Competitive advantages of the firm. How to grow competitive advantage

Course work

Competitive advantages of the enterprise

Introduction

1. Theoretical foundations of the competitive advantages of an enterprise

1.1 The concept and essence of competitive advantages

2.2 Organizational structure of OJSC “Arnest”

Conclusion

Since a typical mistake in the analysis of this problem is the confusion of the concepts of competitiveness and competitive advantage, therefore, we will clarify these concepts.

“The competitiveness of a product is an integral comparative characteristic of a product, a comprehensive assessment of its parameters (consumer, economic, organizational and commercial) in relation to market requirements or parameters of similar products. The real competitiveness of a product is determined only by comparing its parameters that are significant for consumers with the characteristics and terms of sale of similar competing products. ”

“Competitiveness is a property of an object, characterized by the degree of actual or potential satisfaction of a specific need by it in comparison with similar objects presented on the market. Competitiveness determines the ability to withstand competition in comparison with similar objects in a given market. ”

Competitiveness of the company - the ability to compete in the market with other manufacturers and suppliers of similar products, both in terms of the degree to which their goods or services meet the specific needs of customers, and in terms of business efficiency. It is most often evaluated by the company's specialists, and competitive advantages are evaluated by consumers who compare the offers of the company and its competitors. In this sense, the concept of competitive advantage is also relative. Competitive advantages make it possible to achieve greater consumer loyalty; accordingly, they largely determine the company's competition strategy, i.e. the way she competes.

“Competitive advantage is the distinctive features of a company and its product in the eyes of consumers. ”

“Competitive advantages of subjects can be hereditary, constructive, technological, informational, qualification, managerial, natural and climatic, etc.”

“The competitive advantage of a system is any exclusive value that a system possesses that gives it superiority over its competitors. ”

“Key competitive success factors are commonly referred to as factors arising from market requirements that can give the company an advantage over its competitors. ”

“Rivalry among existing competitors often comes down to striving to achieve an advantageous position by all means, using the tactics of price competition, promotion of the product on the market and intensive advertising. “

“Knowledge of the company's capabilities and sources of competitive influence will allow you to identify areas where the company can go into open confrontation with competitors, and where it can avoid it. If a company is a low-cost producer, it will be able to oppose the power of consumers because it will be able to sell them products that are not vulnerable to substitute products. ”

The sources of competitive advantage are diverse, but most often they are based on:

On operational efficiency, i.e. performing similar activities better than competitors (quality of service or product quality, hours of operation and location, speed of service, cost advantage, etc.);

Strategic positioning, i.e. carrying out activities that are separate from competitors or carrying out similar activities, but in other ways. Strategic positioning is based on a competitive advantage (key competitive advantage). This may be the uniqueness of a product or service, brand image, technological leadership, a unique combination of activities, etc.

So, the company's offer must be meaningful to consumers in order to be classified as a competitive advantage. However, the degree of significance varies.

“For a particular factor to become a competitive advantage for a company, it must be of key importance to consumers and at the same time be based on the uniqueness of the company's business. ”

The most cited author in foreign and domestic literature on the theory of competition, management of competitive advantages is M. Porter. In the next paragraph of the course work, Michael Porter's theory of competitive advantage will be considered.

1.2 Michael Porter's Theory of Competitive Advantage

To survive or win in tough competition, any system must have certain advantages over its competitors. In recent years, almost every book on competition, competitive advantage, or competitiveness has referenced Michael Porter's seminal book International Competition.

M. Porter proposed a set of typical strategies based on the idea that each of them is based on a competitive advantage and the company must achieve it by choosing its own strategy. It must decide what type of competitive advantage it wants to gain and in what area.

“Thus, the first component of the strategic choice under this model is a competitive advantage, which is divided into two main types: lower costs and product differentiation. ”

“Low costs reflect a firm's ability to develop, produce, and sell a comparable product at a lower cost than a competitor. Selling goods at the same (or approximately the same) price as competitors, the company in this case receives a large profit. ”

Differentiation is the ability to provide the customer with a unique and greater value in the form of a new product quality, special consumer properties or after-sales service. Differentiation allows the firm to dictate high prices, which, at equal costs with competitors, provides greater profits.

Difficult, but still possible to gain a competitive advantage based on both lower costs and differentiation. However, any effective strategy must pay attention to all types of competitive advantage, although not strictly adhering to one of them. A firm focusing on low costs must still provide acceptable quality and service. In the same way, the product of a firm that produces differentiated products should not be so expensive as competitors' products as to be detrimental to the firm.

“The competitive advantage of a firm is determined by how clearly it can organize relationships with suppliers and customers. By better organizing these connections, the firm can gain a competitive advantage. Regular and timely deliveries can reduce a firm's operating costs and reduce inventory requirements. These links occur when the method of one activity affects the cost or efficiency of others. »

Relationships often lead to the fact that the additional costs of "fitting" individual activities to each other pay off in the future. Firms must incur such costs in line with their strategy in the name of competitive advantage.

M. Porter notes that firms get a competitive advantage:

Based in those countries that allow the most rapid accumulation of specialized resources and skills;

If the home country of the firm has more accessible and accurate information about the needs for goods and technologies;

If permanent investment is possible;

If the interests of owners, managers and staff coincide.

“Thus, one of the main goals of many organizations is to achieve an advantage over its direct competitors. The central question is this: how will the organization obtain this advantage? M. Porter answers this important question by highlighting key general strategies. ”

Three such strategies are cost leadership, individualization, and focus. Each of them will be discussed in the next section of the course work.

1.3 Strategies for achieving competitive advantage according to M. Porter

Strategies for achieving competitive advantages belong to the group of competitive strategies, which also include strategies for behavior in a competitive environment. Each of these strategies is based on the need to achieve a certain competitive advantage.

“Competitive advantages are understood as the unique tangible or intangible assets of the company or special competence in areas of activity that are important for this business (equipment, trademark, ownership of raw materials, flexibility, adaptability, staff qualifications, etc.). ”

Note that the competitive advantages of modern firms do not always relate to production technology, very often they move to the stage of marketing, service, R&D, managerial and financial innovations. Competitive advantages are usually realized at the level of strategic business units. Consider the features of the main strategies for achieving competitive advantages.

Analysis of the competitive environment and determination of the competitive position of the organization involves determining the complexity and dynamism of the competitive environment. The universal methods of such analysis are the five forces model of M. Porter and the cost analysis of competitors.

The five forces model involves conducting a structural analysis based on determining the intensity of competition and studying the threat of potential competitors entering the market, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, the threat from substitutes for a product or service.

Competitor cost analysis boils down to identifying the strategic factors driving cost, cost analysis itself, and competitor cost modeling.

“To obtain a competitive advantage, a firm can use three general competitive strategies: cost leadership (the task is to achieve cost leadership in a particular area through a set of measures to control them), individualization (it is supposed to achieve a distinctness of the organization's product or service from the products or services of competitors in this area), focusing (the task is to focus on a specific group, market segment or geographic region). ”

Cost Leadership. When implementing this strategy, the task is to achieve leadership in terms of costs in their industry through a set of functional measures aimed at solving this particular problem. As a strategy, it involves tight control over costs and overheads, minimizing spending in areas such as research and development, advertising, etc. There is also a need for a whole layer of buyers who feel the advantage of low costs, expressed in prices.

A low cost position gives an organization good returns in its industry even if there is fierce competition in its industry. A cost leadership strategy often creates a new basis for competition in industries where fierce competition in various forms has already been established.

Individualization. This strategy involves differentiating an organization's product or service from those offered by competitors in the industry. As Porter shows, the approach to personalization can take many forms, including image, brand, technology, distinctive features, special customer service, and so on.

Customization requires serious research and development as well as marketing. In addition, buyers should give their liking to any product as something unique. The potential risk of the strategy is a change in the market or the release of analogues that competitors can initiate, which will destroy any competitive advantage that the company has already achieved.

“A focus strategy involves choosing a narrow segment or group of segments in an industry and meeting the needs of that segment more effectively than competitors serving a broader market segment can do. The focus strategy can be applied by both a cost leader serving a given segment and a differentiator that meets the special requirements of a market segment in a way that allows high prices to be charged. ”

So firms can compete broadly (serving multiple segments) or focus narrowly (targeted action). Both options for the focus strategy are based on the differences between the target and the rest of the industry segments. It is these differences that can be called the reason for the formation of a segment that is poorly served by competitors that carry out large-scale activities and do not have the ability to adapt to the specific needs of this segment. A cost-focused firm may outperform a consumer-oriented firm by its ability to eliminate "excesses" that are not valued in that segment.

If this strategy is chosen, the main task is to concentrate on a specific group of consumers, a market segment or a geographically isolated market. The idea is to serve a specific target well, not the industry as a whole.

It is assumed that the organization will thus be able to serve a narrow target group better than its competitors. This position provides protection against all competitive forces. Focusing can also mean cost leadership or product/service customization.

1.4 Strategies for achieving competitive advantage according to F. Kotler

F. Kotler offers his own classification of competitive strategies based on the market share owned by the enterprise (firm):

1. "Leader" strategy. The “leading” firm in the product market occupies a dominant position, and this is also recognized by its competitors. The leading firm has a set of strategic alternatives at its disposal:

The expansion of primary demand, aimed at discovering new consumers of the product, expanding the scope of its use, increasing the one-time use of the product, which is usually advisable to apply at the initial stages of the product's life cycle a defensive strategy that the innovator takes to protect its market share from the most dangerous competitors;

An offensive strategy, most often consisting in increasing profitability by maximizing the experience effect. However, as practice shows, there is a certain limit, above which a further increase in market share becomes unprofitable;

A demarketing strategy that involves reducing one's market share in order to avoid accusations of monopoly.

2. "Challenge" strategy. A firm that does not occupy a dominant position can attack the leader, i.e. challenge him. The purpose of this strategy is to take the place of the leader. In this case, the solution of two most important tasks becomes key: choosing a springboard for attacking the leader and assessing the possibilities of his reaction and defense.

3. The strategy of “following the leader”. A “follow-the-leader” is a competitor with a small market share that chooses adaptive behavior, aligning its decisions with the decisions made by competitors. Such a strategy is most typical for small businesses, so let's take a closer look at possible strategic alternatives that provide small businesses with the most acceptable level of profitability.

Creative market segmentation. A small firm should only focus on certain market segments in which it can better exercise its competence or have greater agility to avoid major competitors.

Use R&D effectively. Since small enterprises cannot compete with large firms in the field of fundamental research, they must focus R&D on improving technologies in order to reduce costs.

Stay small. Successful small businesses focus on profit rather than increasing sales or market share, and they tend to specialize rather than diversify.

Strong leader. The influence of the manager in such firms goes beyond formulating a strategy and communicating it to employees, covering also the management of the current activities of the company.

4. Specialist strategy, “Specialist” focuses mainly on only one or several market segments, i.e. he is more interested in the qualitative side of the market share.

It seems that this strategy is most closely associated with the focusing strategy of M. Porter. Moreover, despite the fact that the “specialist” firm dominates its market niche in a certain way, from the point of view of the market for this product (in the broad sense) as a whole, it must simultaneously implement the strategy of “following the leader”.

1.5 Classification of competitive advantages of the organization

The management of the competitive advantages of the enterprise is carried out according to the same management (management) functions as the management of other objects.

“The factors of the competitive advantage of the organization are divided into external, the manifestation of which to a small extent depends on the organization, and internal, almost entirely determined by the management of the organization. »

Table 1.1 List of external factors of competitive advantage of the organization

External factor of competitive advantage of the organization	What needs to be done to achieve and use a competitive advantage in Russia
Country competitiveness level	Open an organization in a country with a high level of competitiveness or increase the competitiveness of your country
The level of industry competitiveness	Take measures to increase the competitiveness of the industry or leave it for another, more competitive industry
The level of competitiveness of the region	Take measures to increase the competitiveness of the region or leave it for another, more competitive region
State support for small and medium-sized businesses in the country and regions	Rework the legislative framework for small and medium-sized businesses, orienting it towards efficient and law-abiding business conduct
Legal regulation of the functioning of the economy of the country and regions	Rework the legislative framework for the functioning of the economy as a system of codes and rights (competitive, antimonopoly, administrative, labor, etc.)
Openness of society and markets	Development of international cooperation and integration, international free competition
The scientific level of economic management of the country, industry, region, etc., the applicability of the tools of the new economy	Application of the economic laws of the functioning of market relations considered in topics 2-5, the laws of organization in statics and dynamics, 20 scientific approaches to management and specific principles for managing various objects, management methods at all levels of the hierarchy. If the leader does not master scientific methods, the performer will hardly master them.
National system of standardization and certification	Activation of work in this area, strengthening control over compliance with international standards and agreements, legal support for harmonization with the international system
State support for human development	To increase dozens of times in the Russian budget spending on education, healthcare and the social sphere
State support for science and innovation	Improve the transfer system (development of innovations, their innovation and diffusion), increase budget spending on science tenfold
The quality of management information support at all levels of the hierarchy	Creation of unified national information centers for spheres or branches of the national economy that meet the latest science and technology
The level of integration within the country and within the global community	Russia's entry into international organizations and development according to international laws
Tax rates in the country and regions	Revise the tax system, if possible, dock and unify rates
Interest rates in the country and regions	Reconsider the system of interest rates at all levels of management and areas of investment
Availability of accessible and cheap natural resources	To increase the proportion of state-owned resources mined and subsoil to at least 50%. Improve government control over resource spending
The system of training and retraining of managerial personnel in the country	The receipt of international, state and sponsor investments in this area and their spending should be under state control and give a specific result.
Climatic conditions and geographical location of the country or region	Protect the natural environment, improve the quality of the living environment and develop competitive advantages in this area
The level of competition in all areas of activity in the country	Comprehensively form and implement market relations

Table 1.2 List of internal factors of the competitive advantage of the organization

