Curse of Competitiveness
Kalra and Soberman (see the article The Curse of Competitiveness: How Advice from Experienced Colleagues and Training Can Hurt Marketing Profitability in the May 2008 issue) provide a key insight about competitiveness: Too much of this competitiveness trait may hurt the firm.
However, in practice, most firms take the smug view that competitiveness is a virtue. Implicit in this is the questionable assumption that as competitiveness increases, it helps the firm in question but hurts other competing firms. This is not unlike how many firms mistakenly view advertising (i.e., too much advertising cannot hurt a given firm).
The authors provide experimental evidence that indicates that managers are better off if they do not rely on either experienced colleagues or training when competitiveness increases. More specifically, marketing profitability decreases when competitiveness increases. These results may raise questions about decision-support systems when firms assume that the preservation of institutional wisdom (in the form of advice from experienced senior managers) may be detrimental.
I invite you to read this article and to share your views here.
By Siva K. Balasubramanian, Journal of Marketing Web Site Editor
Comments
I have a couple of theories on why the research indicates this. First, the best marketing and advertising campaigns are unique and original with a good value message--not something you can borrow from someone else or get good advice on. You can't take a survey or do competitor studies to get this specific creative message either. This also shows that following the trends or institutional wisdom does not lead to market success either. With our site, we write original content that is specific and relevant to our industry....that is how we draw traffic and sales. We never paid any attention to competitors or marketing strategies per se.
Jason Covington
http://www.mynah.com
Posted by: Jason Covington | July 25, 2008 7:32 PM