The Changing Pattern of Competitive Behavior

Determinants of competitive behavior are changing and competition will never be the same again. Powerful forces are changing the very shape of the "theatre" where competition is taking place and inducing a profound reconfiguration of the terrain. Capital markets are changing in scale, products, reach and risk. Corporate strategies are changing in focus and behavior. Globalization is changing in scope, impact and conviction. Poverty is assuming new magnitude. Finance is having new economics. Capitalist institutions are changing in shape profile and function. All in all the placid leisurely pace of competitive forces that we have once known is assuming new forms and a threatening dimension. These changes will have profound impact on the relationship between competing firms as we have once known it. And this is the focus of this article. The article explores the emerging forces of competitive behavior and explores their immediate implications. It further suggests that the combined forces of change from the capital market and the new economics of finance to the rise of China, the increase in decoupling and the increase in industry concentration will all lead to a decline in the influence of buyers, sellers, new entrants and substitutes and the rise of the influence of rivalry. And rivalry, within a highly concentrated industry will pave the way to Nash equilibrium where mutual distrust and prevails.