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From this article you will learn:

• What are the company's competitive advantages
• What are the types and sources of a company’s competitive advantages?
• What are the company's natural and artificial competitive advantages?
• How to correctly describe a company's competitive advantages
• How to evaluate a company's competitive advantages
• How to avoid mistakes when creating a company's competitive advantages

The system for managing a company's capabilities in the market “produces” such a “product” as competitive advantages. No enterprise can exist if there is no demand for its products (services), just as in the absence of competitive advantages there can be no question of market opportunities. The merit of the company's competitive advantages is its recognition in the market and protection from the influence of competitive forces. If there are no competitive advantages, then the enterprise simply cannot be competitive.

What could be the company's competitive advantages?

The competitive advantages of a company are understood as such characteristics and qualities of a brand or product, thanks to which the organization is objectively superior to its competitors. The economic sphere does not develop in the absence of competitive advantages. They are an integral part of the company’s corporate style. In addition, they protect it from attacks by competitors.

A company's sustainable competitive advantage is drawing up an enterprise development plan that will ensure profit and the implementation of the most promising opportunities. A mandatory requirement for this plan is that it should not be used by any real or prospective competitors. They should also not be allowed to adopt the results of its implementation.

The development of a company's competitive advantages is based on its goals and objectives, the achievement of which depends on the organization's position in the market for goods and services, as well as on how successful their implementation is. To create a basis that allows you to effectively develop the factors of a company’s competitive advantages, as well as to form a strong relationship between this process and the conditions existing in the market, it is necessary to rebuild the functioning system.

What are the types of competitive advantages of a company? There are two of them:

What are the main sources of a company's competitive advantage?

The company's competitive advantages have a fairly well-established structure. Michael Porter identified 3 main sources for developing a company's competitive advantage: differentiation, cost and focus. Let's tell you more about them:

• Differentiation

When starting to implement this strategy for a company's competitive advantages, you need to remember that it is based on the effective provision of services to consumers, as well as presenting the company's goods/services in the best light.

• Costs

The implementation of this strategy is based on the following competitive advantages of the company: minimal personnel costs and scale, automation of all processes, the ability to use limited resources, work on technologies aimed at reducing production costs and having a patent.

• Focus

This strategy is based on the same sources as described above, but the target audience covered by the adopted competitive advantage is quite small. Non-member consumers may be dissatisfied with the firm's competitive advantage, or it may not have any impact on them.

All companies have competitive advantages belonging to the group of natural (basic). However, not everyone covers them. Organizations that believe that their competitive advantages are obvious or disguised as generally accepted clichés do not do this.

The main competitive advantages of the company include the following:

Competitive advantages of the company using the example of various business areas

What competitive advantages can construction organizations have:

• Having our own design department.
• Staffed only by highly qualified specialists.
• Availability of facilities that have already been put into operation.
• A paragraph with a detailed calculation proving the lower price level of company N.
• Availability of our own fleet of construction and auxiliary equipment.
• All types of insurance issued for each worker, provision of a full social package to all personnel, availability of special permits.
• The company provides seasonal discounts (prices are lower in winter).
• Engineering control of each facility.
• Fixed construction cost, agreed upon before the start of work. Guarantees of its preservation even if the ruble exchange rate weakens.
• Guarantee for delivered objects. Not blindly following fashion trends and using very expensive materials, but a conscious choice of the best and most affordable, already proven ones.
• High speed of calculating the cost of work (for example, half an hour). There may be an online calculator on the website.
• Full cycle of work. When work is carried out by one company, clients worry less about the process.

Transport companies may have the following competitive advantages:

• Refund of N% of the order price in case of delay by N minutes/hours.
• Free forwarding when ordering from….
• No intermediaries: you entrusted us with the cargo, we will deliver it ourselves.
• Vehicles are equipped with navigators and satellite radios, making it possible to track the location of cargo at any time of the day.
• Guaranteed cleanliness of vehicles, absence of unpleasant odors that the cargo can absorb.
• Free packaging of goods.
• A good fleet of foreign-made equipment, a small percentage (0.004) of breakdowns from the number of all visits.
• Lower price per kilometer than competitors, possible thanks to bulk purchases of fuel.
• An impressive amount of cargo transported during the existence of the company (“Drivers transported N loads in N years”, or “Drove N million (thousand) kilometers”).
• Even if you have no idea about organizing cargo transportation, we will not profit from you. Our conditions are favorable and the same for everyone.

Competitive advantages of organizations operating in the field of trade:

We carefully control the quality of purchased goods, refusing to purchase second-rate products.

• We provide a guarantee for the product and service it after the sale.
• Products are purchased in bulk, so we can sell them at low prices.
• We constantly analyze the market to identify the best products.
• We listen to our customers, try to understand them and meet their needs.
• Our marketing activities are not characterized by aggression: we do not impose our products.
• Our retail outlet is conveniently located, it is not difficult to get to it, we have equipped ramps, etc.
• Promotions are regularly held in which goods can be purchased much cheaper.
• We advise the best, and do not impose what is left behind and expensive.
• It is normal for a product to not suit you. In such cases, we guarantee a refund of the full cost of the product without lengthy proceedings.

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Manufacturing enterprises have their own competitive advantages. Let's list them:

• The technologies used are constantly being improved, and the products produced are of high quality.
• Work under a preferential tax system (low electricity tariffs, cheap raw materials), which allows you to set low prices for products.
• A team of highly qualified engineering specialists.
• Possibility of increasing production volumes without compromising the quality of goods.
• No regional markups.
• Products are of higher quality compared to last year.
• Serious clients (list).
• Absence of non-target costs, restructuring of production, which makes it possible to reduce product prices for end consumers.
• Direct sales (no intermediaries).
• The presence of old-school employees who can pass on their wealth of experience to young specialists.

Competitive advantages of international companies using the example of Toyota

1. High quality products. The main competitive advantage of the company is a top-level car. In Russia in 2015, about 120,000 Toyota cars were purchased. The determining role of this competitive advantage of the company was voiced by its ex-president Fujio Cho. When purchasing a car from this company, a person can be sure that it was produced using a whole set of modern technological developments.
2. Wide range of models. In Toyota showrooms you can purchase any car model of this brand: Toyota Corolla (the main advantage is compactness), Toyota Avensis (valued for its versatility and comfort), Toyota Prius ( new model), Toyota Camry (a whole series of cars is presented), Toyota Verso (family format), Toyota RAV4 (small SUVs), Toyota Land Cruiser 200 and Land Cruiser Prado (popular modern SUVs), Toyota Highlander (all-wheel drive crossovers), Toyota Hiace (different convenience and compactness). This is also an important competitive advantage: from the presented models, people with different preferences and financial capabilities can choose a car.
3. Effective marketing. An excellent competitive advantage of the company is the certification of vehicles with inspections from Toyota Tested. Those who purchased a car of this brand in Russia are provided with assistance around the clock, that is, technical support services are constantly working. There is a Trade-In car purchase program that allows you to simplify the process of purchasing a car through lucrative offers from the company.
4. The customer comes first. This competitive advantage is also very significant. The company secured it by developing the “Personal & Premium” program in 2010. It was presented at the international automobile show in Moscow. The program includes advantageous offers for purchasing a car on credit. Employees of the New Car Buy Survey organization found that the loyalty of our compatriots is highest to the Toyota company.
5. Effective company management. What is this company's competitive advantage? She developed an ERP program that makes it possible to highly efficiently monitor all sales of Toyota cars in Russia online. The year of development of this program is 2003. This is a unique competitive advantage of the company, since this program is combined with the market situation, with various features of doing business in Russia, with its current legislation. Toyota has another competitive advantage - the presence of an integral corporate structure created to help the company and its partners quickly operate with information about the availability of certain car models in showrooms, warehouses, etc. In addition, Microsoft Dynamics AX stores all documents on operations carried out on cars.

What competitive advantages of a company are called “artificial”

Artificial competitive advantages can be used by a company in the absence of special offers in order to communicate about itself.

In what cases is this necessary:

• The structure of companies competing with the company is similar (that is, they have the same competitive advantages).
• The company cannot be classified as either a small or a large business (that is, its product portfolio is not very large, there is no narrow focus, and the cost of goods is standard).
• The company is just beginning to develop, has not yet developed a customer base, is not very popular among consumers and does not have any special competitive advantages. This mainly happens when people no longer want to work for someone, quit and open their own business.

In this case, the development of artificial competitive advantages of the company is required, such as:

Added value. For example, an organization sells computers, but cannot compete in terms of pricing. Then there is the opportunity to use this competitive advantage of the company: installing an operating system and standard software on computers will allow you to sell equipment at a slightly higher price. This is added value, which also includes various promotions and bonus programs.

Personal adjustment. It makes sense for a company to have such a competitive advantage if competitors hide behind standard clichés. Personal development is about demonstrating the face of the organization and applying the WHY formula. This competitive advantage works effectively in any field of activity.

Responsibility. It is effective. The combination of responsibility and personal development is excellent. Consumers will be more willing to purchase goods/services knowing that the manufacturer vouches for their quality and safety.

Guarantees. There are two types of guarantees: for circumstances (for example, a guarantee of liability - provision of goods for free if the cashier does not issue a receipt) and for goods/services (for example, the possibility of returning or exchanging goods within a certain time after purchase).

Reviews. If they are from real clients. Potential consumers care about the status of people leaving reviews about your company. The advantage works great if the responses are submitted on a special form that has a certified signature of the person.

Demonstration. One of the company's main competitive advantages. If she doesn’t have any or they are not obvious, then you can create a presentation of your product with illustrations. Service organizations are encouraged to make presentations in video format. The main thing is to correctly focus on the properties of the product.

Cases. It is possible that there will be a lack of cases, especially for new companies. In this case, it is possible to develop artificial cases. Their essence is to provide services to themselves, potential clients or existing ones on the basis of mutual offset. This way you will receive a case demonstrating the level of professionalism of your company.

Unique selling proposition. We have already talked about it above. The meaning of this competitive advantage is that the company operates on some detail or provides information that sets it apart from its competitors. The Practicum Group company, which conducts various trainings, has unique selling propositions. This competitive advantage is effective.

How to find and correctly describe the company's main competitive advantages

All businesses have their own advantages. Even if they don’t stand out in any way - neither in assortment, nor in prices. Even if you think that your company is completely mediocre, you need to understand its advantages. The easiest way to do this is by surveying your customers. Moreover, their answers may be unexpected and surprising to you.

Someone will explain cooperation with you by the proximity of the location (geographically). Some people trust you, others just like your company. Collection and detailed analysis This information will help you increase your income.

But the search for your advantages does not end there. Write down on a piece of paper what your company's strengths and weaknesses are. At the same time, try to be objective. That is, indicate what you have and what you don’t have yet. Do not write abstractly, but specify your thoughts.

Here are some examples:

For example, you don’t need to mention all your competitive advantages on your website. The task of this stage is to find the greatest number of strengths and weaknesses of the enterprise. This is an important starting point.

