Know: ‘timing is everything.’

parts inventory and pilot training costs; it sells only economy
class and doesn’t give seat assignments; it doesn’t serve food;
it doesn’t move baggage to other carriers; and so on. The net
results are that Southwest can take off after landing in 20 min-
utes compared to the average of 60 minutes for competitors,
and its equipment is in the air longer and yields a higher re-
turn on its investment.
• IKEA, the world’s largest furniture retailer, searches for low-
cost real estate in a major city, builds a giant store with a
restaurant and day care center, sells good quality furniture at a
lower price that customers take home in their cars and put to-
gether, offers membership privileges leading to even lower
prices, and in a dozen ways remains hard to copy by any
would-be imitators.
• Harley Davidson not only sells motorcycles but provides entry
into a social community that rides together, has races, and
shares the Harley Davidson lifestyle with its HD leather jack-
ets and clothing, watches, pens, watches, and restaurants.
Companies have a unique strategy when (1) they have defined
a clear target market and need, (2) developed a distinctive and
winning value proposition for that market, and (3) arranged a 
distinctive supply network to deliver the value proposition to the
target market. Nirmalya Kumar calls this the 3Vs: value target,
value proposition, and value network. Such companies cannot easily
be copied because of the unique fit of their business processes and
activities.
Companies that forge a unique way of doing business gain
lower costs, higher prices, or both. While their competitors increas-