Quotes About Competitive

Thus a low-cost position protects the firm against all five competitive forces because bargaining can only continue to erode profits until those of the next most efficient competitor are eliminated, and because the less efficient competitors will suffer first in the face of competitive pressures.

Consistency ensures that the competitive advantages of activities cumulate and do not erode or cancel themselves out. It makes the strategy easier to communicate to customers, employees, and shareholders, and improves implementation through single-mindedness in the corporation. Second-order

Strategic positioning attempts to achieve sustainable competitive advantage by preserving what is distinctive about a company. It means performing different activities from rivals, or performing similar activities in different ways.

A strategy is an internally consistent configuration of activities that distinguishes a firm from its rivals.

Nierenberg was a man of strong will and even stronger opinions—a good talker but not always a good listener. Some colleagues said that the old adage about famous physicists definitely applied to him: he was sometimes in error but never in doubt. And he was fiercely competitive, often debating until his adversaries simply gave up.

Purpose stimulates the two key forms of action that contribute to the strengths of the firm and thus competitive advantage—innovation and the formation of relationships.

top management's purpose needs to be serving customers, not maximizing profit, if it is to achieve long-term competitive advantage.4

that a corporate strategy represents a plan to effectively allocate scarce resources to achieve sustainable competitive advantage.

Thinking about moats can protect your investment capital in a number of ways. For one thing, it enforces investment discipline, making it less likely that you will overpay for a hot company with a shaky competitive advantage. High returns on capital will always be competed away eventually, and for most companies—and their investors—the regression is fast and painful.

The structure of the book is the same as the basic investment process that we advocate: Develop a set of investing principles, understand the company's competitive environment, analyze the company, and value the stock. If you can follow this process while avoiding most big mistakes, you'll do just fine as an investor.