Preface --
1. Strategy, markets, and competition --
2. Competitive advantages 1 : supply and demand --
3. Competitive advantages 2 : 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 1 : 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 2 : 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 --
15. 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 --
17. The level playing field : flourishing in a competitive environment --
Appendix : Methods for measuring return on resources or investments --
Notes --
Index.

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.

Columbia Business School professor Greenwald offers a new theory of competition for strategic planners to apply in the real world. He 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.