There are a surprising number of styles of baby strollers and carriages available in the marketplace. One style is the jogging stroller, which features oversize wheels that make the stroller easy to push on rough surfaces as the parent jogs. One maker of jogging strollers is Baby Trend. Baby Trend makes a full line of baby products—from diaper pails to high chairs to a variety of strollers. Their jogging strollers consist of a cloth seat stretched over a metal frame, a fairly standard design in the industry. They make a limited number of styles of single joggers meant to carry one baby (mostly differentiated by the color of the cloth) and one style of double stroller meant to carry two children. In the Baby Trend double stroller, the children sit next to each other (again a standard industry design). Baby Trend sells through independent Web sites (e. g., www. strollers4less. com), specialty stores (e. g., The Right Start), and "big box" retailers (e. g., Toys "R" Us). Their prices range from under $100 for a simple single jogger to $299 for their double stroller.

Another competitor is Berg Design. Jogging strollers are the only baby products Berg Design makes, although it produces other products that involve metalworking. Berg Design’s joggers offer a unique design in which the child sits in a molded plastic seat bolted to a metal frame. With a single seat, the child can face forward or backward (i. e., looking at mom or dad). For their multiple-seat strollers, the children sit in tandem as opposed to side by side. On the two-seat model, the children can both face forward or can face each other. They make models that can handle up to four children that are popular with day care centers. Berg Design’s Web site emphasizes that each jogger "is made one at a time, no shortcuts; hand welded, powder painted and assembled with the utmost attention to craftsmanship." Berg Design sells directly to customers through the Web and a toll free number. Their prices range from $255 for their cheapest single jogger to $745 for a four-seat model.

a. How would you describe the strategic positions of Baby Trend and Berg Design?
b. How would you expect Baby Trend and Berg Design to have structured their respective processes for building strollers?