The analysis: discovering and maximizing opportunities.

The Evaluation

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The Business Accelerator Teams evaluation focuses on two dimensions when examining any business activity. By looking at whether an activity is mission critical and/or creates market differentiation determines what activities can be improved, ignored or sustained.

Most business activities are critical to the mission but don't create any market differentiation. While these activities should be done well, the company doesn't directly benefit by doing these activities differently than other companies. The goal for this type of activity is to simply meet the market by standardizing, simplifying and implementing proven best practices.

Activities that provide market differentiation without being mission critical should not be a high priority for the company. However, there could be opportunities to partner with someone that would create differentiation. Activities that are neither market differentiating nor mission critical do not get time or attention in the evaluation.

The key is to find activities that are both mission critical and market differentiating. Those activities are the ones a business should be doing belter than any other company in the market. By doing better, the business creates a sustainable competitive advantage.

That kind of advantage leads to growth and increased market share, so should be the focus of company creativity. This evaluation process was used in planning with Apex Logistics Group to determine how to create its competitive advantage.

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Apex Logistics Group has built a successful business model focusing on full-truckload transportation logistics. Though the company has experienced steady growth since its launch, its executive team anticipates its growth will slow to 15-20 percent during 2012. And without examining, understanding and exploiting future opportunities, the company is headed toward stagnation.

Defining the Competitive Advantage

The Business Accelerator Team began the analysis process by first identifying areas in which Apex Logistics Group has a competitive advantage. To define (his area, (he learn asked and answered (he following question:

1: Who does Apex Logistics Group serve?

Organizations that need to ship full-truckloads of high-value materials.

2: What do these organizations need and want most?

On-time pickup ant! delivery.

To manage their numerous dependencies by knowing exactly when pick-up and deliver will take place.

A relationship of...