Part 1 Respond to the following:

(Paragraph for each part)

• 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. 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?
   
• Part 2: 
• Many companies use their brand as a competitive advantage. Given your knowledge about the global economy, identify three brands you believe have the strongest likelihood of remaining a source of advantage in the 21st century and explain why. Explain the effects you believe the Internet’s capabilities will have on the brands you identified in the previous discussion and what the owner of the brand should do in light of them.