This topic sets forth the basic approaches available for competing and winning in the marketplace in terms of the three generic competitive strategies—cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies.  It develops the material encountered in week 1 (the Porter reading) in greater detail and describes when each of these approaches works best and what pitfalls to avoid. It explains the role of cost drivers and value drivers in reducing a company’s costs and enhancing its differentiation, respectively.
The corporate level is about strategy at a higher level and will be covered in week 7.  This week and next week (on innovation and entrepreneurial strategies) will focus on business-level strategy.
Learning Outcomes
•    Understand strategic positioning in greater depth.
•    Explain and describe in detail the business strategies of cost leadership, differentiation, focus, and integration strategies.
•    Describe and evaluate the dynamics of competitive positioning

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