The competitive mind

the long version

This is a guide to the principles of competitive business strategy. The book draws, chapter by chapter, on illustrative instances and examples involving vigorous competition between determined rivals in business. It offers helpful ideas for devising ways to prevail in confrontation with business competitors. Based on the course on competitive strategy taught by the author over the past ten years to executives and undergraduates, the book provides a thought-provoking complement to standard textbooks. Each chapter addresses a key strategic principle, richly illustrated with topical business examples, and followed by student questions at the end of the chapter. Most contemporary accounts of strategic thinking concentrate on preserving a business in steady state through thinking about economics, markets and business development, rather than dealing directly with psychological confrontation between business rivals.