Competitive Action

A competitive situation is a separate episode of competition that is part of tactical competition . The tactical period of participation in the competition is a kaleidoscope of successive competitive situations, each of which is its internal episode. In them, market participants clash with each other, evaluate each other, mobilize and use the available potential to carry out tactical tasks, show competitive strength, overcome their own mistakes, look for a way out of the impasse, reap the fruits of their own successes or failures, prepare for new tactical periods of participation in the competition and new competitive operations, reflecting on the experience gained. ^[one]

The variety of competitive situations that make up the tactical periods of participation in the competition can be reduced to three enlarged groups. This allows you to bring the following classification of competitive situations, distinguish:

• debut (starting) competitive situations;
• competitive situations mid-tactical periods of participation in competition;
• competitive situations that complete tactical operations.

To determine competitive situations, it is sometimes proposed to use the terminology used in chess, namely: debut, middlegame, endgame. The debut is the beginning of tactical operations, the middlegame is their middle, the endgame is the end ^[2] .

Each group of competitive situations performs a specific function, and rivals put forward their specific tasks to participate in it.

Debut competitive situations - situations of the first direct collision of rivals. They open tactical operations in competition. This is the beginning of the tactics of competitive actions of the parties in accordance with operational scenarios.

Competitive situations in the middle of the tactical periods of participation in the competition (middlegame situation - the word “middlegame” means the middle of the game in German) is formed in the main part of the defining periods of tactical rivalry.

The end of any tactical operation is the final competitive situation (endgame situation). Their absence can be observed only in cases of artificial interruption of tactical periods of participation in the competition at the will of one of the parties to the rivalry.

Such an interruption cannot be considered the best way for entrepreneurs to participate in competition. The best way is for the rival parties to naturally complete the tactical periods of participation in the competition through their passage through endgame situations.

Competitive situations can be bilateral or multilateral. They cannot be one-sided, even if market participants have not been in contact with anyone for a long time.

Therefore, by making tactical competitive operations, tactical rivals are successively moving from the previous competitive situation to the next and are also made by rivals in situations - situational rivals ^[3] .

In competitive situations, at least two situational rivals are involved. If there are only two, competitive situations are recognized as bilateral. But, as a rule, business entities are participants in multilateral competitive situations.

The rivalry of any two market participants unfolds among their common environment: potential counterparties, partners, competitors, public authorities and administrations that have a tangible impact on their interaction in the tactical periods of competition, even when it seems to them that they are directly competing “one on one”. Situational competitive environment is formed by many aspects of competitive situations.

Often, situational rivals are called partners in a competitive situation.

The content of all competitive situations is affected not only by the tactics of competitive actions used by market participants, but also by the conjuncture of a particular competitive situation. Using the concept of "conjuncture" (from the Latin. Conjungo - I connect, I connect) in the economy, a specific situation or a set of conditions that have developed due to a combination of circumstances is determined.

The conjuncture of competitive situations (or competitive conjuncture) characterizes the actual alignment (balance) of the competitive forces during the time the situation continues, the specific degree of severity of the conflict of interests of the parties, the prospects for reaching an agreement or aggravation of the conflict of situational rivals.

The actual competitive situation may have slight or significant differences from tactical forecasts.

As a rule, they depend on the actual existing competitive potential of the parties, the degree of qualification of the rivals in the performance of competitive actions, force majeure and unforeseen circumstances. The competitive environment characterizes the actual filling of each situation with the prevailing circumstances and actions of competitors, which is always taken into account by experienced market participants.

The actual alignment or balance of forces of participants in competitive situations is reflected in situational competitive dispositions of the parties (patterns of their mutual arrangement on the fields of competition in a particular competitive situation).

The relative symmetry of the parties is a prerequisite for their mutual benefit and a source of comparative smoothing of the conflict of interest. Its absence becomes a prerequisite for a growing conflict of interests of situational rivals.

In fact, the emerging situational competitive dispositions are recognized by market participants as relatively predictable or as random (relatively unpredictable).

Relatively predictable are situational competitive dispositions of the parties that correspond to the tactical plans of market participants and are based on a stable or predictably changing balance of power between them. As a rule, if the balance of power during the tactical period remains unchanged or its change develops under the influence of the forecasted circumstances, the content of certain situations as a whole corresponds to the existing expectations.

The dispositions of the sides of competitive situations may, under the influence of the conjuncture of these situations, look random (relatively unpredictable) for one of their sides or for all sides at once. Situational dispositions of the parties are recognized as random for market participants if their tactical forecasts “do not fall” into the emerging alignment of forces.

The factor of randomness also constantly haunts market participants due to the relative uncertainty of market relations, the lack of comprehensive information about needs and supply, and the presence of various risks.

The desire of market participants to win or not lose competitive situations in conditions of not always fully predicted situational competitive dispositions forces them to recognize competitive situations as simple to manage or difficult to manage.

Competitive situations in which market participants look stronger than their rivals are simple to manage; competitive situations in which they look weaker than their rivals are difficult to manage.

Competitive situations that are easy to manage are interpreted by the participants as initially promising with a predictable natural beginning and a predictable outcome.

