competitive advantage

Why Should Organizations be Authentic? The Competing Logics of Trust & Uniqueness

June 1, 2011

Tweet Everyone agrees: It’s a good thing for organizations to be authentic. Where folks disagree, though, is why organizations should be authentic. Deep down, we know that authenticity is valuable. But when we try to talk about “why our organization should be more authentic” and convince others to pursue authenticity, our conversations can get pretty […]

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Authentic Competitive Distinctiveness — It’s all in the details

May 19, 2011

Tweet There’s a great photo in the New York Times (May 19, 2011) of a whitepaper chart created to manage the Delta-Northwest Merger’s Long and Complex Path. The chart is full of of post-its, probably more than 200 of them. Each post-it reflects a point where the systems and processes of the organizations need to […]

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Can an organization be too different?: The Strategic Value of Optimal Distinctiveness

February 18, 2011

Tweet Can an organization be too different? I spend a lot of time with organizations that are trying to strengthen the perception that they are different, so that they can distinguish themselves from their competition. They want their customers to see that they offer something that no other organization can. Because being different is critical […]

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Is Authenticity the key to being “Meaningfully Different”?

May 20, 2010

Tweet If organizations are going to be successful at attracting good members and good clients or customers, they have go beyond showing how they are different from other, similar organizations. They have to take that extra step, and demonstrate why these differences are meaningful. “Meaningful difference” “Meaningful difference” is an important concept in both organizational […]

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5 (More) Reasons Why Being Authentic Can Be Bad for Your Organization

March 13, 2008

Tweet Being authentic limits who your organization can attract as partners. Not every organization wants to do business with an organization that’s authentic, because authentic organizations can be demanding partners. Authentic organizations need partners who will support the organization’s dedication to authenticity, who will appreciate why the organization dedicates its resources to sustaining authenticity, and […]

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