*** Please answer the question by the letter; a, b, c, d, e *****

Buyers are in position to exert strong bargaining power in dealing with sellers when their costs to switch to competing brands or to substitute products are relatively high. there are big differences among the features, performance, and quality of rival brands, such that many buyers have a strongly preferred brand and are thus motivated to bargain hard with the seller to obtain it on favorable terms. the number of buyers is small and/or a buyer's identity adds prestige to the seller's list of customers. there are so many buyers that any one buyer's purchases account for a tiny fraction of total industry sales and when the products of industry members are strongly differentiated. e strong or rapidly growing buyer demand creates a "sellers' market" characterized by tight supplies or shortages. The advantages of using an export strategy to build a customer base in foreign markets include good ability to accommodate the tastes and preferences of buyers in different countries, low risk of failure, the potential for achieving a low-cost advantage over rivals, and good protection from the risks of fluctuating exchange rates. not having to compete head-to-head against strong competitors based in foreign countries, increased ability to protect the company's domestic profit sanctuary from attack by foreign rivals, and lower capital requirements. reduced vulnerability to fluctuating exchange rates, increased ability to avoid the expenses associated with employing localized multicountry strategies, and greater flexibility in employing a think locallact global approach to competing against foreign-based rivals. requiring comparatively little capital to begin selling in foreign markets (because a company can use a portion of its existing production capacity to make goods for export and also perhaps contract with foreign wholesalers experienced in importing to handle the entire distribution and marketing function in their countries or regions of the world). the potential of achieving a best-cost advantage over foreign-based rivals, lower distribution costs than rivals with plants scattered across many countries, and increased ability to build and protect profit sanctuaries in foreign countries. A company's strategy is a "work in progress" and evolves over time because of an ongoing need to experiment with fresh, innovative strategic moves at least once every year--identifying and implementing new and distinctive "a-ha!" qualities to the strategy is essential to attracting buyer attention and stimulating higher sales. periodic management changes in a company's business model (which can occur as often as once a year) that typically require top management to make changes in the company's strategy the frequent need to modify key elements of the company's business model in an effort both to make it hard for rivals to copy everything aspect of the company's strategy and to enhance the company's chances for gaining a competitive advantage over rivals. the ongoing need of company managers to react and respond to changing market conditions, advancing technology, the fresh moves of competitors, shifting buyer needs and preferences, emerging market opportunitiesnew ideas for improving the strategy, and/or mounting evidence that the strategy is not working well. ongoing changes in the company's strategic vision and performance targets