Business

Davila-Bonds Competitive Advantage
The competitive advantage of D  Bond is embodied in a wide range of strategies, the first and perhaps the most beneficial is that the firm has so well managed to adopt an international outlook which makes it easy for it to shift operations from one market to another as deemed appropriate. The company has been well able to outsource the production to some overseas countries, especially in the Latin American states. As such, the firm does not have to rely on any one given market. This partly explains its ability to remain afloat even against the backdrop of a harsh economic climate posed by the failure by its perennial markets to continue importing its products. To crown this huge international presence, the company has the benefit of getting the very much needed support from the government of Ecuador which is very keen to encourage the local investments even as it tries to embrace and cope with the emerging issues brought about by the new economic order around the world  globalization. Therefore, D  Bond enjoys the fruit of decentralized firm operations including huge foreign investments.

Another competitive advantage of D  Bond is that it deals with products which are not very common in the economy of Ecuador where its main operations are conducted. Having an economy that is heavily reliant on oil and export agriculture, Ecuador welcomes any other business that allows for the diversification of its economy. As such, D  Bond, which is essentially a manufacturing firm, enjoys a lot of political goodwill and is capable of asserting itself as a formidable power in the textile industry. Finally, the firm benefits greatly from the regional trading group that has allowed for the free movement of goods across the borders of member states. One of these regional groupings includes the United States of America which is a large textile market.

To add to this, D  Bond is a beneficiary of economies of large scale, enjoying a lot of benefits at the expense of firms that are still reliant on the local production. In spite of these competitive advantages, the company is not really utilizing them well enough. If it were, then it would be ranked among the leading exporters in the entire region. That aside, I believe, it would not be facing as many operational constraints as it is now. Finally, the firm would have managed to diversify its products greatly.

S.W.O.T. analysis of D  Bond
Strengths
The companys strengths are based largely on its industry of operation as well as on its unique products. First of all, D  Bond has a very large customer base which gives it a greater competitive advantage and an assurance of future profitability through sustained, if not enhanced, sales. Given this access to a wide range of customers, the company can easily utilize it to develop other competitive strategies and so be in a better position to become a market leader with sustained dominion. The other strength of the company is that it has access to the latest technology which has allowed it to make sweaters of comparatively superior quality than its competitors. This gives it a better chance of achieving the position of a leader in the industry.

Weaknesses
The main weakness of D  Bond is that it is heavily reliant on one line of production and on only one main product. The lack of product diversification and differentiation means that the firm does not have a solid foundation not only in the present but also in the future. As result, its operations are heavily dependent on the one product any diverse effects hampering its sales will no doubt bring down the firm. The other weakness is that the company operates in a very economically volatile climate which makes it very susceptible to even the slightest slump in the economy of Ecuador.

Opportunities
The firm has a lot of opportunities. The first one is that it is capable of expanding its operations to cover even more countries in Latin America as well as increase its presence in the United States of America. This is because the company can make use of the available goodwill which Ecuador enjoys in the region. Secondly, D  Bond has the ability to diversify its products as far as possible as it has the market share it so much requires to do this. It also has the chance to chance to make use of its technological prowess and market accessibility to employ the use of cost leadership strategies. This too will give it a leading role in the industry.

Threats
D  Bond faces two main threats to its continued survival in the textile industry. The first one is the risk posed by the very volatile economic situation of not only Ecuador but also some of the countries which have been historical customers of the company. The second threat is the emerging of great competitors in the region especially Mexico and Brazil. With the emergence of other of strong economic powers in the region, notably Brazil, whose supremacy in the region economically is likely to hamper the sales of D  Bond both due to competition as well as exchange rates, the companys future prospects are at stake.            

The Export Markets that Look Most Promising for D  Bond
The future of D  Bond lies in its ability to choose markets which are well suited to its current needs of developing its overseas market further. This is in response to the poor economic order in Ecuador. As a result, there is a need to invest in countries with lower labor and yet with a strong economy that is capable of sustaining demand. Finally, the future markets must have a large enough population. These countries are likely to be Mexico, Chile, Brazil, and Colombia, all of which meet to some extent these requirements.

Other Viable Strategic Alternatives for D  Bond
The other strategy that the firm can adopt is seeking to develop risk mitigation and management programs that will ensure it is not exposed to international economic crises like the current global economic crisis which is so devastating. That aside, D  Bond needs to develop up-to-date modern equipment that will ensure the quality of its products is not compromised at all. This is because technology keeps changing and unless D  Bond can make deliberate moves to keep up with the pace, it is likely to lose out on customers. Finally, it needs to develop a market-tailored approach at manufacturing as this will give it a chance to make sweaters that are appealing to each target group, and ones that are relevant as far as fashion, tastes, and preferences of the customers are concerned.