Then analyze your weak spots and figure out how you can beat them so that they become your advantages. The formula for this is simple:

Yes we have "flaw", but this "advantage".

Here are some examples:

The idea is clear. This way you can get several types of competitive advantages at once:

• Natural(actual data that you have that differentiates you from your competitors).
• Artificial(amplifiers that also set you apart from your competitors - guarantees, individual approach, etc.).
• "Shifters"- these are your weaknesses turned into advantages. This is an addition to the first two points.

Now you need to arrange the identified competitive advantages of the company in such an order that the least significant ones for consumers are at the bottom of the list, and then edit the list. It should be concise, accessible and understandable.

Analysis of the company's competitive advantages and their assessment

Approximately 90% of businessmen do not analyze their competitors, but on its basis it is possible to develop the company’s competitive advantages. There is only an exchange of new technologies, that is, enterprises borrow the ideas of competitors. No matter whose innovative idea it is, others will still use it.

Thus, the light saw the following clichés:

• Highly qualified specialist.
• Personal approach.
• Highest quality.
• Competitive cost.
• First class service.

There are others, and any of them cannot actually be called a company’s competitive advantage, since not a single organization will say that it produces low-quality goods, and its staff is staffed by inexperienced specialists.

However, there is another way to look at this. If enterprises have few competitive advantages, then it will be easier for newcomers to develop and attract potential customers. This gives the audience a wider choice.

Therefore, in order to provide consumers with favorable purchasing conditions and positive emotions She needs to competently develop competitive advantages in the company's strategy. First of all, the client should be satisfied not with the product, but with the company.

How successful a company's competitive advantages are can be understood by fully assessing the pros and cons of the company's position in the competition and comparing the assessment results with competitors' data. To carry out the analysis, you can use the method of exponential assessment of the CFU.

If you approach the development of an action plan wisely, it is possible to turn your competitors' weaknesses into your competitive advantages.

What to analyze:

1. Is the enterprise stable in protecting its position when the market situation changes in the areas of its activities, in conditions of fierce competition, in the presence of strong competitive advantages of other companies?
2. Does the firm have effective competitive advantages? Or are they not enough? Or not at all?
3. Is it possible to achieve success in competition if you follow the existing action plan (what is the company's position in the competitive system)?
4. How sustainable is the company currently?

You can analyze the activities of competitors using the method of weighted or unweighted assessments. In the first case, you need to multiply the company's scores for a specific indicator of competitive capabilities (from 1 to 10) by their weight. In the second case, the equal importance of all efficiency factors is assumed. The implementation of the competitive advantages of an enterprise is most effective if it has the highest ratings.

The task of specialists at the last stage is to identify strategic errors that negatively affect the formation of the company’s competitive advantages. For a program to be effective, it must describe ways to resolve any difficult situation.

That is, at this stage it is necessary to create a single list of problems that urgently need to be solved in order to form the company’s competitive advantages and its strategy. This list is developed based on the results of an assessment of the organization’s activities, the market situation and the position of competitors.

To identify existing problems, you need to answer the following questions:

In what situations will the current program not protect the company from problems - both internal and external?

What level of protection does the adopted strategy provide against actions currently taken by competitors?

Does the current program support competitive advantages and are they combined with it?

How can you lose your company's competitive advantages?

Any competitive advantage has a limited resource, so a company’s position in the market depends on how many competitive advantages it has, how significant they are (available to competitors) and how long the life cycle of the competitive advantage is. The more advantages that are unique and difficult to replicate, and the longer their life cycle, the greater the strength of the company's strategic position.

Environmental factors can change, which affects the company's competitive advantages and can lead to their reduction or even disappearance.

Reasons for the loss of competitive advantages:

• Deterioration of factor conditions (increased costs, decreased level of education and qualifications of personnel, etc.).
• A decrease in investment attractiveness and innovative potential (this is inevitable if you postpone organizational changes, fearing a reduction in income and not wanting to invest in the future).
• Reduced ability to adapt (bureaucratization, working on obsolete equipment, taking too long to develop new products).
• Weakening of competition (due to strengthening the positions of monopolists, the introduction by the state of high duties on imported products).
• The income level of the majority of the population is low, as a result of which people’s requirements for the quality and range of goods are reduced.

If used correctly trademark company (brand), then you can increase profits and sales, expand the range, inform consumers about the exclusive characteristics of products, stay in this field of activity, and introduce effective development methods. Therefore, a brand is a company’s competitive advantage.

If a manager does not realize this, then he will not be able to take his company to the top. But a trademark is a very expensive competitive advantage. To implement it, you need to have special management skills and experience working with a brand, and know how to position a company.

The trademark is developed in several stages:

Stage 1. Goal setting:

• the company's goals and objectives are formulated (this stage occurs when all competitive advantages are formed);
• it is established how significant the trademark is within the company;
• the position of the brand is established (parameters, longevity, competitive advantages of the company);
• measurable brand criteria (KPI) are determined.

Stage 2. Development planning:

• available resources are assessed (a single stage for the process of forming any competitive advantage);
• customers and performers are approved;
• development timeframes are determined;
• Additional goals or obstacles are identified.

Stage 3. Assessment of the current position of the brand (for existing brands):

• how popular it is among consumers;
• Do potential buyers know about it?
• whether potential customers are attracted to the brand;
• what is the level of loyalty to the brand.

Stage 4. Assessment of the market situation:

• competitors are assessed (the first stage in the formation of any competitive advantage of the company);
• potential clients are assessed (based on a study of their preferences and needs);
• the sales market is assessed (supply, demand, development).

Stage 5. Statement of the essence of the brand:

• the purpose, position and benefit of the brand for potential customers is determined;
• the exclusivity of the brand is revealed (competitive advantages, value, features);
• brand attributes are being developed (components, appearance, main idea).

Stage 6. Brand management planning:

• marketing elements are developed, the brand management process is explained (recorded in the brand book);
• those responsible for brand promotion are appointed.

Stage 7. Introducing and increasing the popularity of the brand (this stage determines whether the company's competitive advantages in terms of brand promotion will be successful):

• a media plan is drawn up;
• Promotional materials are produced and distributed;
• Multifunctional loyalty programs are being developed.

Stage 8. Analysis of the effectiveness of the brand and the work performed:

• quantitative brand parameters (KPIs) established at the first stage are assessed;
• actual results are compared with planned ones;
• strategy is adjusted.

6 common mistakes when creating competitive advantages for companies

1. Vagueness.

The use of marketing clichés and hackneyed phrases, adherence to generally accepted rules, lack of specific targeting of certain products.

Don't use hackneyed language like this:

- “Our content is unique.”

- “We are the best.”

- “We have the highest quality of goods.”

- “Only we have a huge selection of goods.”

Offering your audience SUCH competitive advantages is disrespectful to them. Do not expect that your competitors will present their advantages differently, call their product ordinary, recognize the average level of its quality and declare that the assortment is not large enough.

2. Anonymity.

An anonymous statement implies the impossibility of identifying its author and understanding on what grounds it was made. For example: “We sell the highest quality goods in town.” Whose claim is this and where is the evidence?

3. Unsubstantiated.

Remember that your unfoundedness and lack of specific facts are a reason for buyers not to trust you. In this case, you can avoid losing a client only if he is loyal to the product, brand, manufacturer, store, etc.

4. Impossibility of verification.

That is, the statements of the consultant/sales manager cannot be verified at the moment or they cannot be verified in principle. For example: “Our company is the only one...”.

5. No comparison.

Using specific facts and indicator values ​​as evidence, but without comparison. And an advantage is something better than something else. For example: “The raw materials for our products are environmentally friendly materials.”

6. Addresslessness.

Any competitive advantage has both pros and cons. It depends on which side you look at it from. It will not be effective unless it is clearly defined who it is intended for. For example: “Our speakers have a stylish design. We recommend that you pay attention to them. This series is distinguished by greater sophistication than the similar one produced by company X.” Although the product is compared with other analogues, there is no targeting.

⏱ reading time: 15 minutes

The goal of a marketing strategy is to understand and cope with the competition. Some companies are always ahead of others. Industry affiliation does not matter - the gap in the profitability of companies within one industry is higher than the differences between industries.

The differences between companies are especially important during times of crisis, when the created competitive advantage is an excellent foundation for profitable growth.

Competitive advantages of the company

• Advantage Any success factor that increases a consumer's willingness to pay or reduces a company's costs.
• Competitive advantage- a success factor that is significant for the consumer, in which the company surpasses all competitors

Building a competitive advantage means achieving a greater gap between costs and customer willingness to pay for a product than your competitors.

Step 1. Determine success factors

The answer to the question “how to create a company’s competitive advantage” is not so important. If you are confident that you will achieve competitive advantage through 24/7 delivery, then you will find a solution to realize this competitive advantage. It is much more difficult to determine what exactly they will become.

To do this, first of all, we write down all the advantages, or success factors, that are important for buyers. For example, like this.

Step 2. Segment the target audience

A separate shuttle for business class passengers is an advantage. But achieving this competitive advantage is completely irrelevant to those flying in the economy segment. Determining competitive advantages always occurs for a specific segment of the target audience - with its specific needs and desires.

The decision to sell to “everyone” leads to questions about where to look for these “everyone” and what to offer them. It turns out that “everyone” must be searched “everywhere” and offered “everyone”. This strategy will kill the budget of any company.

Let's take the example of achieving competitive advantages for a company selling flowers. Among the target audience, we will highlight the segments of those who buy flowers impulsively, prepare a pre-planned gift or, say, decorate their homes.

Having determined for whom we are going to create a competitive advantage, we will evaluate whether it is worth it - we will give an assessment of the market capacity and the intensity of competition in each segment.

Read more about segmentation criteria in our article: “”

Step 3. Determine key success factors

The buyer is demanding. Many factors are important to him - from the consultant’s smile and website design to low prices. But just because a buyer wants something doesn’t mean he’s willing to pay for it.

The value of a competitive advantage is the buyer's willingness to pay for it. The more money they are willing to pay for the development of a competitive advantage, the higher its significance.

Our task is to form a very short list of key success factors from the long list of various consumer “wants” that can determine the company’s competitive advantages.

In our example, the key success factors are the same for all three target audience segments. IN real life Each segment usually has 1-2 of its own factors.

Step 4. Assess the importance of key success factors for target audience segments

What is important to one segment of the target audience may be a weak competitive advantage for consumers from another segment.

If you have an idea to buy flowers to give them this evening, then for an impulsive decision the main thing is appearance (fullness of bud opening) and speed of purchase. This is more important than the ability to choose from a large assortment, the lifespan of the bouquet - it is necessary that the flowers be present and look good this evening.

The opposite situation is buying flowers to decorate your home. Delivery is not a problem, but the question of how long the flowers will last comes to the fore.

Therefore, the importance of key success factors is determined for each segment of the target audience separately.

*) we clarify - CFUs are taken as an example, close to life, but do not reflect the real case.

