The enterprise strategic management new concept: effective advantage is the kingly way

Enterprise do strategic management, often use three famous concept: the key success factors, competitive advantage and core competitive power. But three strategy and what is the relationship? Many people are not clear. In fact, the three concepts are limited.

Strategic management have two main analysis ways: one is from the outside in the industrial structure analysis and analysis of competitors, 2 it is by inside and the resources standard enterprise concept. Among them, the key success factors corresponding industry structure, and competitive advantage the corresponding rivals, both of which is the first kind of way from analysis. And the core competitiveness of the enterprise's own corresponding resources, power attribute, belongs to the second way from analysis.

Too general "key success factors"

The key success factors is to point to an industry, those that have the most impact on enterprise in the market success factors. Through the analysis of the influence factors find potter five competitive forces, to find out the key factor, that is the key success factors. Then according to the enterprise the key success factors of have the status and degree of matching strategy for analysis, that the enterprise to a particular key success factors of strategic choice: keep the lead, and strengthen the development, maintain development or reduce investment, etc.

The starting point of the key success factors of the industry in the definition. In the traditional business model, the enterprise in the face of the customers and the product is a single, and the judge also relatively easy. But many innovative business model is a cross-industry, at this time the want delimit the enterprise industry is great difficulties. Such as apple's iPod and iTunes is as a player hardware, digital music or online shop? No matter which kind of division is difficult to reach a consensus. Besides these business so intertwined, a symbiotic, not one plus one equals two so simple.

Even more of a single customer and product, the key success factors as the determination of surface so simple. For example, for electrical home appliances manufacturers is concerned, its key success factors there must be the channel resources. But in fact, the channel resources can be divided into electrical appliances chain stores, retail stores, electronic business channel, TV shopping channels, etc. The different channels of the resource capacity to far, not a key success factors can summarized.

In addition, even if the division is clear, all competitors in the industry to pursue the same key success factors, will only lead to key success factors of the price rises, product prices to fall, most of the competitors can only get social average profit, or zero economic profits (minus the opportunity cost accounting profit). Therefore, the key success factors eventually lead to is perfect competition or monopolistic competition, to seek lasting absolute dominant position for the enterprise market is unattractive.

In a circular arguments "competitive advantage"

Competitive advantage refers to can make the enterprise competition to provide better than the difference of the value of the symmetry or not. If the key success factors in the same industry, industry emphasized "common" factors of words, so competitive advantage is more stress on "difference" and "asymmetric". That "you have me have, you have my best". This kind of competition advantage can come from static resources, also can come from dynamic ability. Static resources can be enterprise own, for example, Microsoft in PC operating system, relative Linux character, having more ordinary users the size of the market, also can be through the partners and the government of the gain of stakeholders. For example, a few years ago China mobile than China telecom is concerned, has the Chinese government issued 2 G wireless communication operators licence. Dynamic capabilities including technical know-how, research and development ability, to the customer's understanding, innovation and transformation of the ability. For example, Intel in relative to AMD and the rapid development of the power to make its can continuously introduce higher speed, more computing power and lower cost of CPU resources.

But competitive advantage is still born out of industry and industry analysis, so there is a similar problem: how to define the industry in which the firm and industry? How to define the enterprise competition? Due to competition advantage stressed differentiation, can make the same industry different enterprise have positive economic profit, the key success factors and different. The reason behind the difference is, the key success factors are mainly applied in the perfect competition or monopolistic competition market, many competitors, rival behavior doesn't directly influence on the enterprise; And competitive advantage is mainly in the category of application oligarchs market, strong rivals only several, analysis the behavior of the competition to be more important, more to be thinking about how to realize the differentiation.

But the concept of competitive advantage is suspected of circular arguments. See a resource capacity have competitive advantage, to see whether it can provide better value. But not before in practice, how to tell it to better provide value? If want to wait until after the practice to the judge, but at the moment, argue it is competitive advantage and the significance?

Funny "core competencies"

The concept of core competence was made by the enterprise strategic management experts C.K. Oprah's something DE and G. Hamel asked in 1990, mainly shows that the enterprise internal have value, the scarce, not imitate, not replace, organized resources and ability. For example, dell for enterprise users PC direct selling series of resources will meet the requirements of the core competitive power. Including dell's timely purchasing system, the assembly manufacturing system, satisfy personalized needs phone and Internet marketing platform and online customer service support system, etc. The four system has value, the scarce, difficult to imitate, difficult to replace, and one integrated mass, formed the core competitiveness of the dell.