Internal factor of competitive advantage of the organization	What needs to be done to achieve and use competitive advantage
production structure of the organization	Design organizations based on flexible production systems, from automated modules and systems
mission of the organization	The mission should contain an original idea, an exclusive field of activity, a competitive product, a popular trademark, a brand, etc.
organizational structure of the organization	The organizational structure should be built on the basis of the organization's goal tree with horizontal coordination of all work by the manager for a specific product (problem-target organizational structure)
Production specialization	Carry out the design of the organization based on the analysis of the principles of rationalization of structures and processes, using modeling methods
the level of unification and standardization of products and components of production	Perform the whole range of work on the unification and standardization of various objects in order to streamline them according to standard sizes, types, methods, etc.
accounting and regulation of production processes	Include in the structure of the organization automation tools for accounting for compliance with the principles of proportionality, continuity, parallelism, rhythm of the flow of individual processes
staff	Constantly select personnel, improve their qualifications and create conditions for promotion, motivate high-quality and efficient work in order to ensure the competitiveness of personnel
information and normative-methodical base of management	When designing and developing structures, information systems should include high-quality information and regulatory and methodological documents
the strength of competition at the output and input of the system	When choosing a field of activity and suppliers of raw materials, materials, components, equipment, personnel, analyze the strength of competition and choose competitive suppliers
Resource: suppliers access to high-quality cheap raw materials and other resources	Constantly analyze the competitive environment, the number of suppliers, the strength of competition between them, their competitiveness to select the best. Monitor market parameters in order not to miss possible access to high-quality and cheap raw materials
accounting and analysis of the use of all types of resources at all stages of the life cycle of large objects of the organization	Stimulate the conduct of such an analysis, since in the future, saving resources for consumers of their products will be a priority for the organization, a factor of competitive advantage
resource efficiency optimization	Support work on resource optimization, as the global goal of competition is to save resources and improve the quality of life
Technical: proprietary goods	Continue to work on increasing the number of inventions and patents
patented technology and equipment	To increase the proportion of progressive technological equipment, to reduce its average age
quality of workmanship	Apply modern methods of quality control and promotion to maintain a competitive advantage
Managerial: managers	Increase the proportion of competitive managers
analysis of the implementation of the laws of the organization	Based on the results of the analysis of the laws of the organization, measures should be developed and implemented to improve processes
organization of the supply of raw materials, materials, according to the principle of "just in time"	Maintaining this competitive advantage requires a high degree of discipline throughout the entire material cycle.
functioning of the management system (competitiveness) of the organization	Develop and implement a system
functioning of the quality management system in the organization	Further retention of this competitive advantage requires highly qualified personnel, the use of scientific management methods
conducting internal and external certification of products and systems	The quality management system must comply with international standards ISO 9000:2000. scientific approaches and principles of quality management
Market: access to the market for resources needed by the organization	To obtain this advantage, it is necessary to study the parameters of the markets at the input of the system (organization), and to maintain it, it is necessary to monitor the market infrastructure
market leading position	To retain this main advantage, it is necessary to constantly take measures to retain all the competitive advantages of the organization.
exclusivity of the organization's product	This advantage is achieved by the high patentability of products, which, in turn, ensures their competitiveness in comparison with substitute products.
distribution channel exclusivity	This advantage is achieved by a high level of logistics, maintained by competitive marketers and sales workers.
exclusivity of advertising of the organization's products	To maintain the advantage, highly qualified advertising workers and sufficient funds for it are required.
effective system of sales promotion and after-sales service	The advantage is achieved by highly qualified economists, psychologists and managers of the organization. of course, the necessary means
Forecasting pricing policy and market infrastructure	In order to maintain this competitive advantage, it is necessary to analyze the effect of the law of demand, supply, competition, etc. on your products, to have a high-quality information base and qualified specialists.
The effectiveness of the functioning of the organization: Profitability indicators (according to profitability ratios of products, production, capital, sales)	Economic indicators determine the quality of the functioning of the organization in all aspects and areas. Therefore, in order to maintain its competitive advantages, the organization must improve the scientific level of management.
The intensity of the use of capital (according to the turnover ratios of types of resources or capital)	Levels of profitability, intensity of capital use and financial stability of the functioning of the organization are determined individually
financial sustainability of the organization	The higher the strength of competition in the industry, the lower will be the profitability and cost of goods, but the higher the quality of goods.
Share of exports of science-intensive goods	Competition is also a factor in increasing the efficiency of the use of all resources.

Listed in Table. 1.1 and 1.2 external and internal factors of competitive advantage of the organization are the maximum possible for the abstract organization. For a particular enterprise, the number of competitive advantages can be any.

“The value of each benefit can be quantified and analyzed over time. However, it is hardly possible to integrate all the benefits into a single indicator. ”

In principle, the more an organization has competitive advantages over current and potential competitors, the higher its competitiveness, survivability, efficiency, and prospects. To do this, it is necessary to improve the scientific level of management, gain new competitive advantages and look more boldly into the future.

1.6 Key competitive success factors

Key success factors are commonly referred to as those factors arising from market requirements that can give the company an advantage over its competitors.

For example, a key factor may be "niche", i.e., unsatisfied needs of existing manufacturers that can be satisfied by the proposed product (or, more often, for which an entirely new product should be developed).

Thus, each firm finds a segment of the market that is not currently occupied and establishes itself in it, which ensures commercial success. Naturally, each time the "ecological niche" was significantly different.

Key success factors can also be changes in the distribution network, in the policy of choosing a commodity-producing system, etc.

“Key factors are always revealed by comparing your product and your company with competitors. After the comparison, the top administration decides on what indicators it should outperform its competitors, and on what indicators it should keep on par with it or even yield in some way. ”

It should be remembered that sometimes the key success factors are of such a nature that the company is not able to own them on its own. This casts serious doubt on the expediency of entering this market and should be the subject of close attention from the company's management.

“When managing key factors, first of all, it is necessary to find out which “external environment” or “internal environment” of marketing is responsible for the occurrence of obstacles in the use of key success factors. Next, decide whether the company is able to change the existing state of affairs; if yes, develop a program of change, and if not, find out the possibility of working in another market or sector. ”

The role of elements of the internal structure of the company, which are called "responsibility centers", is very significant in this matter. Very often, this is where the key success factors are hidden. Responsibility centers are those units that are assigned special tasks in achieving the planned financial performance.

Cost centers are production units that set standards for the consumption of materials and labor resources. The goal of the leaders of these centers is to minimize the deviations of actual costs from planned ones.

Sales centers are sales units that are prohibited from lowering prices in order to increase sales, but are ordered to strive for a maximum sales volume.

Discretionary centers are administrative divisions in which it is not possible to strictly establish “costs / results” norms: here it is required to ensure the highest possible quality of activities with the flexibility of the expenditure item of the marketing budget.

Profit centers - usually all divisions, one way or another tied to the lines of the "product orientation" structure, and the amount of profit is set based on those elements of marketing that the corresponding division is really capable of managing.

investment centers. In them, the performance indicator is "return on capital" (profit minus tax on capital employed). All these centers (firm divisions) are given such rights so that they can maximize the use of their resources. Thus, the key factors of competitiveness provide the company with competitive advantages, which explains the need for their use in the activities of the enterprise.

2. Management of competitive advantages in the organization

2.1 Characteristics of the activities of Arnest OJSC

The Arnest company is the Russian leader in the aerosol business in the field of high technologies, production volumes and product sales. The company spends a lot of time and money on the implementation of social programs. For more than 30 years, Arnest has been producing cosmetic products and household chemicals.

Form of ownership: private property. Organizational and legal form: open joint stock company.

“A joint-stock company is a company whose authorized capital is divided into a certain number of shares. Shareholders, i.e. the owners of the shares of this company are not liable for its obligations, but bear the risk of losses associated with the activities of the company, within the value of their shares, i.e. have limited liability. ”

“Joint-stock companies are divided into open and closed. In the first case, the participants in the company can alienate their shares without the consent of other shareholders, in the second case, the shares are distributed only among the participants. The number of shareholders of an open joint stock company is unlimited. ”

Among the well-known brands: “Charm”, “Symphony”, “Lyra”, “Deadly Force”, “Garden”, “Mebelux”, etc. Through the active development of these brands, the company has traditionally maintained a leading position in the market for hair styling products, air fresheners, universal insecticides and polishes.

The assortment of the company is constantly being improved and today it has more than 350 product names. The high quality of products has been repeatedly confirmed by the most prestigious awards.

The enterprise is equipped with the most up-to-date high-quality equipment of leading European companies. The production capacity is 150 million aerosol packages and 15 million polymer bottles per year.

"Arnest" was the first in Russia to enter the international level of production and product quality control, has a quality system certificate ISO 9001 and an environmental certificate of compliance with ISO 14001-98.

To date, the company's products are represented in all cities of Russia, the CIS countries, the Baltic states and Iran. Among the key partners of the enterprise are world-famous perfume and cosmetic companies in Europe: Schwarzkopf, L`oreal, Unilever, as well as the Russian concern Kalina.

The Arnest company is focused on the production of high quality products and strives to meet the needs of the consumer as much as possible. The use of the most modern innovative technologies allows Arnest to maintain the status of a leader in Russia.

The most important tasks of the company are:

Maintaining and improving leadership positions in the main segments of the aerosol market,

Unification of all employees of the Company on the basis of common business objectives, corporate values, principles, norms and rules,

Constant expansion of the presence in cosmetics, household chemicals and insecticides through geographic expansion and entry into new, potentially attractive markets and segments.

The Arnest company provides a full range of services for the manufacture of the product:

Acquisition or production at the enterprise of primary components (aerosol can or polymer bottle) and group packaging;

Acquisition of all types of raw materials from the best manufacturers from anywhere in the world, or work with tolling raw materials;

Additional cleaning at the enterprise itself and bringing hydrocarbon propellants to the required pressure;

Mixing the ingredients of the active substance and filling it into aerosol cans and polymer bottles on the lines of European manufacturers;

Prepress preparation and adaptation of designs to the requirements of Russian legislation;

Development of recipes according to the submitted consumer requests;

Certification of the finished product with the execution of the entire set of necessary documents;

Storage of the finished product in our own warehouses;

Development of optimal logistics schemes for the delivery of the finished product to the customer's warehouses.

The organization under study operates within the framework of an organizational development strategy and, in particular, a moderate growth strategy, the use of which implies agility; use of external resources; business diversification; expansion of basic research; concentration of efforts on the implementation of innovations.

Prospects for the further development of JSC "Arnest" are due to the growth in consumption of products by Russian and foreign buyers.

Despite the growth in the volume of manufactured products, the company has not yet reached the required level of implementation, which allows the team to consistently and purposefully solve the tasks of managing competitive advantages that it faces.

2.2 Organizational structure of OJSC"Arnest"

The functions of managing the activities of an enterprise are implemented by departments of the management apparatus and individual employees, who at the same time enter into economic, organizational, social, psychological relations with each other.

The organizational structure of the personnel management system is a set of interrelated divisions of the personnel management system and officials.

There is a high degree of centralization of management. Management principles that form the basis of the organizational structure:

Hierarchy of management levels, in which each lower level is controlled by a higher one and is subordinate to it;

Correspondence of the powers and responsibilities of management employees to their place in the hierarchy;

Division of the labor process into separate functions and specialization of workers according to the functions performed;

Formalization and standardization of activities, ensuring the uniformity of the performance of their duties by employees and the coordination of solving various problems.

The Management Board is headed by the President and consists of several members appointed by the Board of Directors. It manages certain areas of work, its members take part in resolving issues at meetings of the board. The Management Board submits to the General Meeting of Shareholders an annual report, a balance sheet and a profit distribution plan. Board functions: current planning; management of research work, production, sales; development of a specific course of action, programs and methods; making decisions on organizational forms of management; delegation of authority to officials at lower levels of management; implementation of personnel policy; control over the state of the financial position of the company; approval of company budgets; control over the profitability of operations; ensuring intercompany communications and settlements.

The most important criteria for the quality of the board's work are: ensuring stable profits, optimal sales volume, high quality and novelty of products, as well as services provided to the consumer.

The middle level of management is designed to ensure the efficiency of the functioning and development of the company by coordinating the activities of all departments.

Central services are functional services that carry out the most important management functions: marketing, planning, coordination, accounting and control, management of the provision of scientific, technical and production and marketing activities. The activity of the central services is based on the coordination of the work of the relevant departments in the production departments. The main activity of the central services is the implementation of functional links:

The lower level of management is focused on the operational solution of tasks for the organization of economic activity within the framework of structural divisions, the main task of which is to fulfill the established tasks for the production of products and making a profit.

Production departments include smaller divisions - departments, sectors. The departments are headed by managers who have complete independence in solving current problems.

2.3 Marketing strategy and goals of Arnest OJSC

Under the conditions of developing market relations, Arnest CJSC pays special attention to the operational and almost daily analysis of various aspects of the company's marketing activities.

The highest, the main goal of the enterprise in a market economy is to maximize profits. However, at certain stages of development and functioning of the organization, there are intermediate goals, for example: to ensure break-even work; win a large share in the market of goods and services; regulate the product offer in accordance with demand; expand the sales market; to ensure the maximum growth of indicators;

Each of these intermediate goals always acts as a means to achieve the main (main) goal. The main strategic goal of JSC "Arnest" is to maintain long-term competitiveness in the Russian market of the aerosol business. To achieve this goal, Arnest OJSC implements the following strategies:

1. Orientation to the Russian market and the CIS market, growth through development on the expansion of the domestic market.

2. Increasing the volume and share of sales of products for export.

3. Client-oriented development strategy - the implementation of corporate orders for the manufacture of products, the creation of discount systems, the development and implementation of discounts for regular customers of company stores.

Marketing strategy of OAO “Arnest”:

Increasing the number of sales while reducing production costs;

Concentration on a promising market segment;

Product differentiation;

Development of discount systems and customer cards for buyers;

Creation of a club of like-minded clients;

Creation of a client-oriented strategy.

2.4 Analysis of the market and competitive environment of OJSC “Arnest”

Continuous monitoring of the competitive environment is a necessary condition for an analytical assessment of the market situation and orientation of production to meet the needs of the market in the most efficient way.

To ensure quality management at the enterprise, promising strategies in the field of competitiveness should be developed, as well as the necessary organizational measures for all aspects of economic management.

The main competitors of the enterprise are: "Zavodbytovoykhimii" LLC, "Dzerzhinsky Plant of Household Chemistry" CJSC, "Spektr" CJSC, "Vershina" LLC, "Household Chemicals Factory" CJSC. The figure shows the occupied share of Arnest OJSC in the market of aerosol products manufacturers, as well as the share occupied by its main competitors.