For our company, identifying the right competitive advantages that allow our clients to attract more consumers, get more money from them and interact with them longer is one of the main blocks of the developed marketing strategy. Therefore, we strive to achieve an ideal situation - when every cell of all tables in this article is expressed in money. You can create a working marketing strategy only by understanding the cost of CFU from the buyer’s point of view, market volume, costs, etc.

All this information can be obtained. But sometimes there is no time or resources for this. Then we recommend using a comparison on a 5 or 10 point scale. In this case, remember that any factual data is better than guesswork. Hypotheses must be put forward based on the company’s big data, monitoring customer reviews, monitoring the sales process of competitors, and not taken from the head “because it seems so to me.” Expert forecasts too often fail.

Step 5. Compare the achieved competitive advantages

At this point, we have figured out what is important to your consumers. This is good. It’s bad that competitors are also aware.

To understand the starting conditions, it is necessary to assess the current degree of development of the company's competitive advantages. Strictly speaking, you only have a competitive advantage when your offering outperforms all of your direct competitors on some key success factor.

The assessment of competitive advantages is made exclusively from the point of view of consumers. The opinion of the company's employees, and especially the management, does not say anything. The director may be proud of the website developed according to his idea, on which millions were spent, but this in no way indicates the convenience of the site for clients.

Step 6. Determine sources of competitive advantage

Any competitive advantage is the result of a company’s activities. Each action incurs costs and at the same time affects the buyer's willingness to purchase the product. Differences in the results of these actions form competitive advantages.

Therefore, we compile a list of all the company’s activities by desegregating its activities into separate processes. In projects, we begin the analysis with the activities that are necessary to produce the basic product or service, and only then add related activities.

Step 7. Linking key success factors and company activities

Competitive advantage is formed at the intersection of various activities. For example, an increase in the assortment in the flower trade requires an increase in working capital, the availability of storage space for products, a sufficient area of ​​sales points, additional qualifications of sellers and service personnel, etc.

We determine which business processes are associated with the development of each of the found competitive advantages and the size of their contribution.

Step 8. Assess the company’s costs for creating competitive advantages

At this step, we look at how much it costs to achieve a competitive advantage. Any company activity has its costs.

In our example, we estimate the level of costs on a 10-point scale, but in real life, a company must more or less accurately know its costs. Pay attention to the calculation methodology - usually accountants tend to record most of the costs in production, thereby reducing indirect costs.

Having understood the size of costs, we determine their drivers. Why are the costs what they are? Maybe we pay a lot for shipping because the business size is small and we don't have enough freight? There are many cost drivers. They depend on the size of the firm, its geographical location, institutional factors, access to resources, etc.

Cost driver analysis helps estimate the costs competitors will have to create a similar competitive advantage. It is difficult to obtain direct data, but by understanding the drivers that influence the amount of costs, we can predict the volume of competitors' expenses.

Step 9. Looking for resources to create a competitive advantage

Maintaining the achieved competitive advantage at a constant level is only possible if sufficient resources are available. In addition, analysis of the resources that the company has helps to choose an area for quickly developing a competitive advantage.

Step 10. Choosing a direction for developing a competitive advantage

We look at the two resulting final pictures and think. There are only three possibilities for achieving competitive advantage:

• increase willingness to buy a product without significantly increasing costs
• dramatically reduce costs with virtually no impact on willingness to buy
• increase willingness to buy and reduce costs at the same time.

The third direction looks the most attractive. But finding such a solution is extremely difficult. Typically, companies simply waste valuable resources trying to create a competitive advantage across the board.

Basic rules for determining competitive advantage.

• We are looking for options that create the largest gap between the buyer’s desire to pay and our costs.
• We don’t try to select all the attractive options at once. Having decided to occupy one peak, we will no longer climb another. It is most profitable to choose a peak that is not crowded with competitors.
• We remember our competitors and what motivates each of them. If you decide to change some business process, how will your closest competitor react to this?

• Success factors. The more you find, the better. Typically, managers tend to focus on a few product features. This reduces the perception of the benefits that the consumer receives and brings your marketing strategy closer to that of your competitors. To find competitive advantages that are less competitive, think about the benefits a company creates for all its stakeholders: customers, employees, suppliers, dealers, and so on.
• Key success factors. The more significant the factor, the more restructuring of the company’s activities it requires. If you are not one of the industry leaders, it is better not to immediately try to compete on the main factors, or groups of factors (“best in quality”)
• Market. The question should not be “can we create a competitive advantage for this segment of the target audience”, but “can we create a competitive advantage for this segment of the target audience and remain profitable.” Having current costs in hand, we assume how much the company will pay to turn a key success factor into a full-fledged competitive advantage
• Current competitive position. It's difficult to build a competitive advantage in which you're hopelessly behind. Especially if it is a capital-intensive or time-consuming process.
• Costs. Competitive advantage can be achieved by focusing on costs that are most different from competitors, are large enough to influence the overall cost structure and are associated with discrete activities.

Fear often gets in the way of building a competitive advantage. The desire to become the best will certainly entail an increase in prices or, conversely, a decrease in the desire to buy our product. Reducing costs reduces the client’s desire to use our service (a ticket to a low-cost airline is cheap, but you can’t take luggage with you, there’s no food, airports are far away). Improving product characteristics leads to increased costs. This is absolutely normal. All that matters is the widening gap between the buyer's willingness to pay and the company's costs.

Step 11. We create competitive advantages by changing the company’s actions

As I wrote above, the creation of competitive advantages is the result of the company’s actions. To make the offer superior to all competitors, it is necessary to reconfigure some of the activities.

For example, achieving a “low cost” competitive advantage. There is no point in trying to compete with a discounter by simply lowering prices. A successful discounter has become so due to the fact that most of the company's activities are subordinated to creating this competitive advantage. If a Walmart employee wants to get a new pen, he returns the old one, which is covered in writing. There are no small details in creating a competitive advantage.

Again we look at the connection between the chosen competitive advantage and the company’s activities. Where is this competitive advantage created? And we invest specifically in the development of selected business processes.

Ask yourself the following questions

• Are our actions different from those of our competitors?
• Are we doing the same things but in a different way?
• How can we change our actions to gain competitive advantage?

As a result, determine the minimum and sufficient set of activities that the company must perform in order to form a competitive advantage. Usually they try to copy only obvious things, forgetting that much is hidden under water. It is the complex of activities that creates a competitive advantage that cannot be copied.

Actions aimed at developing a competitive advantage must be connected by a single logic. M. Porter's classic example is the set of actions of SouthWest Airlines that created its competitive advantage. As a result, the airline was the only low-cost airline on the market for 25 years. It is impossible to achieve a similar competitive advantage overnight.

In essence, this is a marketing strategy. This set of actions is almost impossible to copy and surpass.

