Taco Bell

Any organisation that wishes to succeed in their market, needs to analyse their competitor 's strategies. Competitor analysis is a vital part of the marketing planning process. A strong competitor can hinder business success, even lead to business failure. Competitor analysis helps firms to anticipate their competitor 's actions and exploit competitor 's weaknesses. It also helps firms to identify their firm 's unique selling points, so that these can be promoted in marketing campaigns. Competitor analysis is an ongoing task, as successful competitors will continuously develop their marketing strategies, in response to changes in the market place.

When examining competitive advantage, it is also important to consider the market and take into account the existing competition against larger firms.

Portray the competitive strategy of the (competing) firms using the grid of “strategic target” and “source of competitive advantage”.

Leading company staff in thinking bigger, operating in direct relationship to customers and stockholders’ needs, while staying flexible and adaptable to economic and market shifts ( Gaddy, p.171)” are all examples of priorities faced by companies that want to be competitive .

Competition being one of the major issues that often must be addressed in the business world, it is important for a firm to learn on ways to reduce the impact of the competition. Competition is definitely an important factor in helping a business

It is of great importance to make an analysis of the environment in which an organisation operates in order to develop and implement a suitable, successful strategy for the company. According to Johnson, Scholes and Whittington (2008) the business environment of a company is an important issue determining its survival and success. There are several layers of this business environment – the macro environment, the industry or sector layer, the layer with competitors and markets.

It is critical for an organization to identify both current and potential competitors within the industry. A full competitive analysis will allow the companies understand its competitors internally and externally. Our company TCI did a thorough competitive analysis in order to exploit our competitors and understand their strategy to gain a competitive advantage. This allowed our company to strategically maneuver throughout each quarter by predicting our competitor’s next move allowing us to establish a dominant position within the market. The concept of learning and understanding my competitors in the work place that I may pursue will be essential. I have to understand my competitors and potential competitors to strategically create a competitive

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).

The Chief Executive Officer Greg Creed for Taco Bell launched an advertising campaign which cost the company 3-4 million to combat the negative publicity that went forward nationwide.

In order for a company to gain a superior position in the market, the company needs to analyse their competitors’ products, prices and strategies and offer better benefits or products to the consumers.

An essential part of corporate strategy is choosing the right portfolio of business to compete in especially when it concerns growth strategy and over the years this has become one of the key challenges faced by managers. It is highly imperative for business leaders to understand the different strategic options suitable for operating in various types of industries or markets. Suffice is to say that the business environment, which includes the competitive activity also plays a deep-seated role in deciding which strategic choice is most appropriate for the company or firm.

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

According to Michael Porter, “a company strategist who understands that competition extends well beyond existing rivals will detect wider competitive threats and be better equipped to address them” (Porter, 2008, p.16). Thinking comprehensively about the structure of the industry as well as its customers can afford companies the ability to obtain superior performance. Therefore, it is key for companies to focus on how to maintain existing customers as well as lure new ones.

If   a   company   wants   to   be   successfull   in   their   business   it   has   to   be   able   to   create   competitive   advantage  over  it  competitor  in  a  same  business  area.  (De  Wit  &  Meyer,  2010).  What  approach   or   strategy   should   the   company   take   into   account   in   order   to   create   competitive   advantage   in   their  business  environment  is  the  core  issue  for  the  managers.

The purpose of this essay is to provide a comprehensive understanding of the competitive advantage concept and its challenging issues that are important for every firm to operate effectively and efficiently. This paper also outlines and discusses the theoretical of achieving sustainable competitive advantage within an organization and the viewpoint of this concept to the modern competitive environment. Competitive advantage, which has two main types: cost leadership and differentiation, helps firms survive and develop through the competition in any commerce. However, the competitive advantage does not last forever, particularly in the current period with the increased improvement of technologies and communications. Moreover, the future of an organization is determined by its abilities to achieve and sustain competitive advantage. It is obviously a difficult position for dealing with challenges commencing from the concept. This essay will first consist of the theoretical frames of competitive advantage concept and its importance. The second part involves the issue of achieving and sustaining the competitive advantage. The last part is to give suggestions on the viewpoint of the extent to which competitive advantage is still relevant to the modern competitive environment. The methodology applied in this essay is the using of the previously published research papers to support the raising ideas.