Competition
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Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of
achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological
imperative such as survival. Competition is a term widely used in several
fields, including biochemistry, ecology, economics, business, politics, and
sports. Competition may be between two or more forces, life forms, agents,
systems, individuals, or groups, depending on the context in which the term
is used.
Competition may yield various results to the participants, including both
intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Some, such as survival advantages,
including favorable territory, are intrinsic biological factors that occur
as a result of ecological competition between organisms. Others, such as
competition in business and politics, involve competition between humans. In
addition, extrinsic symbols, such as trophies, plaques, ribbons, prizes, or
laudations, may be given to the winner(s). Such symbolic rewards are
commonly used wherever the rewards inherent in the competition are primarily
intrinsic, such as at human sporting and academic competitions. In general,
the rewards range widely but usually help reinforce the advantage that one
participant has over the other participant(s).
Contents
* 1 Sizes and levels of competition
* 2 Consequences of competition
* 3 Competition in different fields
* 3.1 Economics and business competition
* 3.2 Competition in politics
* 3.3 Sports competition
* 3.4 Competition in education
* 3.5 Competition in biology and ecology
* 4 The study of competition
* 4.1 Competitiveness
* 5 See also
* 6 Further reading
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Sizes and levels of competition
Competition may also exist at different sizes; some competitions may be
between two members of a species, while other competitions can involve
entire species. In an example in economics, a competition between two local
stores would be considered small compared to competition between several
mega-giants. As a result, the consequences of the competition would also
vary- the larger the competition, the larger the effect.
In addition, the level of competition can also vary. At some levels,
competition can be informal and be more for pride or fun. However, other
competitions can be extreme and bitter; for example, some human wars have
erupted because of the intense competition between two nations or
nationalities.
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Consequences of competition
Competition can result in both beneficial and detrimental results. A common
view of evolution is that inter-species and intra-species competition is the
driving force of adaptation and ultimately, evolution. However, some
biologists, most famously Richard Dawkins, prefer to think of evolution in
terms of competition between single genes, which have the welfare of the
organism 'in mind' only insofar as that welfare furthers their own selfish
drives for replication. If this is so, then competition in the context of
evolution may not be beneficial to humans. Social darwinists claim that
competition also serves as a mechanism for determining the best-suited
group, politically, economically, and ecologically; however, this belief is
very questionable.
However, competition can also have negative consequences, particularly on
the human species. Potential detrimental effects include the injury of other
organisms and the drain of valuable resources and energy for competition. In
addition, human competition may also require large amounts of money (such as
in political elections, international sports competitions, and advertising
wars) and can also lead to the compromising of ethical standards in order to
gain an advantage in the competition. For example, several athletes have
been caught using banned steroids in professional sports in order to boost
their own chances of success or victory. Finally, competitive striving can
also be harmful for the participants. Examples include athletes that injure
themselves because they exceed the physical tolerances of their bodies, and
companies that pursue unprofitable paths while engaging in competitive
rivalries.
[edit]
Competition in different fields
[edit]
Economics and business competition
Merriam-Webster defines competition in business as "the effort of two or
more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by
offering the most favorable terms." [1]
<http://m-w.com/dictionary/competition> Seen as the pillar of capitalism in
that it may stimulate innovation, encourage efficiency, or drive down
prices, competition is touted as the foundation upon which capitalism is
justified. According to microeconomic theory, no system of resource
allocation is more efficient than pure competition. Competition, according
to the theory, causes commercial firms to develop new products, services,
and technologies. This gives consumers greater selection and better
products. The greater selection typically causes lower prices for the
products compared to what the price would be if there was no competition
(monopoly) or little competition (oligopoly).
However, competition may also lead to wasted (duplicated) effort and to
increased costs (and prices) in some circumstances. Similarly, the
psychological effects of competition may result in harm to those involved.
