Competition Market Niches And Efficiency

Gorazd Ocvirk creates a comprehensive model for the strategic management of market niches, and provides a framework for the construction of a strategic management theory of market niches. Based on the current state of research on the niche topic within, strategic management has many niche typologies but no clear common methodological and theoretical framework on which to lean on. This model has remained absent from the market niche research in the field of strategic management and has led to a state of conceptual ambiguity of the field.

The Micro-Niche Method: The Pathway to Premium Pricing and Increased Profitability for Today's CPAs By David Wolfskehl The primary marketing challenge faced by accounting firms today is differentiation. Firms tend to offer services in the same niches, with few exceptions. In fact, a review of top accounting firms in any city will likely produce the sense that the firms are largely interchangeable - just change the names and the photos. When every firm looks alike, the firms become commodities. They spend staggering amounts of time writing proposals in response to RFPs. They feel that clients constantly apply pressure about fees. They are afraid their clients will leave. What is more, they know their marketing efforts are ineffective. Even referrals come from quid pro quo agreements. Their networking activities seem to be a waste of time. The challenge these firms face is how to differentiate their firm from the sea of sameness. Most resort to value pricing or fee discounting, customer service claims and the like. Wolfskehl contends that these approaches will accomplish little, if anything. Instead, he offers 'The Micro-Niche Method." In this powerful book, Wolfskehl outlines why a micro-niche is the best way to compete in today's very competitive marketplace. Why is the micro-niche method effective as a competitive tool? Building a micro-niche wins the competitive race every time because it sets a firm outside direct competition with other firms. When you build a micro-niche according to this method, there will be no direct competition. The cornerstone of the micro-niche must be your particular specialization, built upon your unique expertise. Because you are an expert, people or businesses that need your unique blend of knowledge, skill and experience will seek you out. Your contacts within the industry will open doors for you and send referrals to you because you are the expert with the unique ability to meet the needs of the client. In addition, people will pay a premium price for your expertise and travel farther to see you. By building a micro-niche, you will eliminate competition and produce the work more efficiently and cost-effectively. You will also be able to leverage the power of effective targeted marketing. As you work with your clients, you will come to know your clients and the prospects in your circle of influence more intimately. You will learn to anticipate their needs and serve them more completely. Whether you want to open new opportunities for your partners and your firm or you want to grow a small firm with micro-niches, Wolfskehl has provided a step-by-step guide to the method that can set you or your firm on the path to greater success and profitability.

Name any industry and more likely than not you will find that the three strongest, most efficient companies control 70 to 90 percent of the market. Here are just a few examples: McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's General Mills, Kellogg, and Post Nike, Adidas, and Reebok Bank of America, Chase Manhattan, and Banc One American, United, and Delta Merck, Johnson & Johnson, and Bristol-Myers Squibb Based on extensive studies of market forces, the distinguished business school strategists and corporate advisers Jagdish Sheth and Rajendra Sisodia show that natural competitive forces shape the vast majority of companies under "the rule of three." This stunning new concept has powerful strategic implications for businesses large and small alike. Drawing on years of research covering hundreds of industries both local and global, The Rule of Three documents the evolution of markets into two complementary sectors -- generalists, which cater to a large, mainstream group of customers; and specialists, which satisfy the needs of customers at both the high and low ends of the market. Any company caught in the middle ("the ditch") is likely to be swallowed up or destroyed. Sheth and Sisodia show how most markets resemble a shopping mall with specialty shops anchored by large stores. Drawing wisdom from these markets, The Rule of Three offers counterintuitive insights, with suggested strategies for the "Big 3" players, as well as for mid-sized companies that may want to mount a challenge and for specialists striving to flourish in the shadow of industry giants. The book explains how to recognize signs of market disruptions that can result in serious reversals and upheavals for companies caught unprepared. Such disruptions include new technologies, regulatory shifts, innovations in distribution and packaging, demographic and cultural shifts, and venture capital as well as other forms of investor funding. Years in the making and sweeping in scope, The Rule of Three provides authoritative, research-based insights into market dynamics that no business manager should be without.

Get from Idea to Product/Market Fit in B2B. The world has changed. Nowadays, there are more companies building B2B products than there’s ever been. Products are entering organizations top-down, middle-out, and bottom-up. Teams and managers control their budgets. Buyers have become savvier and more impatient. The case for the value of new innovations no longer needs to be made. Technology products get hired, and fired faster than ever before. The challenges have moved from building and validating products to gaining adoption in increasingly crowded and fragmented markets. This, requires a new playbook. The second edition of Lean B2B is the result of years of research into B2B entrepreneurship. It builds off the unique Lean B2B Methodology, which has already helped thousands of entrepreneurs and innovators around the world build successful businesses. In this new edition, you’ll learn: - Why companies seek out new products, and why they agree to buy from unproven vendors like startups - How to find early adopters, establish your credibility, and convince business stakeholders to work with you - What type of opportunities can increase the likelihood of building a product that finds adoption in businesses - How to learn from stakeholders, identify a great opportunity, and create a compelling value proposition - How to get initial validation, create a minimum viable product, and iterate until you're able to find product/market fit This second edition of Lean B2B will show you how to build the products that businesses need, want, buy, and adopt.

The Super Bowl. Democrats vs. Republicans. Ford vs. Chevy. Bloods vs. Crips. Public vs. private schools. Sibling rivalries. Competition permeates every aspect of our society, and we place great confidence in its ability to allocate resources efficiently, spur innovation, and build personal character. As others have argued, competition is now a paradigm—a conceptual framework that is often taken for granted but rarely challenged. In this book, experts examine competition from their own disciplinary perspectives. From economics to philosophy, biology to education, and psychology to politics, the origins and applications of this paradigm are placed in historical context, its mechanics are analyzed, and its costs and benefits are assessed. The questions addressed in this book are important and varied. What is the historical genesis of the competition paradigm? How is competition manifest in our culture—in religion, politics, economics, sports, business, and education—and are its effects always beneficial? What can we learn about the mechanics of competition from studying nature? Are humans naturally competitive, or is it a learned behavior? How does competition affect our mental and physical well-being? Is competition the best strategy for allocating finite planetary resources to an expanding human population? The book also engages a cooperative alternative, and asks: Is there an ethical tension between competition and cooperation? Why have cooperative models been undervalued and marginalized? Can cooperation increase innovation and efficiency? This collection provides a broad, insightful, and productive examination of one of the dominant concepts of our time.

An engaging, important text calling for the reform of economics and pushing for the discipline to become an honest and effective tool for democracy.

Hunt convincingly demonstrates that competition is not about dividing up limited resources but about creating more resources and thus competition is pro-society. This truly interdisciplinary book successfully develops a general theory of competition which is rich in explanatory breadth and depth. Consequently, executives and entrepreneuers, management consultants, public makers, and scholars and students in economics, law, political science, and business should read and study this book. —Robert F. Lusch, University of Oklahoma This book develops a new theory of competition. This theory – labeled "resource-advantage theory" – stems from no single research tradition, but draws on several different traditions in economics, management, marketing, and sociology. In this ground-breaking volume, Shelby Hunt articulates R-A theory, uses the theory to explain and predict economic phenomena, and shows how (and why) it explains and predicts such phenomena.