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In the Indian Epic of Mahabharata, there are two warriors that are really popular. One was Arjuna, the great archer; and the other was his opponent, Karna. Both are demigods since they are born out of a union between a human and God. Arjuna is the son of Indra (the rain god), while Karna is the son of Surya. (sun god) Both were equally matched. Karna had magic armor and earrings, which were, as the epic says, attached to his body from birth. His body was impenetrable by any kind of weapon, be it created by gods or mortals. It so happened that before the war began, Lord Indra, disguised as a beggar, asked Karna for his armor and earrings, taking advantage of his charitable habit. Had Karna abandoned that habit, the outcome of the battle would have been different. But he couldn't, and thus he was killed in the battle. The point is the same for businesses. Every business has an opponent just like Arjuna. And every business has a competitive advantage or secret sauce that gives it an edge over others.

An organization's structure defines its competitive strategy. A strategy comprises several policies employed to achieve specific goals. An explicit strategy is developed through planning and approved by the company's top management. However, even if their strategy is not officially documented, the company still has it. An implicit strategy assumes that different employees or departments work toward different goals that fit their ideas about how the company should grow in the long run. However, the sum of these departmental approaches rarely equals the best strategy. Strategic planning allows you to see how the company is likely to develop from a long-term perspective. As a manager or a person in charge, they can ask these questions for themselves:

1. What is driving competition in the industries I want to enter?
2. How will my industry evolve?
3. What actions are competitors likely to take?
4. What is the best way to respond?
5. How can the firm compete in the long run?

Formal strategic planning, on the other hand, focuses on the need to ask these questions while ignoring the possible answers. To answer these questions, it is necessary to look into each company's separate case rather than put it in a larger industry perspective. In an industry, the rate of return on invested capital is always being pushed down toward the competitive floor rate of return.

As Michael E. Porter points out, "The forces driving industry competition are entry, the threat of substitution, bargaining power of buyers, bargaining power of suppliers, and rivalry among current competitors."

When new people get into an industry, they often bring a lot of money and a desire to get a bigger share of the market. They might lower prices, which can make their counterparts' costs inflated. Reduced profitability is a possible outcome. The threat of new competitors coming into an industry depends on how well the current competitors hold their own and on the objective economic factors, or barriers, of that industry.

The following are the sources of barriers to entry:

1. Economics to Scale: This deters entry by forcing an entrant to either come in at a large scale and risk a strong reaction from existing firms, or come in at a small scale and accept a cost disadvantage. Both are undesirable options.
2. Product Differentiation: This creates a barrier to entry by forcing the entrant to spend heavily to overcome existing loyalties.
3. Capital Requirements: The need to invest large sums in order to compete creates a barrier to entry, particularly if the capital is required for risky up-front advertising or research and development.
4. Switching costs: This is a one-time cost buyers face as a result of switching from one supplier's product to another's.
5. Assess to Distribution: Channels can be created by an entrant's need to secure distribution for its product. Established firms have already employed logical distribution channels for particular products. Therefore, the new firm must persuade the channels to accept its product through price breaks, cooperative advertising allowances, and the like to make a profit.
6. Government Policy: Government policies are also important. The government can limit a company's access to raw materials or enforce licensing.

The next question we can ask is, how can we overturn our competitors? There are nearly three universal or generic strategies to do it. But it's important to keep in mind that these strategies can be changed and adapted to fit the needs of the business. Let us look at them one-by-one below:

1. Overall cost leadership: This revolves around costs. Reduction in the cost is our main goal. Keeping that goal in mind, we can employ the facilities in the most cost-effective way and try to eliminate marginal customer accounts. The areas where we first cut the costs are research and development, service, salesforce, advertising, etc. Research and development or advertising are vital in getting the edge over the competition. However, lowering the costs implies a competitive advantage. It will keep the price of goods and services relatively low and still let us earn good returns. If our expenses are one of the lowest, powerful buyers will not be able to affect them, which is also true for powerful suppliers. Reduced costs also demand access to a large segment of the market and raw materials.
2. Differentiation: Differentiation gives us a chance to become unique. This uniqueness doesn't have to manifest entirely but reveals itself in specific areas: design or brand image, customer service, technology, features, etc. The desire to own something unique, original, and crafted benumbs sensitivity to a higher price. Customers who prefer such brands become loyal as they feel that the company creates something specifically for them. Thus, increased margins are implemented and even justified. The differentiation strategy implemented by the business tells the customers that the product is not for everyone, but it is worthed
3. Focus: This requires that we single out a particular group, a segment of the product line, or geographical market. Each department of the company works towards policies that affect the entire industry but target niche markets. The peculiar thing about this strategy is that it either uses cost reduction or differentiation as its complementary strategies. Whichever strategy we choose, it is essential to make sure that we offer something extra—a benefit, a range of choices, and so on. When the focus falls on lowering costs, the product we create should be essential, not exclusive. It is quite beneficial if it's an everyday-use type of product, as there is always a demand for them. If we plan to target uniqueness, we look at narrow markets and strive to enhance that one-of-a-kind idea. In this case, the concept of "something extra" might be satisfying individual demands or creating a product tailored specifically to each consumer's needs.