Three levels of economic competition have been classified. The most narrow
form is direct competition (also called category competition or brand
competition), where products that perform the same function compete against
each other. For example, a brand of pick-up trucks competes with several
different brands of pick-up trucks. Sometimes two companies are rivals and
one adds new products to their line so that each company distributes the
same thing and they compete. The next form is substitute competition, where
products that are close substitutes for one another compete. For example,
butter competes with margarine, mayonnaise, and other various sauces and
spreads. The broadest form of competition is typically called budget
competition. Included in this category is anything that the consumer might
want to spend their available money on. For example, a family that has
$20,000 available may choose to spend it on many different items, which can
all be seen as competing with each other for the family's available money.
Competition does not necessarily have to be between companies. For example,
business writers sometimes refer to "internal competition". This is
competition within companies. The idea was first introduced by Alfred Sloan
at General Motors in the 1920s. Sloan deliberately created areas of overlap
between divisions of the company so that each division would be competing
with the other divisions. For example, the Chevy division would compete with
the Pontiac division for some market segments. Also, in 1931, Procter &
Gamble initiated a deliberate system of internal brand versus brand rivalry.
The company was organized around different brands, with each brand allocated
resources, including a dedicated group of employees willing to champion the
brand. Each brand manager was given responsibility for the success or
failure of the brand and was compensated accordingly. This form of
competition thus pitted a brand against another brand. Finally, most
businesses also encourage competition between individual employees. An
example of this is a contest between sales representatives. The sales
representative with the highest sales (or the best improvement in sales)
over the a period of time would gain benefits from the employer.
It should also be noted that business and economical competition in most
countries is often limited or restricted. Competition often is subject to
legal restrictions. For example, competion may be legally prohibited as in
the case with a government monopoly or a government-granted monopoly. Or
tariffs, subsidies or other protectionist measures may be instituted by
government in order to prevent or reduce competition. Depending on the
respective economic policy, the pure competition is to a greater or lesser
extent regulated by competition policy and competition law. Competition
between countries is quite subtle to detect, but is quite evident in the
World economy, where countries like the US, Japan, the European Union and
the East Asian Tigers each try to outdo the other in the quest for economic
supremacy in the global market, harkening to the concept of Kiasuism.Such
competition is evident by the policies undertaken by these countries to
educate the future workforce. For example, East Asian economies like
Singapore, Japan and South Korea tend to emphasize education by allocating a
large portion of the budget to this sector, and by implementing programmes
such as gifted education, which some detractors criticise as indicative of
academic elitism.
See separate sub-markets principle.
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Competition in politics
Competition is also found in politics. In democracies, an election is a
competition for an elected office. In other words, two or more candidates
strive and compete against one another to attain a position of power. The
winner gains the seat of the elected office for a set amount of time, when
another election is usually held to determine the next holder of the office.
In addition, there is inevitable competition inside a government. Because
several offices are appointed, potential candidates compete against the
others in order to gain the particular office. Departments may also compete
for a limited amount of resources, such as for funding. Finally, where there
are party systems, elected leaders of different parties will ultimately
compete against the other party for laws, funding, and power.
Finally, competition is also imminent between governments. Each country or
nationality struggles for world dominance, power, or military strength. For
example, the United States competed against the Soviet Union in the Cold War
for world power, and the two also struggled over the different types of
government (in this case, representative democracy and communism). The
result of this type of competition often leads to worldwide tensions and may
sometimes erupt into warfare.
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Sports competition
While some sports, such as fishing, have been viewed as primarily
recreational, most sports are considered competitive. The majority involve
competition between two or more persons, (or animals and/or mechanical
devices typically controlled by humans as in horse racing or auto racing).
For example, in a game of basketball, two teams compete against one another
to determine who can score the most points. While there is no set reward for
the winning team, many players gain an internal sense of pride. In addition,
extrinsic rewards may also be given. Athletes, besides competing against
other humans, also compete against nature in sports such as whitewater
kayaking or mountain climbing, where the goal is to reach a destination,
with only natural barriers impeding the process.
While professional sports have been usually viewed as intense and extremely
competitive, recreational sports, which are often less intense, are
considered a healthy option for the competitive urges in humans. Sport
provides a relatively safe venue for converting unbridled competition into
harmless competition, because sports competition is restrained. Competitive
sports are governed by codified rules ageed upon by the participants.
