Abstract:

This paper proposes the development of a pedagogical activity with a deep practical approach through which to contribute to the understanding of the research literature of the competitive strategies taking Porter's seminal work as a basis of its study. This theoretical model, despite its apparent simplicity and internal coherence to explain such strategies, has been proved to be somehow confusing and contradictory. Thus, for instance, this model does not match with the empirical evidence obtained by some companies in the business reality denying that a firm could succeed by developing at the same time a competitive advantage in both cost and differentiation (and thus, renouncing to admit the existence of firms such as Xiaomi, Decathlon, Norwegian, etc.). Similarly, this model takes an internal approach, using firm costs (an internal variable) instead of prices (an external variable) in the analysis, something subsequently solved by Bowman’s model (1992) and his strategic clock. In this way, this tool fixed most of the problems and incoherencies of prior model, proposing eight strategic routes or positions and grouping them into four big groups of strategies.

Thus, along this work we will take the reader through a time journey where we will present Porter’s model, its main two limitations and the model which took the baton and fixed it: Bowman’s strategic clock, finalizing with an easily applicable activity in class, in order to make the students understand the different limitations and dynamism that may occur during a strategic decision process in an organization concerning its competitive positioning. To do so, the pupils will be presented with a hypothetical (but potentially real) situation of an industry with “only” three companies. Coming up next, students will be shown with the different routes/options that their company could carry out. At first, students might think that any answer could be correct (i.e., that their company could position itself in the market in any way it wants to). However, nothing is further from the truth. Thus, if the students correctly apply the learned tool, they would be able to identify that there are "forbidden" routes for all firms, “recommended” routes for others, and that identifying the rest of the competitors (and its potential moves) will allow them to solve this enigma.

In this way, the aforementioned activity would constitute a successful teaching innovation exercise as regards to the acquisition of the required competencies and learning outcomes established within the course, as well as to the achievement of an (attainable and consensual) solution to a real problem faced nowadays by all corporations.

Keywords:

Competitive positioning, strategic clock, dynamic process, pedagogical activity.