Rice. Distribution of market shares

Increasing competition while simultaneously expanding the market for aerosol products creates additional requirements for updating the range and improving product quality. The advantages of competitors can lead to the loss of customers, both existing and potential; and also lead to loss of market share.

To prevent this from happening, the company must find and eliminate the reasons for lagging behind competitors, as well as try to "get around" the competitor with other advantages.

“Consumer organizations tend to have clear guidelines for buying goods in such markets. These are the popularity of goods, the reliability of the seller, the stability of quality, the certainty of delivery, the availability of prices. However, under certain conditions, certain specific factors may acquire greater significance. ”

In essence, any superiority over competitors is achieved through innovation, and therefore the ability to introduce new technical and technological elements in the activities of an enterprise that provide market advantages is a necessary component of the competitiveness of an enterprise. In a highly competitive environment, superiority in quality, price and sales areas is today a life-supporting factor for success in the market.

2.5 Quality policy of JSC "Arnest" as a competitive advantage

The priority goal of JSC "Arnest" is to meet the requirements and expectations of consumers and other interested parties, to maintain the company's image on this basis and increase the competitiveness of products.

To achieve this goal JSC "Arnest" carries out:

Constant updating of the assortment, increase in the output of new types of products;

Introduction of new technologies based on modern equipment;

Compliance with the requirements of environmental legislation and other mandatory requirements in the field of ecology;

Reducing the negative impact of its activities on the environment;

Formation of ecological culture of personnel;

Training of all employees on quality and environmental issues;

Involvement of personnel in quality improvement activities;

Formation of mutually beneficial partnerships with all stakeholders;

Improvement of the integrated quality management system of JSC "Arnest", in relation to perfumery and cosmetic products and household chemicals, in accordance with the requirements of GOST R ISO 9001-2001 and GOST R 14001-98.

The management of OJSC "Arnest" undertakes to follow this Policy and provide the necessary resources and conditions for its implementation by all employees.

The Russian company "ARNEST" declared itself as a high-level enterprise, having received in 2000 a certificate of compliance with the requirements of the international quality standard ISO 9001-96.

In April 2003, the quality management system was re-certified according to the new version of the ISO 9000 series standards.

In December 2004, the environmental management system of JSC "Arnest" was certified for compliance with the requirements of ISO 14000 series.

Obtaining these certificates means that the company cares not only about the quality of its products, but also about the environmental situation in the region.

The reliability of products is ensured by the types of control existing at the enterprise, ranging from the input control of raw materials and materials to the control of finished products.

Compliance of products, semi-finished products, parts, raw materials with international standards is controlled through an extensive network of documentation. Mandatory requirements for products are provided:

The reliability of the packaging and the composition of the product guarantees the safety of life and health of customers.

The manufacture of products on an ozone-friendly propellant contributes to environmental protection.

2.6 Competitive advantages of Arnest Company

The main competitive advantages of Arnest are:

Presence of own strong brands in the main market niches;

Availability of ISO 9001-2001 (quality management system), ISO 14001-2000 (ecology);

Own production of aluminum cylinders. In Russia, apart from OAO "Arnest", such production exists only at one plant. It should be emphasized that almost half of all aerosol products can only be filled into aluminum cans. This applies to styling mousses (foams), deodorants and antiperspirants, a number of antistatic agents, some cleaning products, and all other products with an aggressive formulation. In addition to the uniqueness of aluminum cylinders, their production has a much higher mobility compared to the production of tin cylinders, which is based on the initial printing on tin with subsequent folding and soldering of rolled sheets;

Own production of European standard valves and spray devices, including heads of several configurations, caps and spray caps of several types. JSC "Arnest" has implemented a full cycle of production of valves and nozzles, which allows not only to fully meet the needs of filling, but also to sell them to customers separately. The quality of produced valves and caps satisfies the requirements of transnational customers;

Production of a tin can. On the territory of JSC "Arnest" there is a German enterprise for the production of tin cylinders with a capacity of up to 100 million pieces. in year. The quality of the products makes this manufacturer the only company in Russia whose products meet the demand of transnational customers for tin packaging for contract filling of aerosols;

Modern warehouse of UVP (hydrocarbon propellants) and equipment for purification of UVP. There is a production of 8 different pressures and mixtures for the entire range of products.

JSC "Arnest" has its own plant for the production of propellants, while none of the Russian manufacturers of aerosols and up to 90% of world manufacturers have these capabilities, but purchase ready-made mixtures. In addition, a serious competitive advantage is the UVP purification system, which allows you to purchase unpurified cheap isobutane fraction and have one of the main components of aerosols at least 40% cheaper than competitors;

Own warehouses for raw materials and finished products: the presence of a logistics warehouse for "L" Oreal, the presence of its own temporary storage warehouse (temporary storage warehouse) for customs clearance of imported goods.A warehouse terminal (11 thousand sq. m.) is at the stage of completion;

Own STC (scientific and technical center) - development of recipes, certification, state. registration. Own accredited chemical analysis laboratory;

Implemented MS Axapta ERP system;

A wide and developing distribution network, currently numbering more than 100 companies in Russia and abroad;

Strong management team focused on the final result.

Based on the above analysis of the competitive advantages of the Arnest company, it can be concluded that the company is successfully working in the production and sale of aerosol products, including due to the fact that it can withstand competition compared to similar objects in this market.

Conclusion

Summing up, it should be noted that in order to survive or win in a tough competitive struggle, any organization must have certain advantages over its competitors.

Knowing the company's capabilities and sources of competitive influence will allow you to identify areas where the company can go into open confrontation with competitors, and where it can avoid it.

The more an organization has competitive advantages over current and potential competitors, the higher its competitiveness, survivability, efficiency, and prospects. To do this, it is necessary to improve the scientific level of management, to gain new competitive advantages.

The Arnest company is the Russian leader in the aerosol business in the field of high technologies, production volumes and product sales.

The company's strategy is to find the best ways to offer consumers the highest quality products. The organization constantly increases the range of products offered and strives to develop the marketing component of the business.

Also, the priority goal of Arnest OJSC is to meet the requirements and expectations of consumers and other interested parties, to maintain the company's image on this basis and increase the competitiveness of products.

The study of the competitive advantages of the Arnest company shows the successful work of the enterprise for the production and sale of aerosol products, including due to the fact that the enterprise has certain advantages over its competitors in this market.

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From this article you will learn:

• What are the types of competitive advantages of the company
• What are the main competitive advantages of the company
• How is the formation and evaluation of the competitive advantages of the company
• How to use competitive advantages to increase sales

Over time, humanity reaches new heights, receiving more and more new knowledge. This also applies to business. Each firm is on the hunt for the most profitable marketing solutions, trying to build things differently and showcase their products in the best light. All enterprises sooner or later face competition, and therefore the competitive advantages of the company play an important role in the market, which help the consumer to decide on the choice of product.

What are the company's competitive advantages

Competitive advantages companies are those characteristics, properties of a brand or product that create a certain superiority for the company over direct competitors. The development of the economic sphere is impossible without competitive advantages. They are part of the corporate style of the company, and also provide it with protection from competitors' attacks.

A company's sustainable competitive advantage is the development of a profitable development plan for the company, with the help of which its most promising opportunities are realized. Such a plan must not be used by actual or prospective competitors, and the results of the implementation of the plan must not be adopted by them.

The development of a company's competitive advantages is based on its goals and objectives, which are achieved in accordance with the company's position in the market for goods and services, as well as the level of success in their implementation. The reform of the functioning system should create a basis for the effective development of the factors of competitive advantages of the company, as well as create a strong relationship between this process and existing market conditions.

What are the types of competitive advantages of a company?

What are the company's competitive advantages? There are two types of competitive advantage:

1. Artificial competitive advantages: individual approach, advertising campaigns, guarantee and so on.
2. Natural competitive advantages of the company: product cost, buyers, competent management and so on.

An interesting fact: if a firm does not strive to get ahead in the market of goods and services, referring to a number of such enterprises, it somehow has natural competitive advantages. In addition, it has every opportunity to develop artificial competitive advantages for the company, spending some time and effort on this. This is where all the knowledge about competitors is needed, since their activities need to be analyzed first.

Why do we need to analyze the competitive advantage of a company?

An interesting note about Runet: as a rule, about 90% of entrepreneurs do not analyze their competitors, and also do not develop competitive advantages using this analysis. There is only an exchange of some innovations, that is, firms adopt the ideas of competitors. It doesn't matter who first came up with something new, it will still be "taken away". This is how clichés like this came to light:

• Highly qualified specialist;
• Personal approach;
• Top quality;
• Competitive cost;
• First class service.

And others, which in fact do not represent a competitive advantage of the company, since no self-respecting enterprise will declare that its products are of poor quality, and its staff are newcomers.

Oddly enough, you can look at it from the other side. If the competitive advantages of companies are minimal, then it is easier for start-up firms to develop, that is, to gather their potential consumers, who receive a wider choice.

Therefore, it is necessary to correctly work out strategic competitive advantages that will provide customers with a profitable purchase and positive emotions. Customer satisfaction must come from the enterprise, not from the product.

What are the sources of the company's competitive advantage

There is a fairly well-established structure of the company's competitive advantages. At one time, Michael Porter identified three main sources for developing a company's competitive advantages: differentiation, cost, and focus. Now in more detail about each of them:

• Differentiation

The implementation of this strategy of the company's competitive advantages is based on a more efficient provision of services to the company's customers, as well as the presentation of the company's products in the best light.

• Costs

The implementation of this strategy is based on the following competitive advantages of the company: minimum costs for employees, automation of production, minimum costs for scale, the ability to apply limited resources, as well as the use of patented technologies that reduce production costs.

• Focus

This strategy is based on the same sources as the previous two, but the company's accepted competitive advantage covers the needs of a narrow circle of customers. Customers outside this group are either dissatisfied with such competitive advantages of the company, or they are not affected in any way.

The main (natural) competitive advantages of the company

Every firm has a natural competitive advantage. But not all enterprises cover them. This is a group of companies whose competitive advantages are either, as they believe, obvious or disguised as conventional clichés. So, the main competitive advantages of the company are:

1. Price. Like it or not, one of the main advantages of any company. If the price of a firm's goods or services is lower than competitive prices, this price gap is usually indicated immediately. For example, “prices are 15% lower” or “we offer retail products at a wholesale price.” It is very important to indicate prices in this way, especially if the company operates in the corporate sphere (B2B).
2. Timing (time). Be sure to specify the exact delivery time for each type of product. This is a very important point in developing a company's competitive advantage. Here it is worth avoiding inaccurate definitions in terms (“we will deliver quickly”, “we will deliver just in time”).
3. An experience. When the staff of your company are professionals in their field, who know all the "pitfalls" of doing business, then convey this to consumers. They like to cooperate with specialists who can be contacted on all issues of interest.
4. Special conditions. They may include the following: exclusive supply offers (discount system, convenient location of the company, extensive warehouse program, included gifts, payment after delivery, and so on).
5. Authority. The authority factor includes: various achievements of the company, prizes at exhibitions, competitions and other events, awards, well-known suppliers or buyers. All this increases the popularity of your company. A very significant element is the status of a professional expert, which involves the participation of your employees at various conferences, in advertising interviews, and on the Internet.
6. Narrow specialization. This type of competitive advantage is best explained with an example. The owner of an expensive car wants to replace some parts in his car and he is faced with a choice: go to a specialized salon that services only cars of his brand, or to a standard car repair shop. Of course, he will choose a professional salon. This is a component of a unique selling proposition (USP) that is often used as a competitive advantage for a company.
7. Other actual benefits. Such competitive advantages of the company include: a wider range of products, patented manufacturing technology, the adoption of a special plan for the sale of goods, and so on. The main thing here is to stand out.

Artificial competitive advantages of the company

Artificial competitive advantages are able to help the company to tell about itself, if it does not have special offers. This may come in handy when:

1. The firm has a set-up similar to competitors (competitive advantages of companies in a particular field of activity are the same).
2. The company is located between large and small enterprises (does not have a large assortment of goods, does not have a narrow focus and sells products at a standard price).
3. The company is at the initial stage of development, having no special competitive advantages, customer base and popularity among consumers. Often this happens when specialists decide to leave the workplace and create their own enterprise.

In such cases, it is necessary to develop artificial competitive advantages, which are:

1. Added value. For example, a company sells computers without being able to compete on price. In this case, you can use the following competitive advantage of companies: install an operating system and the necessary standard programs on a PC, and then slightly increase the cost of equipment. This is the added value, which also includes all sorts of promotions and bonus offers.
2. Personal adjustment. This competitive advantage of the company works great if competitors hide behind standard clichés. Its meaning is to demonstrate the face of the company and apply the WHY formula. He is successful in every field of activity.
3. Responsibility. Quite an effective competitive advantage of the company. It goes well with personality tuning. A person likes to deal with people who can vouch for their products or services.
4. Guarantees. Generally, there are two types of warranties: circumstance (for example, a liability guarantee - “if you haven’t received a check, we will pay for your purchase”) and product or service warranties (for example, the ability for a consumer to return or exchange an item within up to one months).
5. Reviews. Unless, of course, they are ordered. For potential consumers, the status of a person who speaks about your company is important. This advantage works great when reviews are presented on a special form with a certified signature of a person.
6. Demonstration. It is one of the main competitive advantages of the company. If the company does not have advantages, or they are not obvious, then it can make an illustrated presentation of its product. If the company works in the service sector, then you can make a video presentation. The main thing here is to correctly focus on the properties of products.
7. Cases. But there may not be cases, especially for newcomers. In this case, it is possible to develop artificial cases, the essence of which is to provide services either to ourselves, or to a potential buyer, or to an existing client on a mutual basis. Then you will receive a case that will show the level of professionalism of your company.
8. Unique selling proposition. It has already been mentioned in this article. The meaning of the USP is that the company operates with a certain detail, or provides data that separates it from competitors. This competitive advantage of the company is effectively used by the company "Practicum Group", which offers training programs.