Violating these rules is considered to be unfair competition. Thus sports
provide artificial not natural competition; for example, competing for
control of a ball or defending territory on a playing field is not an innate
biologal factor in humans. Athletes in sports like gymnastics and
competitive diving "compete" against a conceptual ideal of a perfect
performance, which incorporates measurable criteria and standards that are
translated into numerical ratings and scores.
Sports competition is generally broken down into three categories:
individual sports, such as archery, dual sports, such as doubles tennis, or
team sports competition, such as soccer. While most sports competitions are
recreation, there exists several major and minor professional sports leagues
throughout the world, and the Olympic Games, held every four years, is a
pinnacle of sports competition.
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Competition in education
Competition is also very evident in education. On a global scale, national
education systems, intending to bring out the best in the next generation,
encourage competitiveness among students by scholarships. Countries like
Singapore and the United Kingdom have a gifted education programme which
caters to gifted students, prompting charges of academic elitism. Upon
receipt of their academic results, students tend to compare their grades to
see who is better. For severe cases, the pressure to perform in some
countries is so high that it results in stigmatisation of intellectually
deficient students or even suicide as consequence of failing the exams,
Japan being a prime example (see Education in Japan). This resulted in
critical revaluation of examinations as a whole by educationists (see Exam).
Critics of competition as opposed to excellence as a motivating factor in
education systems, such as Alfie Kohn, assert that competition actually has
a net negative influence on the achievement levels of students and that it
"turns all of us into losers." (Kohn 1986)
Competitions also make up a large proponent of extracurricular activities
that students partake in. Such competitions include TVO's broadcast Reach
for the Top competition, FIRST Robotics and the University of Toronto Space
Design Contest.
[edit]
Competition in biology and ecology
Main article Competition (biology).
Competition within and between species is an important topic in biology,
specifically, in the field of ecology. Competition between members of a
species ("intra-specific")is the driving force of evolution and natural
selection- the competition for resources, such as food, water, territory,
and sunlight, results in the ultimate survival and dominance of the
variation of the species best suited for survival. Competition is also
present between species ("inter-specific"). First, a limited amount of
resources are available, and several species may depend on these resources.
Thus, each of the species competes with the others to gain the resources. As
a result, several species less suited to compete for the resources may
either adapt or die out. According to evolutionary theory, this competition
within and between species for resources plays a critical role in natural
selection.
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The study of competition
Competition has been studied in several fields, including psychology,
sociology, and anthropology. Social psychologists, for instance, study the
nature of competition. They investigate the natural urge of competition and
its circumstances. They also study group dynamics to detect how competition
emerges and what its effects are. Sociologists, meanwhile, study the effects
of competition on society as a whole. In addition, anthropologists study the
history and prehistory of competition in various cultures. They also
investigate how competition manifested itself in various cultural settings
in the past, and how competition has developed over time.
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Competitiveness
Many philosophers and psychologists have identified a trait in most living
organisms that drive the particular organism to compete. This trait, called
competitiveness, is viewed as an innate biological trait that coexists along
with the urge for survival. Competitiveness, or the inclination to compete,
though, has become synonymous with aggressiveness and ambitiousness in the
English language. Competing with, however, instead of competing against - is
synonymous with the synthesis process, and exercised through dialectic. More
advanced civilizations integrate progressiveness, instead of aggressiveness,
into their interactions.
The term also applies to econometrics. Here it is a comparative measure of
the ability and performance of a firm or sub-sector to sell and
produce/supply goods and/or services in a given market. The two academic
bodies of thought on the assessment of competitiveness are the Structure
Conduct Performance Paradigm and the more contemporary New Empirical
Industrial Organisation model. Predicting changes in the competitiveness of
business sectors is becoming an integral and explicit step in public policy
making. Within capitalist economic systems, the drive of enterprises is to
maintain and improve their own competitiveness.
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See also
* Competition regulator
* Biological interaction
* Competitor analysis
* Cooperative
* Cooperation
* Ecological model of competition
* Microeconomics
* Perfect competition
* Planned economy
* Monopolistic competition
* Imperfect competition
* "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."
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Further reading
* Kohn, Alfie (1986). No Contest - The Case Against Competition.
Boston New York London: Houghton Mifflin Co.. ISBN 0395631254.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition";
Category: Competition
