Competitive Advantage
Competitive Advantage

Author: Michael E. Porter

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2008-06-30

Total Pages: 474

ISBN-13: 1416595848

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Now beyond its eleventh printing and translated into twelve languages, Michael Porter’s The Competitive Advantage of Nations has changed completely our conception of how prosperity is created and sustained in the modern global economy. Porter’s groundbreaking study of international competitiveness has shaped national policy in countries around the world. It has also transformed thinking and action in states, cities, companies, and even entire regions such as Central America. Based on research in ten leading trading nations, The Competitive Advantage of Nations offers the first theory of competitiveness based on the causes of the productivity with which companies compete. Porter shows how traditional comparative advantages such as natural resources and pools of labor have been superseded as sources of prosperity, and how broad macroeconomic accounts of competitiveness are insufficient. The book introduces Porter’s “diamond,” a whole new way to understand the competitive position of a nation (or other locations) in global competition that is now an integral part of international business thinking. Porter's concept of “clusters,” or groups of interconnected firms, suppliers, related industries, and institutions that arise in particular locations, has become a new way for companies and governments to think about economies, assess the competitive advantage of locations, and set public policy. Even before publication of the book, Porter’s theory had guided national reassessments in New Zealand and elsewhere. His ideas and personal involvement have shaped strategy in countries as diverse as the Netherlands, Portugal, Taiwan, Costa Rica, and India, and regions such as Massachusetts, California, and the Basque country. Hundreds of cluster initiatives have flourished throughout the world. In an era of intensifying global competition, this pathbreaking book on the new wealth of nations has become the standard by which all future work must be measured.

Creating Competitive Advantage
Creating Competitive Advantage

Author: Jaynie L. Smith

Publisher: Crown Currency

Published: 2006-04-25

Total Pages: 162

ISBN-13: 0385518447

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Why should I do business with you… and not your competitor? Whether you are a retailer, manufacturer, distributor, or service provider – if you cannot answer this question, you are surely losing customers, clients and market share. This eye-opening book reveals how identifying your competitive advantages and trumpeting them to the marketplace is the most surefire way to close deals, retain clients, and stay miles ahead of the competition. The five fatal flaws of most companies: ? They don’t have a competitive advantage but think they do ? They have a competitive advantage but don’t know what it is—so they lower prices instead ? They know what their competitive advantage is but neglect to tell clients about it ? They mistake “strengths” for competitive advantages ? They don’t concentrate on competitive advantages when making strategic and operational decisions The good news is that you can overcome these costly mistakes – by identifying your competitive advantages and creating new ones. Consultant, public speaker, and competitive advantage expert Jaynie Smith will show you how scores of small and large companies substantially increased their sales by focusing on their competitive advantages. When advising a CEO frustrated by his salespeople’s inability to close deals, Smith discovered that his company stayed on schedule 95 percent of the time – an achievement no one else in his industry could claim. By touting this and other competitive advantages to customers, closing rates increased by 30 percent—and so did company revenues. Jack Welch has said, “If you don’t have a competitive advantage, don’t compete.” This straight-to-the-point book is filled with insightful stories and specific steps on how to pinpoint your competitive advantages, develop new ones, and get the message out about them. “The biggest marketing flaw in most companies is their failure to fully reap the benefits of their competitive advantages. Either they think they have a competitive advantage but don’t. Or they have one and don’t realize it. Or they know they have a strong competitive advantage but fail to promote it adequately to their customers and prospects. “In my research with middle-market companies, I found only two CEOs out of 1,000 who could clearly name their companies’ competitive advantages. The other 99.8 percent could offer only vague, imprecise generalities. These same CEOs often rely on outside consultants to guide strategic-planning sessions. Yet, in my experience, very few consultants – even seasoned ones – give competitive advantage evaluation more than a superficial glance…. “Ignoring your competitive advantages can be an expensive and even fatal mistake. Because no matter the size of your company or the kind of business you are in, your competitive advantages should be the foundation of all your strategic and operational decisions. They’re the reasons customers choose to buy from you instead of the other guy.” – From Creating Competitive Advantage

The Advantage
The Advantage

Author: Patrick M. Lencioni

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2012-03-14

Total Pages: 253

ISBN-13: 1118266102

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There is a competitive advantage out there, arguably more powerful than any other. Is it superior strategy? Faster innovation? Smarter employees? No, New York Times best-selling author, Patrick Lencioni, argues that the seminal difference between successful companies and mediocre ones has little to do with what they know and how smart they are and more to do with how healthy they are. In this book, Lencioni brings together his vast experience and many of the themes cultivated in his other best-selling books and delivers a first: a cohesive and comprehensive exploration of the unique advantage organizational health provides. Simply put, an organization is healthy when it is whole, consistent and complete, when its management, operations and culture are unified. Healthy organizations outperform their counterparts, are free of politics and confusion and provide an environment where star performers never want to leave. Lencioni’s first non-fiction book provides leaders with a groundbreaking, approachable model for achieving organizational health—complete with stories, tips and anecdotes from his experiences consulting to some of the nation’s leading organizations. In this age of informational ubiquity and nano-second change, it is no longer enough to build a competitive advantage based on intelligence alone. The Advantage provides a foundational construct for conducting business in a new way—one that maximizes human potential and aligns the organization around a common set of principles.

Strategic Marketing
Strategic Marketing

Author: Douglas West

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2010-03-25

Total Pages: 613

ISBN-13: 0199556601

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This text discusses how companies create competitive advantage through strategic marketing. Using established frameworks and concepts, it examines aspects of marketing strategy and thinking. It provides examples to facilitate the understanding of theoretical concepts.

