COMPETITION DEMYSTIFIED(揭开竞争的面纱)

Since 1980, Michael Porter’s classic Competitive Strategy has provided the methodology that most big companies use for strategic analysis. But now, distinguished Columbia Business School professor Bruce Greenwald offers a bold new theory of competition—a theory that is far simpler than Porter’s and much easier for strategic planners to apply in the real world.
　　Porter identified a complex five-force model for studying competition in any market. But Greenwald argues that there is only one essential factor in determining competitive advantages: how easy it is for competitors to enter or expand in a given market. If a company can erect strong barriers to entry—through customer captivity, lower production costs, or economies of scale—it can manage these advantages, anticipate competitors’ moves, or achieve stability through bargaining and cooperation.
　　Greenwald draws on game theory to explain what you should do if barriers to entry are strong, weak, or nonexistent. He covers a wide range of examples, from retail to telecommunications to auction houses. And his lessons can be applied whether your business is dominated by a single huge player, a handful of roughly equal players, or no one at all.
　　Competition Demystified will give executives and strategic planners an indispensable new way to exploit competitive advantage and achieve exceptional profits. It is destined to become a management classic.

Book Description
In Competition Demystified, Bruce Greenwald, one of the nation's leading economists, presents a new and simplified approach to business strategy that cuts through much of the fog that has surrounded the subject. Based on his course at Columbia Business School, Greenwald and co-author Judd Kahn offer an easy-to-follow method for understanding the competitive structure of your industry and developing an appropriate strategy for your specific position.

The authors illustrate their principles with detailed examples drawn from prominent companies in a wide range of industries, including Wal-Mart, Coors, Cisco, Apple, Microsoft, Intel, Kodak, Sotheby's, Fox Broadcasting, and Coca-Cola.

Synopsis
THE MOST IMPORTANT NEW BOOK ON COMPETITIVE STRATEGY IN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY Since 1980, Michael Porter's classic Competitive Strategy has provided the methodology that most big companies use for strategic analysis. But now, distinguished Columbia Business School professor Bruce Greenwald offers a bold, new and much simpler theory. Porter identified a complex five-force model for studying competition in any market. But Greenwald argues that there is only one essential factor in determining competitive advantages: how easy it is for competitors to enter or expand in a given market. If a company can erect strong barriers to entry - through customer captivity, lower production costs or economies of scale - it can manage these advantages, anticipate competitors' moves or achieve stability through bargaining and cooperation. Greenwald draws on game theory to explain what you should do if barriers to entry are strong, weak or nonexistent. He covers a wide range of examples, from retail to telecommunications to auction houses. And his lessons can be applied whether your business is dominated by a single huge player, a handful of roughly equal players or no one at all. COMPETITION DEMYSTIFIED will give executives and strategic planners an indispensable new way to exploit competitive advantage and achieve exceptional profits and is destined to become a management classic.

From Publishers Weekly
A conscious simplification of Michael Porter's classic Competitive Strategy, this book treats only one of Porter's five forces, "potential entrants." According to the authors (Value Investing), avoiding competition is the only way to escape "a level playing field in which anyone can join... [and] only the best... survive and prosper." Most of the book discusses ways to gain protected positions from which businesses can be run badly but still earn abnormal returns. Cutting prices, matching prices and using domination of one market to create a monopoly in another are all discussed; legality is mentioned only briefly and indirectly. The best of their recommendations is to find small, declining, local markets without existing competitors. Despite the title, the book seems aimed more at investors than managers. Stockholders appreciate the value of mediocre companies that generate steady, unexciting profits in local markets without much notice; they like them because the stock is cheap. Managers usually aspire to build something better, in order to make the stock expensive. Still, this book is a useful counterpoint to the idea that conflict and growth are good for their own sakes. (Aug. 18)

Book Dimension
length: (cm)22.8 　　　 　　　　　 　　　　　 width:(cm)15.4

Bruce Greenwald is the Robert Heilbrun Professor of Economics at Columbia University Business School, where his class on strategy draws standing- room- only crowds. He and Judd Kahn are the authors of the business bestseller Value Investing.

REFACE
1 STRATEGY, MARKETS, AND COMPETITION
2　COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES I
　Supply and Demand
3　COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES II
　Economies of Scale and Strategy
4 ASSESSING COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGES
5　BIG WHERE IT COUNTS
　Wal-Mart, Coors, and Local Economies of Scale
6　NICHE ADVANTAGES AND THE DILEMMA OF GROWTH
　Compaq and Apple in the Personal Computer Industry
7　PRODUCTION ADVANTAGES LOST
　Compact Discs, Data Switches, and Toasters
8　GAMES COMPANIES PLAY
　A Structured Approach to Competitive Strategy
　　Part I: The Prisoner's Dilemma Game
9　UNCIVIL COLA WARS
　Coke and Pepsi Confront the Prisoner's Dilemma
10 INTO THE HENHOUSE
Fox Becomes a Network
11 GAMES COMPANIES PLAY
A Structured Approach to Competitive Strategy
　 Part Ih Entry/Preemption Games
12 FEAR OF NOT FLYING
　Kiwi Enters the Airline Industry
13 NO INSTANT GRATIFICATION
　Kodak Takes On Polaroid
14 COOPERATION WITHOUT INCARCERATION
　Bigger Pies, Fairly Divided
1S COOPERATION
　The Dos and Don'ts
16 VALUATION FROM A STRATEGIC PERSPECTIVE
　Improving Investment Decisions
17 CORPORATE DEVELOPMENT AND STRATEGY
Mergers and Acquisitions, New Ventures, and Brand Extensions
18 THE LEVEL PLAYING FIELD
　Flourishing in a Competitive Environment
APPENDIX
Methods for Measuring Return on Resources or Investments
NOTES
INDEX