However, at the same time satisfy the five standard resources are hard to find. Have a lot of resources from not satisfied split alone scarce, not imitate, irreplaceable conditions, together they provide huge competitive advantage. So to explain: is the combination of the whole resource capacity to meet all five standards, causes the enterprise to get more than competitors strong market position, prompting form "how to say are right" circular arguments.

In addition, because of the core competitiveness of the standard is extremely high, some standard and difficult to define clear, therefore resource capacity and enterprise performance relations are mystification. Successful, means that you have the core competition ability; Failure is says that you have no core competitive ability, the guiding significance of enterprise Co., LTD. More important, the core competitiveness don't value business model, this brings up a question: in the concept of core competence of the so-called "organized"??? What??? Industry? Business model? Organizational structure? Business process? Don't know. The organization to blur and mystification is "core competencies" concept respected reason, but also its difficult to really the crux of the application.

Starting from the business model of "key resources"

Business is stakeholder trading structure, key resources is an important deal structure support behind resources and ability. Say simply, the key resource capacity refers to: support trade structure was established, the enterprise "need" have the resources and ability.

Here need to emphasize two points: first, the key resources ability is relative to the business model character, so different industry enterprise may need to have the same resources combination, as long as their business model is the same. And for the same industry for the enterprise, business model if different, need resources combination also different. So, is the enterprise business models rather than the industry in the enterprise to need to have decided the resource capacity. Second, the concept of emphasis make trade structure was established, the enterprise "need" have the resources ability, so is a priori judgement and not the judgment of the event. For example, in establishing a retail chain enterprise before, it can be concluded that it needs to have the resources, and then to look for these resources have the ability of stakeholders, seek cooperation, thus forming the whole transaction structure configuration. Request a enterprise have above all resources are unrealistic, even if all have, in a enterprise internal is not economic. Therefore, can actually have the resources by looking for the ability of stakeholders, formed a complete trading structure, this is the business model.

If the enterprise selected the business model, needed resources skills can be prejudged, press diagram suo ji to find partners but also feasible, and therefore, the key resources can be identified, can design, for the enterprise to have more of the guide.

New concept: "effective advantage"

So, what exactly have characteristics of the resource capacity to have advantage? The key success factors and competitive advantage limitations, core competence is too broad, and that the three different extent make the circular arguments, posterior logic mistakes, has been all is difficult to have substantial guiding significance to the enterprise. Key resources focusing on business model, prior to the enterprise to "need" have the resource capacity proposed the guiding opinions, clear, can be identified, can design. Therefore, the key resources of the concept of the enterprise itself and the ability of resource ability level, we put forward "effective advantage" concept.

"Effective advantage" refers to the kind of resources: the level of more than the average market level, at the same time and the enterprise business models that trade structure fit high (such as table 1).

Table 1 for effective the concept of advantage, have three key: first, whether to have advantage, to see specific trade structure and decide. To some extent, in addition to "effective advantage", the rest of the three kinds of resource capacity to dissipation cost and because can't create value, so is "disadvantage". For example, xerox r&d center of research and development ability strong, but not because of technology innovation into business model innovation, let the value of technology dissipation. This is "invalid advantage", and eventually become disadvantages instead. Conversely, p&g internal product development innovation ability is not necessarily the strongest, but through the "creative supermarket" was a great success. Was "innovation" belongs to the key p&g disadvantage, but through the appropriate trade structure design, become effective advantage.

Second, the shortage of resources (key disadvantages) and excess (invalid advantage), to see specific trade structure and decide. Each round business model change means resources the new configuration. The transformation from manufacturing services, the original capacity may from less than into superfluous, and the original service team may be from surplus become insufficient.

Third, the shortage of resources and excess, to look at specific stakeholders concerned. As A resource capacity, in the enterprise is A surplus, but to enterprise B may be insufficient, there is the possibility of trading. Therefore, strengthening and maintain effective advantage, the key weaknesses, invalid advantage, has nothing to do with resources by the reconstruction of the trade structure, transaction or transformation into effective seek advantages, is the enterprise sustainable advantage in an effective way.