The worst light in which your business can be held is for you to be viewed by your customers as 'just another supplier'.  Achieving a competitive advantage requires you to be both 'different' and 'better' than your closest competitors.

In the early 80s, British Airways (BA) conducted market research by asking passengers at Heathrow whether they considered BA to be the 'same as', 'better than' or 'worse than' other airlines.  The results were:

15%   Worse
60%   Same
25%   Better

The BA executives were very pleased with the results as 85% of respondents considered the airline to be the 'same' or 'better than' other airlines.  The market research firm, however, took a very different view.  Their conclusion was that 60% of airline passengers regarded BA as 'just another airline' and thus had no particular reason for flying with them.

A Strategic Business Plan has five components:

1. The organisation's activities - both now and in the future
2. The organisation's markets - both now and in the future
3. The organisation's products and services - both now and in the future
4. Its competitive strategy
5. Its competitive advantage

This audio is about the last two components - competitive strategy and competitive advantage.

Competitive Strategy

In their book 'The Discipline of Market Leaders', Fred Wiersema and Michael Treacy outline three generic business strategies:

1. Best Product
2. Best Total Cost
3. Best Total Solution

The differences and the pros and cons of each will be explained, as will the rationale behind the need to make a conscious choice between them.

Competitive Advantage

If the adoption of a particular competitive strategy represents the game plan, the competitive advantage is the execution.  Competitive advantage is explained in reference to:

• The Total Product Concept
• A Case Study - determining and exploiting a competitive advantage; an attribute that made this company 'different' and 'better' than its closest competitors.

Duration:  26 minutes; 45 seconds