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Case Study

Panalpina: Escaping the commodity trap (A)

By Ralf W. Seifert and Donna Everatt

7 pages

October 2003

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Reference: IMD-3-1266

The case looks at Panalpina’s drive for sustainable competitive advantage to fight margin deterioration in the highly competitive European freight forwarding industry. Efficient capacity utilization, standardization of operating procedures, centralized purchasing of capacity, superior network management and effective cost controls had successfully differentiated Panalpina to date. The case considers whether this will suffice in the future, or whether the company should consider additional strategies to avoid a price war and protect their leadership position. The B case looks at the strategic implementation of the issues presented in the A case in consequent years.

Keywords

Differentiation, Price Competition, Service Marketing

Settings

Europe
1999

Type

Field Research

Available Languages

English

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