Unit 2 Assignment: Competitive Advantage and the Value Chain

The purpose of this Assignment is to confirm your understanding of the direct correlation between an effective value chain and a firm’s competitive advantage by examining the relationship between customer delight, profitability, competitive advantage, and effective value chain management.

Directions

1. Use the APA formatted Microsoft® Word® document template in Course Documents titled “Unit 2 Assignment Template Competitive Advantage” as the starting point. Download the template and save it as your own document, for example, YourNameUnit2GB570.docx.
2. Write a 4–6-page paper, not including title and reference pages, making a compelling argument as to why an effective value chain creates competitive advantage.
3. Write your paper using third person perspective (do not use first or second person pronouns; (e.g., “I,” “me,” “you,” “we”).
4. In your paper, you will examine the concepts and interrelationships of customer delight, profitability, competitive advantage, and effective value chain management by following the directions included within the Unit 2 Assignment template. Included within this examination:
   1. Discuss each of the four elements.
   2. Examine the interrelationship between the four elements.
   3. Provide two examples of companies that have been successful in this integration, two examples of companies that have not been successful in this integration, and include explanations for your choices.
5. Include a conclusion summarizing the paper’s content without introducing any new information.
6. Support your response’s content with at least three separate applied and cited references. Accepted sources are: Library article(s), the textbook and the chosen example companies’ websites. No other internet references are acceptable for the Unit 2 Assignment. Apply and cite no more than one referenced sentence per paragraph. Not every paragraph requires use of a reference; originality is appreciated. Use APA in-text citations within the response and list the applied reference(s) at the end of the response using APA formatting. APA formatting resources are available in the Academic Resources area titled, “APA Style Central.”
7. Proofread your paper, confirm correct APA formatting, run spell check and grammar check and proofread again. Submit your completed paper into the Unit 2 Assignment Dropbox.

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