Wal-Mart's road to success was built on a set of strategic business decisions that transformed it into a capabilities-based competitor. Wal-Mart defined its goals as quality, delivery and price effectiveness; it could achieve these by making inventory replenishment the pivot of its competitive strategy.

Xerox invented xerography and opened up the office copier market. But by 1982, Canon introduced more than 90 models and cut Xerox's share of the market by half.

Elgin Corrugated Box Company from Illinois does not consider its boxes as mere commodities. Elgin added value to its products at every step of the production process (e.g. printing ink, flute corrugation), and gained a clear advantage in an otherwise dying industry.

Recognising a potential in global operations, airlines around the world are seeking closer tie-ups with one another to gain economies of scale. Some examples:

• Lufthansa with Air France
• Singapore Airlines with Swissair and Delta
• Alitalia with Iberia and US Air

These are just a few of the many airline alliances that are emerging around the globe every day.

The relationship between the USA and Mexico typifies capitalizing on geographical advantages towards export business growth. The availability of an industrially disciplined and low-cost labour force, combined with a desire to increase exports, prompted Mexico to set up its maquiladora programme in 1965. This programme enjoys preferential tax treatment from the USA as well as privileges in Mexico, such as 100% foreign equity ownership. Known also as twin plants or in-bond manufacturing, it permits manufacturers to import into Mexico raw materials, components and machinery free of import duty, provided most of the output is exported. Similar zones also exist in various Asian countries.