Competitive Strategies and Managers' Perceptions in Greek Food Manufacturing Firms

The objective of this study is to investigate the perceptions of Greek managers towards competitive advantages in case of Greek food manufacturing industry. According Porter: "there are many sources of competitive advantage: making the highest-quality product, providing superior customer service, achieving lower costs than rivals, having a more convenient geographic location, designing a product that performs better than competing brands, making a more reliable and longer-lasting product, and providing buyers more value for the money. To succeed in building a competitive advantage, a firm must try to provide what buyers will perceive as "superior value"-either a good product at a low price or a "better" product that is worth paying more for". In order to achieve the above research aims, we administered a survey to 161 Greek managers of Greek food manufacturing firms, during the period January-September 2014. According to our results making the highest-quality product, designing new products and creating unique value for customers, having a more convenient geographic location and having advantage of production specialization are the main sources of Greek food and beverage firms' competitive advantage. Implications for research and practice are discussed.