The Competitive Environment: Cases in Strategic Management encourages students to analyze the competition when deciding which strategic actions a company should take. The author believes that instructors take students too quickly to the solutions sections of case studies without having them first perform a detailed analysis of competitive markets and of possible future competitor actions. Each case opens with an extensive industry analysis that considers, among other things, factors such as manufacturing, supplying, and consumer gender, demographics, and behavior. Next is an examination of the major competitors, an assessment of both their strengths and weaknesses. Each case concludes with alternative plans of action that the company under study is contemplating to raise its margins. After considering all the information, the student is asked to choose one of these plans and explain her/his decision in a written report.