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The most complete interpretation of the concept of “competitive advantage” existing in economic research is reflected by the definition of G.L. Azoeva. In accordance with this interpretation, competitive advantages are understood as “concentrated manifestations of superiority over competitors in the economic, technical, organizational areas of an enterprise’s activity, which can be measured by economic indicators (additional profit, higher profitability, market share, sales volume).” According to G.L. Azoev, superiority over competitors in the economic, technical, organizational spheres of an enterprise’s activity is a competitive advantage only if it is reflected in an increase in sales volumes, profits and market share2. Thus, competitive advantage is those characteristics and properties of a product or brand, as well as specific forms of business organization that provide the company with a certain advantage over its competitors. The key success factors influencing competitive advantage include: - technological: high research potential, ability for industrial innovation; - production: full use of production economies of scale and experience, high quality production, optimal use of production capacity, high productivity, necessary production flexibility; - marketing: use of marketing economies of scale and experience, high level of after-sales service, wide product line, powerful sales network, high speed of product delivery, low sales costs; - managerial: the ability to quickly respond to changes in the external environment, the presence of managerial experience; ability to quickly bring a product to the market from the R&D stage; - others: powerful information network, high image, profitable territorial location, Access to financial resources , ability to protect intellectual property3. The main task of a company in the field of competition is to create such competitive advantages that would be real, expressive, and significant. Competitive advantages are not permanent; they are won and maintained only through continuous improvement in all areas of the company's activities, which is a labor-intensive and expensive process. 1.2 Types of competitive advantages of a company Let's consider the typologies of competitive advantages of a company. First typology (internal and external competitive advantages) Internal competitive advantage is based on the company's superiority in terms of costs, which allows the cost of manufactured products to be lower than that of competitors. Lower costs give the company an advantage if the products meet the industry average quality standard. Otherwise, a product of poorer quality may be sold through a reduction in its price, which reduces the share of profit. Accordingly, in this embodiment, the cost advantage does not provide benefits. Internal competitive advantage results from high productivity and effective cost management. Relatively low costs provide the company with greater profitability and resistance to lower sales prices imposed by the market or competition. Low costs allow, if necessary, to carry out a pricing dumping policy, setting lower prices in order to increase market share; low costs are also a source of profit that can be reinvested in production to improve product quality, other forms of product differentiation, or used to support other areas of business . In addition, they create effective protection against the five forces of competition (M. Porter). Such as the emergence of new competitors, the possibility of substitute products, the ability of consumers to defend their interests, the ability of suppliers to impose their conditions, competition between long-established firms. Internal competitive advantage is based mainly on a proven production process and effective management of enterprise resources. External competitive advantage is based on the distinctive properties of a product or service that have greater “customer value” for the buyer than similar products of competitors. This allows you to set higher sales prices than competitors that do not provide the corresponding distinctive quality. Any innovation that gives an organization a real increase in its success in the market is a competitive advantage. Organizations achieve competitive advantage by finding new ways to compete in their industry and entering the market with them, which can be called in one word - “innovation”. Innovation in a broad sense includes both the improvement of technology and the improvement of ways and methods of doing business. Innovation can be expressed in a change in the product or production process, new approaches to marketing, new ways of distributing goods, new concepts of competition, etc. The most typical sources of obtaining external competitive advantages include: - new technologies; - changes in the structure and cost of individual elements in the technological chain of production and sale of goods; - new consumer requests; - emergence of a new market segment; - changes in the “rules of the game” in the market. A special source is information about your business plus professional skills that allow you to obtain and process such information so that the final product of processing turns out to be a real competitive advantage. Competitive advantages based on cost alone are generally not as durable as advantages based on differentiation. (Cheap labor refers to the advantage of low rank). Competitive advantages of a higher level or order, such as proprietary technology, differentiation based on unique products or services, an organization's reputation based on enhanced marketing efforts, or close relationships with customers, can be maintained over a longer period of time. Typically, high-order benefits are achieved through long-term, intensive investment in production capacity, specialized training, R&D, and marketing investments. To remain competitive, an organization must create new advantages at least as quickly as its competitors can copy existing ones.4 Second typology (by degree of sustainability) Distinguishes between sustainable and unsustainable competitive advantages Third typology (by sphere of manifestation) By sphere manifestations highlight: - competitive advantages in the field of R&D, expressed in the degree of novelty, the scientific and technical level of applied R&D and R&D, the optimal structure of R&D costs and their economic efficiency, in patent purity and patentability of developments, timeliness of preparation of R&D results for production development, completeness taking into account the conditions of consumption of developed products, the duration of R&D; - competitive advantages in the sphere of production, expressed in accordance with the level of concentration of production and the type of market (high level of concentration in conditions of pure monopoly, monopolistic and oligopolistic competition, low level in conditions of a free competition market), in the use of progressive forms of organization of production (specialization, cooperation, combination ), in the amount of production capacity of the enterprise, in the use of advanced equipment, technology, construction materials, in the high professional and qualification level of labor personnel and the scientific organization of labor, the efficiency of use of production resources, the efficiency of design and technological preparation of production and the efficiency of production in general; - competitive advantages in the field of sales, expressed in improved pricing, more efficient distribution of goods and sales promotion, more rational relations with intermediaries, more efficient systems of settlements with consumers; - competitive advantages in the service sector, expressed in more effective pre-sales and after-sales service of products, warranty and post-warranty service. Fourth typology (by type of manifestation) By type of manifestation, it is necessary to distinguish between technical, economic, and managerial competitive advantages: - technical competitive advantages are manifested in superiority in production technology, superiority of technical characteristics of machines and equipment, technological features of raw materials used in production, technical parameters of products ; - economic competitive advantages consist of a more favorable economic-geographical position and a more rational location of the enterprise, greater economic potential of the enterprise, more efficient use of the enterprise’s resources, allowing to reduce the cost of production, better economic characteristics of the products compared to competitors, a better financial condition of the enterprise, making it easier access to credit resources and expanding investment opportunities; - managerial competitive advantages are manifested in more effective implementation of the functions of forecasting, planning, organization, regulation, accounting, control and analysis of production economic activity. Fifth typology of competitive advantages The following types of competitive advantages are distinguished: 1) competitive advantages based on economic factors; 2) competitive advantages of a structural nature; 3) competitive advantages of a regulatory nature; 4) competitive advantages associated with the development of market infrastructure; 5) competitive advantages of a technological nature; 6) competitive advantages associated with the level of information support; 7) competitive advantages based on geographical factors; 8) competitive advantages based on demographic factors; 9) competitive advantages achieved as a result of actions that violate the law. Competitive advantages based on economic factors are determined by: 1) the best general economic state of the markets in which the enterprise operates, expressed in high industry average profits, long payback periods on investments, favorable price dynamics, high levels of disposable income per capita, the absence of non-payments, and inflationary processes etc.; 2) objective factors stimulating demand: large and growing market capacity, low sensitivity of consumers to price changes, weak cyclicality and seasonality of demand, lack of substitute goods; 3) effect of scale of production. 4) the effect of scale of activity, which manifests itself in the ability to satisfy a wide variety of consumer needs, while setting high prices for the product due to its complex nature; 5) the effect of learning experience, which is expressed in greater labor efficiency due to specialization in types and methods of work, technological innovations in production processes, optimal loading of equipment, more complete use of resources, and the introduction of new product concepts; 6) economic potential of the enterprise. Competitive advantages of a structural nature are determined mainly by a high level of integration of the production and sales process in the company, which makes it possible to realize the advantages of intracorporate connections in the form of internal transfer prices, access to total investment, raw materials, production, innovation and information resources, general distribution network. Within the framework of integrated structures, potential opportunities are created for concluding anti-competitive agreements and coordinated actions of group members (both horizontal and vertical), including with government authorities. A powerful source of strengthening a company's competitive position is the use of relationships between its various divisions and strategic business areas. The phenomenon when income from the joint use of resources exceeds the amount of income from the separate use of the same resources is called the synergy effect. Structural competitive advantages also include the ability to quickly penetrate unoccupied market segments. Competitive advantages of a regulatory nature are based on legislative and administrative measures, as well as on government incentive policies in the field of investment volumes, credit, tax and customs rates in a certain product area. Such competitive advantages exist due to laws, regulations, privileges and other decisions of government and management authorities. These include: - benefits provided to the region or individual enterprises by government authorities; - the possibility of unhindered import and export of goods outside the administrative-territorial entity (region, territory); - exclusive rights to intellectual property, ensuring a monopoly position for a certain period. Advantages of a regulatory nature differ from others in that they can be eliminated relatively quickly by repealing the relevant legislation. Competitive advantages associated with the development of market infrastructure arise as a result of varying degrees: - development of the necessary means of communication (transport, communications); - organization and openness of labor, capital, investment goods and technology markets; - development of a distribution network, including retail, wholesale, futures trade, services for the provision of consulting, information, leasing and other services; - development of inter-company cooperation. Technological competitive advantages are determined by the high level of applied science and technology in the industry, special technical characteristics of machines and equipment, technological features of raw materials and materials used in the production of goods, technical parameters products. Competitive advantages associated with the level of information support are determined by good awareness and are based on the availability of an extensive data bank about sellers, buyers, advertising activities, and information about the market infrastructure. The absence, insufficiency and unreliability of information becomes a serious obstacle to competition. Specific advantages based on geographical factors are associated with the ability to economically overcome the geographical boundaries of markets (local, regional, national, global), as well as the favorable geographical location of the enterprise. In addition, the geographic barrier to entry for potential competitors into the market is the difficulty of moving goods between territories due to the unavailability of vehicles for transporting goods, significant additional costs for crossing market borders, and loss of quality and consumer properties of goods during their transportation. Demographic-based competitive advantages arise from demographic changes in the target market segment. Factors influencing the volume and structure of demand for the products offered include changes in the size of the target population, its gender and age composition, population migration, as well as changes in the level of education and professional level. Competitive advantages achieved as a result of actions that violate legal norms include: - unfair competition; - directly or indirectly fix sales or purchase prices or any other trading conditions; - restrict or control production, markets, technological development or investment; - share markets or sources of supply; - apply different conditions to the same transactions with other parties, thereby placing them at a disadvantage; - raise the issue of concluding contracts depending on the acceptance by other parties of additional obligations that are not related to the subject of these contracts, etc. 2. STRATEGIES FOR IMPLEMENTING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES 2.1 Strategic competitive advantages of the company and ways to implement them in the domestic market The main task in strategic orientation A firm's goal is to select a basic competitive strategy for a specific business area. A competitive strategy must be based on two essential conditions: - it is necessary to determine the strategic goal of the company regarding a given product or service in terms of the scale of competition. - it is necessary to choose the type of competitive advantage. The strategic goal of the company involves targeting the entire market or a specific segment. Basic competitive strategies vary depending on what advantage they rely on. Here it is necessary to decide what type of competitive advantage to give preference to - internal, based on cost reduction, or external, based on the uniqueness of the product; which is easier to defend in a competitive market. The main factors influencing competitive advantage include: - technological: high research potential, ability for industrial innovation; - production: full use of production economies of scale and experience, high quality production, optimal use of production capacity, high productivity, necessary production flexibility; - marketing: use of marketing economies of scale and experience, high level of after-sales service, wide product line, powerful sales network, high speed of product delivery, low sales costs; managerial: ability to quickly respond to changes in the external environment, availability of managerial experience; ability to quickly bring a product to the market from the R&D stage; - others: powerful information network, high image, favorable territorial location, access to financial resources, ability to protect intellectual property. Basic competitive strategies include: - cost leadership strategy; - differentiation strategy; - focusing strategy. Cost leadership strategy When choosing a cost leadership strategy, a company addresses the entire market with the same product, neglecting differences in segments, trying as much as possible to reduce the cost of manufacturing products. It targets a wide market and produces goods in large quantities. At the same time, the company focuses its attention and efforts not on how the needs of individual consumer groups differ, but on what these needs have in common. In addition, this strategy provides the widest possible boundaries of the potential market. The focus of the entire strategy is to create internal competitive advantage, which can be achieved through higher productivity and effective cost management. The company's goal in this case is related to the use of cost superiority as the basis for increasing market share through price leadership or generating additional profits. Leadership due to the advantage of lower costs than competitors gives the company the opportunity to resist its direct competitors even in the event of a price war. Low costs are a high barrier to entry for potential competitors and a good defense against substitute products. The main factors of superiority in costs include: the use of advantages due to the effects of scale and experience; - control over fixed costs; - high technological level of production; - stronger staff motivation; - privileged access to sources of raw materials. As a rule, these advantages manifest themselves in the manufacture of standard products of mass demand, when the possibilities of differentiation are limited and demand is price elastic, and the likelihood of consumers switching to others is high. The cost minimization strategy has disadvantages. Cost reduction techniques can be easily copied by competitors; technological breakthroughs can neutralize existing internal competitive