In situations where rivals can readily copy the successful features of a company's strategy or duplicate its attempts to attract customers, the only dependable path to competitive advantage is for a company to staff the company's organization with smarter and more talented people. outexecute rivals by developing a collection of resources and capabilities that enables the company to perform certain important value chain activities at lower cost than rivals or with greater effectiveness than rivals (thereby gaining the ability to deliver more value to customers via either a lower price or a more appealing product). do a better job of training, empowering, motivating, and compensating employees than rivals. perform value chain activities quicker or faster than rivals can. outsource more value chain activities than rivals do and thereby achieve lower operating costs.

Outexecute rivals by developing a collection of resources and capabilities that enables the company to perform certain important value chain activities at lower cost than rivals or with greater effectiveness than rivals (thereby gaining the ability to deliver more value to customers via either a lower price or a more appealing product).

Explanation:

All business strategies boil down to two desired outcomes: outpacing competition with a product that is either cheaper, or of higher quality (more valuable or appealing).

If rival firms are imitating a company's strategy, the only way forward for said company is to modify its strategy so that it becomes even more effective than that of its competitors. In this way, the company will achieve the goal of either providing goods or services at lower cost, or at higher qualities.