Competitive strategy is the way a company competes, or the approach taken by chaussure de foot magista companies to sell its products and services. Bowman's Strategy Clock is a tool to identify the competitive position of the company, or how the company convinces the client to purchase its products rather than that of a competitor.

A wide open market invariably has numerous players competing to give the same product or service, and customers choose the option that they like probably the most. In such a business environment, companies attempt to gain competitive advantage over their competitors, by giving the customer with something that competitor products do not offer.
Michael Porter (1980) considers cost differentials, product differentials, and market segmentation because the three broad ways by which companies seek competitive advantage. Companies for example, strive to offer many at a lesser price than the cost of competitor products, make an effort to offer better value when compared with competing products, or focus on the special needs of the segment ignored by competitors.
The Strategy Clock, developed by Cliff Bowman and David Faulkner in 1996 is an attempt for expanding Porter's model, or making a further in-depth analysis. It expands Porter's three strategic positions to eight, with every position representing a unique cost and perceived value combination.

A low price ' low value positioning -- is providing low quality products at the lowest price in the market. Many companies adopt such a strategy when their products belong to pressure in the competitors low prices, plus they cannot overcome such price wars by offering items that differ in some manner.
Companies adopting this tactic would require high sales volumes to pay for the affordable prices, by extension low margins. The reduced price would fetch such volumes, however the poor would mean that most customers would try the product just once. As such, this strategy suits only products with a short life-cycle, where repeat clients are not relevant, or on products where quality is not an issue.
Low price positioning is placing the magista obra pas cher merchandise at the lowest possible price level, with wafer-thin margins, looking to balance the low margins with high volumes. Such an approach can trigger price wars that benefit the customers. Companies with limited resources may, however, find competing in price wars unsustainable with time. Just those companies with resources to sacrifice present profits for building up a reputation as a low-cost provider brand is able to survive and reap long-term benefits.
Wal-Mart chaussure de foot nike is good example of low cost positioning. It attracts a sizable market share by providing products at a cost less than what competitors charge for the same product. The brand impression of the provider of excellent quality products at low-cost helps in sustaining the business over the long-term.

Hybrid positioning is a "moderate price-moderate value" approach. Companies adopting this strategy offer neither the lowest price nor the very best quality. They rather aspire to strike an account balance between quality and price and set up a trustworthiness of providing products with reasonable quality at fair prices. They work to produce a perception of their products being better in quality when compared to competitor products.
Customers consider the products provided by companies adopting a hybrid strategy as less expensive for money even if such products cost higher than, or even the just like, competing products. Discount department stores frequently adopt such a strategy.


Differentiation is the strategy of offering high value products, either at higher prices to compensate for that low volumes of these products, or at low prices within the expectation that greater share of the market would compensate for the reduced margins.
Companies may approach differentiation in many ways, such as:
Types of well-known companies adopting a differentiation strategy are Nike, which positions itself as a high quality product with premium prices, Reebok, which has an image of unparalleled combination product available at a low premium, and Mark and Spencer, with a track record of moderate to high costs for prime quality products.


Focused differentiation may be the type of differentiation that provides high value at high or premium prices, frequently targeting a niche category, and compensating for insufficient volume by high margins. The high value is often a consequence of perception, cultivated through advertisements and careful choice of sales outlets instead of any substantial differentiation in the actual product.
Types of items that have thrived by utilizing focused differentiation are Gucci, Armani, and Rolls Royce. For instance, Most highly regarded Silver Shadow costs 25 times a lot more than an economy Ford, and both serve the same basic purpose, of taking you from Point A to suggest B. A Gucci watch could cost 100 times more than a Chinese made unbranded watch, and both serve the purpose of supplying the time.


Sometimes, companies simply increase price without adding any value to the product. The increased price may be because of an increase of input costs, seasonal factors, or another type. One company might take the lead for making the hike, using the knowledge that others equally affected by exactly the same factors, would soon follow. In other cases, the organization may increase the price to consider advantage of some short-term factors such as disruption in the competitors logistics, to bring in money with a long-term move to do away using the product as part of a wider strategic goal.
In a competitive market, this method remains unsustainable for very long if adopted with no major triggers or reason. Companies arbitrarily increasing prices soon lose share of the market, as customers migrate to competitor items that provide the same return at affordable prices.
Charging high prices for low value may be the default strategy in a monopoly or oligopoly market, where only one or a few companies provide the product or service, and the like goods or service stay in much demand. Many products that start as monopolies adopt this positioning until the emergence of competitors forces them into another position. Cartels that enjoy price-fixing also apply this strategy.
Companies offering low value and high price cannot survive for long inside a competitive market, but can always make limited gains in an imperfect market where customers don't have access to prices of competing products, or perhaps in situations such as a "cruise-ship economy" in which the consumer has access simply to a limited product range.


Offering low value at standard prices, such as selling a damaged notebook in the price of a fresh one, creates an incredibly shortsighted business strategy, and may sometimes constitute fraud. Companies adopting such practices soon lose market share, as customers see through the defects and feel cheated. Firms that adopt this type of strategy are generally myopic, or fly-by-night operators who exploit customer ignorance or short-term monopoly conditions to create a quick buck and vanish.
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