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Here, playing rational strategies against an irrational opponent may simply degenerate to an exercise in frustration. Moves that should rationally initiate cooperation may be overlooked or incorrectly responded to, with, paradoxically, the naïve player being left with the advantage.

The simplest view is that positional advantagw can be achiebed either by /differentiation/ through providing superior customer value or by achiebing the /lowest delicery cost/.

Vigorous growth generally enhances market attractiveness, because demand may exceed supply and diminish the pressure on prices. Meanwhile, the rivals in the market are preoccupied wirh building capacity to meet demand and are less likely to react to losses in their share.

In mature markets, in particular, competition is, at best, a zero-sum game, where one firm gains at the expense of the others. The more intense the rivalry, the more likely it will deteriorate into a negative-sum game in which the process of competition imposes costs on all the players.