On Competition

Introduction

COMPETITION IS ONE OF SOCIETY’S MOST powerful forces for making things better in many fields of human endeavor. The study of competition and the creation of value, in their full richness, have preoccupied me for several decades. Competition is pervasive, whether it involves companies contesting markets, countries coping with globalization, or social organizations responding to societal needs. Every organization needs a strategy in order to deliver superior value to its customers.

This is truer today than ever before, as competition has intensified dramatically over the last several decades in almost all domains. It has spread across geography, so that nations must compete to maintain their existing prosperity, much less enhance ...