advantages associated with accumulated experience; due to an excessive focus on cost reduction - insufficient attention to changes in market requirements, a decrease in product quality is possible. This strategy is aggressive and is most easily implemented when the enterprise has access to exclusive, low-cost resources. Strategy of differentiation by segments (classes) of manufactured goods The main goal of each differentiation strategy is to give the product or service properties that are distinctive from similar competing goods or services, which create “customer value” associated with the advantage of the product, time, place, service. Customer value is the utility or overall satisfaction they receive from using a product, as well as the minimal operating costs over its life. The main point of the differentiation strategy is understanding the needs of customers. In this case, we can say that with a certain set of qualities of an exclusive product or service, the company creates a permanent group of buyers in a specific market segment, i.e. almost a mini-monopoly. Unlike cost leadership strategy, which can only be achieved through an efficient cost structure, differentiation can be achieved in a variety of ways. The main approaches used in the differentiation strategy include: - development of such product characteristics that reduce the buyer’s total costs of operating the manufacturer’s products (increased reliability, quality, energy saving, environmental friendliness); - creation of product features that increase the effectiveness of its use by the consumer (additional functions, complementarity with another product, interchangeability); - giving the product features that increase the level of customer satisfaction (status, image, lifestyle). Based on the nature of the focus, innovation and marketing differentiation strategies can be distinguished. Innovative differentiation An innovative differentiation strategy is a real differentiation associated with the production of truly different products using different technologies. This strategy involves acquiring competitive advantages through the creation of fundamentally new products, technologies or upgrades and modifications of existing products. In this case, differentiation affects not only the product itself, but also the technology being implemented, which requires taking into account the factor of scientific and technological progress. Scientific discoveries and evolving technologies offer new ways to meet consumer needs. Real differentiation is more characteristic of the market for industrial goods and products of high-tech industries, where the largest gap in competition is determined by an effective innovation strategy. Marketing differentiation A marketing differentiation strategy involves achieving competitive advantages by creating distinctive properties associated not with the product itself, but with its price, packaging, delivery methods (without prepayment, with the provision of transport, etc.); placement, promotion, after-sales service (warranties, service), a trademark that creates an image. The presence of distinctive qualities usually requires higher costs, which leads to higher prices. However, successful differentiation allows a firm to achieve greater profitability because consumers are willing to pay for product uniqueness. Differentiation strategies require significant investments in functional marketing and, especially, in advertising in order to convey to consumers information about the claimed distinctive features of the product. Focus strategy A focus (specialization) strategy is a typical business strategy that involves concentrating on a narrow market segment or a specific group of customers, as well as specializing in a certain part of the product and/or geographic region. Here, the main goal is to meet the needs of the selected segment with greater efficiency in comparison with competitors serving a wider market segment. A successful focus strategy achieves a high market share in the target segment, but always leads to a low market share in the overall market. This strategy is the preferred development option for firms with limited resources. The focus strategy takes the form of a focused low-cost strategy if the price requirements of the segment's buyers differ from those of the main market, or a focused differentiation strategy if the target segment requires unique characteristics goods. Like other basic business strategies, a focus strategy protects a firm from competitive forces in the following ways: focusing on a segment allows it to compete successfully with firms operating in different segments; the firm's specific competencies and capabilities create barriers to entry for potential competitors and the penetration of substitute products; pressure from buyers and suppliers is reduced due to their own reluctance to deal with other, less competent competitors. The reason for choosing such a strategy is the lack or lack of resources, strengthening barriers to entry into the market. Therefore, the focusing strategy is, as a rule, inherent in small companies5 http://www.logistics.ru/9/2/i20_64.htm (accessed January 15, 2011). 2.2 Problems of realizing competitive advantages in the international market Everything that was said above about competition and competitive strategy can equally apply to both foreign and domestic markets. At the same time, international competition has some peculiarities. Feature one Each country, to one degree or another, possesses the factors of production necessary for the activities of firms in any industry. The theory of comparative advantage in the Heckscher-Ohlin model is devoted to the comparison of available factors. The country exports goods in the production of which various factors are intensively used. However, factors, as a rule, are not only inherited, but also created, therefore, in order to obtain and develop competitive advantages, it is not so much the stock of factors that is important this moment , how much is the speed of their creation. In addition, an abundance of factors can undermine competitive advantage, while a lack of factors can encourage renewal, which can lead to long-term competitive advantage. The combination of factors used differs in different industries. Firms achieve competitive advantage when they have low-cost or high-quality inputs that are important when competing in a particular industry. Thus, Singapore's location on an important trade route between Japan and the Middle East made it the center of the ship repair industry. However, gaining a competitive advantage based on factors depends not so much on their availability as on their effective use, since MNCs can provide missing factors by purchasing or locating operations abroad, and many factors move relatively easily from country to country. Factors are divided into basic and developed. The main factors include natural resources, climatic conditions, geographical location, unskilled labor, etc. The country receives them by inheritance or with minor investments. They are not particularly important for a country's competitive advantage, or the advantage they create is unsustainable. The role of the main factors is reduced due to a reduction in the need for them or due to their increased availability (including as a result of the transfer of activities or procurement abroad). These factors are important in extractive industries and agriculture-related industries. Developed factors include modern infrastructure, highly qualified workforce, etc. It is these factors that are most important, as they allow you to achieve a higher level of competitive advantage. Feature two The second determinant of national competitive advantage is the demand in the domestic market for goods or services offered by this industry. By influencing economies of scale, demand in the domestic market determines the nature and speed of innovation. The volume and nature of growth in domestic demand allow firms to gain a competitive advantage if: - there is demand abroad for a product that is in great demand in the domestic market; - there are a large number of independent buyers, which creates a more favorable environment for renewal; - domestic demand is growing rapidly, which stimulates the intensification of capital investment and the speed of renewal; - the domestic market is quickly becoming saturated, as a result, competition is becoming tougher, in which the strongest survive, which forces them to enter the foreign market. Firms achieve competitive advantage by internationalizing demand in the domestic market, i.e. when preference is given to foreign consumers. Feature Three The third determinant that determines a national competitive advantage is the presence in the country of supplier industries or related industries that are competitive in the world market. In the presence of competitive supplying industries, the following are possible: - effective and quick access to expensive resources, for example, equipment or skilled labor, etc.; - coordination of suppliers in the domestic market; - assisting the innovation process. National firms benefit most when their suppliers are globally competitive. The presence of competitive related industries in a country often leads to the emergence of new highly developed types of production. Related industries are those in which firms can interact with each other in the process of forming a value chain, as well as industries that deal with complementary products, such as computers and software. Interaction can occur in the field of technology development, production, marketing, and service. If there are related industries in the country that can compete in the world market, access to information exchange and technical cooperation opens up. Geographical proximity and cultural kinship lead to more active exchanges than with foreign firms. Success in the global market of one industry may lead to the development of the production of additional goods and services. For example, the sale of American computers abroad has led to increased demand for American peripherals, software and to the development of American database services. Feature Four The fourth important determinant of industry competitiveness is the fact that firms are created, organized and managed depending on the nature of competition in the domestic market, with different strategies and goals being developed. National characteristics influence the management of firms and the form of competition between them. In Italy, many companies that successfully operate in the global market are small or medium-sized (in size) family businesses. In Germany, large companies with hierarchical system management. In addition, we can recall the American and Japanese control systems. These national characteristics significantly influence the positions of firms when focusing on global competition. Of particular importance for achieving high competitiveness in the industry is strong competition in the domestic market; competition in the domestic market creates advantages for the national industry as a whole, and not just for individual firms. Competitors borrow progressive ideas from each other and develop them, since ideas spread faster within one nation than between different nations. These advantages are enhanced when competitors are concentrated in one geographic area. The role of the government The role of the government in the formation of national advantages lies in the fact that it influences all four determinants: - on the parameters of factors - through subsidies, capital market policies, etc.; - on demand parameters - by establishing various standards and carrying out public procurement; - on the conditions for the development of related industries and supplier industries - through control over advertising media or regulation of infrastructure development; - on the strategy of firms, their structure and competition - through their tax policy, antitrust legislation, by regulating investments and the activities of the securities market, etc. All four determinants can also have the opposite effect on government. The role of government can be positive or negative. The determinants of national competitiveness are a complex system that is in constant development. Some determinants regularly influence others. The action of the system of determinants leads to the fact that competitive national industries are not distributed evenly throughout the economy, but are connected in bundles, or “clusters,” consisting of industries that depend on each other. 2.3 Benchmarking as a strategy for achieving competitive advantage6 http://www.support17.com/component/content/296.html?task=view (accessed January 12, 2011) The term “benchmarking” comes from English word benchmark (bench- place, to mark- mark), is a way of studying the activities of business entities, primarily their competitors, with the aim of using positive experience in their work. Benchmarking includes a set of tools that allow you to systematically find, evaluate and organize the use of all the positive advantages of other people's experience in your work. Benchmarking is based on the idea of ​​comparing the activities of not only competing enterprises, but also leading firms in other industries. Proper use of the experience of competitors and successful companies allows you to reduce costs, increase profits and optimize the choice of strategy for your organization. Benchmarking is a constant study of the best practices of competitors, comparing the company with the created reference model own business . Benchmarking allows you to identify and use in your business what others do better. Benchmarking is based on the concept of continuous performance improvement, which involves a continuous cycle of planning, coordinating, motivating and evaluating actions with the goal of sustainable improvement of the organization's performance. The core of benchmarking is finding the best business standards for use by the research organization. It focuses not on simply measuring and comparing achievements, but on how any given process can be improved by applying best practices. Benchmarking requires a company to be humble enough to accept that someone else may be better at something, and wise enough to try to learn how to catch up and even surpass others' achievements. Benchmarking reflects an organization's continuous improvement efforts and helps integrate disparate improvements into a unified change management system. Types of benchmarking - internal - comparison of the work of company divisions; - competitive - comparison of your enterprise with competitors according to various parameters; - general - comparison of the company with indirect competitors according to selected parameters; - functional - comparison by function (sales, purchasing, production, etc.). General benchmarking is a comparison of the production and sales performance of one’s products with the business performance of a sufficiently large number of producers or sellers of a similar product. Such a comparison allows us to outline clear directions for investment activity. The parameters used to compare product characteristics depend on the specific type of product. Functional benchmarking means comparing the performance parameters of individual functions (for example, operations, processes, work methods, etc.) of a seller with similar parameters of the best enterprises (sellers) operating in similar conditions. Competitive benchmarking examines the products, services, and processes of an organization's direct competitors. Benchmarking is close to the concept of marketing intelligence, which means the constant activity of collecting current information about changes in the external marketing environment, necessary for both the development and adjustment of marketing plans. However, marketing intelligence aims to collect confidential information, and benchmarking can be seen as the activity of thinking about strategy based on the best experience of partners and competitors. F. Kotler identifies benchmarking with basic analysis - the process of “searching, studying and mastering the most advanced practices and technologies used by organizations in various countries around the world, with the goal of making your organization more effective.” Benchmarking is becoming a powerful lever for enhancing a company's competitiveness and the art of understanding how and why some companies achieve significantly better results than others. With the help of benchmarking, you can improve the best technologies of other companies, i.e. it is aimed at mastering “the most advanced world experience.” CONCLUSION In conditions of fierce competition and a rapidly changing situation, firms must not only focus on the internal state of affairs, but also develop a long-term strategy aimed at creating sustainable competitive advantages. Accelerating changes in the environment, the emergence of new demands and changing consumer positions, changes in government policy, and the entry of new competitors into the market lead to the need for constant analysis and optimization of existing competitive advantages. The most significant or long-term competitive advantage, in my opinion, is given to a company by the introduction of new technology or “know-how” created by the company itself through innovation. Not every company can create this competitive advantage (the main problem is the lack of sufficient financial and human resources). From the study we can conclude that there is no competitive advantage that is uniform for all companies. Each company is unique in its own way, therefore the process of creating competitive advantages for each company is unique, since it depends on many factors: the company’s position in the market, the dynamics of its development, potential, the behavior of competitors, the characteristics of the goods produced or services provided, the state of the economy , cultural environment and many other factors. At the same time, there are some fundamental points and strategies that allow us to talk about general principles of competitive behavior and the implementation of strategic planning aimed at creating a sustainable competitive advantage. REFERENCES 1. Azoev G.L., Chelenkov A.P. Competitive advantages of the company. - M.: JSC Printing House NEWS, 2007. 2. Benchmarketing [Electronic resource] 3. Golovikhin S.A., Shipilova S.M. Theoretical foundations for determining the competitive advantages of a machine-building enterprise 4. Zakharov A.N., Zokin A.A., Competitiveness of an enterprise: essence, methods of assessment and mechanisms for increasing 5. Porter M. “International competition”: trans. from English: ed. V.D. Shchetinina. M.: International relations, 1993 6. Fatkhutdinov R.A. Strategic management. 7th ed., rev. and additional - M.: Delo, 2005. - 448 p. 7. Shifrin M.B. Strategic management. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008, p. 113 8. Yagafarova E. F. Abstract of dissertation research on the topic “The role of intellectual capital in the formation of a sustainable competitive advantage of a company”

