Date of Award
1988
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Business Admin
Department
Business Administration
Abstract
Competitive theories attempt to describe, analyze, rationalize and predict behaviors when two or more people want the same thing. Competition appears to come naturally to humans. We have evolved over vast number of generations in response to changes in our environment. Our early struggle for existence led to a highly developed tendency toward aggressive behavior. The process of natural selection depended on this trait to ensure that the strongest members of our species flourished. If unchecked, however, aggression would have eventually destroyed mankind. V.C. Wynne-Edwards29 theorized that societies of higher animals have developed "conventional competitions" which encourage aggression while avoiding extinction. Businessmen in competition illustrate territoriality and ritualized tests of strength, two of the more prominent social conventions described by Wynne-Edwards. Rules of the game are formalized in other competitive theories.
Recommended Citation
Kierson, Don, "Sovran financial corporation competitive analysis" (1988). Master's Theses. 1139.
https://scholarship.richmond.edu/masters-theses/1139