Strategic

Advantage

Profile

• Every firm has strategic advantages and disadvantages.

• For example, large firms have financial strength but they tend to move slowly, compared to smaller firms, and often cannot react to changes quickly.

• No firm is equally strong in all its functions. In other words, every firm has strengths as well as weaknesses.

• The Strategist should look to see if the firm is stronger in these factors than its competitors.

• When a firm is strong in the market, it has a strategic advantage in launching new products or services and increasing market share of present products and services.

S.A.P.There are generally five functional areas in

most of the organizations. These areas are:

Ø Production or OperationØ Finance or AccountingØ Marketing or DistributionØ Human Resource & Corporate PlanningØ Research & Development

Strategic Advantage Factors: Marketing and Distribution

1. Competitive structure and market share: To what extent has the firm established a strong mark share in the total market or its key sub markets?

2. Efficient and effective market research system.3. The product-service mix: quality of products and services.4. Product-service line: completeness of product-service line

and product-service mix; phase of life-cycle the main products and services are in.

5. Strong new-product and new- service leadership.6. Patent protection (or equivalent legal protection for services).7. Positive feelings about the firm and its products and services on the

part of the ultimate consumer.

Strategic Advantage Factors: R&D and Engineering 1. Basic research capabilities within the firm2. Development capability for product.3. Excellence in product design.4. Excellence in process design and improvements.5. Superior packaging developments being created.6. Improvements in the use of old or new materials.7. Ability to meet design goals and customer requirements.8. Well-equipped laboratories and testing facilities.9. Trained and experienced technicians and scientists.10. Work environment suited to creativity and innovation.