Delivering Unique Value and Business-Level Strategy
This program examines how organizations create, strengthen, and sustain competitive advantage through strategic positioning, differentiation, and innovation. Participants explore how unique value is generated from cost leadership or differentiation and how strategic trade-offs determine relative performance. Through value chain and resource-based perspectives, participants analyze how activities, resources, and capabilities, especially distinctive competencies, contribute to enduring advantage. The program introduces frameworks such as Porter’s Generic Strategies, Blue Ocean Strategy, and the VRIO model to connect sources of advantage with long-term sustainability. Participants also learn how market segmentation, pricing, and innovation serve as strategic levers and how industry dynamics, barriers to imitation, and competitor capabilities influence advantage durability. By integrating these concepts, participants develop the ability to evaluate organizational positioning, anticipate competitive shifts, and recommend strategies that balance operational efficiency with strategic renewal for lasting success.
Learning Objectives:
- Define competitive advantage, core competencies, and business-level strategies.
- Explain how differentiation, cost leadership, and focus strategies shape market positioning and value creation.
- Use value chain analysis and Porter’s frameworks to identify sources of competitive advantage in given scenarios.
- Evaluate how pricing, innovation, and segmentation strategies influence competitive dynamics and profitability.
- Assess the sustainability of an organization’s advantage relative to industry structure and life-cycle stage.
- Integrate multiple strategic concepts to formulate a coherent business-level strategy that enhances long-term competitive performance.
| When: |
Sunday, January 18th, 2025. 10:00 AM to 12:00 PM EST |
| Where: |
Your home or office |
| Speaker: |
William Kline, Ph.D., CFA, CSCA |
| CPE Credits: |
2 Business Management and Organization CPE |
| CLE Credits: |
2 Substantive CLE |
| Program Level: |
Basic |
| Prerequisites: |
None |
| Advanced Preparation: |
None |
| Delivery Method: |
Group Internet-Based |
The Presenters:
William Kline, Ph.D., CFA, CSCA, is an Assistant Professor of Management at Pennsylvania State University - Harrisburg. He received his Ph.D. in Strategic Management from the Fox School of Business at Temple University. He has received four awards for teaching excellence including the Beta Gamma Sigma Professor of the Year Award (PSU – Harrisburg), the Dean’s Award for Faculty Excellence and Stanley Fuchs Award (Fordham University), and the Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Doctoral Candidate (Temple University).
Dr. Kline’s primary research interests include strategic decision-making and executive compensation. He has been published in 9 peer-reviewed journals including the Academy of Management Perspectives, the Journal of International Management, and the Journal of Strategy & Management.
Prior to entering academia, Mr. Kline was a manager at PricewaterhouseCoopers where he completed valuations for mergers and acquisitions, business planning, as well as tax and financial reporting. Mr. Kline also spent time consulting at CBIZ Valuation Group, Inc. and Curtis Financial Group, a regional investment bank.
About CPE/CLE:
The ALA issues CLE credits as an accredited provider of CLE in Pennsylvania (PA CLE Provider # 5963). For additional information, please visit http://www.pacle.org/. It is the responsibility of each attorney to determine whether their state accepts CLE credits from a Pennsylvania-accredited provider. Acceptance of these credits varies by jurisdiction, and state-specific requirements may apply. Attorneys are encouraged to review their state’s CLE rules and regulations, including reciprocity policies, credit approval processes, and any submission requirements for out-of-state programs. The Accountant-Lawyer Alliance cannot guarantee CLE credit approval outside of Pennsylvania. For further guidance, please contact your state’s CLE regulatory body.
The Accountant-Lawyer Alliance, LLC is registered with the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy (NASBA), as a sponsor of continuing professional education on the National Registry of CPE Sponsors. State boards of accountancy have final authority on the acceptance of individual courses for CPE credit. Complaints regarding registered sponsors may be addressed to the National Registry of CPE Sponsors, 150 Fourth Avenue North, Suite 700, Nashville, TN, 37219-2417. Web site:www.nasba.org.