Arjuna used this strategy. His chariot was not an ordinary chariot, it was such a magnificient chariot that, according to V.S. Karunakarachariar, you should meditate upon it! Vedanta Desika shows that Arjuna’s chariot represents the Pranava mantra. Those who have understood the meaning of the pranava mantra will think of Arjuna’s chariot, every time they chant the pranava. The first akshara in pranava is' a, the middle akshara is' u, and the last akshara is' m. ’ Now visualize the chariot. Who is in the front portion of the chariot? It is Krishna, for he is Arjuna’s charioteer. And the letter "a," which is the first letter of the pranava, indicates Lord Narayana. So, Krishna, the one who is referred to by the very first letter of the Sanskrit alphabet, is in front. Arjuna is behind him, inside the chariot, and the letter "m" of the pranava indicates Arjuna. In other words, "m" represents the jivatma. So in the chariot, we see the Paramatma in front, with the jivatma behind him. The letter "m" is the 25th letter in the Sanskrit alphabet, which also supports the idea of the jivatma. There are 24 tattvas, which are acetanas. The 25th tattva is the jivatma, which is a cetana (sentient being). The akshara ‘m’ indicates the jivatma. So, the Lord in the driver’s seat, with Arjuna the jivatma behind him, is a representation of the pranava mantra. So, Arjuna’s chariot must be visualized when the pranava is chanted. Apart from that, he was the wielder of the gandiva bow. The bow was also celestial. The bow passed through many hands before making its way to the Pandava prince. Brahma used the bow for a thousand years, followed by Indra for 3585 years, and then by Chandra for 500 years. Varuna then came into its possession and used it for 100 years before giving it to Arjuna. Brahma himself made the bow. At the time, he said that this powerful bow would punish those who were unfair and bad. It was such a mighty weapon that it could be used to fight one lakh enemies at the same time! The bow was so powerful that even the gods feared it. The chariot had a "Hanumaan" emblem hoisted over it. Hanuman was born to Anjana with the blessing of Vayu, the wind god. Hence, he was also called Pavanputra, meaning the son of Vayu. Even as a child, Hanuman possessed great strength. Once, young Hanuman saw the sun and assumed it to be a fruit. He decided to leap into the sky and eat the delicious fruit. Indra saw Hanuman do this, so he used his divine weapon, the Vajra, against him to stop him. Hanuman fell defenceless against the power of Vajra. When Vayu saw this, his rage knew no bounds. Holding Hanuman in his arms, he moved into a cave. The wind stopped blowing. With no air on earth, all creatures began to suffer. Alarmed by the situation, the gods approached Vayu. Learning about the incident, they showered Hanuman with boons such as immunity from all kinds of weapons and fire, good health, and immortality. Vayu himself gifted his son the speed of the wind and the ability to fly. With these boons, Hanuman was revived again, much to the happiness of his father. Lord Hanuman stands for what a good follower of God should be like, which can be shown by the letters of his name: H-Helpfulness (kindness) A-Adoration (devotion) N-Naturalness (sincerity) U-Understanding (knowledge) M-Modesty (humility) A-Allegiance (loyalty) N-Nishkama-karma (selfless work in the service of God). Thus, Arjuna was a unique warrior.

As far as leadership is concerned, he gave it to Lord Krishna. He was his brother-in-law, his dearest friend, his guru, and his charioteer. He was also an avatar of Lord Vishnu himself. He gave him the knowledge of the Gita as his guru or master. Now when we say "Gita," there are several of them in the epic Mahabharata, which are as follows:

1. Anu Gita
2. Parasar Gita
3. Pandav Gita
4. Pingala Gita
5. Bhagvat Gita
6. Boudh Gita
7. Manki Gita
8. Vichikhyu Gita
9. Vritra Gita
10. Shiv Shampak Gita
11. Hari Gita
12. Harit Gita

