193 How do they aim to win? 17 Porter and competitive advantage In Chapter 15 we looked at Michael Porter's model (see Figure 15.2) for assessing the external forces that can impact on a business, so affecting its competitive position and its profitability. Here we will consider the responses that Porter suggests can be made to those forces, and consider how a supplier can assist their customer with those responses, in pursuit of strategic supplier status. There are two principal strategies, both described as a potential source of competitive advantage: being the lowest-cost supplier; being a differentiated supplier. Success is not necessarily the result of the choice itself ­ either strategy can work in a variety of circumstances ­ rather it is the result of the ability to focus the whole business on whichever route is chosen. Failure usually comes when a business vacillates between the two, becoming an `in-betweeny', often the result of functions or departments working in opposition to each other. The implications for the budding strategic supplier and their activities are clear: aim to support the chosen strategy, and in particular avoid becoming entrapped in any internal disputes over direction or priorities. Being the lowest-cost supplier Don't confuse this with being the lowest priced. An expert practitioner of this strategy once said to me: `The trick is to be the lowest-cost supplier, but not to let the customer know!' Getting the operational costs down, from procurement through manufacture and on to selling and distribution improves margins when times are good, protects