I agree with this statement. When it comes to trying to break into an industry and have a competitive advantage over the rest, the strategy we have to use has to be distinctive. This means we have to come up with a different approach to capture our customers to make them want to use our product rather than product’s from the industry’s leaders. The best competitive position is always to have no competition. To achieve that level, organizations should not be following what the leaders are doing instead they should formulate, implement and deploy a distinctive strategy that changes the rules of the business game in their favor.
What wins in business is not in trying to out-muscle competitors, but rather to out-think the competitors by brainpower. For example, there are three major international television networks in the world, CBS, NBC, and ABC. In the last thirty years or so, none of them have managed to get a monopoly of the television industry. However, in the last fifteen years, all three were over-taken by CNN.
This is because the three networks were trying to gain competitive advantage by using the same strategies. Only CNN has a distinctive strategy. Instead of standard broadcasting, CNN went cable and satellite. Instead of going with variety programming, CNN went with news. Instead of staying domestic, CNN went global. And because of these very different strategies CNN is one of the major leaders in the television network industry, making about US$8 billion a year.
Another similar example would be the airline industry. For the last fifteen years or so, CEOs of many major international airlines openly said how difficult it was to make savings in revenues and profits. Except one airline, whose operation has proven profitable since they start business activities in 1973 - Southwest Airlines of the US. This is more because Southwest is not very conventional in their approach or running an Airline business, Southwest Airlines have a distinctive strategy, Some of their more significant strategies would be using a single aircraft instead of multiple aircraft and forgoing having a reservation system like most major airlines. However even though Southwest’s Strategy is to be as plain and simple without all the frills other major airlines are offering, they are still the major leaders in the Airline Industry This proves that in business; if you are not the leader, never play the game according to the rules that the leader has set.
This book is important to business students because it shows that even the most seasoned executive runs into unexpected challenges and can find themselves in uncharted territory. Jim Barton’s experiences and lessons can be lessons for anyone. Any employee, whether they are support staff or a top executive, should always maintain an open mind and be ready to learn from a situation or the people around them at any time.
This book carries great discussions and uplifts our perspectives regarding business management in various ways. Frequent and common mistakes that were encountered by the managers was a key element for the ¡§eight mistakes of managing changes.¡§ Many follow others¡¦ common mistakes and fail from changing while reforming their organization. The possibility of failure is that they perceive the methods from those whom were successful, but they never understood the reasons why some people fail to change.
Ten years ago you wouldn't have found Intel's name on a list of the world's top chip makers. You might not even have heard of it at all. But even back then, it had the mind-set of the monopolist. Today, Intel is virtually alone in the production of microprocessors. Its share of the worldwide market exceeds 79%. Its nearest rival, AMD, has just 11% of the business. What makes Intel the world's greatest manufacturer (not the world's greatest technology company—a silly pigeonhole not worthy of the firm's pre-eminence) is its understanding of how to think like a true monopolist. It doesn't want to be beaten at anything.(Cramer)
When an individual established his own business as an entrepreneurs, the way he chose to do business determines the organization’s rules, the structure set-up in the company, and the people he hired for company. For example, Microsoft’s aggressive nature is often traced back to Bill Gates and his competitiveness. According to one anecdote, his competitive nature even extends to his personal life such that one of his pastimes is to compete with his wife in solving identical jigsaw puzzles to see who can finish faster (Schlender, 1998). Similarly, Joseph Pratt, a history and management professor, notes, “There definitely is an Exxon way. This is John D. Rockefeller’s company, this is Standard Oil of New Jersey, this is the one that is most closely shaped by Rockefeller’s traditions. Their values are very clear. They are deeply embedded. They have roots in 100 years of corporate history.” (Mouawad,
Marketing gurus and advertisement experts are all ways looking for an edge over the competition. Every business claims that its product whether, clothing, cars, or the housing market has the edge. In the sports world catches, and athletes our looking for an advantage over their opponent. Swimmers have special suits designed hoping for an edge in their race. Sprinter in track and flied are often times caught cheating using a ban substance all because their want an advantage over their challengers. What will you do to gain an advantage over your opponent? Having an advantage and doing it the right way certainly can secure an edge. Larry Osborne has written a book entitle Sticky Church which gives churches an advantage of our opponent Satan. He
Not all strategies “fit” within the companies activities, some are hit and misses such as when Stewart placed Charles Koppelman to the board, where “he became chairman of the board in 2005, where he negotiated a paid consulting arrangement for himself. He was viewed as enabling Stewart’s self-regard as much as tending to th...
Sources:Strategy and the Business Landscape, by Pankaj GhemawatBritish Satellite Broadcasting versus Sky Television. Harvard Business School Case
These forces of competition within the industry create a highly competitive environment, requiring all participating companies to continually innovate and develop new products. For a company to succeed within the industry, the need to have a strong position among their other competitors.
Porter, M. E. (2008). The five competitive forces that shape strategy. Harvard business review, 25-40.
In 2010, Bach and Allen published an article entitled 'What Every CEO Needs to Know About Nonmarket Strategy'1. The article demonstrated the importance of non-market strategy for businesses by emphasising the influence that the social and political environments have on their competitive advantage. In Bach and Allen's opinion, the intensification of the importance of a non-market strategy derives from four factors: the diversification of production and selling locations; the 'globalization of nongovernmental organisations'; the establishment of 'new regulatory agencies' and 'regulations'; and finally the increasing difficulty in sustaining a company's 'competitive edge'. Bach and Allen provided a framework designed to help companies create a nonmarket strategy : the
Porter, M. E., 1999. The Five Forces that Shape Competitive Strategy. Harvard business review, p. 80.
In any form of competition, one has to set goals and a plan to achieve these goals in the future and this skill is very useful later down the road. In the movie Blind Side, The main character Michal Orr was a poor kid from a very poor background. When his family friend gets him accepted into a very well know high school he is introduced to football. He is adopted by a family that is involved in many sports and the mom makes him make a goal to play football at the University of Mississippi and he starts to excel. This is the prime example how when you have a goal you are more likely to not fall into the traps the world has. In businesses like Apple, they are constantly evolving their product to stay a step ahead of the competition. As a result, Apple is creating products that are changing the world. Competition can sometimes push us to become greater than we ever could possibly be. These new heights can bring amazing changes within a person. The agony of defeat can often drive people to become better than the rest. Sometimes when someone is at and all time low, they can often come back at an all-time high. When a rival company comes up with the newest greatest thing, companies like Apple t...
...on in today's market, but in order to remain competitive they must find a way to distinguish themselves from these competitors.
In today’s business environment competition is fiercer than ever. To survive, stay competitive, and be successful, an organization has to provide better services to customers, find new ways to create competitive advantages, and eliminate work and processes that do not add value.
One writer philosopher once said that in order for you to be competitive and even rise above the pack, you need to know your competition and what they 're doing to be different. When you do, you 'll surely be able to create tactics that will make you stand out and hence, make a difference in your market share.