The Gita that Lord Krishna gave to Arjuna was the Bhagvat Gita. It is one of the most popular gitas from the epic Mahabharata. By freeing him from his ignorance, the Gita turns Arjuna into one of the best people on earth, a great warrior who is best suited to hear Lord Krishna's words, understand them, and act on them. It also points out to Bhisma's curiosity to hear what Lord Krishna is saying to Arjuna; he wishes to hear it too, making Arjuna even a greater warrior than Bhisma. Sanjaya tells Dhritrastra about the Gita, which kills any chance or hope that Dhritrastra had of winning. At the Bhagvat Gita's end, Sanjaya even says it in Chapter 18, Verse 78, "???? ????????: ?????? ???? ?????? ???????: | ???? ??????????? ?????????? ????????????? ? (Where there is Krishna, the Lord of yogas, and where there is Partha, the wielder of the bow, there is fortune, victory, prosperity, and unfailing prudence. Such is my conviction.)

He had his sights set on all the kings, chiftens, and generals who had sided with the Kauravas. He and his brothers began to target the generals of the Kauravas one by one, first Bhisma, then Drona, and lastly Karna. The Kaurava army's morale was completely broken with the fall of these mighty generals. It is said that when Yudhisthira returned to the battlefield after the fall of the mighty generals, there was no Kaurava army on the opposite side to fight him! The army ran away, leaving their camps empty, and Duryodhana, the prince of Hastinapur, went underwater to hide.

Karna was diagrammatically the opposite. His chariot was simple one with no divine protection. He had already lost his divine armour and earrings, and was also cursed by his guru, Parshurama for hiding his true identity when he was staying at his gurukula. His charioteer was the king of Madra. Every day on the battlefield, he insulted and berated him while praising his opponent, Arjuna. Lastly, his chariot wheels got stuck in the mud and no matter how much he tried, he could not get them out. All these point out the importance of competitive advantage. Both were demigods, both were skillful and both were resourceful, but there was a difference. Do you want to know what it is? It is called "competitive analysis." Arjuna did it, but Karna did not. So let us discuss the four competitive analyses one by one.

1. Future Goals: These are the end points of the business cycle, yet they define the company's behavior in the market. They also help us to learn whether our competitor is happy to be where they are. Perhaps, they want to change their strategy due to internal factors or the influence of external ones. Goals define the capacity they have to make a new move or stick to their proven ways. The following diagnostic questions will determine a competitor's present and future goals:

a. What are the stated and implied financial goals of the competitor?

b. Do they give more attention to short-term or long-term goals?

c. What is your competitor's attitude toward risks?

d. Do they want to become a leader in the industry?

e. Do they have particular values apart from getting revenue that influences their goals?

1. Assumptions: These are accepted beliefs that do not require support by evidence. These fall under two categories:

a. How your competitor sees itself

b. How they see the industry and other companies in it

Let us discuss these categories in detail.

a. How your competitor perceives itself: These assumptions are not always supported by concrete facts and statistics. Instead, they have to do with the image a company tries to project. Let me explain this category with an example. An oil producer might be investing in planting trees in Southern America, which would make them enthusiastic environmental defenders. At the same time, the company makes a profit by drilling the seabed and destroying the coral reef and underwater life in general. Thus, their main activity doesn't fit in with the image.

b. How they see the industry and other companies in it: Again, this might not reflect the reality. However, before making these types of assumptions, one must keep the following things in mind:

1. You can't always know exactly what the customer wants.
2. Advertising and communication through social media are not 100% beneficial.
3. Trends you see as long-playing might become outdated and snap
4. Customers are different and not equal.
5. Loyalty doesn't guarantee high profits

3. Current Strategy: These include policies that are both "explicit and implicit" and used to achieve company goals.

4. Capabilities: These stand for the resources, such as time, money, and intensity of a competitor's reaction to changes. Depending on its strengths and weaknesses, it will be able to react or make strategic moves to deal with environmental or industry events.

Karna had only one aim: to kill Arjuna with his valor and skills. He never entered the war to win it. He came in for name and fame, to die second best. Had he kept the competitive analysis in mind, he would not have given up his divine armor and earrings so easily. He would have fought with Bhisma, done as much damage as possible to the other side, and won the war for his friend. He never thought of his competitor's weaknesses and initiated strategic moves. Duryodhana's evil ways were always abusive to the King of Madra. He knew it, and still accepted him as his charioteer to make his friend happy. The result was that his charioteer never helped him. Instead, he abused his skills and capabilities. He never gave it a thought that he was there to help his friend win the war. Karna knew that he was cursed by his guru, but still never tried to counter the curse with a blessing. Unlike Arjuna, he made no effort to keep his chariot safe by asking the gods to protect it.

