deals with the specifics of management's game plan for competing successfully--how it intends to strengthen the company's market position and achieve a particular kind of competitive advantage, what offensive and defensive moves management plans to use to counter the maneuvers of rivals, how management intends to respond to shifting market conditions, and what the company intends to do to please customers. concerns the specific types of functional area and operating strategies it will employ to defend against the five competitive forces, insulate itself from the industry's driving forces, and excel on the industry's key success factors. is defined by the various competitive weapons it plans to employ and how it plans to use them in growing its revenues and after-tax profits. concerns the specific actions the company is taking to either fortify its position in its present strategic group or to change from one strategic group to another. concerns the initiatives it plans to take to achieve its strategic intent, move along the strategic course that top management has charted, and deliver on its customer value proposition and profit proposition