The Dynamics of Rivalry

Firms face a constant challenge to understand and manage competition over time: what to do when and how much, for how long, and with what expected effect. In this battle, managers use resources they already have to develop the further resources they need, faster and more sustainably than competitors. Just three forms of rivalry capture the dynamics of these processes: developing potential customers, capturing rivals' customers and competing for sales to shared customers. Each of these applies not only to customers, but also to other assets that must be won against rivals. In complex industries, interactions between many competitors can be simplified by grouping firms together, and industry evolution and scenarios for the future can be evaluated using extensions of this approach.