BUSI 1600 Lecture Notes - Lecture 6: Flat Organization, Quality Management
Document Summary
The first step involved in establishing competitive advantage is to have a thorough understanding of your competition. You would generally begin by identifying your main direct competitors, those that will be pretty much in the same business you will be, selling similar products or offering similar services. It is also important to identify major indirect competitors, businesses that offer products or services that can be substituted for yours. Competitors weaknesses" that you identify throughout these analyses can form the basis of your advantage. Establishing sustainable competitive advantage should be one of the outcomes of the new firm"s strategic planning process and generally involves the use of strategic resources. The term resources is used here in a very broad sense, moving well beyond the images of financial resources or natural resources that the term generally conjures up. In fact, a resource as it is peripheral to the firm"s main business activities.
