Risk & Business Magazine Benson Kearley IFG Fall 2015 | Page 9

Competitive Advantage
Juggling Six Balls

BY: VERNE HARNISH AND ANDY BUYTING

F

our times the revenue growth, twelve
times the stock performance, and
over 700 times the profit growth over an
eleven year period.
What competitive advantage led to
this huge margin in performance of
one group of companies over another
in similar industries? In a landmark
study of over 200 firms by Harvard
professors John Kotter and James
Heskett, it was found that companies
which equally focus on three key
stakeholders (customers, employees,
and shareholders) dramatically
outperform companies which
emphasize one over the others.

competitive disadvantage over those
firms that see and treat all three key
relationships as equally important.
People/Rela ѥ