Maintaining a Competitive Advantage

• What are the benefits of maintaining a differentiation competitive advantage in operations?

  • Higher quality
  • Could be used as a Unique Selling Point
  • Increased innovation
• What are the difficulties of maintaining a differentiation competitive advantage in operations?

  • Are you able to patent or copyright the product?
  • Technological changes
• What are the general difficulties of maintaining a competitive advantage?

  • Copying of processes from competitors (e.g. production processes if low cost or effective marketing mix)
  • Are you able to patent or copyright the differentiated products?
  • Rivals may steal employees (e.g. higher pay)
  • Skills become outdated
• What are the benefits of maintaining a competitive advantage?

  • Higher profit margins
  • Help attract more customers more frequently
  • Helps maintain brand loyalty
  • Adds consistency and predictability to the revenue streams - useful for budgeting