We must first look at how strategies are developed in an organization in order to them attain its ultimate goal. The strategic management process is divided into two stages namely; Strategy Formulation and Strategy Implementation. Strategy formulation deals with identifying the need for new missions or strategic goals by conducting competitive analyses and then formulating new strategies to assist in achieving these new strategic g

The second factor being that of rareness of the above valuable resource or capability, i.e. the number of competitors that have the same valuable resource or capability. The third factor is imitability, which refers to resources that are difficult or costly to duplicate by other competitors thus putting them at a disadvantaged position. Finally the most important fact of Organisation which refer to how organised a company is in using the above three factors in order to gain the competitive advantage desired by the company (Bartol et al 2001). Considering all the above factors and the environmental assessment helps in formulating strategy that works both internally and externally of the organisation to ultimately improve the competitive position of an organisation.

Porters Five-Forces Model (Thomas 1986, page 17)

Cost-leadership strategy emphasises on organisational efficiency so overall cost of providing products and services is lower than those of competitors (Bartol et al 2001). Thus good cost leadership can be considered as an economy of scale to an organization and thus giving the business a competitive edge. This strategy involves developing efficient production methods, reducing overhead cost and buying supplies at lesser cost. This strategy has its flaws as lower costing raw materials will lead to lower quality products which may pose as a weakness to the business as other competing organisations may use this to their advantage by promoting their higher quality good to consumers.

Competitive advantage in a line of business is generally driven by one or two key factors. The most commonly cited of these factors are 1) economies of scale (not limited to production), 2) technology, and 3) consumer franchise (Thomas 1986). A strategy approach that embraces these ideas is Porter's competitive strategies, which are Cost Leadership (economies of scale), Differentiation (technology and consumer franchise) and Focus that is a blend of both strategies mentioned above.

Differentiation is an attempt to develop products and services seen as unique by the industry (Bartol et al 2002). This will enable an organisation to charge higher prices as consumer become loyal to the product or service and therefore enable the organisation to increase profits thus deemed as having a competitive edge in the industry.

Some common words found in the essay are:
Cost Leadership, Threats Strength, Model Thomas, Finally Manager, Finally Organisation, Competitive Advantage, Strategic Management, Strategy Implementation, Organisational Strategies, Implementation Strategy, bartol et, competitive advantage, bartol et al, et al, et al 2001, al 2001, gain competitive advantage, gain competitive, swot analysis, strategic management, strategic plans, strategic plan, opportunities threats, conducting competitive analyses, five competitive forces,
Approximate Word count = 1564
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)