While competitive advantage refers to when an organization does something that its rivals cannot do or owns something that its rivals desire, sustained competitive advantage is the organization’s ability to maintain or uphold competitive advantage (Barney & Hesterly, 2015). It is imperative that companies constantly concentrate on the identification of differential product strategies, acquisition of special technologies, accumulation of intellectual property, and reshaping or establishing core competencies. Based on the Strategic Management Process, some organizations have managed to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage.
Using Michael Porter’s Five Force Model of marketing, these organizations have progressed to attaining competitive advantage. The starting point of any strategy must be the external setting. Here, an organization needs to take time to analyze the structure of the industry, as this will define what it needs to achieve, and what its strategy should be (Dixit & Nalebuff, 2008). Each of the competitive forces should be evaluated deeply, through a checklist of factors. Secondly, an organization must decide on a competitive strategy in order to attain sustainable competitors advantage (Barney & Hesterly, 2015). Porter believes that there are generally two generic competitive positions which are differentiation and cost leadership.
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Lastly, some organizations have managed to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage by implementing a competitive strategy that leads to sustainable competitive advantage (Dixit & Nalebuff, 2008). Recently, it has become more evident that the notion of competitive advantage tends to offer the most appropriate approach for attaining business success. That is why today’s organizations need to take up a more consumer centric and agile approach to identifying future products and new markets (Barney & Hesterly, 2015). Furthermore, improved market viability, investments in the necessary infrastructure, and new levels of employee participation are necessary so as to secure a deeper level of shared trust with an organization’s main customers. Higher levels of trust will eventually open up chances of securing a sustained competitive advantage, through Strategic Management Process.
References
Barney, J., & Hesterly, W. (2015). Strategic management and competitive advantage . 5 th Edition. New York: Pearson.
Dixit, A., & Nalebuff, B. (2008). The art of strategy . New York: W.W. Norton & Co.
