For Long-Term Market Advantage, Analyze Yourself

Marketing strategy is often thought of in terms of meeting the needs of the market. Sun Tzu, an ancient Chinese military strategist, argued that it is essential to know yourself and your competition for long-term advantage.

To understand your organization, a value chain can help identify strengths and weaknesses. This includes looking at activities like raw materials purchases, product design and production, and downstream activities such as marketing and service. Walmart is a great example of a company that uses this approach to deliver low prices.

In addition to the value chain, cost analysis, economic stability, incentive structure, organizational culture and brand architecture can also be examined to further analyze yourself. Doing this analysis helps you make more informed decisions in order to survive and compete in the market.