Red Queen Competition: A Dynamic View of Strategy

Program Highlights

• Why the greatest innovation occurs during periods of the greatest upheaval.
• Why the most valuable capabilities are the ones companies don't even recognize.
• Why the profits we make often happen for reasons we don't understand.

"Now here, you see, it takes all the running you can do to keep in the same place." So said the Red Queen, in Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass. The neo-classical model of business strategy is built on a theory of market equilibrium. But in reality, markets create disequilibrium, and therefore opportunity. Rather than seeing competition as a problem to be solved, Professor Barnett explains how to see competition as an engine that generates capability. Intense competition can result in higher growth rates and higher profitability if you understand how to create an organization that leaps ahead—while your competitors keep running in place.

William P. Barnett studies competition within a variety of industries, analyzing how strategic differences and strategic change among organizations affect their prospects for performance, growth and survival. He holds a BA and PhD from the University of California, Berkeley, and is the Director of Stanford's Executive Management Program.