Michael Porter draws a firm distinction between operational effectiveness and a strategy. Briefly describe this distinction, and identify when a company can claim that it has a strategy

What will be an ideal response?

Competitors can quickly copy the operationally effective company using benchmarking and other tools, thus diminishing the advantage of operational effectiveness. Porter defines strategy as "the creation of a unique and valuable position involving a different set of activities." A company can claim that it has a strategy when its activities differ from those of its rivals or performs similar activities in different ways.