U Curve

I believe that this is one of the more important concepts I've learnt in Strategy. When you plot RoI Vs Size of all the firms in an industry, they lie along a curve that is 'U' shaped. What this means is that smaller companies with a greater customer focus are as successful as large firms competing on platforms of 'low cost'. It's the guys in middle that find the going tough as they are too big to unlock value from the customer and still too small to achieve economies of scale/learning to unlock value from the product!
If you didn't know, there are only 4 ways businesses make money 1. Premium Pricing 2. Lower Costs 3. Cash to cash efficiency 4. Turnover management.
Sometimes I wonder if I would have the same undertanding of business concepts if I read about it at home. I believe MIT put all of its content online as a show of good faith. It's the environment and the people that a B-School provides that makes all the difference!!