Personnel as a competitive advantage of the company

Unfortunately, today not every management sees in the staff an excellent competitive advantage of the company. Based on the developed strategies and goals, firms come to the need to build, develop and strengthen the personal qualities of employees they need. But at the same time, companies come to the need to apply a certain combination of developed strategies (this also applies to internal management).

Based on this, you need to pay attention to a couple of important points: identify and develop the qualities of personnel, creating a competitive advantage for the company, and explain the usefulness of investing in this resource.

If the goal of management is to create a competitive advantage for the company in the face of personnel, then work on the personal characteristics of employees, as well as the concept of the essence and effectiveness of the aspects that are revealed in teamwork (emergence and synergy), are very important here.

The process of becoming a team as a competitive advantage of the company is not complete without resolving some points that the company's management should take into account:

1. Competent organization of the activities of employees.
2. The interest of employees in the successful achievement of tasks.
3. Formation of the desire of the team to actively participate in the process of obtaining high results.
4. Support for the personal qualities of employees necessary for the company.
5. Development of company commitment.

It is worth paying attention to the essence of the proposed aspects that form the competitive advantage of the company in the face of its staff.

Not a few well-known large organizations win in the competition precisely due to the effective use of personnel as a competitive advantage of the company, as well as due to the gradual increase in the level of interest of employees in achieving their goals. The main criteria for success in the process of using all possible resources are: the desire of employees to remain part of the company and work for its benefit, the dedication of the staff to their company, the confidence of the staff in success and the sharing by them of the principles and values ​​of their company.

It is characterized by the following elements:

• Identification. Assumes that employees have a sense of pride in their firm, as well as a factor in the appropriation of goals (when employees take the tasks of the firm as their own).
• Involvement. It assumes the desire of employees to invest their own strength, actively participate in achieving high results.
• Loyalty. It implies a psychological attachment to the company, the desire to continue working for its benefit.

These criteria are extremely important in shaping the competitive advantage of the company in the face of personnel.

The degree of employee loyalty is closely related to the level of staff response to external or internal stimulation.

When developing the competitive advantage of the company in the face of the staff, it is worth noting some aspects that reveal the dedication of employees:

• Dedicated employees strive to improve their skills.
• Dedicated employees stand by their views without being manipulated or otherwise negatively influenced.
• Dedicated employees strive to achieve maximum success.
• Committed employees are able to take into account the interests of all members of the team, to see something beyond the boundaries of the goal.
• Dedicated employees are always open to something new.
• Committed employees have a higher degree of respect not only for themselves, but also for other people.

Loyalty is a multifaceted concept. It contains the ethics of the team, and the degree of its motivation, and the principles of its activities, and the degree of job satisfaction. That is why the competitive advantage in the face of personnel is one of the most effective. This commitment is reflected in the relationship employees have with everyone around them in the workplace.

When management wants to create a competitive advantage in the face of staff, the challenge is to build employee loyalty. The prerequisites for the formation are divided into two types: personal characteristics of employees and working conditions.

Competitive advantages of the company in the face of personnel are formed with the help of the following personal characteristics of employees:

• Reasons for choosing this field of activity.
• Motivation of work and labor principles.
• Education.
• Age.
• Family status.
• existing work ethic.
• Convenience of the territorial location of the company.

The competitive advantages of the company in the face of the staff are formed using the following working conditions:

• The level of interest of employees in achieving the maximum success of the company.
• Employee awareness level.
• The degree of stress of employees.
• The degree of satisfaction of important needs of employees (wages, working conditions, the opportunity to show their creative potential, and so on).

But it is necessary to take into account the dependence of loyalty on the personal characteristics of the staff and the atmosphere in the companies themselves. And therefore, if the management set out to create a competitive advantage for the company in the face of its personnel, it first needs to analyze how acute the problems in this company that can negatively affect employee loyalty are.

Brand as a competitive advantage of the company

Today, in order to fight competitors, companies include additional services in the list of basic ones, introduce new methods of doing business, put both personnel and each consumer in priority. Competitive advantages of the company follow from the analysis of the market, the development of a plan for its development, obtaining important information. Firms in the process of competition and constant change need to work both with the internal management of the organization, and with the development of a strategy that ensures a strong position of stable competitiveness and allows you to follow the changing situation in the market. Today, in order to maintain competitiveness, it is important for firms to master modern principles of management and production, which will allow companies to create competitive advantages.

The trade mark (brand) of the company, when properly used, can increase its income, increase the number of sales, replenish the existing assortment, inform the buyer about the exclusive benefits of a product or service, stay in this field of activity, and also introduce effective development methods. This is why a brand can serve as a competitive advantage for a company. Management that does not take this factor into account will never see their organization among the leaders. But a trademark is a rather expensive option for a company's competitive advantage, which requires special management skills, knowledge of the company's positioning methods, and experience in working with a brand. There are several stages in the development of a brand, related specifically to the topic of its relationship with competition:

1. Goal setting:
   • Formulation of the goals and objectives of the company (the initial stage for the formation of any competitive advantages of the company).
   • Establishing the importance of the brand within the company.
   • Establishing the necessary position of the brand (characteristics, long-term, competitive advantages of the company).
   • Establish measurable brand criteria (KPIs).

1. Development plan:
   • Evaluation of existing resources (the initial stage for the formation of any competitive advantages of the company).
   • Approval of customers and all performers.
   • Approval of development deadlines.
   • Identification of additional goals or obstacles.

1. Assessing the existing position of the brand (applies to existing brands):
   • Popularity of the brand among customers.
   • Brand awareness of potential customers.
   • Brand loyalty to potential customers.
   • The degree of brand loyalty.

1. Assessment of the state of affairs in the market:
   • Assessment of competitors (the initial stage for the formation of any competitive advantages of the company).
   • Evaluation of a potential consumer (the criteria are preferences and needs).
   • Evaluation of the sales market (supply, demand, development).

1. The wording of the essence of the brand:
   • Purpose, position and benefits of the brand for potential customers.
   • Exclusivity (competitive advantages for the company, value, characteristics).
   • Trademark attributes (components, appearance, main idea).

1. Brand Management Planning:
   • Work on the development of marketing elements and clarification of the brand management process (included in the brand book of the organization).
   • Appointment of employees responsible for brand promotion.

1. Introduction and increasing the popularity of the brand (it is on this stage that the success of the company's competitive advantages in terms of brand promotion depends):
   • Media plan development.
   • Ordering promotional materials.
   • Distribution of promotional materials.
   • Multifunctional loyalty programs.

1. Analysis of the effectiveness of the brand and the work done:
   • Evaluation of the quantitative characteristics of the brand (KPI) established at the first stage.
   • Comparison of the obtained results with the planned ones.
   • Making changes to the strategy.

A necessary criterion for the effective implementation of a trademark as a competitive advantage of a company is adherence to a single corporate style, which is a visual and semantic integrity of the company's image. The components of corporate style are: the name of the product, trademark, trademark, motto, corporate colors, uniforms of employees and other elements of the company's intellectual property. Corporate style is a set of oral, color, visual, individually designed constants (components) that guarantee the company the visual and semantic integrity of the company's products, its information resources, as well as its overall structure. Corporate style can also act as a competitive advantage of the company. Its existence suggests that the head of the firm aims to make a good impression on customers. The main purpose of branding is to evoke positive feelings in the client that he experienced when buying the products of this enterprise. If other components of marketing are at their best, then corporate style can create some competitive advantages for the company (precisely within the framework of the topic of opportunities for competition):

• It has a positive effect on the aesthetic position and visual perception of the company;
• It enhances the effectiveness of collective work, can rally the staff, increases the interest of employees and the sense of their need for the organization (competitive advantage of the company in the face of staff);
• Contributes to the achievement of integrity in the advertising campaign and other marketing communications of the organization;
• Reduces communication development costs;
• Increases the effectiveness of advertising projects;
• Reduces the cost of selling new products;
• It makes it easier for customers to navigate information flows, allows them to accurately and quickly find the company's products.

The brand association consists of four elements that are also important to consider when developing a company's competitive advantages:

1. intangible criteria. This includes everything that has to do with brand information: its idea, degree of popularity and distinctive features.
2. Tangible criteria. Here, the influence on the sense organs plays a very important role. These criteria are functional (a special form for more convenient use, for example), physical, as well as visual (brand display on promotional materials). Both tangible and intangible criteria are essential in developing a company's competitive advantage.
3. emotional characteristics. A brand is a competitive advantage for a company when it inspires positive emotions and customer confidence. Here it is necessary to use tangible criteria (for example, a unique advertising campaign). Experts argue that these criteria create an opinion among customers about the intangible characteristics of the brand.
4. Rational characteristics. They are based on functional criteria for the product (e.g. economical vehicles from Volkswagen or Duracell batteries that last “up to ten times longer”), the way they communicate with consumers (e.g. Amazon) and relationships. between customers and the company that owns the brand (promotions for regular customers from various airlines). Accounting for rational characteristics is very important in the formation of the company's competitive advantages.

When developing the competitive advantages of a company, it is necessary to know the main carriers of the corporate style components:

• Elements of service components (large stickers, large panels, wall-mounted calendars, and so on).
• Components of office work (corporate letterheads, recorder forms, blocks of paper materials for notes, and so on).
• Advertising on paper (catalogs, all kinds of calendars, booklets, brochures, and so on).
• Souvenir products (fountain pens, T-shirts, stationery for the office, and so on).
• Elements of propaganda (materials in the media, design of halls for various events, propaganda prospectus).
• Documentation (business cards, passes, certificates for staff, and so on).
• Other forms (corporate banner, packaging materials with company symbols, employee uniforms, and so on).

The trade mark also influences the competitive advantage of the company in the face of personnel, contributing to the rallying of employees who feel their importance to the organization. It turns out that a trademark is an element of the company's development process, increasing its income and sales, as well as contributing to the replenishment of the product range and raising customer awareness of all the positive aspects of a service or product. These conditions enhance the competitive advantages of the company.

Competitive advantages of the company: examples of global giants

Example #1. Competitive advantages of Apple:

1. Technology. This is one of the main competitive advantages of an innovative company. Each element of software and technological support is developed within the framework of one enterprise, and therefore the components harmonize perfectly in the aggregate. This makes the work of developers easier, provides a high quality product and reduces costs. For the consumer, comfort in use and elegant appearance of devices play an important role. A complete set of necessary parts and programs is not only a competitive advantage for the company, but also a fact that makes consumers buy new gadgets.
2. H.R. One of the company's leading competitive advantages is its staff. Apple hires high-class professionals (the most able-bodied, creative and advanced) and tries to keep them in the company, providing decent wages, various bonuses for personal achievements. It also saves on unskilled labor and child labor costs at Inventec and Foxconn supplier plants.
3. Consumer confidence. With the help of an effective PR strategy and a marketing company strategy, an organization manages to create a permanent client base for itself, as well as increase the popularity of the brand. All this increases the success of applying the competitive advantages of the international company Apple. For example, the company collaborates with promising musicians (YaeNaim, Royksopp, Feist, and so on). The most famous organizations (for example, SciencesPoParis) enter into agreements for the complete acquisition of their libraries with the company's products. Around the world, there are about 500 stores that sell only products from Apple.
4. Innovation. This is the main competitive advantage of an innovative company. By investing in R&D, the organization quickly responds to emerging customer needs. An example is the Macintosh, developed in 1984, which gained commercial popularity and had graphic elements that were in demand among users, and also had changes in the command system. In 2007, the first iPhone was released, which gained immense popularity. MacBookAir does not lose its position, still remaining the thinnest laptop of our time. These competitive advantages of the company are a great success, and they are undeniable.
5. Organization of the supply chain. The popularity of the Apple brand contributes to the fact that the company has entered into many productive agreements with supplier factories. This provides the firm with its own supply and cuts off supply for competitors who need to purchase the right components in the market at a higher cost. This is a great competitive advantage for a company that weakens competitors. Apple often invests in supply chain improvements that generate more revenue. For example, in the 90s, many companies transported computers by water, but Apple on the eve of Christmas overpaid about $ 50 million for transporting products by air. This competitive advantage of the company eliminated competitors, because they did not want or did not guess to transport the goods in this way. Moreover, the company maintains strict control over suppliers, constantly requesting documentation of expenses.

Example #2. Competitive advantages of Coca-Cola

1. .Main advantages The main competitive advantage of the trading company Coca-Cola is its popularity, because it is the largest brand among soft drink manufacturers, with about 450 types of products. This brand is the most expensive in the world, it includes 12 more manufacturing companies (Sprite, Fanta, Vitaminwater, Coca-Cola Lite, and so on). The competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it is the first supplier of all types of soft drinks.
2. Technologies from Coca-Cola(this is the main competitive advantage of the company). There were many who wanted to know the secret recipe for drinks. This recipe is located in the bank vault of the Trust Company Of Georgia in the USA. Only a few top managers of the organization can open it. The already made base of the drink is sent to manufacturing plants, where it is mixed with water using a specialized precise process. To create this basis of the drink today is far from the easiest task. The trick is that the composition of the drink contains "natural flavors", the specific elements of which are not specified.
3. Innovation(this includes the competitive advantage of the company in the field of ecology):
   • The company wants to increase the low level of sales with the help of modern equipment. Such devices are capable of pouring more than 100 types of drinks and making original mixes (light and diet cola, for example).
   • The Coca-Cola Company's environmental competitive advantage lies in the development of the Reimagine recycling program. This contributes to the fact that the management of the company will be easier to recycle and sort waste. In such a machine, you can put containers made of plastic and aluminum, excluding the sorting process. In addition, the device accrues points that are used to buy company drinks, branded bags and visit various entertainment projects.
   • This competitive advantage of the company works great, because the company strives to produce an environmentally friendly product. In addition, Coca-Cola is developing a program to use eStar cars that run without harmful emissions due to electric motors.
4. Geographic advantage. The geographical competitive advantage of the company as a construction company is that it sells its products in 200 countries around the world. For example, in our country there are 16 Coca-Cola manufacturing plants.

Example #3. Competitive advantages of Nestlé.

