Entellium 1

ENTELLIUM, DIGG, PEERFLIX, ZAPPOS, AND JIGSAW CASE STUDY
(ASSIGNMENT1......1st SEMESTER Fall-2019)
Submitted by
BY
Tamoor Safdar
Bilawal Hussain
19014954-027
19014954-011
MCOM-306 (Management Information System)
M.Com A
Sir Awais javaid
Department of Commerce
UNIVERSITY OF GUJRAT
ENTELLIUM, DIGG, PEERFLIX, ZAPPOS, AND JIGSAW
SUCCESS FOR SECOND MOVERS IN E-COMMERCE

Summary:
The case speaks about second movers and front-runners in a competing market. The second mover
watches the first mover’s every move, gauging when and where to make a bid for gold. There are no safe
leads. The second mover advantage seems more substantial for companies that use the Internet as the
home base for their businesses.
The case highlights to battle established leaders where one would need the right product and strategy, and
a big dose of savvy. Also highlighted are five strategies to “show up after the starting gun and still come
out on top”.
The first strategy is to ‘be better, faster, cheaper and easier’ than the competition (Entellium vs.
Salesforce.com). The second strategy is to ‘trip up the incumbents with tactics from other fields’ (Digg
vs. Slashdot). The third strategy is to ‘swipe the business models of market leaders and start your own
race’ (Peerflix vs. Netflix). The fourth strategy is to ‘follow the biggest leader you can find’ (Zappos vs.
online shoe sellers and brick-and-mortar shoe stores); and finally, ‘aim for the leader’s Achilles’ heel’
(Jigsaw vs. Hoovers).
If all these strategies are achieved, it would be easy for a second mover to become the market leader.
Case Study Questions:

1) Is the second-mover advantage always a good business strategy? Defend your answer
with examples of the companies in this case.
The case makes reference to Olympic speed skating, where they state that skater two gets to conserve
precious energy by drafting behind skater one. The number two runner watches the front runner’s every
move to know when to push forward to make a bid for gold. In simple, the second-mover advantage is
where a business looks at another and develops a way(s) or strategy to improve and gain a better
competitive advantage; hence, pushing beyond their products and services.
In reality, the second mover advantage may not always be a good business strategy. Companies should
always be looking for ways to stay ahead as new competitors enter the market. However, pertaining to
this case and these examples, this business strategy has its advantages and thus, it works. The second
movers offered solutions to the front runners’ shortcomings.
The problem with Salesforce.com is that its user interface is not so user- friendly. Slashdot’s website
only allows users to read and blog about technology news. Consumers rent DVD’s from Netflix by mail.
Online shoe sellers cater to small niches and lack variety. Dun and Bradstreet subsidiary, Hoover’s lack
sufficient contact information that salespeople need to close deals.
2) What can a front runner business do to foil the assaults of second movers? Defend
your answer using examples of the front runner companies in the case.
Front-runner businesses can:
• Observe the second-movers and improve on their tactics. Front-runners can offer attractive and
innovative products and services at competitive prices.
• Continue establishing mutual trust and secure access between the parties in an e-commerce
transaction by authenticating users, authorizing access and enforcing security features.
• Build a reputation for high quality, guaranteed satisfaction, and top customer support while
shopping and after the sale. This would challenge the second-movers and make it a little more difficult to
compete against the front-runners.
• Increase their ownership and control through acquisition. This is where one organization
purchases another so that the buyer assumes control.
• Increase the amount of investment needed to enter into the market, thereby deterring attempts
made by the second-movers to reach in ‘first place’ or discouraging them from competing at all.
• Form contracts with key suppliers and manufacturers.
• Keep all of their business plans and strategies confidential. This could be done by having all
employees sign confidentiality and non-competition agreements.
• Own the ideas of its employees, once it is done on the company’s time using the company’s
resources, by asking them to sign agreements passing rights over to the employer.
Netflix could also start trading DVD’s online for a low flat rate. Regular Netflix consumers know the
brand and may be loyal to them online as well (name recognition and brand loyalty). This could take
away from Peerflix’s market share. Hoover’s could provide contact lists in addition to its extensive
research on companies, so users would get two sources of information for the price of one.
3) Do second movers always have the advantage in Web-based business success? Why
or why not? Evaluate the five strategies given in the case and the companies that used them
to help defend your answer.
Pertaining to the examples in this case, second movers have been competing successfully.
Number 1: Be better, faster, cheaper, easier
Entellium offers something different from Salesforce.com by being better, faster, cheaper (40% less) and
easier (user-friendly and offering 24/7 customer service).
Number 2: Trip up incumbents with tactics from other fields

Inspired by MySpace, Digg offers a better, more marketable tech news site than Slashdot. The Digg
website actually allows users to blog about anything they want, not just technology. Readers can even
vote on any story, image, etc. they like the most, which can make it to the front page for everyone to
see/read.
Number 3: Swipe their business models and start your own race
Peerflix learnt from Netflix’s business plan- easy renting by mail and eBay-trading items online. People
can exchange DVD’s without bidding, for a 99-cent transaction fee. They can keep the DVD’s or sell
them to others unlike Netflix where one has to return their rentals.
Number 4: Follow the biggest leader you can find
Looking at the case concerning Zappos- they were not growing at first because they focused on the wrong
competitors, the target market was minute and they did not carry inventory. The online shoe seller was
not thriving. They had to realize who they were really competing against. Zappos’ main competitors were
not other online shoe sellers that carried a limited amount of brands and catered to small niches; but were
brick-and-mortar shoe stores. So, they built relationships with suppliers to improve customer service; and
deliver exactly what the customer wants and on-time.
Number 5: Aim for the leader’s Achilles’ heel
Jigsaw developed a new kind of contact subscription service where all the names and addresses in their
database came from their users. The users themselves ensure that the listings are accurate and current.
This proved to be advantageous for Jigsaw as the leading online databases of corporate information, such
as Dun & Bradstreet subsidiary Hoover’s, did not offer up-to-date contact lists that salespeople needed to
close deals.
The five strategies stated in bold above, work for these companies However, there is always new
competition trying to enter the market with better unique ideas. Therefore, both front runners and second
movers should pay attention to the environment and its customers and continually adapt to meets their
needs, so that they can come out on top.

Entellium 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Entellium 1

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Entellium 1

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

ENTELLIUM, DIGG, PEERFLIX, ZAPPOS, AND JIGSAW CASE STUDY

(ASSIGNMENT1......1st SEMESTER Fall-2019)

MCOM-306 (Management Information System)

Sir Awais javaid

ENTELLIUM, DIGG, PEERFLIX, ZAPPOS, AND JIGSAW

SUCCESS FOR SECOND MOVERS IN E-COMMERCE

Case Study Questions:

• Form contracts with key suppliers and manufacturers.

Number 1: Be better, faster, cheaper, easier

Number 2: Trip up incumbents with tactics from other fields

Number 4: Follow the biggest leader you can find

Number 5: Aim for the leader’s Achilles’ heel

You might also like