A Framework for Diagnosing Competitive Superiority

Managers generally consider the rivalry among competitors as a major source for deriving strategy. As explained by the Michael Porter it is a narrow view of competition. A set of other parameters should be evaluated, mentioned in article as five competitive forces, along with industry

Each organization has or should have a distinct business strategy to ensure they reach their desired goals and objectives. Uniquely, the business strategy, or competitive strategy, should include their target consumers, the product or service desired by their consumers, and their roadmap to remain competitive in the market (Parnell, 2014). However, strategies may be difficult to determine when the organization is engrossed in one industry, but decides to dip their toe in another industry (Bethel, 2016).

Primary Competitors’ Business Level and Corporate Level Strategy .................................................................................17   How Competitors Achieve Their Strategic Position ...........................................................................................................18   Value – Cost Profile

A competitive strategy, or business-level strategy, is the way a business used to successfully enter and penetrate into a market (Eastwood et al, 2006), and also, to succeed in this chosen market against its competitors (Johnson et al, 2014). A company needs to develop and apply appropriate strategy to help the company to generate distinctive competences (David, 2007). Compared with the strategies implemented in other levels of operation, competitive strategy is more focused on the competition against other competitors and strategic choices to better attain market share (Harrison and St. John, 2009). According to

Strategy formulation has been acknowledged as one of the most crucial factors of ensuring the long-term growth of the business. However, the manner in which strategy is formulated, and most importantly, the nature of the strategy chosen for the company determines its future position in the marketplace (Grant, 2005).

Thompson, A. A., Peteraf, M. A., Gamble, J. E., & Strickland III, A. (2012). Crafting and executing strategy the quest for competitive advantage concepts

Competitive advantage(CA) is an advantage competitors gain by providing or offering customers or consumers greater value for their money through product and service differentiation or through lower prices. Maintaining competitive advantage is crucial to many businesses or organizations' success in order to survive in the market. Competitive advantage is characterized by superior performance which could be an attribute to outperform the competitors whether current or potential; or gaining a higher market share in a particular industry thereby ensuring market leadership; or ultimately, maximization of profit.(JOBBER 2010)

It is the competitive advantages and the way they are dealt with that decides a company’s performance, which in our model is measured by profits. For a company to be able to perform better than its competition over a longer period of time, it requires sustained competitive advantage. Porter (1985), among others, argues that a sustained competitive advantage is achieved if it is able to exist after the competitors have given up trying to duplicate the advantage (Barney, 1991; Acquaah,

To remain competitive a company must consider who their biggest competitors are while considering its own size and position in the industry. The company should develop a strategic advantage over their competitors’

Today’s markets hold aggressive competition between companies in order to dominate as much share as they can from the market. That is why most companies are seeking for a competitive advantage that will differentiate them from their other competitors and makes consumers buy their services or products over the others.

Alfred Chandler(1963) defines strategy as ‘ the determination of the long-run goals and objectives of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action of an enterprise and the adoption of courses of action and the allocation of resources necessary for carrying out these goals’. And Michael porter(1996) sees it as ‘Competitive strategy is about being different. It means deliberately choosing different set of activities to deliver a unique mix of value’.

“Competitive strategy involves positioning a business to maximize the value of the capabilities that distinguish it from its competitor’s” (Porter 1980:47). A successful business plan requires first and foremost the formation of an appropriate strategy. Through the implementation of a suitable strategy, the company is able to obtain its own industry niche and gain an understanding of its customers (Porter 1985). Whichever strategy is adopted it must be adequately integrated within the firms goals and missions to achieve a competitive advantage (Parker and Helms 1992).

Increasingly, firms find themselves, either by design or circumstances, operating in business environments fraught with unprecedented, unparalleled, unrelenting, and largely unpredictable change. Retaining competitive advantage is a constant preoccupation for all companies. Millions of words have been written purporting to identify the principles and practices most likely to enable firms to gain competitive advantage and, thereby, enjoy superior profit margins. Despite all this study, management remains a testing ground where theory, experience, judgment and, sometimes, luck play a role.

*  A competitive advantage is one that distinguishes a firm or a business from the competitors in the minds of the customers. It also refers to the state or ​condition that make a ​business more ​successful than the ​businesses it is ​competing with, or a particular thing that makes it more ​successful such as having a higher sales through offering low or affordable goods and services.

A strategy can be defined as a method used in order to attain a desired outcome. In business it means professional planning and its implementation, undertaken so as to accomplish the business goal. Strategy usually requires regular monitoring and despite of a good strategy being efficiently executed there are possibilities that a business may not make any substantial profits. Therefore, along with a powerful strategy, a business also requires a have business intelligence providing a competitive edge to a business which will help to fulfil the goals and bring in profits. However the most important part of executing a strategy is bringing in the “change” and the success of change is not how good is the strategy but how well is the change implemented (Ford et al; 2000). The change can be of various types, it can be a transformation in a firm’s strategy, system, structure, culture and process, depending on the need of an organisation.