Porter’s Model: A Competitive Framework
Different competitive strategies are required for any organization in the long-run business situations so that they can peek ahead in the competitive market. The application of these strategies defines the way that can be followed for gaining success in the market amongst the high competition. Porter’s model is one of such strategies that have been highlighted in the study for its effectiveness in the activities of Quebecor Printing. Its position in the market is the determinant of its profitability if it is higher or lower than that of the industry average. Such situations can be procured through sustainable competitive advantage situations, which are initiated by Porter’s Model (Firoz Suleman et al. 2019). This model highlights the critical factors of competitive advantage that can be defined in brief.
Differentiation: It helps a firm in becoming unique in the market through changes in some dimensions associated with the customers. With the increase in the firm’s value in the customers’ eyes, it can be said that the firm has used differentiation. This is also helpful in maintaining a unique position of an organization in its industry, which is required for increasing sales, thus, increasing its profit level.
Low Cost: It is required for a firm to keep the prices low in order to capture the lion share of a competitive market. This can only be achieved through becoming a low-cost producer so that cost advantage can be received. For this, firms can make use of economies of scale, procurement of raw materials based on preference, advanced technology services, and several other factors (Chen, 2019). It is one of the essential keys to attain competitive gain and high profitability.
Application in Quebecor’s Activities
The factors of Porter’s model can be successfully applied in the operations of Quebecor Printing. Though with its acquisition actions, it is capable of lowering the number of competitors in the domestic market, the strategy will be required in case Quebecor Printing wants to globalize its operations (Chen, 2019). With this, several benefits can be explored by Quebecor Printing, which can be identified below:
- As currently Quebecor is focused on personalized services, the strategies of Porter’s model can help in utilizing the low cost and differentiation factors in the most effective way so that high profits can be extracted from this process. However, as the products will be based on customer choices and requirements, it is best for Quebecor to prepare a selective list of printing services, from which the customers can choose as per their demands.
- It can help in developing new techniques of marketing, which are required for targeting probable customers. For increasing profitability, it is vital to attract customers with unique marketing processes.
- The production techniques can be changed with this strategy, which is required for cutting down overall costs along with the production time. It is required to keep pace with increasing customer demands.
- Quality of its services can be maintained with Porter’s Model, for which it is essential in choosing the right category of raw materials. It requires assessing their quality from various suppliers in the market. It is to be remembered that quality is the first priority of every customer, which will require Quebecor to maintain high-quality products.
All the mentioned benefits can be received by Quebecor Printing through the use of Porter’s Model, which is useful in increasing its profitability level in its industry during its international operations.