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Schwinn/Giant Bicycles Case Study

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Please read the Schwinn/Giant Bicycles Case Study.

After reading the case study, please answer the following questions in regard to the Schwinn/Giant Case Study:

1. What were Giant's core competencies? How did they leverage their competencies in their competition with U.S. bike manufacturers?

2. In this case was Giant's core competencies its competitive advantage? Why or why not?

3. What do you believe is the main reason for Schwinn's fall from grace as the number one manufacturer of bikes in the United States?

4. Did Schwinn and other U.S. bike manufacturers cause their own demise by having a "prisoner's dilemma" mentality by following Schwinn's strategy by outsourcing that might have led them in to bankruptcy?

5. What did you learn about strategy, core competencies, outsourcing and the importance of distribution channels when analyzing this case study

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The response provides you a structured explanation of Schwinn/Giant Bicycles Case Study . It also gives you the relevant references.

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1.
Giants core competencies were that they could build at lower costs, build fast, cutting edge technology, and bikes that addressed the medium and premium segment. The ability to introduce innovations and improvements in the bikes is an important core competency.
They leveraged their core competency in their competition with US bike makers by making bikes for companies such as Schwinn, Treks, Fisher, and Specialized. It developed the next generation of competitive products. It built up the skill base required to maintain the company's engineers at the cutting edge. It developed the ability to innovate and build specialized bikes for specific segments in the US.

2.
No, Giant's core competencies came later; its competitive advantage was its low cost manufacturing ability. The main ...

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