1. Product range and marketing strategy. The competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it operates with a wide range of products, as well as a large assortment of brands that strengthen it in the market of goods. Products consist of approximately 30 major brands and a huge number of local (local) brands. Nestle's competitive advantage lies in creating a national strategy that is based on the needs of the people. For example, Nescafe coffee drink, which has a different production structure for different countries. It all depends on the needs and preferences of the buyer.
2. Effective management and organization structure. A very significant competitive advantage of the company. An indicator of success is the increase in sales of the company by 9% in 2008, which was considered a crisis. The organization has successful personnel management and effective financing of new projects and programs. These programs are the purchase of shares in other firms, even competing ones. Thus, the competitive advantage of the company lies in its expansion. In addition, the decentralized management system of the company and the competent management of its structures help Nestle quickly respond to market changes.
3. Innovation. The company's most significant competitive advantage is that it is the largest investor in scientific projects and technological innovations, which contribute to the development of the company through the introduction of technologies that satisfy customer needs, product differentiation, and improved taste sensations. Moreover, innovations are used in the modernization of manufacturing processes. This competitive advantage of the company solves the issue of optimization of manufacturing and production of an environmentally friendly product.
4. Global presence in world markets. The undeniable competitive advantage of the company, which is based on the history of its creation, because from the moment it appeared on the market, it has gradually expanded and improved, covering the whole world. Nestle is interested in bringing the consumer closer to the company. It allows its departments to independently appoint managers, organize the production and delivery of products, and cooperate with reliable suppliers.
5. Qualified personnel. This competitive advantage of the company in the face of personnel lies in the large costs of the company for training its employees at the international level. Nestle forms a highly qualified team of managers from its employees. The headquarters of employees in our country has approximately 4,600 people, and the global human resource of the company is about 300 thousand employees.

Example number 4. Competitive Advantages of Toyota

1. High quality products. The main competitive advantage of the company is a top-level product. In our country in 2015, about 120 thousand cars of this brand were sold. The fact that this competitive advantage of the company is decisive, said its ex-president Fujio Cho. And therefore, buying a Toyota car, the consumer is guaranteed a set of modern technological developments.
2. Wide model range. Toyota showrooms operate with all models of the brand's cars: Toyota Corolla (compact passenger car), Toyota Avensis (universal and comfortable car), Toyota Prus (new model), Toyota Camry (a whole series of cars is presented), Toyota Verso (a car for the whole family), Toyota RAV4 (small SUVs), Toyota LandCruiser 200 and LandCruiser Prado (popular modern SUVs), Toyota Highlander (all-wheel drive crossovers), Toyota Hiace (comfortable, small car). This is an excellent competitive advantage of the company, because the model set of cars is presented for consumers with different preferences and financial capabilities.
3. Effective marketing. An excellent competitive advantage of the company is the certification of cars with inspections from Toyota Tested. Customers who buy such a car in our country get the opportunity to receive round-the-clock assistance, which consists in the constant work of technical support services. The company's cars can be purchased under the Trade-In program, which simplifies the purchase due to favorable offers from Toyota.
4. The client comes first. Another important competitive advantage of the company, for which Toyota developed the Personal & Premium program in 2010, presenting it at the international automobile show in Moscow. The program includes the availability of favorable loan offers when buying a car. Specialists from the New Car Buy Survey found that Russian consumers are most loyal to Toyota.
5. Effective company management. This competitive advantage of the company is expressed in the presence of an effective ERP program that can control the entire set of Toyota car sales activities in Russia online. The program was developed in 2003. The uniqueness of this program in Russia lies in its combination with the position on the market, with the various features of doing business in our country, with our existing laws. Another competitive advantage of the company is a holistic corporate structure, which helps the company and its partners to quickly operate data on the availability of certain product models in showrooms, warehouses, and so on. Moreover, Microsoft Dynamics AX contains all the documentation for the operations carried out with cars.

Example number 5. Competitive Advantages of Samsung Group

1. Consumer trust. The company was founded in 1938 and over many years of hard work has achieved tremendous results (for example, 20th place in brand value, second place in the field of equipment). Consumer trust is the most important competitive advantage of the Samsung Group. The document management organization turned out to be “the most reliable” in the world. These are indicators that demonstrate how the company's history, brand and customer trust are turning into a huge competitive advantage for the company.
2. Management of the company. This competitive advantage of the company lies in its vast experience in the field of management, as well as in constantly improving methods of management in a changing market. For example, the recent reform of the firm in 2009 resulted in the fact that the divisions of the company gained more independence, thereby simplifying the entire management process.
3. Technology. This competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it works with high technologies. Samsung Group pioneered the technology of reciprocating and rotary compressors, optical fiber, energy application and concentration. In addition, the company has developed the thinnest lithium-ion power supplies. The competitive advantages of the company as a construction company are manifested in the fact that it ranks first in the development of communication systems for business areas of activity and moves ahead in the field of creating technologies for gas and oil pipelines, as well as other areas of construction.
4. The presence of an innovative advantage of the company. This competitive advantage of the company lies in the fact that it works tirelessly in the field of equipment modernization and innovative product components. The organization contains many scientific divisions around the world. They carry out research activities in the field of chemical current resources, software and various equipment. Samsung is implementing a scheme to promote electrical engineering, and is working on ways to retain energy resources. The competitive advantage of the company is also the hiring of highly qualified employees from different parts of the world. In addition, the corporation is partnering with the best technological universities in the world, investing in their developments and ideas.
5. Successful marketing system of the company. The company's competitive advantage is also a strong marketing campaign in many areas of activity (in its competition with Apple Corporation, Samsung conducted a rather aggressive advertising policy, trying to surpass it). A division of the company called "Cheil Communications" works in this area. It works in the field of advertising, marketing analysis and market situation analysis. In addition, an element of the company's competitive advantage is its assistance in the field of charity, which wins over the consumer and increases its popularity. The corporation also has special departments for charity.

How is the formation of competitive advantages of the company from scratch

Of course, any organization has its pros and cons, even when it does not occupy a leading position and does not stand out in the market. In order to analyze the causes of these phenomena and develop effective competitive advantages for the company, it is necessary, oddly enough, to turn to your own consumer, who, like no one else, is able to correctly assess the situation and point out the shortcomings.

Customers can point to different competitive advantages of the company: location, reliability, simple preference, and so on. It is necessary to compose and evaluate this data in order to be able to increase the profitability of the enterprise.

However, this is not enough. Describe the strengths and weaknesses (what you have and what you don't) of your firm in writing. In order to develop effective competitive advantages for a company, it is worth specifying all the details clearly and specifically, for example:

Abstraction	specifics
Reliability guarantee	Our reliability is our feature: we insure transportation for 5 million rubles.
Professionalism Guaranteed	About 20 years of experience in the market and more than 500 developed programs will help us understand even the most difficult situations.
We produce high quality products	We are three times ahead of GOST in terms of technical product criteria.
Personal approach to everyone	We say "no!" briefs. We work only individually, working through all the important details of the business.
First class service	Technical support 24 hours, seven days a week! We solve even the most complex tasks in just 20 minutes!
Low production cost	Prices are 15% lower than market prices due to the production of our own raw materials.

Not all competitive advantages of the company should be reflected in this block, but here it is important to indicate all the pros and cons of the organization, from which it will be necessary to build on.

Focus, divide a sheet of paper into two parts and start putting the pros and cons of your company there. Then evaluate the shortcomings and turn them into competitive advantages of the company. For example:

Flaw	Turning into an advantage
Distance of the company from the city center	Yes, but the office and warehouse are nearby. Then buyers will be able to park their car without any problems, and evaluate the quality of products right on the spot.
Price is higher than competitive	The price includes additional services (for example, installation of an operating system and all major programs on a computer).
Long delivery time	But the assortment includes not only a standard set of products, but also exclusive products for individual use.
Newcomer firm	But the company has modern qualities (mobility, efficiency, a new look at things, and so on).
Limited product selection	But confidence in the originality of a particular brand and a more detailed knowledge of the products.

Everything is not so difficult here. Then, using this list, it is necessary to develop the competitive advantages of the company from the primary to the most insignificant. They should be clear to the potential client, concise and effective.

There is also an aspect kept secret by many firms. It can be applied periodically when other competitive advantages of the company cannot be realized or when it is necessary to activate the effectiveness of its advantages. The advantages of the organization must be correctly combined with the satisfaction of the needs of the consumer.

Illustrative examples:

• It was: Experience - 15 years.

• It became: Cost reduction by 70%, thanks to many years of experience of the company

• It was: Reduced prices for goods.

• It became: The cost of production is lower by 20%, and the cost of transportation - by 15% due to the presence of their own vehicles.

How is the company's competitive advantage assessed?

The success of a company's competitive advantage can be assessed by fully assessing the strengths and weaknesses of the company's position in the competition and comparing the results of the analysis with those of competitors. The analysis can be carried out by referring to the method of exponential assessment of KFU.

A well-designed action plan can turn the disadvantages of competing firms into competitive advantages for your company.

The criteria for this analysis are:

• The stability of the firm in protecting its position in the framework of market changes in the field of its industries, fierce competition and competitive advantages of competing companies.
• The presence of effective competitive advantages in the company or a lack or lack thereof.
• Opportunities to achieve success in the competition when operating this action plan (the position of the company in the competitive system).
• The level of stability of the company in the current period.

Analysis of competitors' activities can be carried out using the method of weighted or unweighted estimates. The former are determined by multiplying the firm's score by a certain indicator of competitive opportunities (from 1 to 10) by its weight. The second presupposes the fact that all performance factors are equally important. The most effective competitive advantages of the company are realized when it has the highest ratings.

The last stage assumes that the company's specialists must identify strategic mistakes that negatively affect the formation of the company's competitive advantages. An effective program should include ways out of any difficult situation.

The task of this stage is to create a coherent list of problems, the overcoming of which is of paramount importance for the formation of the competitive advantages of the company and its strategy. The list is displayed on the basis of the results of the assessment of the company's activities, the situation on the market and the position of competitors.

It is impossible to identify these problems without referring to the following points:

• In what cases is the adopted program unable to protect the company from external and internal problem situations?
• Is a decent degree of protection against the current actions of competitors provided by the adopted strategy?
• To what extent does the adopted program support the competitive advantages of the company and is combined with them?
• Is the adopted program in this area of ​​activity effective in taking into account the impact of driving forces?

It is necessary to try to ensure that the competitive advantages of the company are applied by salespeople. They tend to have broad knowledge about the product and the firm, but not about the competitors of their own organization, which is a serious mistake. Knowing the competitive advantages of your company and the ability to work on competitive advantages is one of the important skills of sales managers.

Almost everyone has the opportunity to introduce a system of discounts. Proper use of the company's competitive advantages is not expressed in dumping, but in the art of strengthening the position of one's organization and its interests.

To master this art, you can participate in trainings from the Practicum Group organization. It provides services for conducting training programs that improve the performance of staff, management, competitive advantages of the company, as well as increase sales and strengthen relationships with the consumer.

Service list:

• Training program for sales managers "PROFESSIONAL".
• Trainings for managers and employees.
• Leadership training.
• Trainings in the specialized center "Practicum Group".

The founder of the Practicum Group organization is Evgeniy Igorevich Kotov. It has been operating since 2006 and during all this time has managed to train more than 40 thousand people: employees, managers, managers of all types, and so on.

The organization covers about 100 cities of the CIS countries, as well as Turkey, Moldova, Latvia, Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan

FEDERAL AGENCY FOR EDUCATION

Coursework on the subject "> on the topic: "Competitive advantages of the company" Checked by ____________________ _____________________ Completed by a student of the group _______ _____________________ CONTENTS INTRODUCTION Today, the competition between firms is moving to a new level, which is not always clear to their management. Too many firms and their top managers misunderstand the nature of competition and the challenge they face: they focus on improving financial performance, getting government bailouts, building stability, and reducing risk through alliances and mergers with other firms.The realities of today's competitive struggle require leaders.Leaders believe to change, they bring to their organizations the energy needed for constant innovation, they recognize the importance of the position of their home country in the competitive success of their firms, and they work to improve this position. zheniya. Most importantly, leaders recognize the significance of difficulties and challenges. Because they are willing to help the government make adequate - albeit painful - political decisions and rules, they are often honored with the title of "statesman", although few of them consider themselves to be such. They are ready to trade a quiet life for difficulties in order to ultimately gain an advantage over competitors. The relevance of the research topic is due to the presence of residual effects of the economic crisis in the Russian economy, the tightening of competition, in which, in order to get a client, firms are ready to reduce prices for their products or services, sometimes bringing them to a minimum level. The purpose of the presented study is to expand the theoretical knowledge base on the issue of competitive advantages in order to develop in the future a strategy not only for survival, but also for development for one's own company. Within the framework of the goal set, the following tasks are formulated: - to reveal the meaning of the concept of "competitive advantage"; - consider the types of competitive advantages of the company; - to study several strategies for achieving competitive advantages of the company. The subject of the research is competitive advantages as a form of economic relations, which is manifested in the superiority of the company in relation to a direct competitor in any field of activity recognized by the consumer. The object of the research is the process of forming a sustainable competitive advantage of the company or strategy. The theoretical and methodological basis of the study are the works of leading Russian and foreign scientists devoted to the concept of competitive advantages (G. L. Azoev, M. Porter, A. Yudanov...) 1. THEORETICAL FOUNDATIONS OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES OF THE FIRM 1.1 The concept of competitive advantages An organization's specific market position is determined by its competitive advantages. In general terms, competitive advantages are superiority in some area that ensures success in the competitive struggle. The specific content of the concept of competitive advantage depends, firstly, on the subject of competition, and secondly, on the stage of competition. Competitive struggle, which is a consequence of limited resources, forces us to look for an answer to the question of the patterns of behavior of an economic entity in such conditions, this answer is given by science - economic theory, in the course of this struggle there is a change in the methods of its implementation (policy to achieve competitive advantages, sources of competitive advantages), which is reflected in the evolution of the concept of competitive advantage. The limited resources are manifested at all levels: a person, a firm, a region, a country, respectively; the concept of “competitive advantages” can be applied to various subjects of competition

