Abstract
M.Comm.
Kotler (1997:53) defines competitive advantage as " ...acompany's ability to perform in one or more ways that competitors cannot or will not match". Companies strive to build sustainable competitive advantages. Those that succeed deliver high customer value and satisfaction, which lead to high repeat purchases and therefore high company profitability. Competitive positioning is important and crucial in the rapid changing environment wherein organisations find themselves. Differentiation of service or product is ofutmost importance to satisfy current clientele and to draw new business. Any organisation unable to differentiate to offer something unique finds itself part of a vast majority of "middle-of-the-road" organisations on the road to nowhere, even ifgeneral quality ofservice and productis acceptable.
The study is aimed at developing a model by which a competitive advantage can be gained and sustained in an optometric practice. Different ways of gaining and sustaining competitive advantage is explored through current literature review in order to establish and develop the suggested model. Quantitative research was done in the greater Gauteng region by means of a mail survey to a random sample of optometrists. Two hundred and fifty questionnaires were sent out with a 19,2% response rate.
The highest conformity amongst respondents is given to the Employee dimension with the least conformity given towards the Market dimension. Respondents thus value the Employee dimension as the most important factor in gaining competitive advantage. It is suggested that Porter's Value Chain be altered to have Human Resource Management forming the foundation ofthe value adding activities. Human Resource Management thus plays the most important role in adding value as it is utilised as medium through which value is passed on to clients. This view is in contrast with Porter's where Human Resource Management only served as a supporting function.