Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century

Executive Overview A new competitive landscape is developing largely based on the technological revolution and increasing globalization. The strategic discontinuities encountered by firms are transforming the nature of competition. To navigate effectively in this new competitive landscape, to build and maintain competitive advantage, requires a new type of organization. Success in the 21st century organization will depend first on building strategic flexibility. To develop strategic flexibility and competitive advantage, requires exercising strategic leadership, building dynamic core competences, focusing and developing human capital, effectively using new manufacturing and information technologies, employing valuable strategies (exploiting global markets and cooperative strategies) and implementing new organization structures and culture (horizontal organization, learning and innovative culture, managing firm as bundles of assets). Thus, the new competitive landscape will require new types of organization and leaders for survival and global market leadership.