Three forms of generic competitive strategy (based on Porter's generic strategies) include:
Cost leadership is a business' ability to produce a product or service that will be at a lower cost than other competitors. If the business is able to produce the same quality product but sell it for less, this gives them a competitive advantage over other businesses. Therefore, this provides a price value to the customers. Lower costs will result in higher profits as businesses are still making a reasonable profit on each good or service sold. If businesses are not making a large enough profit, Porter recommends finding a lower-cost base such as labor, materials, and facilities. This gives businesses a lower manufacturing cost over those of other competitors. The company can add value to the customer via transfer of the cost benefit to them (Wikipedia).
A differential advantage is when a business' products or services are different to its competitors. In his book, Michael Porter recommended making those goods or services attractive to stand out from their competitors. The business will need strong research, development and design thinking to create innovative ideas. These improvements to the goods or service could include delivering high quality to customers. If customers see a product or service as being different from other products, consumers are willing to pay more to receive these benefits (Wikipedia).
Focus strategy ideally tries to get businesses to aim at a few target markets rather than trying to target everyone. This strategy is often used for smaller businesses since they may not have the appropriate resources or ability to target everyone. Businesses that use this method usually focus on the needs of the customer and how their products or services could improve their daily lives. In this method, some firms may even let consumers give their inputs for their product or service (Wikipedia).
This strategy can also be called the segmentation strategy, which includes geographic, demographic, behavioral and physical segmentation. By narrowing the market down to smaller segments, businesses are able to meet the needs of the consumer. Porter believes that once businesses have decided what groups they will target, it is essential to decide if they will take the cost leadership approach or differentiation approach. Focus strategy will not make a business successful. Porter mentions that it is important to not use all 3 generic strategies because there is a high chance that companies will come out achieving no strategies instead of achieving success. This can be called "stuck in the middle", and the business won't be able to have a competitive advantage.
Cost leadership involves producing high volumes of standardized products in hopes of taking advantage of economies of scale and experience curve effects (Wikipedia).
These specific types of strategies often come with trade-offs, based on the recognition that excellence in some dimensions come at the expense of others.
Order winners are the competitive advantages such as quality, delivery speed, reliability, product design, flexibility, and image that cause a firm's customers to select that company's products or services. It is the main reason why customers purchase a company's product.
Order qualifiers are the competitive advantages that a company must demonstrate in order to be a viable competitor in the business arena.
