Rental Car Industry

While Enterprise’s dominant position in the rental car industry seems to be established for the long haul, competitors may be able to replicate several of the firm’s competitive advantages more quickly than they think. One part of Enterprise’s success comes from their hiring process. They tend to hire former athletes and fraternity presidents to create a competitive environment, which helps increase the company’s profitability. While this may be a firm wide decision to determine whether they want to promote this kind of culture, it would be very easy to imitate if a competitor decided to pursue this hiring strategy. Another strength of Enterprise is their sheer volume of locations around the country. Once again, this is not necessarily a big hurdle since rental car companies could raise more capital if they decided competing directly in local markets was worthwhile (in other words, capital isn’t a strong competitive force). After conducting several customer surveys, the case lists the three things customers care most about in their rental car experience: 1) the attitude and helpfulness of employees 2) the speed of the transaction 3) the cleanliness of the car. None of these issues are hard to imitate, and in some cases Enterprise actually has a disadvantage (speed of the transaction). That being said, there are a few key factors competitors will struggle to compete with. Because Enterprise has such a longstanding history of success, its brand reputation is difficult to emulate. In addition, the firm has a lot more experience in the rental car business and probably developed serval efficiencies and an understanding of the industry that may take competitors a while to figure out. For example, the firm has been able to master the management of its fleet, which has been a “tremendous source of economic strength for Enterprise.” Enterprise has developed a structured training program that is well-respected amongst all businesses, and the clear path to becoming