Corporate Strategy
"Sources of competitive advantage rarely yield added value that can be sustained over time."
The following essay is going to attempt to assess the above proposition and try to find if it is possible to add value continually over a period of time. I will first discuss what competitive advantage is and what it means to a firm. Then I will explain the sources of competitive advantage and how the distinctive capabilities of a firm allow it to sustain added value. The discussion is based on a number of viewpoints from different authors who will be clearly indicated and acknowledged. I begin with explaining what competitive advantage is.
So, what is Competitive Advantage? In a number of industries, the average
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A firms profitability is a function not only of industry conditions, but also of the amount of value it creates relative to it's competitors. The amount value the firm creates in comparison depends on it's cost and differentiation positions relative to competitors. No business can exist without creating positive value, and to achieve a competitive advantage it must add more value that it's competitors.
Added value is the difference between the market value of a firm's output and the value which it's inputs would have in comparable activities undertaken by other firms. Added value can be achieved if customers or suppliers are willing to undertake relationships which they would not make available to other people.
The main sources of competitive advantage are architecture, reputation and innovation. It is the ability of the firm in how it utilizes it's distinctive capabilities to add value to it's competitive advantage.
Architecture is the first primary distinctive capability of competitive advantage. It is a network of relational contracts within , or around, the firm. It is a description of relationships held by a firm internally or externally, or with a group of other firms. Architecture can add value and provides competitive advantage by encouraging the formation of organizational knowledge and the development of organizational routines and cooperative ethics. Some firms
2.Competitive Advantage – It includes the best product of an Organization in the competitive market.
A company or an organization can create competitive advantage only when it is able to distinguish itself from the rivals by implementing value creating strategy over a longer period of time. It is said to have sustainable competitive advantage when other rival firms are unable to duplicate the value creating strategy of firm which has led to achievement of
Value creation is creating value for the customer. Being able to solve or meet the customer requirements. Value is created whenever an action is taken for which the benefit exceeds the cost.
* Resources and capabilities serve as a source of competitive advantage for a firm over its rival.
But on the other hand, there are distinctive capabilities, which should not just keep the company alive, but deliver a competitive
To survive and thrive, an organization must create a competitive advantage. A competitive advantage is a product or service that an organization’s customers place a greater value on than similar offerings from a competitor. Unfortunately, competitive advantages are typically temporary because competitors often seek ways to duplicate the competitive advantage. In turn, organizations must develop a strategy based on a new competitive advantage.
Competitive advantage is the point of power for any organization as it is the point from which an organization can maximize it's profits if it's been planned for it well .
1. What is competitive advantage, and how does it relate to a company’s business model?
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)
Competitive advantage is a very general but genuine term in the present business market. The business market is very competitive. One has to be very unique as well as customer satisfying in order to sustain in the market for the long run. “A competitive advantage is an advantage gained over competitors by offering customers greater value, either through lower prices or by providing additional benefits and service that justify similar, or possibly higher, prices” (Ehmke, 2008). (Porter, 2008) “Competitive Advantage introduces the concept of the value chain, a general framework for thinking strategically about the activities involved in any business and assessing their relative cost and role in differentiation.” It can be in various aspects of
Competitive advantage is explained by Mahoney and Pandian (1992) as the function of industry analysis, organizational governance and the firm’s effects in the form of resource advantages and strategies. In order for a firm to be competitive it must adapt to the volatile business environment and through strategic management decisions establish a competitive advantage that will ultimately produce superior performance relative to its competitors (Akimova 2000).
A good business strategy would be that to attain a competitive advantage over other competitors. So what is a competitive advantage? And how company can be able to have a competitive advantage over other competitors? This essay would now discuss what a competitive advantage is and how a company can build a competitive advantage over other competitors in the same industry by using two furnishing stores, Ikea and Courts as examples.
Competitive advantages are conditions that permit an organization or nation to deliver a decent or administration at a lower cost or in a more alluring manner for clients. These conditions permit the gainful element to produce a bigger number of offers or unrivaled edges than its opposition. Competitive advantages are ascribed to an assortment of components, including cost structure, mark, nature of item offerings, dispersion and system, licensed innovation and customer support. Samsung had settled on the choice to receive design as a wellspring of competitive advantage in the 1990s. Prior, the company 's items had been unsatisfying and undifferentiated. In the mid1990s, the Group administrator, Kun-Hee Lee, started Samsung 's change from a low-end OEM into a world-class gadgets organization. Honing the company 's design aptitudes was a critical part of the activity. Be that as it may, this required significant changes in culture, procedures, and frameworks inside the organization. Samsung understood that competitive advantage can be accomplished through the design innovation. Samsung 's voyage toward design greatness began in 1993. That year, Lee supposedly went by a gadgets store in Los Angeles, USA. He saw, sadly, that the Samsung items in plain view looked ugly, while the results of Sony and some different organizations looked a great deal all the more engaging. He discovered too that the business staff at the store were themselves overlooking the Samsung
If a value creating strategy is implemented by an Organization and it is not being implemented at the same time by another organization, one can say the organization has a competitive advantage over its competitors. It is imperative for a firm to choose the height of competitive advantage it wants to attain in the industry. An organization must aim to initiate a profitable and sustainable spot against your competitors in the same industry.
* 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.