Why Use the Framework? (3)

At the level of competitive strategy, the Value Web allows you to better determine how to compete. Establishing a sustainable competitive advantage, which is the ability to create profits that exceed those of the competition, can be accomplished by identifying opportunities for superior cost management or product/service differentiation. The Value Web assists with identifying opportunities to outsource noncore activities to its network of relationships, while focusing on core competencies. It helps the firm to assess its strategic position versus other players, and to determine prioritized, strategic initiatives with the highest potential for significant returns.

Last, besides allowing a firm to survey its environment, the constituents, their relations, and the associated strategic opportunities, the Value Web also focuses attention on major trends that may affect the equilibrium. The disturbances are often of competitive nature as in the case of new market entrants, but they could also be of technological nature, stem from government-initiated deregulation efforts or shifts in cultural trends, and so forth. By grouping the Value Web’s members according to the service they provide and by arranging these groups in such a way that interdependencies become visible, a firm can attempt to discern the effects of new breakthroughs upon the balance that holds the web in place. Again, leveraging insights into potential or acute disruptions of the status quo will provide the Value Web user with the ability to change course accordingly.

As we said before, the goal for the firm is to coordinate the web, to manage and lead it, by orchestrating the constituents in an effort to enhance customer value and create competitive advantage. The Value Web analysis provides an effective foundation for any strategic project. Once the web is completed, strategic insights have been created, and a set of potential projects identified, subsequent activities include the development of business cases to evaluate each project, and the planning of an implementation process, as shown in Figure 5.3.

Taken From : Enterprise Guide to Gaining Business Value from Mobile Technologies