Henley: Business school to host 'Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage'

Henley Business School will run a panel on Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage on February 20, starting at 6pm. The venue will be the Henley Business School building, Lecture Theatre G15, at the University of Reading Whiteknights campus. 

The topic is one that every SME needs to understand and master in order to grow, in that the success of a business depends on its competitive advantage. A business with a competitive advantage is in a good position, but the hard part and the key to long-term success is sustaining that initial advantage, since the initial advantage is not sufficient to build a successful business long term. This is because imitators both from existing competitors and new entrants appear quickly in most industries so initial advantages can disappear in a heartbeat.
 
Research points to an initial advantage being sustainable when there is intellectual property such as patents, trade secrets and other IP; when there are superior organisation processes, capabilities and resources; and, most importantly, when the business model is economically viable so that the business will generate and not run out of cash.
 
Business leaders have been invited to join the panel to share their experience of building a competitive advantage and answer questions. 
 
The panel will feature Chris Rauch, CCO of Fairsail; Claire Hewitt, MD of PCG System Solutions; David Courtier-Dutton, founder and CEO of Soundout; and Dr Jamie Wilson, founder and CEO of HomeTouch.

The event is free and refreshments will be provided.