Competition definition

Competition happens when individuals or organization are each vying for a share of limited resources. For example, competition occurs when more than one business attempts to sell goods or services to one customer which will only choose one vendor.

Competition is fundamental to the healthy functioning of any endeavor, especially a free market economy, because it requires successful participants to learn, train, innovate and seek efficiencies, and convey those as offerings to their customers. Where competition does not exist, efficiency, innovation and excellence will suffer.

By definition, one natural by-product of competition is that one or more parties will lose in a particular transaction or event. Attempting to avoid such a loss is what motivates competitors to improve and therefore, achieve excellence.

Most mature and seasoned participants in sports and business will tell you that competition is a positive influence, not a negative one.