Competitive situations, which dispositions have developed contrary to their initial intentions, usually look difficult to manage.

To successfully solve situational problems, market participants have to act without a lot of time to think.

The content of situational solutions to the tasks set out in the form of working schemes of competitive actions in the situation.

Work schemes should contain a brief description of the procedure for performing competitive actions on the situation and their combination in the outlined framework of tactical competitive operations, as well as fixing the start and end time of competitive situations.

The purpose of the working schemes of competitive actions according to the situation is to provide market participants with strong and high-quality actions “according to the situation” according to tactical plans and technical regulations for conducting competitive operations in order to win and / or prevent the loss of competitive situations in the conditions of their current situation.

The working patterns of competitive actions in a situation change due to a change in the balance of power between situational rivals.

Therefore, they can be of a single character (drawn up only once - a single working scheme) or multiple (constantly reproduced in the process of interaction of the same parties - a multiple working scheme).

In the process of drafting and applying working schemes of actions “according to the situation”, it is important for market participants not to forget that despite the short-term and transient nature of competitive situations, the implementation of working schemes of actions according to the situation becomes objects of planning, stimulation and control for market participants. Every action according to the situation, every time interval of rivalry, calculated even in hours and minutes, should be planned. Managers and ordinary employees can be encouraged for the successful implementation of work schemes for the situation and for useful initiatives that are manifested as competitive situations develop.

The implementation by market participants of work schemes and their quality are also objects of internal control, continuous monitoring and examination by market participants. The objects of control, monitoring and examination are also competitive actions on the situation undertaken by rivals.

The monitoring results are interpreted due to the expertise - situational analysis, diagnosis and evaluation. A constant assessment of the competitive environment, the actions of competitors in the price, commodity, production, marketing, and information spaces is necessary. Diagnostics of competitive situations allows market participants to build their own offensive, defense and other tactical initiatives in advance, as well as carefully prepare for probable answers ^[2] .

Due to the fact that the actual balance of power between situational rivals may not coincide with tactical calculations, the actions of market participants in the situation acquire signs of maneuverability.

Situational maneuvers - competitive actions performed by market participants on the situation in the context of changing lists of situational tasks, expected results, composition of resources used and tactical competitive operations. With the help of situational maneuvers, market participants expect to control competitive situations, the conjuncture of which has developed favorably for them, and to change the unfavorable conjuncture of other competitive situations, deploying them to their advantage and subjugating the situational actions of rivals.

Situational maneuvering is an integral part of tactical maneuvering. The higher the speed or the degree of suddenness of applying situational maneuvers, the higher the probability of not only winning the situation, but also the successful completion of the entire period of tactical interaction between the parties.

Market participants fall into certain situations insofar as they act tactically, are participants in tactical relations with rivals. Therefore, situational fuss becomes an integral part of their implementation of tactical models of competitive actions. They “spin” not because their desires are of a momentary nature, but because their tactical victories are formed from situational successes.

The main task of the situational maneuvering of market participants is to present them with surprises and rivals to their rivals in order to avoid losing and (or) for the sake of securing a win in the conditions of a variable alignment of forces. With the help of situational maneuvers, market participants try to complicate the perception of competitive situations by rivals and thereby simplify their own perception of them.

Any competitive situation is fraught with unexpected dangers and risks.

In an effort to get ahead of rivals, each market participant must be constantly prepared for the fact that any competitive situation may turn out to be unexpected for him and therefore more difficult.

Management of situational maneuvers is included in the arsenal of situational management of competitive actions of market participants due to homework, situational creativity, or both at the same time.

Home procurement of situational maneuvers are provided by business entities in operational scenarios of participation in competition as tactical alternatives and are included in the working schemes of competitive actions for the situation.

They are designed primarily to avoid excessive risks arising from changes in competitive conditions. Unforeseen changes in the alignment of competitive forces have to be insured for the sake of providing guarantees of winning situations.

However, the purpose of any homework is not only to insure yourself against possible risks, but also to take risks, try to get ahead of your opponents, put them in a position where they take more risks and are not ready to oppose the prepared surprises. Therefore, home-made workplaces, being included in situational work schemes, are called upon to reduce the negative consequences of unfavorable competitive conditions and strengthen the competitive forces arrangement favorable for market participants.

If homework is provided for in operational scenarios, this means that market participants have timely prepared situational surprises for their rivals, which, if successfully applied, will be an unpleasant surprise for them.

Often, competitive situations develop in such a way that homework can not help. Then market participants have to turn to situational creativity. Situational creativity involves the invention, inventing or thinking up of certain actions according to the situation directly in the course of tactical operations. In it, they can fully demonstrate their creative resources, entrepreneurial talent, inspiration and creativity.

Situational creativity is usually an effective and effective addition to homework. With its help, market participants can maneuver the situation without any prior preparation. In addition, situational creativity often becomes a way of timely and successful use of homework in competitive situations.

Any homework, situational creativity products are developed by market participants for the sake of gaining advantages over rivals, for which competitive situations should turn out to be more unexpected than for the developers themselves ^[2] .