Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • May 1993 (Revised December 1994)
  • Background Note
  • HBS Case Collection

Geography of Competition and Strategy, The

  • Format:Print
  • | Language:Spanish
  • | Pages:9
ShareBar

Abstract

Addresses the role of geographic scope in competition and strategy. Makes distinctions between the geographic scope of competition (or the effective area over which firms compete), the geographic scope of competitive advantage (or the geographic area from which a firm can draw locational advantages), and the geographic scope of strategy (the area over which a firm chooses to compete and locate its activities). The geographic scope of competition is influenced by technology, tastes, governments, and company strategy. Locational advantages are the result of favorable factor conditions, demand conditions, related and supporting industries, firm strategy, structure, and rivalry. The firm may choose to compete in a single market (a geographically focused strategy), in all markets (a global strategy), or some combination of markets. The firm can choose the configuration (location) and coordination of its activities. The firm adds value to geographically dispersed units through the choice of markets to serve, the location and coordination of activities, and the active management of economies of scale, scope, and learning.

Keywords

Competition; Competitive Strategy; Competitive Advantage; Geographic Scope

Citation

Enright, Michael J. "Geography of Competition and Strategy, The." Harvard Business School Background Note 793-135, May 1993. (Revised December 1994.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

More from the Author

    • May 2004
    • Journal of International Business Studies

    New Frontiers in International Strategy

    By: Joan Enric Ricart, Michael J. Enright, Pankaj Ghemawat, Stuart Hart and Tarun Khanna
    • June 1996
    • Faculty Research

    Black Magic and the America's Cup: The Victory

    • June 1996
    • Faculty Research

    Armscor: Life After Apartheid?

More from the Author
  • New Frontiers in International Strategy By: Joan Enric Ricart, Michael J. Enright, Pankaj Ghemawat, Stuart Hart and Tarun Khanna
  • Black Magic and the America's Cup: The Victory 
  • Armscor: Life After Apartheid? 
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College