Bowman’s Strategy Clock

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How does one company gain advantage over the others?

In many open markets, most goods and services can be purchased from any number of companies, and customers have a tremendous amount of choice.

It's the job of companies in the market to find their competitive edge and meet customers' needs better than the next company.

So, how, given the high degree of competitiveness among companies in a marketplace, does one company gain competitive advantage over the others? And when there are only a finite number of unique products and services out there, how do different organizations sell basically the same things at different prices and with different degrees of success?

This is a classic question that has been asked for generations of business professionals. In 1980, Michael Porter published his seminal book, "Competitive Strategy: Techniques for Analyzing Industries and Competitors", where he reduced competition down to three classic strategies:...