...Business Competitiveness Management Competition on the market The main and the most important process on the market Competition is a combat between individuals, groups, nations, animals, etc. for territory or allocation of resources. It arises whenever two or more parties strive for a goal which cannot be shared. Competition occures among naturally living organisms which co-exist in the same environment. Business is associated with competition as most companies are in competition with at least one other firm over the same group of customers. The Latin root for the verb „to compete” is „competere”, which means „to seek together” or „to strive together” Competition is a process in which companies try to realise their aims, and try to offer better product or service using price, quality and other tools, which influence customers decisions whether to buy something or not. The success of one group is dependent on the failure of the other competing groups. The object of competition can be a product (or service) or resource. In the first case the companies compete beetwen one another about customer, whereas in the second case about resource and conditions of buying it. At the same time companies compete for customers and resources because in order to buy resources they should sell products and to generate the product they should buy resources. Very impotortant is who competes (subject). That is why competition can occur among: - Blocks of nations (unions)...
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...For exclusive use at HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCI AND TECH, 2015 www.hbr.org BEST PRACTICE Everyone knows that being fair costs little and pays off handsomely. Then why do so few executives manage to behave fairly, even though most want to? Why It’s So Hard to Be Fair by Joel Brockner • Reprint R0603H This document is authorized for use only in Managerial Communication by Caroline Wang, HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCI AND TECH from August 2015 to January 2016. For exclusive use at HONG KONG UNIVERSITY OF SCI AND TECH, 2015 Everyone knows that being fair costs little and pays off handsomely. Then why do so few executives manage to behave fairly, even though most want to? BEST PRACTICE Why It’s So Hard to Be Fair by Joel Brockner COPYRIGHT © 2006 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. When Company A had to downsize, it spent considerable amounts of money providing a safety net for its laid-off workers. The severance package consisted of many weeks of pay, extensive outplacement counseling, and the continuation of health insurance for up to one year. But senior managers never explained to their staff why these layoffs were necessary or how they chose which jobs to eliminate. What’s more, the midlevel line managers who delivered the news to terminated employees did so awkwardly, mumbling a few perfunctory words about “not wanting to do this” and then handing them off to the human resources department. Even the people who kept their jobs were less...
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...www.hbr.org We all have the capacity to inspire and empower others. But we must first be willing to devote ourselves to our personal growth and development as leaders. Discovering Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer Reprint R0702H We all have the capacity to inspire and empower others. But we must first be willing to devote ourselves to our personal growth and development as leaders. Discovering Your Authentic Leadership COPYRIGHT © 2007 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. by Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer During the past 50 years, leadership scholars have conducted more than 1,000 studies in an attempt to determine the definitive styles, characteristics, or personality traits of great leaders. None of these studies has produced a clear profile of the ideal leader. Thank goodness. If scholars had produced a cookie-cutter leadership style, individuals would be forever trying to imitate it. They would make themselves into personae, not people, and others would see through them immediately. No one can be authentic by trying to imitate someone else. You can learn from others’ experiences, but there is no way you can be successful when you are trying to be like them. People trust you when you are genuine and authentic, not a replica of someone else. Amgen CEO and president Kevin Sharer, who gained priceless experience working...
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...www.hbr.org We all have the capacity to inspire and empower others. But we must first be willing to devote ourselves to our personal growth and development as leaders. Discovering Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer Reprint R0702H We all have the capacity to inspire and empower others. But we must first be willing to devote ourselves to our personal growth and development as leaders. Discovering Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and Diana Mayer COPYRIGHT © 2007 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. During the past 50 years, leadership scholars have conducted more than 1,000 studies in an attempt to determine the definitive styles, characteristics, or personality traits of great leaders. None of these studies has produced a clear profile of the ideal leader. Thank goodness. If scholars had produced a cookie-cutter leadership style, individuals would be forever trying to imitate it. They would make themselves into personae, not people, and others would see through them immediately. No one can be authentic by trying to imitate someone else. You can learn from others’ experiences, but there is no way you can be successful when you are trying to be like them. People trust you when you are genuine and authentic, not a replica of someone else. Amgen CEO and president Kevin Sharer, who gained priceless experience working as Jack Welch’s assistant...
