ABSTRACT
As outlined in the previous chapter, the ambitious goal of this book is to show how a different way to organize relationships among companies can result in a consistently superior business performance in specific industries. To do that with the necessary level of rigour to make it useful, I must provide the reader with an understanding of what the constituent parts of an industry are. To understand correctly this level of disaggregation is essential, for the very argument of this book is that, by rearranging those primary elements of industries, superior performance can be achieved. It is necessary therefore, to devote this chapter to the study of those basic elements that constitute economic life.
