Differentiating Between Market Structur Essay

Differentiating Between Market Structures
Shenica Crosby
ECO/365
November 24, 2014
Reynaldo Caratao

Differentiating Between Market Structures
The industry I will be discussing today is the Early Childhood Education industry. We will take a look at Bright Horizons who is the largest provider of corporate-sponsored child-care and early education in the United States. Working with some of the nation's largest employers, the company sets up and manages work-site child-care centers. In addition to regular daily child-care, the company provides before- and after-school care for older children, emergency back-up care, summer camps, and special-event care. Bright Horizons counts among its clients 68 Fortune 500 companies.(Funding Universe 2000) This paper will focus on Bright Horizons educational offerings and where the market structure business line exists, while differentiating its market structure from alternatives. I will also discuss other organizations and sectors in the Early Childhood Education industry, and how their market structure may vary. The Bright Horizons Family Solutions mission is to provide innovative programs that help children, families, and employers work together to be their very best. We are committed to providing the highest quality child-care, early education, and work/life solutions in the nation. We strive to: nurture each child's unique qualities and potential; support families through strong partnerships; collaborate with employers to build family friendly workplaces; create a work environment that encourages professionalism, growth, and diversity; grow a financially strong organization. We aspire to do this so successfully that we make a difference in the lives of children and families and in the communities where we live and work. (Funding Universe 2000)

Bright Horizons Market Structure and Organizations in the Same Industry Bright Horizons is defined as a monopolistic competition. There are several competitors in the same industry that are slightly different. Two of Bright Horizons competitors are Learning Care Group and Knowledge Learning Group which are other early childhood education providers. The one difference between the three companies is that Bright Horizons is a client based provider which means they are hired by big corporations to provide care for the children of their employees. But it is not a requirement for you to be an employee for your child to attend. Whereas Learning Care Group and Knowledge Learning Croup are Consumer based. I was an employee of Learning Care Group and my preschool accepted children between the ages of 2 and 6. So when we were approached by consumers for care a child younger than 2, we would refer them to Bright Horizons which was located 1 block away from us. So at times the corporations help one another out. Another way they help each out is when one doesn’t have a location where the consumer needs it so if they know a competitor has what the consumer needs; they will send the consumer there.
Competitive Strategies
Bright Horizons competitive strategy is the fact that employees can bring their children to work with them. Bright Horizon is a corporation who solely partners with companies to provide this service to them. The competitors don’t have this advantage. Bright Horizons is making it easy for the companies to make a big recruiting point that family is first. And also peace of mind is easy for the employees to have with their children being in the same building with them. Price which would usually be a factor is not at this point and time. Early Childhood Education is much deeper then price alone. Consumers are concerned with the environment as a whole, the smell of the building/classroom, the educational background of the teachers and the educational background of the administrator’s as well.
Different Sectors
Market structures allow companies in the same field to compete. Consumers benefit greatly from market structures by allowing

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