Businesses desire to achieve a competitive advantage Essay

Businesses desire to achieve a competitive advantage - Essay Example The paper tells that companies that achieve a competitive advantage can exploit that edge in order to obtain higher sales than other companies in the marketplace. Organizations can achieve a competitive advantage by exploiting their brand value. A brand strategy is generated over time by investing a lot of money in advertising and marketing campaigns. Technological superiority, innovation, and patents are other ways to gain a competitive advantage. Companies that achieve a competitive advantage are able to increase their market share. These firms are also able to attract more customers than its competitors. Examples of companies that have been able to dominate an industry by gaining a competitive advantage are Starbucks Cafà ©, Microsoft, and De Beers. Microsoft utilized innovation to stay ahead of the competition. Starbucks Cafà © beat out the competition by providing a superior product and better customer service. The competitive advantage that De Beers enjoys comes from its supp ly chain superiority and access to greater sums of capital. Organizations that have a competitive advantage are able to retain more customers and build brand loyalty. Higher customer retention rates are desirable. Based on Pareto’s 80/20 rule approximately 80% of a firm’s revenues come from 20% of its customers. Most companies that are the market leaders in their respective industries reached that status by having some type of competitive advantage. Good business strategies are needed for managers to implement a competitive advantage.