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...www.hbr.org Some companies have built their very businesses on their ability to collect, analyze, and act on data. Every company can learn from what these firms do. Competing on Analytics by Thomas H. Davenport Reprint R0601H Some companies have built their very businesses on their ability to collect, analyze, and act on data. Every company can learn from what these firms do. Competing on Analytics COPYRIGHT © 2005 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. by Thomas H. Davenport We all know the power of the killer app. Over the years, groundbreaking systems from companies such as American Airlines (electronic reservations), Otis Elevator (predictive maintenance), and American Hospital Supply (online ordering) have dramatically boosted their creators’ revenues and reputations. These heralded—and coveted—applications amassed and applied data in ways that upended customer expectations and optimized operations to unprecedented degrees. They transformed technology from a supporting tool into a strategic weapon. Companies questing for killer apps generally focus all their firepower on the one area that promises to create the greatest competitive advantage. But a new breed of company is upping the stakes. Organizations such as Amazon, Harrah’s, Capital One, and the Boston Red Sox have dominated their fields by deploying industrial-strength analytics across a wide variety of activities. In essence, they are transforming their organizations into armies...
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...www.hbr.org To get at the roots of profitdestroying complexity, companies need to identify their innovation fulcrum, the point at which the level of product innovation maximizes both revenues and profits. Innovation Versus Complexity What Is Too Much of a Good Thing? by Mark Gottfredson and Keith Aspinall Reprint R0511C To get at the roots of profit-destroying complexity, companies need to identify their innovation fulcrum, the point at which the level of product innovation maximizes both revenues and profits. Innovation Versus Complexity What Is Too Much of a Good Thing? COPYRIGHT © 2005 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. by Mark Gottfredson and Keith Aspinall Walk into the In-N-Out Burger restaurant on Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, and one of the first things that may strike you is the number four. Four colors: red, white, yellow, and gray; four cash registers with four friendly faces behind them; and just four items on the menu. You can buy burgers, fries, shakes, and sodas. All the ingredients are delivered fresh to the store, where they’re prepared in the open kitchen behind the cashiers. You’ll see a few folks eating at the restaurant’s tables or tucking into their food outdoors on patio benches, but most customers come in with a handful of cash—no credit or debit cards, thank you—and head back out with their meals. Four is In-N-Out Burger’s innovation fulcrum—the point at which...
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...www.hbr.org BEST OF HBR 1998 In making decisions, you may be at the mercy of your mind’s strange workings. Here’s how to catch thinking traps before they become judgment disasters. The Hidden Traps in Decision Making by John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa • Reprint R0601K In making decisions, you may be at the mercy of your mind’s strange workings. Here’s how to catch thinking traps before they become judgment disasters. BEST OF HBR 1998 The Hidden Traps in Decision Making by John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa COPYRIGHT © 2005 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Before deciding on a course of action, prudent managers evaluate the situation confronting them. Unfortunately, some managers are cautious to a fault—taking costly steps to defend against unlikely outcomes. Others are overconfident—underestimating the range of potential outcomes. And still others are highly impressionable—allowing memorable events in the past to dictate their view of what might be possible now. These are just three of the well-documented psychological traps that afflict most managers at some point, assert authors John S. Hammond, Ralph L. Keeney, and Howard Raiffa in their 1998 article. Still more pitfalls distort reasoning ability or cater to our own biases. Examples of the latter include the tendencies to stick with the status quo, to look for evidence confirming one’s preferences, and to throw good money after...
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...www.hbr.org HBR SPOTLIGHT Strategy and Society The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer • Reprint R0612D HBR SPOTLIGHT Strategy and Society The Link Between Competitive Advantage and Corporate Social Responsibility by Michael E. Porter and Mark R. Kramer COPYRIGHT © 2006 HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL PUBLISHING CORPORATION. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Governments, activists, and the media have become adept at holding companies to account for the social consequences of their activities. Myriad organizations rank companies on the performance of their corporate social responsibility (CSR), and, despite sometimes questionable methodologies, these rankings attract considerable publicity. As a result, CSR has emerged as an inescapable priority for business leaders in every country. Many companies have already done much to improve the social and environmental consequences of their activities, yet these efforts have not been nearly as productive as they could be—for two reasons. First, they pit business against society, when clearly the two are interdependent. Second, they pressure companies to think of corporate social responsibility in generic ways instead of in the way most appropriate to each firm’s strategy. The fact is, the prevailing approaches to CSR are so fragmented and so disconnected from business and strategy as to obscure many of the greatest opportunities for companies to benefit society...
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