{"id":140777,"date":"2025-02-07T11:44:30","date_gmt":"2025-02-07T15:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=140777"},"modified":"2025-02-10T13:02:13","modified_gmt":"2025-02-10T17:02:13","slug":"competitive-advantage-in-business-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn’t Matter"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Do you want a competitive advantage in business<\/a>? Why is focusing on your competition actually bad for your company?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In The Age of Agile<\/em>, Stephen Denning targets companies’s focus on competition and creating long-term competitive advantages. He claims that such attention on other businesses in this way doesn’t work for two reasons: rapid change and high customer expectations<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Check out why competition isn’t the sole thing you need to pay attention to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Focusing on Competitive Advantages<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on competitive advantages in business<\/a>, a concept popularized by Harvard business professor Michael Porter, suggests that firms can achieve perpetual profits by positioning themselves in protected market niches where they\u2019re insulated from competition by structural barriers. For example, large pharmaceutical companies benefit from patent protections, which give them the exclusive rights to sell specific drugs for years. They may also face few competitors because barriers like the high costs of research and development and the extensive FDA approval process hinder startups from entering the market.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: To understand why businesses became so focused on finding a competitive advantage, let\u2019s look into the history of this approach. Michael Porter introduced the concept of competitive advantage in 1985<\/a>, during a period of major industry consolidation. In the 1980s, a wave of mergers and acquisitions<\/a> created significant barriers of entry for startups and small firms. Many business leaders began looking for a stable niche within the market where they could maintain a long-term advantage over their competitors, and Porter\u2019s concept became popular among business schools and business leaders.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why It Doesn\u2019t Work Anymore #1: Rapid Change<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Denning explains that in today\u2019s fast-changing, unpredictable business landscape, protected market niches are rarely permanent, as barriers to competition can swiftly collapse<\/strong>. Globalization or deregulation can erode a company\u2019s competitive advantage by opening the market to new competitors. Furthermore, competitive advantages that are based on technological innovation can disappear when competitors adopt new technologies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(Shortform note: Experts agree with Denning that globalization and deregulation can make competition more intense<\/a>, which may make it harder for a given business to maintain their competitive advantage. Research also supports Denning’s assertion that companies may be on less stable footing now than they\u2019ve been in the past because of technological change. One study found that since the 1950s, the lifespan of an S&P 500 company has fallen from an average of 60 years to an average of under 20 years<\/a>. The researchers concluded that the speed of innovation was likely to blame, as more and more companies fall behind by failing to adjust to the impacts of new technologies on their industries.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Why It Doesn\u2019t Work Anymore #2: High Customer Expectations<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Furthermore, a focus on competitors distracts companies from their customers. <\/strong>Denning argues that customers should be a company\u2019s priority because customers have higher expectations than ever<\/strong>. While companies used to have the luxury of offering customers a sub-par experience and relying on marketing and advertising<\/a> to drive sales, this is no longer a viable business strategy. Companies now have no choice but to provide real value<\/a> that excites their users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Denning, this change is due to three developments: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1) Many tech companies have succeeded in providing customers with immediate gratification<\/a> and value, so many customers now expect high-quality user experiences and refuse to settle for anything else. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2) Customers have an easier time sharing and accessing information about products and services through online reviews. This means that companies are now limited in their attempts to maintain the reputation of their products purely through advertising and marketing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3) The fast proliferation of technology, combined with globalization and deregulation, has resulted in a competitive economy where customers have more power because their range of options is larger than ever\u2014they can afford to be choosy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Do you want a competitive advantage in business? Why is focusing on your competition actually bad for your company? In The Age of Agile, Stephen Denning targets companies’s focus on competition and creating long-term competitive advantages. He claims that such attention on other businesses in this way doesn’t work for two reasons: rapid change and high customer expectations. Check out why competition isn’t the sole thing you need to pay attention to.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":141037,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,79,104],"tags":[1735],"class_list":["post-140777","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","category-entrepreneurship","category-marketing","tag-the-age-of-agile","","tg-column-two"],"yoast_head":"\nCompetitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn't Matter - Shortform Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Putting all your attention into creating a competitive advantage in business will distract you from the most important things. Read more.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn't Matter\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Putting all your attention into creating a competitive advantage in business will distract you from the most important things. Read more.