1. Yagafarova E. F. Abstract of dissertation research on the topic "The role of intellectual capital in the formation of a sustainable competitive advantage of a company" [Electronic resource] URL:
2. S.A. Golovikhin, S.M. Shipilova. Theoretical foundations for determining the competitive advantages of a machine-building enterprise [Electronic resource] URL: http://www.lib.csu.ru/vch/8/2004_01/023.pdf (access date 12/18/2010)
3. Shifrin M.B. Strategic management. - St. Petersburg: Peter, 2008, p. 113
4. Azoev G.L., Chelenkov A.P. Competitive advantages of the company. - M.: JSC “Printing house “NEWS”, 2007.
5. A.N. Zakharov, A.A. Zokin, Competitiveness of an enterprise: essence, methods of assessment and mechanisms for increasing [Electronic resource] URL:

Talk about the number of completed projects, the volume of products produced, publish successful cases. It is very important not to slip into self-praise, but to show how much real benefit your products or services brought.

Are your services useful? Tell us about it!

Post reviews from real customers with links to their social media profiles/company websites so that potential clients can get confirmation. 90% of people will not check the authenticity of these reviews, but such openness on your part will earn their trust.

High level of quality/service

And the standard continuation: “Our company employs highly qualified specialists who have undergone special training.”

At all The qualifications of specialists do not indicate the level of service, unless your employees took courses on “How to lick a client.”

Take the example of hotels for which international service standards have been developed. A person entering a three-star hotel already has a rough idea of ​​what awaits him: a room with an area of ​​at least 12 square meters. m, free bottled water, bathroom with towels, soap and toilet paper.

What can a client expect in your company?

Write to him how quickly the repair will be carried out or the goods will be delivered. Explain how the personal manager will work to solve his problem - step by step, from receiving the application to the result. Convince him that even after completing the order you are always ready to help.

Imagine calling a company about a large contract, and the sales representative replies, “We’re having lunch, call us later.” And hangs up. Will you call him back or find another supplier?

If the company's employees are not polite and friendly, your “high level of service” is worthless.

And if you want to boast about the professionalism of your employees, tell us about them separately: where they received their qualifications, how long they have been working in their specialty and what they can do.

Individual approach

This expression has not convinced potential customers for a long time, it is so hackneyed. Most often, they simply don’t notice him, and if they do, they grin skeptically, mentally saying “well, well, of course.”

Don't believe me? Look through the websites of your competitors - in 99 cases out of 100 you will find this phrase, if not on the “About the Company” page, then on some other page.

Replace general phrases with specific information.

List point by point everything you rely on when developing a project or completing an order. Explain what you mean by the concept of “individual approach”.

Surely put fulfilling the customer’s wishes first. But you understand that others are doing the same thing. Agree, it’s hard to imagine a designer who makes a red kitchen for clients who dream of a green one.

Write, what is included in your system of relationships with customers →

• How do you satisfy the needs of each client depending on the specifics of the tasks assigned to them. What exactly do you take into account when developing a project or completing an order?

• What additional terms of cooperation can you include in a standard contract at the client’s discretion: different payment schemes, individual discounts, delivery, assembly.

• How broad are the powers of the client who wishes to participate in the process or observe it with the possibility of adjustment. At what point are wishes no longer accepted?

Low prices and/or great deals

Another “nothing” stamp. And if you consider that not only low, but also high prices can drive sales with equal success, then this advantage becomes completely useless.

Instead of empty words use honest numbers.

For example: we offer Scandinavian-style kitchens at prices starting from 20,000 rubles per square meter; the basic package includes standard sections, a countertop, a sink, and a dish dryer.

Or: in January we are reducing the cost of the “Chicardos” collection by 30% - when ordering a kitchen 3 meters long, you save 25,000 rubles.

Most often, companies that have nothing else to attract a client say about low prices. Don't deny the buyer minimum math skills. Believe me, he will do a great job of comparing prices on his own.

When choosing a product, the buyer compares several alternative (not identical!) options:

• wooden houses - with brick and aerated concrete
• white gold jewelry - with silver and platinum
• facial mesotherapy - with sculptural massage and plasma lifting.

Make a comparison table, based on the results of which your offer wins as the safest, fastest to achieve, durable (warm, prestigious, comfortable - select the advantages of your product or service). And then the price will fade into the background.

A wide range of

These 18 characters without spaces will only become an advantage when the client sees them as a solution to their problems →

• Possibility of choosing from a specific product range. You can offer dozens or even hundreds of gold rings, but the buyer is interested in a specific size. And if it is not on the display of the online store, for the client the slogan about the richness of the assortment will remain zilch. An initially loyal visitor will go to competitors next time, so as not to be disappointed again.

• Opportunity to purchase related products- a lid for the frying pan, a brush for collecting animal hair - for the vacuum cleaner, wipes for cleaning the screen - for the monitor. This is beneficial for both parties. The client buys everything in one place and saves on delivery, the seller increases profits by 5-15%.

• Possibility to order a turnkey service. When you talk about a company's wide range of services, list them. Indicate which of them you provide separately and which ones only as a package. For example, a consulting company performs naming exclusively as part of a multi-stage company registration service, while assistance in preparing documents may be outside its scope.

Often a list of useless benefits is posted in the “About Us” section. Already fixed it? Great! Now check whether you have used all the ways to persuade customers on the “About” page. Look into the arguments that hit the mark.

And admit in the comments, do you often have professional professionals with an individual approach working in your companies? 😉

About the author.

Course work

Competitive advantages of the enterprise

Introduction

1. Theoretical foundations of competitive advantages of an enterprise

1.1 Concept and essence of competitive advantages

2.2 Organizational structure of Arnest OJSC

Conclusion

Because typical mistake When analyzing this problem, the concepts of competitiveness and competitive advantage become confused, so let’s clarify these concepts.

“The competitiveness of a product is an integral comparative characteristic of a product, a comprehensive assessment of its parameters (consumer, economic, organizational and commercial) relative to market requirements or the parameters of similar products. The real competitiveness of a product is determined only by comparing its parameters that are significant for consumers with the characteristics and conditions of sale of similar competing products. ”

“Competitiveness is a property of an object, characterized by the degree of actual or potential satisfaction of a specific need in comparison with similar objects presented on a given market. Competitiveness determines the ability to withstand competition in comparison with similar objects in a given market. ”

The competitiveness of a company is the ability to compete in the market with other manufacturers and suppliers of similar products, both in terms of the degree to which their products or services satisfy the specific needs of customers, and in terms of business efficiency. It is most often assessed by company specialists, and competitive advantages are assessed by consumers who compare the offers of the company and its competitors. In this sense, the concept of competitive advantage is also relative. Competitive advantages make it possible to achieve greater consumer commitment; accordingly, they largely determine the company’s competitive strategy, i.e. the way she competes.

“Competitive advantage is the distinctive features of a company and its product in the eyes of consumers. ”

“Competitive advantages of subjects can be hereditary, constructive, technological, informational, qualification, managerial, natural and climatic, etc.”

“The competitive advantage of a system is any exclusive value that the system possesses that gives it an advantage over its competitors. ”

“The key factors for success in competition are usually called those factors arising from market requirements that can give a company an advantage over its competitors. ”

“Rivalry among existing competitors often comes down to the desire to achieve an advantageous position by all means, using tactics of price competition, product promotion and intensive advertising. “

“Knowledge of the company’s capabilities and sources of competitive influence will allow us to identify areas where the company can enter into open confrontation with competitors, and where it can avoid it. If a company is a low-cost producer, it will be able to counteract the power of consumers because it will be able to sell products to consumers that are not vulnerable to substitute products. ”

Sources of competitive advantage are varied, but most often they are based on:

On operational efficiency, i.e. performing similar activities better than competitors (quality of service or product quality, hours of operation and location, speed of service, cost advantage, etc.);

Strategic positioning, i.e. carrying out different types of activities from competitors or performing similar activities, but in other ways. Strategic positioning is based on an advantage that is unattainable by competitors (key competitive advantage). This could be the uniqueness of a product or service, brand image, technological leadership, a unique combination of activities, etc.

So, a company's offering must be meaningful to consumers in order to be classified as a competitive advantage. However, the degree of significance varies.

“For a certain factor to become a company’s competitive advantage, it must be of key importance to consumers and at the same time be based on the uniqueness of the company’s business. ”

The most cited author in foreign and domestic literature on the theory of competition and management of competitive advantages is M. Porter. The next paragraph of the course work will examine Michael Porter's theory of competitive advantage.

1.2 Michael Porter's Theory of Competitive Advantage

To survive or win in fierce competition, any system must have certain advantages over its competitors. In recent years, almost every book on competition, competitive advantage or competitiveness has referenced the seminal book International Competition by Michael Porter.

M. Porter proposed a set of standard strategies, which are based on the idea that each of them is based on a competitive advantage and the company must achieve it by choosing its strategy. It must decide what type of competitive advantage it wants and in what area.

“Thus, the first component of strategic choice according to this model is competitive advantage, which is divided into two main types: lower costs and product differentiation. ”

“Low costs reflect a firm's ability to develop, produce, and sell a comparable product at a lower cost than a competitor. By selling a product at the same (or approximately the same) price as its competitors, the company in this case makes a greater profit. ”

Differentiation is the ability to provide the buyer with unique and greater value in the form of new product quality, special consumer properties or after-sales service. Differentiation allows a firm to dictate high prices, which, at equal costs to its competitors, ensures greater profits.

It is difficult, but not impossible, to gain a competitive advantage based on both lower costs and differentiation. However, any effective strategy must pay attention to all types of competitive advantage, although not strictly adhering to any one of them. A firm that focuses on low costs must still provide acceptable quality and service. Similarly, a firm that produces differentiated products must not be so expensive as its competitors that it is a detriment to the firm.

“A company’s competitive advantage is determined by how clearly it can organize relationships with suppliers and consumers. By better managing these relationships, a firm can gain a competitive advantage. Regular and timely deliveries can reduce a firm's operating costs and reduce inventory levels required. These relationships arise when the method of one activity affects the cost or efficiency of others. »

Connections often lead to the fact that additional costs for “adjusting” individual activities to each other pay off in the future. Firms must incur such costs in accordance with their strategy for the sake of competitive advantage

M. Porter notes that firms gain a competitive advantage:

Based in those countries that allow the most rapid accumulation of specialized resources and skills;

If in the company's home country there is more accessible and accurate information about the needs for goods and technologies;

If ongoing investment is possible;

If the interests of owners, managers and staff coincide.

“Thus, one of the main objectives of many organizations is to achieve an advantage over its direct competitors. The central question is: how will the organization gain this advantage? M. Porter answers this important question by highlighting key general strategies. ”

Three such strategies are cost leadership, customization and focus. Each of them will be discussed sequentially in the next paragraph of the course work.

1.3 Strategies for achieving competitive advantage according to M. Porter

Strategies for achieving competitive advantage belong to the group competitive strategies, which can also include strategies of behavior in a competitive environment. Each of these strategies is based on the need to achieve a specific competitive advantage.

“Competitive advantages are understood as unique tangible or intangible assets of a company or special competence in areas of activity that are important for a given business (equipment, trademark, ownership of raw materials, flexibility, adaptability, personnel qualifications, etc.). ”

Note that competitive advantages in modern firms do not always relate to production technology; very often they move to the stage of marketing, service, R&D, management and financial innovation. Competitive advantages, as a rule, are realized at the level of strategically) business units. Let's consider the features of the main strategies for achieving competitive advantages.

