Business

What competitive advantages does Riordan have, and which competitive strategies should Riordan utilize to improve innovation and sustainability in both domestic and international applications' – For an organization to be able to prosper, it must take into consideration the competitive advantage the organization has over its competitors and the competitive stratiges it must use. Competitive advantage is described as an advantage that a company may have over its competitors which o increases sales and margins as well as creating more customers. An organization also has an edge over its competitors when it is able to generate greater value for its company and its shareholders. Riordan consists of several competitive advantages which includes vision and mission statement of the organization, the use of total quality management in the manufacturing processes along with Six Sigma, and research and development. The organization uses the vision and mission for communicating its goals relating the focus, employees, customer relations, and the future. The company focuses on quality of its manufacturing processes in the course of the use of Six Sigma, this works toward ISO9000 international quality standards. With the use of Six Sigma assists the organization by ensuring quality in its products thus creating a strong core competency that is defined as competitive advantage. Another core competency that represents a competitive advantage for the organization would be the research and development department. Although for an organization to be able to sustain these competitive advantages, it must create competitive strategies. There are numerous strategies that exist for Riordan to use in improving innovation and sustainability in both the United States and the international market. One of the strategies would the strategy of product differentiation this would help company by using its core competence of R&D and budgeted monetary resources for its studies and focus groups toward evaluating both the domestic and international market trends. The differentiation strategy provides the necessary framework that will allow an organization to use its current resources without adhering additional expenses when working toward increasing the organization’s growth potential. The company prides itself on the manufacturing quality products using Six Sigma that exceeds the international ISO9000 standards. Since the global market is considered larger than the domestic market, it would be considered a differentiation this would propel Riordan above its competitors in any market. Therefore, the organization should take advantage of its core competencies by using the differentiation strategy. By this it will create a support in the growth of the organization’s initiatives. Another strategy that would complement Rioran’s focus on the innovation and sustainability is the research and development strategy, this strategy is created and used by the research and development department. “R&D strategy is both an input to and an outcome of the business strategy. In its preliminary state it provides a key basis for the identification, evaluation and selection of business opportunities and therefore, a set of options for the direction of a business” (Manoski, 2002). The organization currently uses this strategy however, since the company will be going global it would be in the best interest for the organization to refine or retune the research and development strategy.