Karna's charitable habits proved fatal for him. Charity is a noble act and it should be practiced by everyone, but surely not at the time of war. Just like that "charitable habit," every business has a vulnerable point. It is very important to focus your attention on that vulnerable point. The absence of a market leader defines fragmented industries. Examples of fragmented industries are services, retail, distribution, agricultural products, etc. The industries are fragmented for various reasons:

1. Low Overall Entrance Barriers
2. High Transportation Costs
3. Local Regulations
4. Focus Activities

These factors can become vulnerable points; to neutralize them, the following steps can be taken:

1. Neutralize the aspects most responsible for fragmentation: Sometimes it is one or several areas that cause industry fragmentation. The solution is to separate those aspects from the rest of the business
2. Recognize industry trends early: Sometimes industries consolidate naturally as they mature, mainly if the primary source of fragmentation was the newness of the industry, or exogenous industry trends can lead to consolidation by alternating the causes of fragmentation.
3. Standardize diverse market needs: Product or marketing innovations can do that. Instead of adapting to different market segments' needs, choose to bring them closer to one standard. In other words, custom variety
4. Create Economies of Scale or Experience Curves: If technological changes lead to economies of scale, consolidation can occur. Economies of scale created in one segment of a business can outweigh diseconomies in another.

There are several problems that constrict industrial development. Among them, the inability to get raw materials and parts, a time when raw material prices went up quickly, the lack of infrastructure, and customers' confusion stand out. Even if a new industry seems risky, there are ways to make things better and even get ahead of the competition. If you are the first one to enter the playing field, try to be the first one to establish your brand name on the market. Another way is to influence the industry by having it follow your rules. This can be achieved only if your marketing and pricing strategy are hard to beat. Sometimes emerging businesses have to compete against strategies that they are not fond of. But once you have a solid base, you can improve and change your strategy. One way is by shifting mobility barriers and changing suppliers' and channels' roles.

Too much optimism should be avoided. The study was reported in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The study found that spouses whose dispositional optimism, which is a stable personality trait, was higher were less likely to have their marriage get worse in the first year. They also took a more positive approach to resolving conflicts, such as trying to define a common goal and brainstorming ways to work toward it. Spouses with more relationship-specific optimism, on the other hand, saw their marriages get worse and did more negative things to solve problems, like avoiding hard conversations or trying to control their own wants. The researchers think that having too high of hopes for a relationship can lead to disappointment when even small problems arise and make it less likely that a couple will work together to solve problems. It is what is called "toxic positivity." When a positive attitude becomes so toxic that it blocks out all other feelings, we need to admit that insisting on being positive can be harmful in many ways, especially for people like "Karna" who are vulnerable.

Karna gives a message to the vulnerable businesses that in the flow of optimistic energy they should not forget that with time, the demand for certain products and services becomes weaker and might disappear for the following reasons:

1. Technological Substitution: Imagine that you were a typewriter manufacturer for many years, but then personal computers started flooding the market. Your product might be right for antique collectors
2. Demographics: The population worldwide is aging , and this trend will continue in the future. The purchasing power of retirees tends to be lower. Here, it should be noted that geography is also important. For example, when thinking of selling gadgets, target areas populated by the millennials and younger generations.
3. Shift in needs: This may occur due to different factors. For instance, wars, revolutions, and other kinds of armed conflicts increase the demand for weapons, whereas pandemics require the means of personal protection. Situations of decline are not always a cause for condemnation. Companies often resort to disinvestment and harvest as strategies to reduce costs and expenditures.
4. Leadership: The industry is declining, but there is still a demand for what it has to offer. Your company might be the last one or among the few still working in the industry. To get rid of your competitors, you can either purchase their market share or invest extensively in strategies that increase your own market share.
5. Niche: Niche can be described as a "demand pocket" for your business, and you should put whatever efforts and tactics you have into retaining it.
6. Harvest: To optimize cash flows try eliminating new investment, lowering the maintenance of facilities, and investing money into areas that are most likely to bring profit.

The Karna story sends another strong message to the business world. In other words, it's time to stop telling people to avoid competition in the name of "looking on the bright side." It is not only that the epics say so. Academics and researchers like Bell Hooks and Barbara Ehrenreich have already criticized the pursuit of happiness and positivity. They have pointed out just how damaging these attitudes can be, both for individuals and for marginalized communities. Even American psychologist William James had already sounded alarm bells way back in the 19th century.

Thus, my advice would be that businesses should understand that positivity can become toxic even if someone has the best intentions. Good intentions matter, but what matters more than that is the impact. So businesses dealing with serious, life-changing problems should avoid saying lines like, "Try to be grateful for what you have." Or, "Everything happens for a reason." Because you never know, you might be giving up your competitive advantage in the name of toxic positivity and losing the war!

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