Valuable, Rare and Inimitable

Sticking to your "game plan" sounds very simple but is not easy to accomplish, as we observed in the penalty shootout in Euro 2020.?

A competitor might be distracted from the plan by internal doubts or often external pressures from other stakeholders. In financial markets,?errors often result from a fear of missing out ("FOMO").?

How often have CEOs of major public corporations succumbed to the pressure of analysts, which then drives short-term decision-making, even if it is misaligned with the long-term corporate goals??

A common temptation for corporate leaders is to enter markets where the firm has no comparative advantage. For a short period the strategy may even seem to work but as Porter might argue, the end result is predictable failure, unless the firm can find a way to overcome the competitive forces working against it - especially in industries where competitive rivalry is high, such as banking.

It is noteworthy then to see firms such as UniCredit staying focused on their?competitive edge. The bank is a giant in Western, Central and Eastern Europe and has a simple strategy of being a leader pan-Europe. This makes sense because the firm genuinely enjoys a comparative advantage over competitors given?its?significant geographical presence.?

It is probably not surprising given the theory, that UniCredit won so many awards in the recent Euromoney surveys including Western Europe’s ‘Best Bank for Transaction Services’ and Central and Eastern Europe’s ‘Best Bank for Advisory’ and "Best in Service for CEMEA Foreign Exchange" at the 2021 Euromoney Awards for Excellence.?All these awards centred around the firm's comparative edge. The lesson is simple: play to your strengths, and stick to your game plan!?

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