In today's date, Competition for companies can be a double-edged sword. The reasons are that though every company wants to be at the top and maintain their position it is not always easy because of one major and dynamic factor, Competition. Some might think of competition as a Virus, ever changing, but then who says that all virus are malignant.

What competition does is add a different realm to the functioning of any organization. It makes them nimble and ready to accept the dynamics of market. It induces companies to constantly innovate which might prove to be the stepping stone to success. At a micro level it induces the employees to work towards an aim and upon successful completion, in this case performing better than their compatriots do, provides them with a sense of accomplishment.

Who can forget the competition that exists between some of the automobile manufacturers in Japan or probably the competition associated with the coexistence of the Indian IT firms? Japan’s example I believe is the classic one; when Yamaha decided to come out with a new model at a regular and short interval to take away the top slot from Honda. It was Honda that took up the competition and shattered the hopes of Yamaha rather ethically by releasing a new model every week.

In recent years competition has presented companies around the world with an added advantage. Major multi-nationals, like Sony, have tied up with their competitors, Samsung, to manufacture products for them. What this has done is given the company enough opportunity to focus on innovating. This has only been possible since companies like Sony have understood the technical brilliance of their competitors and have developed faith in their capabilities after competing with them over years.

It should however be remembered that not all competition is healthy. If taken in a negative way it can prove to be a self dug grave. There is always a tendency in humans to take competition personally and wage a personal battle. This not only leads to exhaustion of the resources what it also does is create friction between the two parties wiping out any possibility of a resourceful collaboration in the future.

There have been incidents to support my claims, incidents where 2 parties have been so engrossed in there personal affray that they do not realize that there is a third beneficiary in this commotion. Other incidents which show the negativity of unhealthy competition are the gazillions of anti trust law suits that are pursued each year, all they do is show us the selfishness with which companies can work protecting what might be of a bigger use to the society.

It is therefore that I believe that competition can work in either way however reiterating what I said earlier I believe that if pursued properly the only thing it does is value addition for the competitors as well as the consumer of their products