Respond to the following:

• Can any firm beat Amazon in the marketplace? If not, why not? If so, how can they best do so? How formidable a competitor is Google for Amazon? Please explain. Consider:
  • What are Amazon’s major strengths?
  • Does it have any weaknesses? Please explain.
  • Is Jet.com a potential concern for Amazon? Why or why not?
• Given the importance of understanding the external environment, why do some firms fail to do so? Provide examples of firms that did not understand their external environment.
  • What were the implications of the firm’s failure to understand that environment?