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-1-Competing on Internet time
[Extra EVR]
Competing on Internet time
Lessons from NETSCAPE and its battle with MICROSOFT
Suh, Il-Seok
December 13, 2005
-2-Competing on Internet time
Contents
• Introduction• Competing on Internet time• Netscape Communications Corporation• What is Judo Strategy?• Netscape’s Judo Strategy• Netscape’s Problems• Microsoft Corporation• Microsoft’s Response• Netscape’s Battle with Microsoft• Result of Browser Wars• Lesson Learned
-3-Competing on Internet time
Introduction
-4-Competing on Internet time
Introduction (cont.)
• Internet
– “Network of networks”
• “Competing on Internet time” means
– Competitive advantage can be won and lost overnight
-5-Competing on Internet time
Netscape Communications Corporation
• Background
– Founded by Jim Clark and Mark Andreessen
– Netscape took advantage of emerging growth opportunities in and around the Internet
• Web browser - Netscape Navigator
– Netscape was a latecomer to the market
– Netscape forfeited the first-mover advantage to Spry and many of its competitors
– To overcome the problem, Judo strategy was used
-6-Competing on Internet time
What is Judo Strategy?
• Judo Strategy
– Emphasizes the use of movement and flexibility to avoid unwinnable confrontations
– Emphasizes the use of leverage to undermine competitors’ strengths by turning their historical advantages against them
– Avoids head-to-head struggles with larger, potentially superior firms
– By giving way to superior force, a firm in a relatively weak position can enhance its survivability
-7-Competing on Internet time
Netscape’s Judo Strategy
• Netscape moved the battle to unoccupied ground
– Netscape defined its initial product differently from its commercial competitors
– Conventional companies provided a full panoply of Internet services
• Ex) Browser, E-mail, Dial-up telephone access
– Netscape decided to offer a simple stand-alone browse, which was initially available only over the Net
-8-Competing on Internet time
Netscape’s Judo Strategy (cont.)
• Netscape used creative pricing policy
– Netscape browsers were free for anyone to download on a 90-day trial biases
– Netscape browsers were free for students and educational institutions
– Netscape browsers were $39 for other customers
In effect, the browser would be free. It was inevitable strategy to build volumes.
-9-Competing on Internet time
Netscape’s Judo Strategy (cont.)
• Netscape distributed software through special channel
– Conventional companies distributed PC software through two channels: a computer OEM channel and retail channel
– Netscape opened up a new world: the Web
– Netscape used the Internet as its primary distribution channel
-10-Competing on Internet time
Netscape’s success factors
• Vision
– A vision that emerging high-powered, global networks would change how people worked, played, and interacted with the world at large
– Netscape created a compelling vision of products, technologies, and markets
– Managers and employees believed the browser had the potential to become a universal interface that would tie the networks of the future together
-11-Competing on Internet time
Netscape’s success factors (cont.)
• People
– Netscape hired experienced managers and software developers who had previously worked at major companies in computer software
• Organization
– Netscape built the internal resources for a big company, while organizing like a small one
– Netscape built relationships with partners to compensate for limited internal resources
-12-Competing on Internet time
Netscape’s problems
• Growth of company
– Since the size of the company had grown bigger and bigger, it was hard to manage the organization and sustain judo strategy
• Arrogance after success
– By the summer of 1995, Netscape was the big, dominant player on the World Wide Web
– After early success in the web browser market, Netscape’s managers conceited themselves
– Netscape often attacked Microsoft during 1995 and 1996
-13-Competing on Internet time
Microsoft Corporation
• Mistake of Bill Gates
– Bill Gates didn’t fully understand the importance of the Internet, and he was slow to recover
• Powerful Weapon of Microsoft
– Windows Operating System
– Control the critical device drivers, APIs, or application programming interfaces
• Internet Explorer
-14-Competing on Internet time
Microsoft’s Strategies
• “Embrace and extend” approach
– Microsoft announced that it would embrace and extend everything Netscape had done
• Judo strategy
– Microsoft followed the judo strategy that Netscape had done
• Customer attraction
– Microsoft offered to put an AOL icon on the Window 95 desktop
-15-Competing on Internet time
Netscape’s Battle with Microsoft
• Release of new platform
– Netscape released Netscape ONE, which was positioned as an alternative to Microsoft’s Windows
• Head-to-head war
– By late 1997, sumo strategy had replaced judo strategy as the guiding principle behind the browser wars
• Change of pricing policy
– Netscape bundled its products
-16-Competing on Internet time
Result of Browser Wars
• Release of new platform
Netscape ONE was a powerful idea in general, but it failed
• Head-to-head war
Netscape was beyond the Microsoft’s power
• Change of pricing policy
Bundling did not solve pricing pressures
Microsoft won the wars.
-17-Competing on Internet time
Lesson Learned
• Competing on Internet time requires
– Quick movement• Speed is the most critical thing in the Internet world
– Flexibility• Companies become flexible in strategy, structure, and operations
– Leverage vis-à-vis competitors• Managers should find enduring sources of leverage either by
locking in customers or exploit opponents’ weaknesses that they can’t respond
-18-Competing on Internet time
Q & A