Analyzing the competitive environment and determining the competitive position of the organization involves determining the complexity and dynamism of the competitive environment. Universal methods of such analysis are M. Porter's five forces model and competitor cost analysis.

The five forces model involves conducting a structural analysis based on determining the intensity of competition and studying the threat of market penetration by potential competitors, the power of buyers, the power of suppliers, and the threat of substitutes for a product or service.

Analysis of competitors' costs comes down to identifying the strategic factors that control costs, cost analysis itself, and modeling competitors' costs.

“To gain a competitive advantage, a company can use three general competitive strategies: cost leadership (the goal is to achieve cost leadership in a specific area through a set of measures to control them); in a given area), focusing (task - focusing on a specific group, market segment or geographic region). ”

Cost leadership. When implementing this strategy, the goal is to achieve cost leadership in its industry through a set of functional measures aimed at solving this particular problem. As a strategy, it involves tight control of costs and overheads, minimizing expenditure in areas such as research and development, advertising, etc. It also requires a whole layer of buyers who perceive the advantage of low costs, expressed in prices.

A low cost position gives an organization good returns in its industry even if there is stiff competition in its industry. A cost leadership strategy often creates a new basis for competition in industries where intense competition in various forms is already established.

Personalization. This strategy involves differentiating an organization's product or service from those offered by competitors in the industry. As Porter shows, the individualization approach can take various shapes, including image, brand, technology, distinctive features, special services to customers, etc.

Customization requires significant research and development as well as marketing. In addition, buyers should give their liking to a product as something unique. A potential risk of the strategy is changes in the market or the release of analogues that competitors may initiate, which will destroy any competitive advantage that the company has already achieved.

“A focus strategy involves selecting a narrow segment or group of segments in an industry and meeting the needs of that segment more effectively than competitors serving a broader market segment can. The focus strategy can be used either by a cost leader that serves a given segment or by a differentiator that meets the special requirements of a market segment in a way that allows it to charge a high price. ”

So firms can compete on a broad front (serving multiple segments) or focus on a narrow area (targeted action). Both focus strategies are based on the differences between the target segments and the rest of the industry. It is these differences that can be called the reason for the formation of a segment that is poorly served by competitors who operate on a large scale and do not have the ability to adapt to the specific needs of this segment. A cost-focused firm can outperform broad-based firms because of its ability to eliminate excesses that are not valued by that segment.

When choosing this strategy, the main objective is to concentrate on a specific group of consumers, market segment or geographically isolated market. The idea is to serve a specific target well rather than the industry as a whole.

The expectation is that the organization will thus be able to serve a narrow target group better than its competitors. This position provides protection from all competitive forces. Focus may also imply cost leadership or product/service customization.

1.4 Strategies for achieving competitive advantage according to F. Kotler

F. Kotler offers his own classification of competitive strategies based on the market share owned by the enterprise (firm):

1. “Leader” strategy. The “leader” company in the product market occupies a dominant position, and its competitors also recognize this. The leading firm has a whole range of strategic alternatives at its disposal:

Expansion of primary demand, aimed at discovering new consumers of the product, expanding the scope of its use, increasing the one-time use of the product, which is usually advisable to apply at the initial stages of the product’s life cycle a defensive strategy adopted by the innovating company in order to protect its market share from the most dangerous competitors;

An offensive strategy, most often consisting of increasing profitability by maximizing the use of experience. However, as practice shows, there is a certain limit, beyond which further increase in market share becomes unprofitable;

A demarketing strategy that involves reducing one's market share to avoid accusations of monopoly.

2. “Challenger” strategy. A firm that does not occupy a dominant position may attack the leader, i.e. challenge him. The goal of this strategy is to take the place of leader. In this case, the key becomes the solution of two most important tasks: choosing a springboard for an attack on the leader and assessing the possibilities of his reaction and defense.

3. “following the leader” strategy. A “follower” is a competitor with a small market share that chooses adaptive behavior by aligning its decisions with those of competitors. This strategy is most typical for small businesses, so let’s take a closer look at possible strategic alternatives that provide small businesses with the most acceptable level of profitability.

Creative market segmentation. A small firm should focus only on certain market segments in which it can better exercise its competence or has greater agility in order to avoid clashes with leading competitors.

Use R&D effectively. Since small businesses cannot compete with large firms in basic research, they must focus R&D on improving technology to reduce costs.

Stay small. Successful small businesses focus on profit rather than increasing sales or market share, and they strive for specialization rather than diversification.

A strong leader. The influence of the leader in such firms extends beyond the formulation of strategy and communication of it to employees, also covering the management of the day-to-day activities of the company.

4. Specialist strategy, “Specialist” focuses primarily on only one or several market segments, i.e. he is more interested in the qualitative side of the market share.

It seems that this strategy is most closely associated with M. Porter's focusing strategy. Moreover, despite the fact that the “specialist” company dominates in a certain way in its market niche, from the point of view of the market for a given product (in a broad sense) as a whole, it must simultaneously implement a “following the leader” strategy.

1.5 Classification of an organization’s competitive advantages

The management of an enterprise's competitive advantages is carried out using the same management functions as the management of other objects.

“The factors of an organization’s competitive advantage are divided into external, the manifestation of which depends to a small extent on the organization, and internal, almost entirely determined by the organization’s management. »

Table 1.1 List of external factors of an organization’s competitive advantage

Table 1.2 List of internal factors of an organization’s competitive advantage

Listed in table. 1.1 and 1.2 external and internal factors of an organization's competitive advantage are the maximum possible for an abstract organization. For a particular enterprise, the number of competitive advantages can be any.

“The value of each benefit can be quantified and analyzed over time. However, it is hardly possible to integrate all the benefits into a single indicator. ”

In principle, the more competitive advantages an organization has over current and potential competitors, the higher its competitiveness, survivability, efficiency, and prospects. To do this, it is necessary to increase the scientific level of management, gain new competitive advantages and look more boldly into the future.

1.6 Key factors for competitive success

Key success factors are usually called those factors arising from market requirements that can give a company an advantage over its competitors.

For example, a key factor may be an “ecological niche,” i.e., needs not satisfied by existing manufacturers that can be satisfied by the proposed product (or, more often, for which a completely new product should be developed).

Thus, each company finds a market segment that is not currently occupied and establishes itself in it, which ensures commercial success. Naturally, each time the “ecological niche” was significantly different.

Key success factors may also be changes in the distribution network, in the policy for choosing a commodity production system, etc.

“The key factors are always revealed by comparing your product and your company with competitors. After comparison, the top administration decides on which indicators it should outperform its competitors, and on which indicators it should stay on the same level with it or even concede in some way. ”

It should be remembered that sometimes the key success factors turn out to be of such a nature that the company is not able to own them on its own. This casts serious doubt on the advisability of entering this field and should be the subject of close attention from the company's management.

“When managing key factors, the first thing you need to do is figure out what—“ external environment” or “internal environment” of marketing is responsible for creating obstacles to the use of key success factors. Next, decide whether the company is able to change the current state of affairs; if yes, develop a change program, and if not, explore the possibility of working in another market or in another sector. ”

The role of elements of the internal structure of the company, which are called “responsibility centers,” is very significant in this matter. Very often, this is where the key success factors are hidden. Responsibility centers are those units that are assigned special tasks in achieving planned financial indicators.

Cost centers are production units that set standards for the consumption of materials and labor resources. The goal of the managers of these centers is to minimize deviations of actual costs from planned ones.

Sales centers are sales divisions that are prohibited from reducing prices in order to increase sales volumes, but are required to strive for maximum sales volumes.

Discretionary centers are administrative units in which it is not possible to strictly establish cost/result standards: here it is necessary to ensure the highest possible quality of activity with flexibility in the expenditure line of the marketing budget.

Profit centers are usually all divisions that are in one way or another tied to the lines of the “product orientation” structure, and the volume of profit is set based on those elements of marketing that the corresponding division is actually capable of managing.

Investment centers. In them, the indicator of efficiency is the “return on capital” (profit minus tax on capital used). All these centers (divisions of the company) are endowed with such rights so that they can make the most of their resources. Thus, the key factors of competitiveness provide the company with advantages in the competitive struggle, which explains the need for their use in the activities of the enterprise.

2. Managing competitive advantages in the organization

2.1 Characteristics of the activities of Arnest OJSC

The Arnest company is a Russian leader in the aerosol business in the field of high technology, production volumes and product sales. The company spends a lot of time and money on implementing social programs. For more than 30 years, Arnest has been producing cosmetic products and household chemicals.

Form of ownership: private property. Organizationally – legal form: public corporation.

“A joint stock company is a company whose authorized capital is divided into a certain number of shares. Shareholders, i.e. owners of shares of a given company are not liable for its obligations, but bear the risk of losses associated with the activities of the company, within the value of the shares they own, i.e. bear limited liability. ”

“Joint stock companies are divided into open and closed. In the first case, the company's participants can alienate the shares they own without the consent of other shareholders; in the second, the shares are distributed only among the participants. The number of shareholders of an open joint stock company is unlimited. ”

Among the well-known brands: “Prelest”, “Symphony”, “Lyra”, “Deadly Force”, “Garden”, “Mebelux”, etc. Thanks to the active development of these brands, the company traditionally maintains a leading position in the market for hair styling products, air fresheners, universal insecticides and polishes.

The company's assortment is constantly being improved and today it includes more than 350 products. The high quality of products has been repeatedly confirmed by the most prestigious awards.

The enterprise is equipped with the most modern high-quality equipment from leading European companies. The production capacity is 150 million aerosol packages and 15 million polymer bottles per year.

Arnest was the first in Russia to reach the international level of production and product quality control; it has an ISO 9001 quality system certificate and an environmental certificate of compliance with ISO 14001-98 requirements.

Today, the company's products are represented in all cities of Russia, CIS countries, the Baltic states and Iran. Among the key partners of the enterprise are world-famous European perfumery and cosmetics companies: “Schwarzkopf”, “L`oreal”, “Unilever”, as well as the Russian concern “Kalina”.

The Arnest company is focused on producing high quality products and strives to maximize customer satisfaction. The use of the most modern innovative technologies allows Arnest to maintain its leader status in Russia.

The most important objectives of the company are:

Maintaining and improving leadership positions in the main segments of the aerosol market,

Uniting all Company employees based on common business objectives, corporate values, principles, norms and rules,

Constantly expanding our presence in cosmetics, household chemicals and insecticides through geographic expansion and entering new, potentially attractive markets and segments.

