战略竞争几何学

1、TheGeometryofCompetitionByBruceChewAformerbusinessschoolprofessorreflectsonthemeaningandexistenceofcompetitiveadvantage.Hisfinding:Competitiveadvantageisveryrare,competitivepositionisveryreal.Identifying,building,andtalkingaboutadvantagehavebeenattheheartofmyworkbothasaconsultantandabusinessschoolprofessorforalmost20years.YettoomuchofthetimeI’vefoundmyownandothersanalysesofadvantagetobelikethefamousSupremeCourtwritingonpornography:“IknowitwhenIseeit.”AndtruthtotellIdon’tseeitveryoften.Considera。

2、meetingIhadrecentlyoverseaswithagroupofmanagerswhomadeanindustrialproduct.ForthefirstpartofthedayI’dtalkedatlengthaboutthesourcesofcompetitiveadvantage.DuringtheafternoonIleadabreakoutsessiononstrategywherethequestiononthetablewas:Whatisyourcompetitiveadvantage?Itquicklybecameclearthattheywerenotthelowcostproducer.Wellthenwemustbedifferentiated.Well,maybe,buthow?Onemanagerresponded,“wehaveagoodreputation.”Towhichthegroupreplied,thatisnotreallyacompetitiveadvantage.Anothersuggested,“Ourproductsha。

3、vefeaturesnoneofourcompetitorshave.”“Yeah,buttheywillsoon,”saidanother.Wehavegoodcustomerrelationships.Yes,butthatisnotacompetitiveadvantageeither.Finallyinaveryseniormanagerjumpedupandshouted“Wedon’thaveanyfreakingadvantage—gotit?Haseverybodygotthat?Noadvantage.None!”HediditwithafairamountofvolumeandprofanitydisplayinghisfrustrationbornenotfromhiscolleaguesbutfromhissheerinabilitytomakehisbusinessfitwithintheframeworksIhadsoeagerlytaughtearlierintheday.Andthatlessonhasstoodthetestoftime.Mostcom。

4、petitorsdonothaveacompetitiveadvantage.Thatdoesnotmeantheydon’tdothingswell.Theymayhavegoodproducts,goodcustomerrelations,andsomeexcellentcapabilities,butthosethingsdonotadduptoacompetitiveadvantage.Trulydominatingamarketplaceorevenamarketsegmentisanexperienceenjoyedbyonlyafewfirms.Andperhapsbecauseitishardtopointtointhemarketplace,ithasbecomefashionabletoarguethatcompetitiveadvantageisnolongerrelevantintheneweconomy.Thatitisn’tachievableorthatitissimplytoostaticaconceptforthedynamicworldoftoday。

5、.Idisagree.InsteadIwouldsuggestthatcompetitiveadvantagehasbeenmisunderstood.Bydefiningitinthewaywehave,we’veactuallymadeitalmostimpossibleforallbutafewtocreate.Aoncerigorousacademicdefinitionhasbecomeafairlystatic,self-referentialnotionofcompetitiveadvantagewhichcanbetranslatedinthefollowingway:“Managerscangainsuperiorfinancialreturnsbyachievingadvantagedpositions;advantagedpositionsarethosethatenablemanagerstoearnaboveaveragereturns.”TheGeometryofCompetitionBruceChew©2000,MonitorGroup.Donotrepr。

6、oduce.Donotdistributewithoutpermission.2Perhapsthebiggestissueinthewaywehavedefinedcompetitiveadvantageisthatitisfairlyone-dimensional.Youeitherhaveitoryoudon’tandtotheextentthatyouhaveit,itcomesinoneoftwovarieties—low-costordifferentiated(withafocusedflavorforsubsetsofthemarketplace)—bothofwhichareextremelyrareintheirpurestformandtotheextenttowhichtheydoexistarelikelytorepresenttheoutcomeorbundlingofasetofcapabilitiesandofferingswhicharedynamicinnature.Ourolddescriptorstendtobedescriptionsofout。

7、comes;notnecessarilythethingsmostcloselylinkedtothecreationofagoodcompetitiveposition.Theyfailtoisolateformanagersthethingstheymustdo,thewaystheymustorganize,and,aswewillsee,theyfailtotalkaboutthearrayofproductofferingstheymustproffertothemarket.Nowonderpeoplehavearguedthatitisanunnecessaryrelicfromanothercompetitiveera.Tomoveforwardweneedtoreformulateourdefinitionofcompetitiveadvantageinawaythatfocusesonabroaderunderstandingofcompetitiveposition.Inthisway,competitiveadvantagecanbecomenotonlymor。

8、eeasilyunderstood,butalsomoreachievableandmorerelevanttomanagersatalllevels.Ourconventionallabelswhichpurporttoshowus“strategicpositions”suchas—low-costanddifferentiated—arereallynotaboutcompetitivepositionsatall.Theyidentifyalternatepathstooutperformingtheindustryaverage.Thelowcostproducerhasacostsavingsgreaterthanitspricereduction.Thedifferentiatedproducercommandsapricepremiuminexcessofitsaddedcosts.SeeChartOne.020406080100120140CostLeadershipDifferentiationMarginFullCosts(IncludingCapitalCost。

9、s)PercentofIndustryAverageRevenueandCostChartOneWhat’straditionallymasqueradedasstrategicadvantageisactuallyadepictionofoperatingresultsIndustryAveragePriceIndustryAverageCostTheGeometryofCompetitionBruceChew©2000,MonitorGroup.Donotreproduce.Donotdistributewithoutpermission.3However,thesearenotdescriptorsofposition.Theyareaboutthefinancialreturnsthatgoodpositionsbring.Thelabelsareonelevelremovedfromthingsthatmanagersactuallymanage.Anewlanguageisneeded.Anunambiguouslanguagethatfocusesdirectlyonco。

10、mpetitiveposition,whateveritmaybe,andfocuseslessontheabilitytofinanciallyoutperformanindustry.Competitiveadvantageusedasashorthandhasfallenshort.Asaframeworkitshouldgivesomeguidancetowhatproductsorserviceswemustsell;whereIshouldbeabletooutperformthecompetitors;whichsetsofcustomersandwhichcapabilitiesIshouldbuildovertime.Butitdoesn’t.WhenourmodernlanguageofstrategywasfirstdevelopeditwasintendedtodemonstratethattherearesuccessfulstrategiesthatdonotlooklikeFord’sModelT.Thebiggestplayerdoesn’tautomat。