According to Porter, what are the generic strategies for creating competitive advantage?

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Porter developed a framework of so-called generic business strategies based on two sources of competitive advantage: low cost and differentiation. The combination of these two sources with the scope of the target market served (narrow or broad) or product mix width (narrow or wide) yields four generic strategies: cost leadership, product differentiation, focused differentiation, and cost focus. When the unique value delivered by a firm is based on its position as the industry's low-cost producer, in broadly defined markets or across a wide mix of products, a cost-leadership advantage occurs. A firm that bases its competitive strategy on overall cost leadership must construct the most efficient facilities (in terms of scale or technology) and obtain the largest share of market so that its cost per unit is the lowest in the industry. When a firm's product delivers unique value because of an actual or perceived uniqueness in a broad market, it is said to have a differentiation advantage. This can be an extremely effective strategy for defending market position and obtaining above-average financial returns. Focused differentiation enables small, specialized companies to grow while retaining their narrow focus on highly differentiated products. The final strategy is cost focus, in which a firm's lower-cost position enables it to offer lower prices than the competition to a narrow target market.