The Arnest company provides a full range of product manufacturing services:

Purchase or production at the enterprise of components of primary (aerosol can or polymer bottle) and group packaging;

Purchasing all types of raw materials from the most the best manufacturers from anywhere in the world, or work with customer-supplied raw materials;

Additional cleaning at the enterprise itself and bringing hydrocarbon propellants to the required pressure;

Mixing the ingredients of the active substance and filling it into aerosol cans and polymer bottles on the lines of European manufacturers;

Pre-press preparation and adaptation of designs to the requirements of Russian legislation;

Development of recipes according to submitted consumer requests;

Certification of the finished product with registration of the entire set of necessary documents;

Storage of the finished product in our own warehouses;

Development of optimal logistics schemes for delivering the finished product to customer warehouses.

The organization under study operates within the framework of an organizational development strategy and, in particular, a moderate growth strategy, the use of which presupposes agility; use of external resources; business diversification; expansion of basic research; concentration of efforts on the implementation of innovations.

Prospects for the further development of Arnest OJSC are determined by the growth in consumption of products by Russian and foreign buyers.

Despite the growth in production volumes, the company has not yet reached the required level of implementation, allowing the team to stably and purposefully solve the challenges facing it in managing competitive advantages.

2.2 Organizational structure of the JSC"Arnest"

The functions of managing the activities of an enterprise are implemented by divisions of the management apparatus and individual employees, who at the same time enter into economic, organizational, social, and psychological relationships with each other.

The organizational structure of the personnel management system is a set of interrelated units of the personnel management system and officials.

There is a high degree of centralization of management. Management principles that form the basis of the organizational structure:

Hierarchy of management levels, in which each lower level is controlled by a higher one and is subordinate to it;

Correspondence of the powers and responsibilities of management employees to their place in the hierarchy;

Division of the labor process into separate functions and specialization of workers according to the functions performed;

Formalization and standardization of activities, ensuring the uniformity of employees’ performance of their duties and the coordination of solving various tasks.

The board is headed by the president and consists of several members appointed by the board of directors. It manages certain areas of work, its members take part in resolving issues at board meetings. The board provides the general meeting of shareholders with an annual report, balance sheet and profit distribution project. Functions of the board: current planning; management of research and development, production, sales; development of a specific direction of action, programs and methods; making decisions on organizational forms of management; delegation of powers to officials at lower levels of management; implementation of personnel policy; control over the financial position of the company; approval of company budgets; control over the profitability of operations; ensuring intra-company communications and settlements.

The most important criteria for the quality of the board’s work are: ensuring stable profits, optimal sales volume, high quality and novelty of products, as well as services provided to consumers.

The middle level of management is designed to ensure the efficiency of the functioning and development of the company by coordinating the activities of all departments.

Central services are functional services that carry out the most important management functions: marketing, planning, coordination, accounting and control, management of scientific, technical and production and sales activities. The basis of the activities of central services is the coordination of the work of the relevant departments in production departments. The main activity of central services is the implementation of functional connections:

The lower level of management is focused on the operational solution of problems in organizing economic activities within structural divisions, the main task of which is to fulfill established tasks for producing products and making a profit.

Production departments include smaller units - departments, sectors. The departments are headed by managers who have complete independence in solving current problems.

2.3 Marketing strategy and goals of Arnest OJSC

In the context of the development of market relations, JSC Arnest pays special attention to operational and almost everyday analysis of various aspects of the enterprise’s marketing activities.

The highest, main goal of an enterprise in a market economy is to maximize profits. However, at certain stages of the development and functioning of an organization, there are also intermediate goals, for example: to ensure break-even operation; win a large share in the market of goods and services; regulate product supply in accordance with demand; expand the sales market; ensure maximum growth of indicators;

Each of these intermediate goals always acts as a means to achieve the main (main) goal. The main strategic goal of Arnest OJSC is to maintain long-term competitiveness in the Russian aerosol business market. To achieve this goal, Arnest OJSC implements the following strategies:

1. Focus on Russian market and the CIS market, growth due to development in the expansion of the domestic market.

2. Increasing the volume and share of product sales for export.

3. Customer-oriented development strategy - implementation of corporate orders for the manufacture of products, creation of discount systems, development and implementation of discounts for regular customers of company stores.

Marketing strategy of Arnest OJSC:

Increasing the number of sales while reducing production costs;

Concentration on a promising market segment;

Product differentiation;

Development of discount systems and customer cards for buyers;

Creation of a club of like-minded clients;

Creating a client-oriented strategy.

2.4 Analysis of the market and competitive environment of Arnest OJSC

Continuous monitoring of the competitive environment is a necessary condition for an analytical assessment of the market situation and orientation of production to meet market needs in the most effective way.

To ensure high-quality management at the enterprise, promising strategies in the field of competitiveness must be developed, and the necessary organizational measures must be provided for all aspects of economic management.

The main competitors of the enterprise are: LLC "Plant of Household Chemicals", CJSC "Dzerzhinsky Plant of Household Chemicals", CJSC "Spektr", LLC "Vershina", CJSC "Factory of Household Chemicals". The figure shows the occupied share of Arnest OJSC in the market of aerosol product manufacturers, as well as the share occupied by its main competitors.

Rice. Market share distribution

Increasing competition while simultaneously expanding the aerosol products market creates additional requirements for updating the range and improving product quality. The advantages of competitors can lead to the loss of customers, both existing and potential; and also lead to loss of market share.

To prevent this from happening, the enterprise must find and eliminate the reasons for lagging behind competitors, as well as try to “outdo” the competitor with other advantages.

“Consumer organizations tend to have clear guidelines regarding the purchase of goods in such markets. These are the popularity of the goods, the reliability of the seller, the stability of quality, the certainty of delivery, and the affordability of prices. At the same time, under certain conditions, certain specific factors may become more important. ”

Essentially, any superiority over competitors is achieved through innovation, and therefore the ability to introduce new technical and technological elements in the activities of an enterprise that provide market advantages is a necessary component of the competitiveness of an enterprise. In a highly competitive environment, superiority in quality, price and distribution is a vital factor for market success today.

2.5 Quality policy of JSC Arnest as a competitive advantage

The priority goal of Arnest OJSC is to meet the requirements and expectations of consumers and other interested parties, maintaining the company's image on this basis and increasing the competitiveness of products.

To achieve this goal, JSC Arnest carries out:

Constant updating of the assortment, increasing the production of new types of products;

Introduction of new technologies based on modern equipment;

Compliance with environmental legislation and other mandatory requirements in the field of ecology;

Reducing the negative impact of your activities on the environment;

Formation of environmental culture of personnel;

Training of all employees on quality and environmental issues;

Involving staff in quality improvement activities;

Formation of mutually beneficial partnerships with all stakeholders;

Improving the integrated quality management system of JSC Arnest, in relation to perfumery and cosmetic products and household chemicals, in accordance with the requirements of GOST R ISO 9001-2001 and GOST R 14001-98.

The management of Arnest OJSC undertakes to follow this Policy and provide the necessary resources and conditions for its implementation by all employees.

The Russian company ARNEST declared itself as a high-level enterprise, having received in 2000 a certificate of compliance with the requirements of the international quality standard ISO 9001-96.

In April 2003, the quality management system was recertified according to the new version of the ISO 9000 series standards.

In December 2004, the environmental management system of JSC Arnest was certified for compliance with the requirements of ISO 14000 series standards.

Obtaining these certificates means that the company cares not only about the quality of its products, but also about the environmental situation in the region.

Product reliability is ensured by the types of control existing at the enterprise, ranging from incoming control of raw materials and materials to control of finished products.

The compliance of products, semi-finished products, parts, and raw materials with international standards is controlled through an extensive network of documentation. Mandatory requirements for products are provided:

The reliability of the packaging and composition of the product guarantees the safety of life and health of customers.

Manufacturing products using ozone-friendly propellant helps protect the environment.

2.6 Competitive advantages of the Arnest Company

The main competitive advantages of the Arnest company are:

Availability of our own strong brands in the main market niches;

Availability of ISO 9001-2001 (quality management system), ISO 14001-2000 (ecology);

Own production of aluminum cylinders. In Russia, besides Arnest OJSC, such production exists only at one plant. It must be emphasized that almost half of all aerosol products can only be filled into aluminum cans. This applies to hair styling mousses (foams), deodorants and antiperspirants, a number of antistatic agents, some cleaning products and all other products with aggressive formulations. In addition to the uniqueness of aluminum cylinders, their production has much higher mobility compared to the production of tin cylinders, which is based on initial printing on tin, followed by folding and soldering of rolled sheets;

In-house production of European standard valves and spray devices, including heads of several configurations, caps and spray caps of several types. JSC Arnest has implemented a full cycle of production of valves and nozzles, which allows not only to fully meet the filling needs, but also to sell them to customers separately. The quality of manufactured valves and caps satisfies the needs of transnational customers;

Production of tin cylinders. On the territory of Arnest OJSC there is a German enterprise for the production of tin cylinders with a capacity of up to 100 million pieces. in year. The quality of the products makes this manufacturer the only enterprise in Russia whose products meet the demand of transnational customers for tin packaging for contract filling of aerosols;

Modern storage of hydrocarbon propellants and equipment for cleaning of hydrocarbon propellants. There is a production of 8 different pressures and mixtures for the entire range of products.

JSC Arnest has its own plant for the production of propellants, while none of the Russian manufacturers of aerosols and up to 90% of the world's manufacturers have these capabilities, but purchase ready-made mixtures. In addition, a serious competitive advantage is the UVP purification system, which allows you to purchase unrefined cheap isobutane fraction and have one of the main components of aerosols at least 40% cheaper than competitors;

Own warehouses of raw materials and finished products: the presence of a logistics warehouse for "L"Oreal, the presence of its own temporary storage warehouse (temporary storage warehouse) for customs clearance of imported goods. A warehouse terminal (11 thousand sq. m.) is being completed;

Own STC (scientific and technical center) - development of recipes, certification, state. registration. Own accredited chemical analysis laboratory;

Implemented ERP system MS Axapta;

A wide and developing distribution network, currently numbering more than 100 companies in Russia and abroad;

A strong management team focused on the end result.

Based on the above analysis of the competitive advantages of the Arnest company, we can conclude that the company is successfully operating in the production and sale of aerosol products, including due to the fact that it can withstand competition in comparison with similar objects in this market.

Conclusion

To summarize, it should be noted that in order to survive or win in fierce competition, any organization must have certain advantages over its competitors.

Knowledge of the company’s capabilities and sources of competitive influence will allow us to identify areas where the company can enter into open confrontation with competitors, and where it can avoid it.

The more competitive advantages an organization has over current and potential competitors, the higher its competitiveness, survivability, efficiency, and prospects. To do this, it is necessary to increase the scientific level of management and gain new competitive advantages.

The Arnest company is a Russian leader in the aerosol business in the field of high technology, production volumes and product sales.

The company's strategy is to find optimal ways to offer consumers products of the highest quality. The organization is constantly increasing the range of products offered and strives to develop the marketing component of the business.

Also, the priority goal of Arnest OJSC is to meet the requirements and expectations of consumers and other interested parties, maintaining the company's image on this basis and increasing the competitiveness of products.

A study of the competitive advantages of the Arnest company shows the successful work of the enterprise in the production and sale of aerosol products, including due to the fact that the company has certain advantages over its competitors in this market.

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