Competitor Analysis and Interfirm Rivalry: Toward A Theoretical Integration

This article bridges two important subjects in strategy: competitor analysis and interfirm rivalry. Through a refined conceptualization of competitor analysis, the article introduces two firm-specific, theory-based constructs: market commonality, developed from the literature on multiple-point competition, and resource similarity, derived from the resource-based theory of the firm. The joint consideration of these two constructs shows the complementarity of these two prominent but contrasting strategy theories. Each firm has a unique market profile and strategic resource endowment, and a pair-wise comparison with a given competitor along these two dimensions will help to illuminate the prebattle competitive tension between these two firms and to predict how a focal firm may interact with each of its competitors. The idea of competitive asymmetry is introduced, that is, the notion that a given pair of firms may not pose an equal degree of threat to each other. To illustrate competitor mapping, measures of ...