Creating Collaborative Advantage
Creating Collaborative Advantage

Author: Chris Huxham

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 1996-05-21

Total Pages: 201

ISBN-13: 0857022792

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Inter-organizational collaboration is becoming increasingly significant as a means of achieving organizational objectives in turbulent environments. Yet it is not an easy process to implement successfully. Drawing on the work of authors with a high level of relevant experience, this volume provides a thought-provoking and accessible introduction to the theory and practice of `creating collaborative advantage′. The first part of the book develops a framework of key dimensions for understanding collaboration. Different perspectives highlight the diversity of rationales and contexts involved, and the range of elements which need to be considered and addressed when embarking on collaborative endeavours. The second section focuses in more detail on collaboration in practice. It examines the problems that can occur when different `stakeholders′, who frequently hold different aims, cultures, procedures, professional languages and power resources, work across organizational boundaries. The last section addresses specifically the processes of acting as a facilitator to collaborative groups. It discusses how and why a third party facilitator role can be helpful, and explores the various processes and techniques that can be used.

Alliance Advantage
Alliance Advantage

Author: Yves L. Doz

Publisher: Harvard Business Press

Published: 1998

Total Pages: 342

ISBN-13: 9780875846163

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After a decade of reeningeering and downsizing, many companies are leaner, more efficient, and acutely focused on their core business. Yet today's growth opportunities in global markets and new technologies demand a wider range of skills. More and more, firms must turn to alliances-often with their rivals-to meld the right resources for pursuing new opportunities. However, few managers are accustomed to working with undefined boundaries between collaboration and competition, with the need to combine unfamiliar skills, with networks of interdependent alliances, and with complex value creation strategies. Nor has their experience with traditional joint ventures prepared them for this world of intricate alliance webs. Alliance Advantage aims to help today's managers and their companies be more successful in their efforts to create, guide, and thrive with alliance strategies. Most conventional wisdom about alliances has focused on the formal design of bilateral alliances, devoting too little attention to the strategic underpinnings and too little commitment to building relationships. With Alliance Advantage, strategy experts Yves Doz and Gary Hamel convincingly argue that it is the strength of alliance strategies and the frequently overlooked internal processes that play the decisive role in shaping eventual outcomes. In a fundamentally new perspective on the way alliances are formed and managed, the authors reveal the analysis, processes, and partner interactions that enable allies to meet their strategic goals. Drawing on principles of strategy, organizational design, organizational learning, and collaborative management, this is the definitive resource for both understanding and leveraging the powerful advantages of alliances. Alliance Advantage provides both conceptual and practical tools for analyzing the design and performance of alliances. Here, for the first time, is a comprehensive guide that will help managers build new collaborations and improve existing ones. Each chapter examines a different aspect of an alliance, from selecting the right partners to minimizing conflicts to determining further commitments. Companies such as Xerox, Boeing, Honda, and Corning, among others, provide examples of successful and unsuccessful partnerships, painting a vivid picture of the conditions that can make or break an alliance. Successful alliances, say Doz and Hamel, require constant attention. With Alliance Advantage, they offer today's best opportunity to study, understand, and increase the effectiveness of strategic alliances.

Creating Business Value and Competitive Advantage With Social Entrepreneurship
Creating Business Value and Competitive Advantage With Social Entrepreneurship

Author: Iyigun, N. Oyku

Publisher: IGI Global

Published: 2018-07-20

Total Pages: 455

ISBN-13: 1522556885

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The field of social entrepreneurship is attracting attention from multiple industries. Social entrepreneurs are responsible for finding ways to creatively contribute to society by providing affordable products and services. Creating Business Value and Competitive Advantage With Social Entrepreneurship is a useful scholarly resource that examines the broad topic of social entrepreneurship by looking at relevant theoretical frameworks and fundamental terms. Focused on topics such as creating business value, promoting social entrepreneurship, and enacting programs of social change, this book provides the latest research and practical solutions concerning social entrepreneurship. The source proves valuable to academicians, researchers, entrepreneurship practitioners, and individuals interested in learning more about social entrepreneurship.

Beyond Competitive Advantage
Beyond Competitive Advantage

Author: Todd Zenger

Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press

Published: 2016-05-24

Total Pages: 221

ISBN-13: 1633690016

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A competitive advantage just isn't enough. Your company is turning in regular profits every year, and its market share is only getting bigger. Competitors can’t touch you. So why is your stock price so sluggish? The answer is as simple as it is cruel: investors aren’t interested in history, and they already know you’re profitable and competitive—that knowledge is baked into your stock price. The hard reality is that a competitive advantage just isn’t enough. Investors want companies to surprise them with unexpected value, which means that you can outperform market expectations only if you as a leader know how to find, create, and deliver a series of multiple competitive advantages. This is why a corporate theory is so important. A good corporate theory provides a compass for those at the strategic helm, guiding their decisions about what assets and activities to pursue, what investments to make, and what strategies to adopt. Behind every long-term corporate success story lies a basic theory about how that company creates value. In Beyond Competitive Advantage, strategy professor Todd Zenger describes what makes a great corporate theory and helps readers understand the many tensions and trade-offs they’ll face as they apply the theory to meet the challenge of market expectations. Based on years of research and analysis, Beyond Competitive Advantage provides managers and executives with a framework for both sustaining value and creating growth.

Creating Knowledge Advantage
Creating Knowledge Advantage

Author: Nigel Holden

Publisher: Copenhagen Business School Press DK

Published: 2010

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9788763002301

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Some CBS Press titles are published in cooperation with its regional partners, liber AB in Sweden and Universitetsforiaget AS in Norway. --Book Jacket.

Creating Organizational Advantage
Creating Organizational Advantage

Author: Colin Egan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2012-05-23

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 1136413693

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Winner of the 1995 MCA Management Prize Presents critical appraisal of fashions and fads in management theory