Mini-Case 5-1: Finding a Competitive Advantage

question 9

Essay

Mini-Case 5-1: Finding a Competitive Advantage
Copreneurs Ed and Yolanda recently opened a vintage used car lot called Cherry Lane. They sell antique and collectible cars on consignment for the owners at a fee of 30 percent of the selling price. The price is further reduced by 10 percent if a particular car is not sold within the first 30 days. One of the first customers convinced Yolanda that this was the only fair thing to do, and in an effort to provide something for "the cost conscious buyer," she provided what she thought was excellent customer service and implemented the idea.
Ed and Yolanda feel Cherry Lane has an ideal location. It is located adjacent to the city's baseball stadium, alongside the freeway in the center of all the other car dealerships. Although Cherry Lane has significant foot traffic, most people never make offers to buy.
In an effort to increase sales, Ed and Yolanda are working on a new marketing strategy that they believe should be quite different from the "shotgun" approach they had been using over the last few months.
-What is a competitive advantage? Does Cherry Lane have one? If so, what is it?

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Definitions:

Working Memory

The part of the cognitive machinery that holds information one is actively thinking about at the moment; also referred to as short-term memory.

Retrieval

What we usually mean by remembering, that is, getting information out of mental storage so we can use it.

Script

A schematic representation of the typical features of an event and the order in which they happen.

Schematic Representation

A simplification or abstraction of a concept, object, or process that highlights essential features while omitting unnecessary details.