Competitve Advantage

The Analysis of Competitive Advantage

Author : Mlindi Mashologu

Date : September 2012

Institution : Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Table of Contents

Introduction 2

Competitive Advantage 2

Creation of Competitive Advantage 4

Emergence of Competitive Advantage 6

Main sources of Competitive Advantage 8

Sustaining Competitive Advantage 10

Conclusion 13

References 15

Introduction

In this day’s economic climate, it is imperative for any organization to continue re-inventing itself to ensure that it remains relevant in its operating environment. This becomes quite critical especially if the organization is operating in a highly competitive environment. Any organization therefore needs to enhance its competitive advantage to ensure that it maintains and improve its market share; this will hence ensure its relevance, stability and continued operations.

Any organization need to investigate the use of a sustainable competitive advantage strategy which will ensure that it prospers and survives against its competitors (Lynch, 2009, p8). There are three categories that can be used in providing strategic competitive advantage which are the organizational resources, relationships and the industrial structure’s point of view (Ionica, 2009). It is not only the external forces that are important to determine the competitive advantage of an organization; internal factors contribute significantly to the success of an organization (Ionica, 2009). This therefore shows that no matter how successful the organization is at the present moment there is a continual need to provide a strategic direction to ensure its continued competitive advantage (Wen-Chen, Chien-Hung and Ying-Chen, 2011).

Competitive Advantage

Competitive advantage is the advantage that an organization has over its competitors which is gained by offering customers great value products which is achieved by either provision of lower prices or providing much greater...