The New Logic of Competition
Article

The New Logic of Competition

Winning the ’20s

Ryoji Kimura, Martin Reeves and Kevin Whitaker
Boston Consulting Group, 2019
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This installment of the Boston Consulting Group’s comprehensive Winning the ’20s series shines a light on the changing rules of competition. Learn which five competitive strategies will elevate the decade’s top companies, as well as some helpful tips for applying each strategy at your firm.

Summary

Thriving in the 2020s requires new competitive strategies, starting with competing on learning.

Coming out on top in the 2020s requires new competitive strategies, and accelerated company learning should be first. Outdated learning models posited that important knowledge, such as how to create a product or improve a process, was immutable. But forward-looking business leaders know better. “Dynamic learning,” including learning how to learn and develop new competencies, is crucial.

Artificial Intelligence and other advancing tech create improved opportunities for learning, but firms will compete on how fast they can learn, discover and adapt. The swiftest firms will offer superior products and services, meaning they’ll gather more customers – and more customer data. In turn, the data will strengthen their learning power. This self-reinforcing effect is the “data flywheel” that ...

About the Authors

Ryoji Kimura and Martin Reeves are senior partners with the Boston Consulting Group (BCG). Kevin Whitaker is an economist at the BCG Henderson Institute.

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