Assignment: Competitive Advantage

You are a marketing consultant to Tim's Coffee Shoppe. A way for Tim's Coffee Shoppe to determine the advantages (or weaknesses) Tim's has as compared to their competitors' is through doing a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM). When you identify Tim's key success factors, you can weigh them according to the strength/weakness compared to the competitors.

Step1: Do a partial SWOT analysis by concentrating on the internal strengths and weaknesses at Tim's (based on your practice in the Learning Activity in this unit) versus what would be Tim's competition if Tim's was located in your nearest town.

Step 2: You are a marketing consultant to Tim's Coffee Shoppe. A way for Tim's Coffee Shoppe to determine the advantages (or weaknesses) Tim's has as compared to their competitors is through doing a Competitive Profile Matrix (CPM). When you identify Tim's key success factors, you can weigh them according to the strength/weakness as compared to the competitors. You can set any weight you wish, but a simple one is:

1 - Major weakness
2 - Minor weakness
3 - Minor strength
4 - Major strength

Key success factors can be identified for the business. They can include things such as the quality, location, brand recognition, profitability, product, the staff, etc. In the matrix, you will list these factors and rate the strength of each one in Tim's business as well as his primary competitors. See the example below. Each coffee shop was ranked first, second or third in each of the factors that may or may not affect their competitive advantage.