The most complete interpretation of the concept of “competitive advantages” in economic research reflects the definition of G.L. Azoeva. In accordance with this interpretation, competitive advantages are understood as “concentrated manifestations of superiority over competitors in the economic, technical, organizational areas of an enterprise, which can be measured by economic indicators (additional profit, higher profitability, market share, sales volume)”. According to G.L. Azoeva, superiority over competitors in the economic, technical, organizational areas of an enterprise is a competitive advantage only if it is reflected in an increase in sales, profits and market share2. Thus, a competitive advantage is those characteristics and properties of a product or brand, as well as specific forms of business organization, that provide the company with a certain superiority over its competitors. The key success factors that affect competitive advantage include: - technological: high research potential, ability to innovate in production; - production: full use of production economies of scale and experience, high quality production, optimal use of production capacity, high productivity, the necessary production flexibility; - marketing: the use of marketing economies of scale and experience, a high level of after-sales service, a wide product line, a strong sales network, high speed of product delivery, low marketing costs; - managerial: the ability to quickly respond to changes in the external environment, the availability of managerial experience; the ability to quickly bring goods to market from the R&D stage; - others: powerful information network, high image, favorable territorial location, access to financial resources, ability to protect intellectual property3. The main task of the firm in the field of competition is to create such competitive advantages that would be real, expressive, and significant. Competitive advantages are not permanent, they are gained and retained only with the continuous improvement of all areas of the company's activities, which is a time-consuming and expensive process. 1.2 Types of competitive advantages of the company Consider the typology of the competitive advantages of the company. The first typology (internal and external competitive advantages) Internal competitive advantage is based on the superiority of the company in terms of costs, which makes it possible to achieve the cost of manufactured products less than that of competitors. Lower cost gives the firm an advantage if the product meets industry average quality standards. Otherwise, a product of inferior quality may be sold by lowering its price, which reduces the share of profits. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the cost advantage does not provide benefits. Internal competitive advantage is a consequence of high productivity and effective cost management. Relatively low costs provide the firm with greater profitability and resistance to price cuts imposed by the market or competition. Low costs allow, if necessary, to carry out a price dumping policy, setting lower prices in order to increase market share, as well as low costs are a source of profit that can be reinvested in production to improve product quality, other forms of product differentiation, or directed to support other areas of business . In addition, they create effective protection against the five forces of competition (M. Porter). Such as the emergence of new competitors, the possibility of the emergence of substitute products, the ability of consumers to defend their interests, the ability of suppliers to impose their conditions, competition between already existing firms. Internal competitive advantage is based mainly on a well-established production process and efficient management of enterprise resources. External competitive advantage is based on the distinctive properties of a product or service that have a greater "use value" for the buyer than similar products of competitors. This allows you to charge higher sales prices than competitors that do not provide the same distinctive quality. Any innovation that gives an organization a real boost to its market success is a competitive advantage. Organizations achieve competitive advantage by finding new ways to compete in their industry and entering the market with them, which can be summed up in one word - "innovation". Innovation in a broad sense includes both the improvement of technology and the improvement of the ways and methods of doing business. Innovation can be expressed in a change in a product or production process, new approaches to marketing, new ways of distributing a product, new concepts of the sphere of competition, etc. The most typical sources of obtaining external competitive advantages include: - new technologies; - changes in the structure and cost of individual elements in the technological chain of production and sale of goods; - new customer requests; - the emergence of a new market segment; - changes in the "rules of the game" in the market. A special source is information about your business plus professional skills that allow you to extract and process such information so that the final product of processing is a real competitive advantage. Competitive advantages based on cost alone tend not to be as durable as those based on differentiation. (Cheap labor is an advantage of low rank.) Competitive advantages of a higher level or order, such as proprietary technology, differentiation based on unique products or services, an organization's reputation based on enhanced marketing activities, close relationships with customers, can be maintained for a longer time. As a rule, the achievement of high-order benefits becomes possible under the condition of long-term and intensive investments in production facilities, in specialized training of personnel, in R&D, as well as investments in marketing. To remain competitive, an organization must create new advantages at least as fast as its competitors can copy existing ones. manifestations distinguish: - competitive advantages in the field of R&D, expressed in the degree of novelty, the scientific and technical level of applied R&D and R&D, the optimal structure of R&D costs and their economic efficiency, in patent purity and patentability of developments, the timeliness of preparing R&D results for production development, completeness taking into account the conditions of consumption of the developed products, the duration of R&D; - competitive advantages in the sphere of production, expressed in accordance with the level of concentration of production to the type of market (high level of concentration in conditions of pure monopoly, monopolistic and oligopolistic competition, low level in conditions of a free competition market), in the use of progressive forms of organization of production (specialization, cooperation, combination ), in the amount of the production capacity of the enterprise, in the use of advanced technology, technology, structural materials, in the high professional and qualification level of labor personnel and the scientific organization of labor, the efficiency of the use of production resources, the efficiency of design and technological preparation of production and the efficiency of production as a whole; - competitive advantages in the field of sales, expressed in better pricing, more efficient distribution of goods and sales promotion, more rational relations with intermediaries, more efficient systems of settlements with consumers; - competitive advantages in the service sector, expressed in more efficient pre-sales and after-sales service of products, warranty and post-warranty service. The fourth typology (by type of manifestation) According to the types of manifestation, it is necessary to distinguish technical, economic, managerial competitive advantages: - technical competitive advantages are manifested in superiority in production technology, superior technical characteristics of machinery and equipment, technological features used in the production of raw materials, materials, technical parameters of products ; - economic competitive advantages consist in a more favorable economic and geographical position and more rational location of the enterprise, greater economic potential of the enterprise, more efficient use of enterprise resources, which allows to reduce the cost of production, better economic characteristics of products compared to competitors, better financial condition of the enterprise, making it easier access to credit resources and expanding investment opportunities; - managerial competitive advantages are manifested in more efficient implementation of the functions of forecasting, planning, organization, regulation, accounting, control and analysis of production and economic activities. Fifth typology of competitive advantages The following types of competitive advantages are distinguished: 1) competitive advantages based on economic factors; 2) competitive advantages of a structural nature; 3) competitive advantages of a regulatory nature; 4) competitive advantages associated with the development of market infrastructure; 5) competitive advantages of a technological nature; 6) competitive advantages associated with the level of information support; 7) competitive advantages based on geographical factors; 8) competitive advantages based on demographic factors; 9) competitive advantages achieved as a result of actions that violate the rule of law. Competitive advantages based on economic factors are determined by: 1) the best general economic condition of the markets where the enterprise operates, expressed in high average industry profits, long payback periods, favorable price dynamics, high level of disposable income per capita, absence of non-payments, inflationary processes etc.; 2) objective factors stimulating demand: large and growing market capacity, low sensitivity of consumers to price changes, weak cyclicality and seasonality of demand, lack of substitute goods; 3) the effect of the scale of production. 4) the effect of scale of activity, which manifests itself in the ability to satisfy a wide variety of consumer needs, while setting high prices for the product due to its complex nature; 5) the effect of learning experience, which is expressed in greater labor efficiency due to specialization in types and methods of work, technological innovations in production processes, optimal loading of equipment, better use of resources, introduction of new product concepts; 6) the economic potential of the enterprise. Competitive advantages of a structural nature are determined mainly by the high level of integration of the production and sales process in the company, which makes it possible to realize the advantages of intra-corporate relations in the form of transfer internal prices, access to aggregate investment, raw materials, production, innovation and information resources, and a common sales network. Within the framework of integrated structures, potential opportunities are created for concluding anti-competitive agreements and concerted actions of group members (both horizontal and vertical), including with public authorities. A powerful source of strengthening the competitive position of the company is the use of relationships between its various divisions and strategic areas of management. The phenomenon when the income from the joint use of resources exceeds the amount of income from the separate use of the same resources is called the synergy effect. Structural competitive advantages also include the possibility of rapid penetration into unoccupied market segments. Competitive advantages of a regulatory nature are based on legislative and administrative measures, as well as on the stimulating policy of the government in the field of investment volumes, credit, tax and customs rates in a certain commodity area. Such competitive advantages exist by virtue of laws, regulations, privileges and other decisions of government and administration. These include: - benefits granted to the region or individual enterprises by the authorities; - the possibility of unhindered import and export of goods outside the administrative-territorial formation (region, territory); - exclusive rights to intellectual property, providing monopoly positions for a certain period. Regulatory benefits differ from others in that they can be remedied relatively quickly by repeal of the relevant legislation. Competitive advantages associated with the development of market infrastructure arise as a result of varying degrees: - development of the necessary means of communication (transport, communications); - organization and openness of labor markets, capital, investment goods and technologies; - development of a distribution network, including retail, wholesale, futures trade, consulting, information, leasing and other services; - development of intercompany cooperation. Technological competitive advantages are determined by the high level of applied science and technology in the industry, special technical characteristics of machinery and equipment, technological features of raw materials and materials used in the production of goods, technical parameters of products. Competitive advantages associated with the level of information support are determined by good awareness, based on the presence of an extensive data bank about sellers, buyers, advertising activities, information about the market infrastructure. The absence, insufficiency and unreliability of information becomes a serious obstacle to competition. Specific advantages based on geographical factors are associated with the ability to economically overcome the geographical boundaries of markets (local, regional, national, global), as well as the favorable geographical location of the enterprise. In addition, a geographical barrier to entry into the market of potential competitors is the difficulty of moving goods between territories due to the unavailability of vehicles for transporting goods, significant additional costs for crossing the boundaries of the market, loss of quality and consumer properties of the goods during its transportation. Competitive advantages based on demographic factors are formed as a result of demographic changes in the target market segment. Among the factors influencing the volume and structure of demand for the products offered are changes in the size of the target population group, its gender and age composition, migration of the population, as well as changes in the level of education and professional level. Competitive advantages achieved as a result of actions that violate the rule of law include: - unfair competition; - directly or indirectly fix the prices of sales or purchases or any other trading conditions; - restrict or control production, markets, technical development or investment; - share markets or sources of supply; - apply different conditions to the same transactions with other parties, thereby placing them at a disadvantage; - make the issue of concluding contracts dependent on the acceptance by other parties of additional obligations that are not related to the subject of these contracts, etc. Section 2. STRATEGIES FOR THE REALIZATION OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES 2.1 Strategic competitive advantages of the firm and ways to implement them in the domestic market The main task in the strategic orientation of the firm is the choice of a basic strategy for competition in relation to a particular business area. Competitive strategy should be based on two essential conditions: - it is necessary to determine the strategic goal of the company regarding this product or service in terms of the scale of competition. - you need to choose the type of competitive advantage. The strategic goal of the company involves focusing on the entire market or on a separate segment. Basic competitive strategies differ depending on what advantage they rely on. Here it is necessary to decide what type of competitive advantage to give preference to - internal, based on cost reduction, or external, based on the uniqueness of products; which is easier to defend in a competitive market. The main factors influencing the competitive advantage are: - technological: high research potential, ability to innovate in production; - production: full use of production economies of scale and experience, high quality production, optimal use of production capacity, high productivity, the necessary production flexibility; - marketing: the use of marketing economies of scale and experience, a high level of after-sales service, a wide product line, a strong sales network, high speed of product delivery, low marketing costs; managerial: the ability to quickly respond to changes in the external environment, the availability of managerial experience; the ability to quickly bring goods to market from the R&D stage; - others: powerful information network, high image, favorable territorial location, access to financial resources, ability to protect intellectual property. The basic competitive strategies include: - cost leadership strategy; - differentiation strategy; - focusing strategy. Cost Leadership Strategy When choosing a cost leadership strategy, the firm addresses the entire market with the same product, ignoring differences in segments, trying as much as possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing products. It focuses on a broad market and produces goods in large quantities. At the same time, the company focuses its attention and efforts not on how the needs of individual groups of consumers differ, but on what these needs have in common. In addition, this strategy provides the widest possible boundaries of the potential market. The focus of the entire strategy is to create an internal competitive advantage, which can be achieved by higher productivity and an effective cost management system. The firm's goal in this case is to use cost superiority as the basis for gaining market share through price leadership or additional profits. Leadership due to the advantage of lower costs than competitors gives the company the opportunity to compete with its direct competitors even in the event of a price war. Low costs are a high barrier to entry for potential competitors and a good defense against substitutes. The main factors of superiority in terms of costs include - the use of advantages due to economies of scale and experience; - control over fixed costs; - high technological level of production; - stronger staff motivation; - privileged access to sources of raw materials. As a rule, these advantages are manifested in the manufacture of standard products of mass demand, when the possibilities of differentiation are limited and demand is price elastic, and the probability of switching consumers to other goods is high. The cost minimization strategy has disadvantages. Cost reduction techniques can be easily copied by competitors; technological breakthroughs can neutralize existing internal competitive advantages associated with accumulated experience; due to excessive focus on cost reduction - lack of attention to changes in market requirements, a decrease in product quality is possible. This strategy is aggressive, most easily implemented when the enterprise has access to exclusive low-cost resources. Differentiation strategy by segments (classes) of manufactured goods The main goal of each differentiation strategy is to give a product or service distinctive properties from similar competing goods or services that create “purchasing value” associated with the advantage of the product, time, place, service. Value to customers is the usefulness or complete satisfaction they receive from using the product, as well as the minimum operating costs over the entire life of the product. The main point of the differentiation strategy is understanding the needs of customers. In this case, we can say that by a certain set of qualities of an exclusive product or service, the company creates a permanent group of buyers in a particular market segment, i.e. almost a mini-monopoly. Unlike a cost leadership strategy, which can only be achieved in one way, through an efficient cost structure, differentiation can be achieved in a variety of ways. The main approaches used in the differentiation strategy include: - development of such product characteristics that reduce the total costs of the buyer for the operation of the manufacturer's products (increased reliability, quality, energy saving, environmental friendliness); - creation of product features that increase the effectiveness of its use by the consumer (additional functions, complementarity with another product, interchangeability); - giving the product features that increase the degree of customer satisfaction (status, image, lifestyle). By the nature of the focus, it is possible to distinguish between innovative and marketing strategies of differentiation. Innovative Differentiation An innovative differentiation strategy is real differentiation involving the production of truly different products using different technologies. This strategy involves the acquisition of competitive advantages through the creation of fundamentally new products, technologies or upgrades and modifications of existing products. In this case, differentiation affects not only the products themselves, but also the implemented technology, which requires taking into account the factor of scientific and technological progress. Scientific discoveries and evolving technologies offer new ways to meet consumer needs. Real differentiation is more characteristic of the market for industrial goods, products of high-tech industries, where the greatest gap in the competition is determined by an effective innovation strategy. Marketing differentiation Marketing differentiation strategy involves achieving competitive advantages by creating distinctive properties associated not with the product itself, but with its price, packaging, delivery methods (without prepayment, with the provision of transport, etc.); placement, promotion, after-sales service (guarantees, service), trademark that creates an image. The presence of distinctive qualities usually requires higher costs, which leads to higher prices. However, successful differentiation allows the firm to achieve greater profitability, since consumers are willing to pay for the uniqueness of products. Differentiation strategies require significant investment in functional marketing and, especially, advertising in order to convey to consumers information about the claimed distinctive features of the product. Focus strategy A focus (specialization) strategy is a typical business strategy that involves concentrating on a narrow market segment or a specific group of customers, as well as specializing in a certain part of the product and / or geographic region. Here, the main goal is to meet the needs of the selected segment with greater efficiency than competitors serving a wider market segment. A successful focusing strategy achieves a high market share in the target segment, but always leads to a low overall market share. This strategy is the preferred development option for firms with limited resources. The focus strategy takes the form of a focused low cost strategy if the price requirements of the segment buyers differ from those of the main market, or a focused differentiation strategy if the target segment requires unique product characteristics. Like other basic business strategies, the focus strategy protects the firm from competitive forces in the following ways: focusing on a segment allows it to successfully compete with firms operating in different segments; the specific competence and ability of the firm create entry barriers for potential competitors and the penetration of substitute products; pressure from buyers and suppliers is reduced due to their own unwillingness to deal with other, less competent competitors. The reason for choosing such a strategy is the lack or lack of resources, the strengthening of barriers to entry into the market. Therefore, the focusing strategy is inherent, as a rule, in small firms5 http://www.logistics.ru/9/2/i20_64.htm (accessed 15.01.2011) 2.2 Problems of Realizing Competitive Advantages in the International Market Everything that has been said above about competition and competitive strategy can equally apply to both the external and internal markets. At the same time, international competition has some peculiarities. Feature One Each country, to varying degrees, possesses the factors of production necessary for the activities of firms in any industry. The theory of comparative advantage in the Heckscher-Ohlin model is devoted to the comparison of available factors. The country exports goods in the production of which various factors are intensively used. However, factors, as a rule, are not only inherited, but also created, therefore, in order to obtain and develop competitive advantages, it is not so much the stock of factors at the moment that is important, but the speed of their creation. In addition, an abundance of factors can undermine competitive advantage, and a lack of them can encourage innovation, which can lead to long-term competitive advantage. The set of applied factors in different industries varies. Firms achieve competitive advantage if they have at their disposal low-cost or high-quality factors that are important when competing in a particular industry. Thus, the location of Singapore on an important trade route between Japan and the Middle East made it the center of the ship repair industry. However, obtaining a competitive advantage based on factors depends not so much on their availability as on their effective use, since MNCs can provide missing factors by purchasing or locating activities abroad, and many factors move relatively easily from country to country. Factors are divided into basic and developed. The main factors include natural resources, climatic conditions, geographical location, unskilled labor force, etc. They are received by the country by inheritance or with a small investment. They are of little value to a country's competitive advantage, or the advantage they create is not sustainable. The role of the main factors is reduced due to a decrease in the need for them or due to their increased availability (including as a result of the transfer of activities or purchases from abroad). These factors are important in extractive industries and in agriculture-related industries. Developed factors include modern infrastructure, highly skilled workforce, etc. It is these factors that are most important, as they allow you to achieve a higher level of competitive advantage. Feature Two The second determinant of national competitive advantage is domestic demand for goods or services offered by that industry. Influencing economies of scale, demand in the domestic market determines the nature and speed of innovation. The volume and nature of the growth of domestic demand allow firms to gain a competitive advantage if: - there is a demand abroad for a product that is in great demand in the domestic market; - there are a large number of independent buyers, which creates a more favorable environment for renewal; - domestic demand is growing rapidly, which stimulates the intensification of capital investments and the speed of renewal; - the domestic market is quickly saturated, as a result, competition becomes tougher, in which the strongest survive, which forces them to enter the foreign market. Firms achieve competitive advantage through the internationalization of demand in the domestic market, i.e. when preference is given to foreign consumers. Feature Three The third determinant of national competitive advantage is the presence in the country of supplying or related industries that are competitive on the world market. In the presence of competitive supplier industries, the following are possible: - efficient and quick access to expensive resources, such as equipment or skilled labor, etc.; - coordination of suppliers in the domestic market; - assistance to the process of innovation. National firms benefit most if their suppliers are globally competitive. The presence in the country of competitive related industries often leads to the emergence of new highly developed types of production. Related industries are those in which firms can interact with each other in the process of forming a value chain, as well as industries that deal with complementary products, such as computers and software. Interaction can take place in the field of technology development, production, marketing, service. If there are related industries in the country that can compete in the world market, access to the exchange of information and technical interaction is opened. Geographical proximity and cultural affinity lead to a more active interchange than with foreign firms. Success in the world market of one industry can lead to the development of the production of additional goods and services. For example, the sale of US computers abroad has led to increased demand for US peripherals, software, and US database services. Feature Four The fourth important determinant that determines the competitiveness of an industry is the fact that firms are created, organized and managed depending on the nature of competition in the domestic market, while developing various strategies and goals. National characteristics affect the management of firms and the form of competition between them. In Italy, many firms that are successful in the global market are small or medium (in size) family businesses. In Germany, large companies with a hierarchical management system are more common. In addition, we can recall the American and Japanese control systems. These national characteristics greatly influence the position of firms in their orientation towards global competition. Of particular importance for achieving high competitiveness in the industry is strong rivalry in the domestic market, with competition in the domestic market, advantages are created for the national industry as a whole, and not just for individual firms. Competitors borrow progressive ideas from each other and develop them, since ideas spread faster within one nation than between different nations. These advantages are enhanced by the concentration of competitors in one geographic area. The role of the government The role of the government in the formation of national advantages is that it influences all four determinants: - on the parameters of factors - through subsidies, capital market policies, etc.; - on demand parameters - by establishing various standards and public procurement; - on the conditions for the development of related industries and industries-suppliers - through control over advertising media or regulation of infrastructure development; - on the strategy of firms, their structure and rivalry - through their tax policy, antimonopoly legislation, by regulating investments and activities of the securities market, etc. All four determinants can also have an inverse effect on the government. The role of the government can be positive or negative. The determinants of national competitiveness are a complex system that is in constant development. Some determinants regularly affect others. The action of the system of determinants leads to the fact that competitive national industries are not distributed evenly throughout the economy, but are connected into bundles, or "clusters", consisting of industries that depend on each other. 2.3 Benchmarketing as a strategy for achieving competitive advantages - note), is a way of studying the activities of business entities, primarily their competitors, in order to use and positive experience in their work. Benchmarking includes a set of tools that allow you to systematically find, evaluate and organize the use of all the positive merits of someone else's experience in your work. Benchmarking is based on the idea of ​​comparing the activities of not only competing enterprises, but also leading companies in other industries. Using the experience of competitors and successful companies wisely allows you to reduce costs, increase profits and optimize the choice of strategy for your organization. Benchmarking is a constant study of the best in the practice of competitors, comparing the company with the created reference model of its own business. Benchmarking allows you to identify and use in your business what others do better. Benchmarking is based on the concept of continuous performance improvement, which provides for a continuous cycle of planning, coordination, motivation and evaluation of actions with the aim of sustainable improvement of the organization's performance. The core of benchmarking is the search for the best business standards for use by the research organization. It does not focus on simply measuring and comparing achievements, but on how any given process can be improved by applying best practices. Benchmarking suggests that a company must be humble enough to accept that someone else might be better at something, and wise enough to try to figure out how to catch up and even outperform others. Benchmarking reflects an organization's continuous improvement efforts and helps bring disparate improvements together into a unified change management system. Types of benchmarking - internal - comparison of the work of the company's divisions; - competitive - comparing your company with competitors in various parameters; - general - comparison of the company with indirect competitors according to the selected parameters; - functional - comparison by functions (sales, purchases, production, etc.). General benchmarking is a comparison of the production and sales of their products with the business performance of a sufficiently large number of producers or sellers of a similar product. Such a comparison allows us to outline clear directions for investment activity. The parameters used to compare the characteristics of a product depend on the particular type of product. Functional benchmarking means comparing the performance of individual functions (for example, operations, processes, methods of work, etc.) of the seller with similar parameters of the best enterprises (sellers) operating in similar conditions. Competitive benchmarking looks at the products, services, and processes of an organization's direct competitors. Benchmarking is close to the concept of marketing intelligence, which means the constant activity of collecting current information about changes in the external marketing environment, which is necessary both for developing and for adjusting marketing plans. However, marketing intelligence is intended to collect confidential information, and benchmarking can be seen as an activity to think about a strategy based on the best experience of partners and competitors. F. Kotler identifies benchmarking with basic analysis - the process of "searching, studying and mastering the most advanced practices and technologies used by organizations in various countries around the world in order to increase your organization's greater efficiency." Benchmarketing is becoming a powerful tool for strengthening the competitiveness of an enterprise and the art of understanding how and why some companies achieve significantly better results than others. With the help of benchmarking, you can improve the best technologies of other companies, i.e. it aims to master "the most advanced world experience". CONCLUSION In a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment, firms must not only focus on the internal state of affairs, but also develop a long-term strategy of behavior aimed at creating sustainable competitive advantages. The acceleration of changes in the environment, the emergence of new requests and changing positions of consumers, changes in government policy, the entry of new competitors into the market leads to the need for constant analysis and optimization of existing competitive advantages. The most significant or long-term competitive advantage, in my opinion, comes from the introduction of new technology or "know-how" created by the firm itself through innovation. Not every firm can create this competitive advantage (the main problem is the lack of sufficient financial and human resources). From the study, we can conclude that there is no competitive advantage that is the same for all companies. Each company is unique in its own way, therefore, the process of creating competitive advantages for each company is unique, since it depends on many factors: the position of the company in the market, the dynamics of its development, potential, the behavior of competitors, the characteristics of the product or services provided, the state of the economy , cultural environment and many other factors. At the same time, there are some fundamental points, strategies that allow us to talk about the generalized principles of competitive behavior and the implementation of strategic planning aimed at creating a sustainable competitive advantage. REFERENCES 1. Azoev G.L., Chelenkov A.P. Competitive advantages of the firm. - M.: JSC "Printing House" NEWS ", 2007. 2. Benchmarketing [Electronic resource] 3. Golovikhin S.A., Shipilova S.M. Theoretical foundations for determining the competitive advantages of a machine-building enterprise 4. Zakharov A.N., Zokin A.A., Competitiveness of an enterprise: essence, assessment methods and mechanisms for increasing 5. Porter M. “International competition”: trans. from English: ed. V.D. Shchetinina. M.: International relations, 1993 6. Fatkhutdinov R.A. Strategic management. 7th ed., rev. and additional - M.: Delo, 2005. - 448 p. 7. Shifrin M.B. Strategic management. - SPb.: Peter, 2008, p. 113 8. Yagafarova E. F. Abstract of dissertation research on the topic "The role of intellectual capital in the formation of a sustainable competitive advantage of the company"

