thanks for this weeks post. Great job breaking down the four pillars of Porter's generic strategies for competitive advantage. Differentiation is how a business sets themselves apart from its competitors without a price war. I liked the gas station scenario in are lesson and believe it gave me a better understanding of differentiation. I believe differentiation is as valuable if not more valuable of a concept than cost focus. Though cost focus is the ability to have lower prices, differentiation makes a business memorable more attractive. I am not counting out the importance of competitive prices, especially in today's economy, but differentiation keeps customers coming back. Do you agree? Many larger organization in the US have focused on cost leadership and moved manufacturing overseas as you mentioned, but with tensions rising around the world there may come a time when that strategy is no longer an option. Thoughts? Thanks again for the post and explaining the generic competitive advantage strategies.