Hi, please see the attached

What Is Strategy?

You may have found the textbook readings to be a bit overwhelming, so below is a short summary of key points.

• A competitive advantage is the basis by which an organization creates superior value for its customers, where value is the ratio of a product’s benefits to its price (i.e., benefits / price or "bang for your buck"). For example, Starbucks' competitive advantages include brand image, product quality, and superior customer service, all of which give customers more "bang for their buck."

• A competitive strategy is an integrated set of actions designed to gain a competitive advantage in a specific product market. In choosing a competitive strategy, a business must decide (1) whether to offer a unique product or a lower-priced product and (2) whether to compete across a broad market (broad product line, multiple customer segments, and/or broad geography) or narrow market (narrow product line, few customer segments, and/or limited geography). In other words, a business chooses one of four generic strategies (see Exhibit 5.1 below), each requiring very different skills and resources (see Table 5.1 (Links to an external site.)). For example, Starbucks pursues a differentiation strategy.