1. Yagafarova E. F. Abstract of dissertation research on the topic "The role of intellectual capital in the formation of a sustainable competitive advantage of the company" [Electronic resource] URL:
2. S.A. Golovikhin, S.M. Shipilov. Theoretical foundations for determining the competitive advantages of a machine-building enterprise [Electronic resource] URL: http://www.lib.csu.ru/vch/8/2004_01/023.pdf (date of access 12/18/2010)
3. Shifrin M.B. Strategic management. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008, p. 113
4. Azoev G.L., Chelenkov A.P. Competitive advantages of the firm. - M .: OJSC "Printing house" NEWS ", 2007.
5. A.N. Zakharov, A.A. Zokin, Enterprise Competitiveness: Essence, Methods of Evaluation and Mechanisms for Increasing [Electronic resource] URL:

⏱ reading time: 15 minutes

The goal of a marketing strategy is to understand and deal with the competition. Some companies are always ahead of others. Industry affiliation does not matter - the gap in the profitability of companies within the same industry is higher than the differences between industries.

Differences between companies are especially important in times of crisis, when the competitive advantage created is an excellent foundation for profitable growth.

Competitive advantages of the company

• Advantage Any success factor that increases a consumer's willingness to pay or reduces a company's costs.
• Competitive advantage- a significant success factor for the consumer, in which the company surpasses all competitors

Building a competitive advantage means achieving a larger gap between costs and the buyer's willingness to pay for a product than competitors.

Step 1. Determine success factors

The answer to the question “how to create a competitive advantage for a company” is not so important. If you are confident that you will achieve superiority over competitors through 24/7 delivery, then you will find a solution for how to realize this competitive advantage. It is much more difficult to determine what exactly they will become.

To do this, first of all, we write out all the advantages, or success factors, that are important for buyers. For example, here are.

Step 2. Segmenting the target audience

A separate shuttle for business class passengers is an advantage. But the achievement of this competitive advantage is completely indifferent for those flying in the "economy" segment. The definition of competitive advantages always takes place for a specific segment of the target audience - with its specific needs and desires.

The decision to sell to "everyone" leads to the question of where to find these "everyone" and what to offer them. It turns out that “everyone” must be searched “everywhere” and offered “everything”. Such a strategy will kill the budget of any company.

Take the example of achieving competitive advantage for a flower company. Among the target audience, we will single out segments of those who buy flowers impulsively, prepare a pre-planned gift, or, say, decorate houses.

Having determined for whom we are going to form a competitive advantage, we will evaluate whether it is worth it - we will give an assessment of the market capacity and the intensity of competition in each segment.

Read more about segmentation criteria in our article: ""

Step 3. Identify Key Success Factors

The buyer is demanding. For him, many factors are important - from the consultant's smile and website design to low prices. But if the buyer wants something, this does not mean at all that he is ready to pay for it.

The significance of competitive advantage is the willingness of the buyer to pay for it. The more money they are willing to pay for the development of a competitive advantage, the higher its importance.

