“The heart and soul of strategy are the auctions and moves in the marketplace that managers are taking to improve the company’s financial performance, strenghten its longterm competitive position, and gain a competitive edge over rivals.  A creative, distinctive strategy that sets a company apart from rivals and yields a competitive advantage is a company’s most reliable tickets for earning above average profits. Competing in the marketplace with a competitive advantage tends to be more profitable than competing with no advantage.” …Companies tend to pursue a sustainable compatitive advantage (SCA) rather than a temporary one. Thus, a longterm above average result (as a consequence of gaining a SCA) is ahieved when actions and elements of strategy cause a preference of a company’s products or services over the offerings of competitors by an atractive number of buyers for a long time.

(Source: Thompson et al., 2010: 7)