Grow by Focusing on What Matters: Competitive Strategy in 3 Circles

Growth and competitive advantage are about effective positioning. Building effective positioning is challenging today for firms facing new and stronger competition, volatile and uncertain markets, and shifting customer desires and demands. The 3-Circle Model facilitates speed of understanding and action by focusing attention on the most critical strategy concepts in this uncertain environment. Growth strategy emerges in the model from systematically addressing four key strategy directives in a deep and disciplined way: define, build, and defend the unique value you create for customers; correct, eliminate, or reveal value that is failing customers or of which they're not aware; potentially neutralize the unique value created for customers by competitors; explore and exploit new growth opportunities through deep understanding of customers' unmet needs.

Authors Joe Urbany and Jim Davis are Professors at Notre Dame