Competition affects companies in all of the following ways EXCEPT ________

A) forcing them to deliver customer satisfaction
B) forcing them to improve their products
C) forcing them to aggressively promote their brands
D) forcing them to lower their prices
E) forcing them to increase their production levels

E
Explanation: E) Competition does not force companies to increase their output. Producing more products would be of no competitive advantage unless the products were of high quality and there was sufficient demand to justify increased production levels. In order to compete more effectively, companies must either improve their products or lower their prices, or both, relative to their competition. They must also promote their products aggressively to convince consumers that their product is better or cheaper than that of their competitors.