served
and engaged their customers. Social media and online ordering have changed the style of customer
service.

Environmental:
 Private University: A permanent campus outside the commercial area is compulsory for all the
private university. It will help to create environment for education.
 Fast food Industry: Fast food industry operators need to ensure that activities are took place to build
green environment. No operational activities create any kind of harm to natural environment .

Legal:
 Private University: Government enacted the Private University Act -2010 to provide a legal
framework for the establishment of private universities. It touches every area of private higher
education in Bangladesh.
 Fast food Industry: There are many laws and regulations in force for the fast food industry. At
present the enforcement on excessive use of plastic bags is affecting the fast food industry. ]

Competitive Forces:
Competitive forces of these two industries are:
Private University Industry Fast Food Industry
Tuition costs Product Quality
Quality of faculty Customer Satisfaction
Average class size Technology
Campus landscaping Brand Awareness
 Location of campus Price Competitiveness
Campus culture Diversification

Private University:

Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Medium):

As faculties are suppliers of private university and the scarcity of good quality faculty but high demand
increases the bargaining power of faculties. But there are many others resources also required in a private
university and there are many suppliers that compete to provide their products to private university which
limit the influence of suppliers on private university. Based on this analysis, it can be concluded that
suppliers have a medium bargaining power in the private university industry.

Bargaining Power of Buyers (Medium):

As students consider buyers of a private university and they demand good quality, a great experience
along with a good education environment they can influence private universities as there are many other
substitutes available but as the students don’t hold the power to determined tuition fees it can conclude
that the buyers have a medium bargaining power in the fast food industry.

Fast food Industry:

Bargaining Power of Suppliers (Low):
Usually fast food restaurants would get food from external sources and there are many suppliers that
compete to provide their products to fast food restaurants. In relation, there is an abundance of supply of
raw materials and ingredients. These conditions limit the influence of suppliers on fast food restaurants.

Bargaining Power of Buyers (High):

In Bangladesh buyers have high purchase power and they have lots of choice too. They demand good
quality, a great experience along with a reasonable price. Since the buyers hold the power to influence the
pricing decisions of a company, the restaurant industry is also affected by the buyer’s choice and
switching behavior.
What benefits Walton TV may have and what dangers it may face if it
benchmarks Sony TV under best-in-criteria? What can it do to overcome the
dangers in this regard?

Answer:
Benchmarking used for proper utilization of the company’s resources including the optimum utilization of
plant capacity. Benchmarking can deliver potentially powerful insights that can lead to performance
improvements for Walton TV, that’s only the case if Walton can avoid the key mistakes and pitfalls of
benchmarking.

Benefits of Benchmarking:
There are several benefits of benchmarking Walton TV may have if it benchmark SONY TV. Most of the
common benefits of the benchmarking help to improve the productivity of Walton TV. Other benefits are:

1. Implements creative ideas:

The benchmarking process will help Walton to find out their key features and after finding out the
key features of Walton TV, Walton can compare it with Sony TV to complete the picture. And if
there are any filling to be needed, then Walton can start implementing creative ideas for the Walton
TV.
2. Cope Up with Competition:
Knowing about Sony TV’s technology also Sony’s business and their strategy, will help Walton to
design its strategies efficiently. It also facilitates Walton TV to be updated with the recent
developments and technology, hence beating the market competition.
3. Initiates Technological Upgradation:
Through this strategy, Walton gets to know about the new technology and techniques which have
been adopted by the market leader (Sony TV), Walton can accordingly plan for upgradation of its
technology to sustain the competition.
4. Improve Walton’s Standards:
Walton will analyze and study the standards of the Sony TV. This facilitates the Walton to raise its
standard of production and products, accordingly.
5. Improves Efficiency:
The overall efficiency of the employee’s increases with this practice since standardization of work
motivates them to perform better without making many mistakes.
Disadvantages of Benchmarking:
As the company can receive some sort of benefits from these benchmarking processes, then it is quite
obvious that the company can be covered with some of the dangers as well. And those dangers are as
follows.

1. Stabilized Standards:
When Walton compares their working environment with Sony which is earning quite well in TV
sector and after finding out the reason for the improved success rates, Walton can incorporate those
ideas of Sony to improve their productivity. And eventually, they stabilize their standard to that one
aspect, without its course of action.
2. Lack of Information:
Walton will unable to gather all information for benchmarking. This leads to an improper or poor
comparison of the Walton TV’s performance with Sony TV.
3. Increases Dependency:
If Walton tends to depend on Sony’s strategies to become successful. In this process of following the
market leaders, they sacrifice their individuality and uniqueness and starts following the path shown
by others.
4. Lack of understanding:
At times, Walton adopts benchmarking for the sake of doing so, rather than finding out the necessity
of it. It fails to understand its weaknesses while keeping an eye on the functioning of Sony TV.
5. Costly Affair:
It requires a team of experienced personnel who have excellent analytical skills and expertise in the
area. Thus, increasing the administrative expenses of Walton. Even the implementation of the
changes involves capital expenditure at times.

How to get it right:

The first critical step is to see benchmarking as only a part of the performance measurement picture, not
the complete picture. To really understand and improve performance Walton need a combination of
benchmarks, forward-looking KPIs, targets, a strategy map, and projects/initiatives that deliver change.
Walton needs to clearly map out their strategic goals and focus on the KPIs and benchmarks that link to
their strategic goals. These are the measures that will have the most impact on business performance.
Then Walton can use what the data tells them to better understand and predict performance, and use that
information to plan projects, initiatives and changes that will improve future performance.