Our task is to form a very short list of key success factors that can determine the company's competitive advantages from a long list of various "wants" of the consumer.

In our example, the key success factors are the same for all three target audience segments. In real life, each segment usually has 1-2 of its own factors.

Step 4. Assess the importance of key success factors for target audience segments

What is important for one segment of the target audience may be a weak competitive advantage for consumers from another segment.

If the idea came to you to buy flowers to give them this evening, then for an impulsive decision, the main thing is the appearance (fullness of the bud opening) and the speed of the purchase. This is more important than the ability to choose from a large assortment, the life span of a bouquet - it is necessary that the flowers are and look good that particular evening.

The opposite situation is buying flowers to decorate the house. Delivery does not "burn", but the question of how long the flowers will last comes to the fore.

Therefore, the importance of key success factors is determined for each segment of the target audience separately.

*) we clarify - KFU are taken as an example, close to life, but not reflecting the real case.

For our company, determining the right competitive advantages that allow our customers to attract more consumers, get more money from them and interact with them for longer is one of the main blocks of the developed marketing strategy. Therefore, in we are striving to achieve an ideal situation - when each cell of all the tables in this article is expressed in money. It is possible to create a working marketing strategy only by understanding the cost of CFU from the point of view of the buyer, the market volume, costs, etc.

All this information is available. But sometimes there is no time or resources for this. Then we advise you to use a comparison on a 5 or 10-point scale. In this case, remember that any factual data is better than guesswork. Hypotheses need to be put forward based on the big data of the company, monitoring customer reviews, observing the process of selling competitors, and not taking it out of your head “because it seems so to me”. Expert forecasts too often do not work.

Step 5. Compare achieved competitive advantages

At this point, we figured out what is important for your consumers. It's good. It's bad that competitors are also in the know.

To understand the starting conditions, it is necessary to assess the current degree of development of the company's competitive advantages. Strictly speaking, you have a competitive advantage only when your offer outperforms all direct competitors in some key success factor.

The assessment of competitive advantages is made exclusively from the point of view of consumers. The opinion of the company's employees, and especially the management, does not say anything. The director may be proud of the site developed according to his idea, on which millions have been spent, but this in no way indicates the convenience of the site for clients.

Step 6. Identify sources of competitive advantage

Any competitive advantage is the result of the company's activities. Each action incurs costs and at the same time affects the buyer's willingness to purchase the product. Differences in the results of these actions form competitive advantages.

Therefore, we make a list of all the activities of the company by desegregating its activities into separate processes. In projects, we start the analysis with the activities that are necessary to produce the basic product or service, and only then add related activities.

Step 7. Linking key success factors and company performance

Competitive advantage is formed at the intersection of various activities. For example, the growth of the assortment in the flower trade requires an increase in working capital, the availability of storage space for products, sufficient area of ​​points of sale, additional qualification of sellers and service personnel, etc.

We determine which business processes are associated with the development of each of the found competitive advantages and the size of their contribution.

Step 8. Estimate the company's costs of creating competitive advantages

At this step, we look at how much it costs to achieve a competitive advantage. Any activity of the company has its costs.

In our example, we evaluate the level of costs on a scale of 1 to 10, but in real life, a company must know its costs more or less accurately. Pay attention to the calculation methodology - usually accountants tend to record most of the costs in production, thereby reducing indirect costs.

Having understood the size of the costs, we determine their drivers. Why are the costs the way they are? Maybe we pay a lot for shipping because the size of the business is small and we do not have enough cargo? There are many cost drivers. They depend on the size of the firm, its geographical location, institutional factors, access to resources, etc.

Cost driver analysis helps to assess the costs of competitors to create a similar competitive advantage. It is difficult to obtain data directly, but by understanding the drivers that affect the amount of costs, one can assume the level of expenses of competitors.

Step 9. Looking for resources to create a competitive advantage

Maintaining the achieved competitive superiority at a constant level is possible only if there are sufficient resources. In addition, the analysis of the resources available to the company helps to choose the area of ​​rapid formation of competitive advantage.

Step 10. Choose a direction for developing a competitive advantage

We look at the two resulting final pictures and reflect. There are only three possibilities for achieving competitive advantage:

• increase willingness to buy a product without raising costs too much
• sharply reduce costs, with little effect on willingness to buy
• increase willingness to buy and reduce costs at the same time.

The third direction looks the most attractive. But finding such a solution is extremely difficult. Typically, companies simply waste valuable resources trying to build competitive advantage across the board.

Basic rules for determining competitive advantage.

• We are looking for options that create the largest gap between the buyer's willingness to pay and our costs.
• We do not try to select all attractive options at once. Having decided to occupy one peak, we will not climb another. It is most profitable to choose a peak that is not crowded with competitors.
• We remember competitors, what drives each of them. If you decide to change some business process, how will your closest competitor react?

• success factors. The more you find, the better. Habit managers typically focus on a few product features. This reduces the perception of the benefits that the consumer receives and brings your marketing strategy closer to that of competitors. To find competitive advantages that aren't as competitive, think about the benefits the company creates for all of its stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, dealers, and so on.
• Key success factors. The more significant the factor, the more restructuring of the company's activities it requires. If you are not among the industry leaders, it is better not to try to immediately compete on the main factors, or groups of factors ("best in quality")
• Market. The question should not be “can we create a competitive advantage for this segment of the target audience”, but “can we create a competitive advantage for this segment of the target audience and remain profitable.” Having current costs in hand, we assume how much the company will pay for turning a key success factor into a full-fledged competitive advantage
• Current competitive position. It is difficult to build up a competitive advantage in which you are hopelessly behind. Especially if it is a capital-intensive or time-consuming process.
• Costs. Competitive advantage can be gained by focusing on costs that differ most from competitors, are large enough to affect the overall cost structure, and are associated with separate activities.

Fear often hinders competitive advantage. The desire to become the best will necessarily entail an increase in prices or, conversely, a decrease in the desire to buy our product. Reducing costs reduces the desire of the client to use our service (a ticket for a low-cost airline is cheap, but you can’t take luggage with you, there is no food, airports are far away). Improving product performance leads to higher costs. This is absolutely normal. The only important thing is to widen the gap between the buyer's willingness to pay and the company's costs.

Step 11. We create competitive advantages by changing the company's actions

As I wrote above, the creation of competitive advantages is the result of the company's actions. In order for the offer to surpass all competitors, it is necessary to reconfigure some of the activities.

For example, achieving a competitive advantage "low cost". It is pointless to try to compete with a discounter by simply cutting prices. A successful discounter has become so because much of the company's activities are dedicated to creating this competitive advantage. If a Walmart employee wants to borrow a new pen, he or she returns the old one. There are no trifles in creating a competitive advantage.

Again, we look at the connection between the chosen competitive advantage and the company's activities. Where is this competitive advantage created? And we invest in the development of selected business processes.

Ask yourself the following questions

• Are our actions different from those of our competitors?
• Are we doing the same things but in a different way?
• How can we change our set of activities to gain a competitive advantage?

As a result, determine the minimum and sufficient set of activities that the company must perform in order to form a competitive advantage. Usually they try to copy only obvious things, forgetting that much is hidden under water. It is the complex of activities that creates a competitive advantage that cannot be copied.

Actions aimed at developing a competitive advantage should be linked by a single logic. A classic example of M. Porter is SouthWest Airlines' set of actions that created its competitive advantage. As a result, the airline was the only low-cost carrier on the market for 25 years. It is impossible to achieve a similar competitive advantage with a swoop.

In fact, this is the marketing strategy. Such a set of actions is almost impossible to copy and surpass.

Marketers when promoting goods and services, as a rule, exalt their merits. But in a highly competitive environment, this is not enough. The production capabilities of competing companies are approximately the same, so the fight for the consumer is won by the one who spends money not so much on unique technologies as on meeting the needs of customers.

In this article you will read:

• Where is the “center of gravity” for business and why should it be shifted
• How to ensure the effective use and evaluation of the competitive advantages of the enterprise
• How to increase sales when the market is stagnating
• How to Quadruple Revenue with Pass-and-Link Adoption

Leveraging Competitive Advantages with a competent approach, it ensures the success of the company. However, the main difficulty in this matter is the effective assessment of the competitive advantages of the enterprise, the purpose of which is the correct definition of the "center of gravity".

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✩show how tracking programs help protect the company from theft;

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With the help of the proposed tools, you will be able to control managers without reducing motivation.

Customers choose not the product itself, but rather what accompanies the purchase - intangible but important values ​​​​(trust in the brand, reliability of delivery, quality of service, etc.). To understand how well organized the use of competitive advantages in your company, ask yourself three questions.

1. Do you spend most of your costs - on production and R&D, or on attracting and retaining customers?

2. Why do consumers value your company the most?

3. Is your competitive advantage based on the product itself or on effective interaction with customers?

By answering these questions and understanding where the “center of gravity” of your company is compared to other players in the market, you can determine the degree of your competitiveness and the main vector of business development. It is important to remember one thing: those companies that have not yet had time to reorient themselves to consumer values ​​will soon face product depersonalization, lower revenues, an outflow of customers and a decrease in influence in the industry. And those firms that can shift the "center of gravity" from the product to the consumer will become leaders.

Example 1. Added value of a product

Nestlé has been a leader in the coffee industry for many years. However, at the end of the 20th century, competing products became similar to each other, and consumers of instant coffee stopped paying attention to brands. In the struggle for buyers, other major players - Tesco, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, etc. - waged a price war among themselves and sought to lure coffee lovers to themselves in various ways.

Despite fierce competition, the new CEO of Nestlé decided to increase sales growth from 2% to 4%. It was impossible to do this at the expense of the existing product - then the management created a new product with additional consumer value.

What are consumers willing to pay for? In 1974, the company acquired a patent for the production of the Nespresso coffee machine and for 25 years brought this system to perfection, eliminating shortcomings and bringing it to the market. Until the beginning of the 21st century, this product was not widely in demand. However, when a new consumer trend appeared on the market - gourmet coffee - Nestlé decided that this particular product would help strengthen its position in the industry and overtake competitors.

• Information about competitors: 3 rules for collecting and using it

Any owner of a coffee machine could brew quality espresso at home using aluminum capsules. Thanks to this, it was not necessary to constantly clean the machine from the remnants of ground coffee. This became the additional customer value for which buyers were willing to pay.

How to position a new product. They decided to present the coffee machine as a premium product for making coffee at home. This approach was unusual for a company that usually sold mass-market products in large quantities in retail chains and at a low price, using extensive advertising campaigns. However, to develop a new market, it was necessary to change not only the distribution of the product, but also the interaction with customers.

Coffee machines could be purchased in large shopping centers and specialized household appliances stores. However, the capsules were sold only in the Nespresso Club - a community of users who registered on a specialized site. Due to the fact that each buyer left his contact information when ordering, the company was able to manage consumer behavior and find out the answer to the main marketing question: who, when and at what price buys a product?

The company's executives are confident that it is the consumer club (12 million users) that is its main competitive advantage, preventing other players from conquering the coffee industry.

Result. Today, the share of coffee capsules accounts for 20 to 40% of the financial volume of the European coffee market, whose size is estimated at $17 billion. Annually this segment is growing by 30% worldwide. The company's customer focus has increased markedly: 70% of employees have personal contact with customers who order capsules on the brand's website.

Example 2. No risk when buying

Ask yourself: "Why don't potential customers buy from us?". After all, the likely target audience is those people or companies that should become your customers, but for some reason prefer competitors. Perhaps it's all about the costs or risks of the purchase. If you remove these barriers and give buyers a great deal, chances are they will choose you. Remember, the consumer is willing to pay a fairly high price for reducing their risks.

• Risk Management: 13 Practical Steps

How to solve a problem. During the 2008–2009 crisis, car sales fell heavily around the world, especially in the US. Many automakers (such as General Motors and Chrysler) have been forced to cut prices and make huge discounts. Hyundai also suffered significant losses as its vehicles target lower-middle-income consumers. But there was a way out.

The company understood why people stopped buying: they were simply afraid that they would not be able to pay off the car loan on time. Then in January 2009, the company announced that it would minimize the risks when buying a car. If the buyer lost his job or income within a year of the purchase, he could return the product and this did not affect his credit history in any way.

Result. In the first month of the program, the company's sales almost doubled, while industry-wide revenue fell by 37%. Hyndai sold more vehicles than Chrysler, which had a dealer network four times larger.

Example 3. Picture of consumer behavior

Marketers create as detailed a portrait of each consumer as possible by memorizing their preferences. On the one hand, this allows you to fairly accurately predict what and when a particular client will buy, as well as control his behavior. On the other hand, today these weapons are used by very many companies. Therefore, you and your competitors will spend a lot of money and time trying to lure customers from each other.

Instead of carefully crafting a customer profile and chasing their next order, try to identify the relationship between consumer behavior in the media space and shopping habits. This will help track the actions of buyers, analyze their brand loyalty and evaluate their impact on other consumers.

• Competitors in trade: how to protect your ideas

Such market information can be turned into additional customer value using, for example, the “pass and link” technique. It allows, in particular, to learn from one client and use this knowledge to help another. Thus, you are, as it were, an intermediary between two parties who can benefit from acquaintance.

How to use the information. Amazon, which started as a bookstore, has become one of the largest online marketplaces in the world in just 15 years, bringing together many large-scale companies from other industries. The reason is that on Amazon you can not only buy anything, but also get detailed information about each product that is not available in traditional stores, get the opinion of other buyers, and also understand what people with similar tastes are buying.

• Competitive intelligence: how to beat everyone with creativity

This additional customer value is in demand among 200 million people in the world. Because Amazon analyzes each customer's shopping history and compares it with other consumers' data, the company gets a big picture of shopping behavior and based on it gives accurate targeted recommendations to each visitor.

Result. Since 2006, Amazon's revenue of just over $10 billion has quadrupled against the backdrop of a deep recession in the US. And since 2005, in the annual ForeSee "Customer Satisfaction" rating, the company has ranked first or second in the category of online stores. Second on the list is Netflix, whose recommendation system, like Amazon's, has become a long-term competitive advantage.

Davar N. Ideal marketing: what 98% of marketers forgot about / [Trans. from English]. - M.: Alpina Publisher, 2015. - 214 p.