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Shortform Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-07T15:44:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-10T17:02:13+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1456\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"816\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/webp\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Katie Doll\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Katie Doll\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Katie Doll\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937\"},\"headline\":\"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn’t Matter\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-07T15:44:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-10T17:02:13+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/\"},\"wordCount\":640,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp\",\"keywords\":[\"The Age of Agile\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Business\",\"Entrepreneurship\",\"Marketing\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/\",\"name\":\"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn't Matter - Shortform Books\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-07T15:44:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-10T17:02:13+00:00\",\"description\":\"Putting all your attention into creating a competitive advantage in business will distract you from the most important things. Read more.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp\",\"width\":1456,\"height\":816,\"caption\":\"Two leaders playing chess to get a competitive advantage in business\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn’t Matter\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"description\":\"The World's Best Book Summaries\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Shortform Books\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png\",\"width\":500,\"height\":74,\"caption\":\"Shortform Books\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937\",\"name\":\"Katie Doll\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Katie Doll\"},\"description\":\"Somehow, Katie was able to pull off her childhood dream of creating a career around books after graduating with a degree in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. Her preferred genre of books has changed drastically over the years, from fantasy\/dystopian young-adult to moving novels and non-fiction books on the human experience. Katie especially enjoys reading and writing about all things television, good and bad.\",\"knowsAbout\":[\"Bachelor of Arts in English With a Concentration in Creative Writing\"],\"jobTitle\":\"Senior SEO Writer\",\"worksFor\":\"Shortform\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/katie\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn't Matter - Shortform Books","description":"Putting all your attention into creating a competitive advantage in business will distract you from the most important things. Read more.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn't Matter","og_description":"Putting all your attention into creating a competitive advantage in business will distract you from the most important things. Read more.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/","og_site_name":"Shortform Books","article_published_time":"2025-02-07T15:44:30+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-02-10T17:02:13+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1456,"height":816,"url":"https:\/\/s3.amazonaws.com\/wordpress.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp","type":"image\/webp"}],"author":"Katie Doll","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Katie Doll","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/"},"author":{"name":"Katie Doll","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937"},"headline":"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn’t Matter","datePublished":"2025-02-07T15:44:30+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-10T17:02:13+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/"},"wordCount":640,"commentCount":0,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp","keywords":["The Age of Agile"],"articleSection":["Business","Entrepreneurship","Marketing"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/","name":"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn't Matter - Shortform Books","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp","datePublished":"2025-02-07T15:44:30+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-10T17:02:13+00:00","description":"Putting all your attention into creating a competitive advantage in business will distract you from the most important things. Read more.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp","width":1456,"height":816,"caption":"Two leaders playing chess to get a competitive advantage in business"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/competitive-advantage-in-business-2\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Competitive Advantage in Business: Why It Doesn’t Matter"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","name":"Shortform Books","description":"The World's Best Book Summaries","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#organization","name":"Shortform Books","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/logo-equilateral-with-text-no-bg.png","width":500,"height":74,"caption":"Shortform Books"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/c3e1b539e89423b544ede91ab2bff937","name":"Katie Doll","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/6239731a3fc739640b80be30f2b1727a055d3535d0ee4569e8282faa323e47fc?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Katie Doll"},"description":"Somehow, Katie was able to pull off her childhood dream of creating a career around books after graduating with a degree in English and a concentration in Creative Writing. Her preferred genre of books has changed drastically over the years, from fantasy\/dystopian young-adult to moving novels and non-fiction books on the human experience. Katie especially enjoys reading and writing about all things television, good and bad.","knowsAbout":["Bachelor of Arts in English With a Concentration in Creative Writing"],"jobTitle":"Senior SEO Writer","worksFor":"Shortform","url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/author\/katie\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/businessman-playing-chess.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140777","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=140777"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140777\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":141188,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/140777\/revisions\/141188"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/141037"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=140777"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=140777"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=140777"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}