Competition is the act of striving against another force for the purpose of achieving dominance or attaining a reward or goal, or out of a biological imperative such as survival. Competition is a term widely used in several fields, including biochemistry, business, ecology, economics, music, politics, and sports. Competition may be between two or more forces, life forms, agents, systems, individuals, or groups, depending on the context in which the term is used. Biochemistry is the study of the chemical processes and transformations in living organisms. ... Wall Street, Manhattan is the location of the New York Stock Exchange and is often used as a symbol for the world of business. ... Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ... Face-to-face trading interactions among on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor Economics, as a social science, studies the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities. ... Music competitions are public events designed to identify and award outstanding musical performers. ... Politics is the process by which individuals or relatively small groups attempt to exert influence over the actions of an organization. ...

Competition may yield various results to the participants, including both intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. Some, such as survival advantages, including favorable territory, are intrinsic biological factors that occur as a result of ecological competition between organisms. Others, such as competition in business and politics, involve competition between humans. In addition, extrinsic symbols, such as trophies, plaques, ribbons, prizes, or laudations, may be given to the winner(s). Such symbolic rewards are commonly used wherever the rewards inherent in the competition are primarily intrinsic, such as at human sporting and academic competitions.

The Latin root for the verb "to compete" is "competere" which means "to seek together" or "to strive together" from dictionary.com

Sizes and levels of competition

Competition may also exist at different sizes; some competitions may be between two members of a species, while other competitions can involve entire species. In an example in economics, a competition between two local stores would be considered small compared to competition between several mega-giants. As a result, the consequences of the competition would also vary- the larger the competition, the larger the effect. Face-to-face trading interactions among on the New York Stock Exchange trading floor Economics, as a social science, studies the production, distribution, and consumption of commodities. ...

In addition, the level of competition can also vary. At some levels, competition can be informal and be more for pride or fun. However, other competitions can be extreme and bitter; for example, some human wars have erupted because of the intense competition between two nations or nationalities. Trinomial name Homo sapiens sapiens Linnaeus, 1758 Humans, or human beings, are bipedal primates belonging to the mammalian species Homo sapiens (Latin for wise man or knowing man) under the family Hominidae (known as the great apes). ... The United States detonated an atomic bomb over Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. ... One of the most influential doctrines in history is that all humans are divided into groups called nations. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ...

Consequences of competition

Competition can result in both beneficial and detrimental results. A common view of evolution is that inter-species and intra-species competition is the driving force of adaptation and ultimately, evolution. However, some biologists, most famously Richard Dawkins, prefer to think of evolution in terms of competition between single genes, which have the welfare of the organism 'in mind' only insofar as that welfare furthers their own selfish drives for replication. If this is so, then competition in the context of evolution may not be beneficial to humans. Social darwinists claim that competition also serves as a mechanism for determining the best-suited group, politically, economically, and ecologically; however, this belief is very questionable. The eye is an adaptation. ... In 1832, while travelling on the Beagle, naturalist Charles Darwin collected giant fossils in South America. ... Clinton Richard Dawkins (born March 26, 1941) is an eminent British ethologist, evolutionary theorist, and popular science writer who holds the Charles Simonyi Chair in the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. ... Social Darwinism is a descriptive term given to a kind of social theory that draws an association between Darwins theory of evolution by natural selection, and the sociological relations of humanity. ...

However, competition can also have negative consequences, particularly on the human species. Potential detrimental effects include the injury of other organisms and the drain of valuable resources and energy for competition. In addition, human competition may also require large amounts of money (such as in political elections, international sports competitions, and advertising wars) and can also lead to the compromising of ethical standards in order to gain an advantage in the competition. For example, several athletes have been caught using banned steroids in professional sports in order to boost their own chances of success or victory. Finally, competitive striving can also be harmful for the participants. Examples include athletes that injure themselves because they exceed the physical tolerances of their bodies, and companies that pursue unprofitable paths while engaging in competitive rivalries. An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ... Ethics (from the Ancient Greek ethikos, meaning arising from habit), a major branch of philosophy, is the study of value or quality. ... Look up Athlete in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Steroid skeleton. ...

Competition in different fields

Economics and business competition

Merriam-Webster defines competition in business as "the effort of two or more parties acting independently to secure the business of a third party by offering the most favorable terms." [1] Seen as the pillar of capitalism in that it may stimulate innovation, encourage efficiency, or drive down prices, competition is touted as the foundation upon which capitalism is justified. According to microeconomic theory, no system of resource allocation is more efficient than pure competition. Competition, according to the theory, causes commercial firms to develop new products, services, and technologies. This gives consumers greater selection and better products. The greater selection typically causes lower prices for the products compared to what the price would be if there was no competition (monopoly) or little competition (oligopoly). Capitalism is an economic system in which the means of production are mostly privately owned and in which prices of capital and commodities are determined in a largely free market which operates in the pursuit of profit, with investments being determined by private decision. ... In economics, x-efficiency is the effectiveness with which a given set of inputs are used to produce outputs. ... In economics and business, the price is the assigned numerical monetary value of a good, service or asset. ... Microeconomics (literally, very small economics) is a social science which involves study of the economic distribution of production and income among individual consumers, firms, and industries. ... In economics, a monopoly (from the Latin word monopolium - Greek language monos, one + polein, to sell) is defined as a persistent market situation where there is only one provider of a product or service. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article may require cleanup. ...

However, competition may also lead to wasted (duplicated) effort and to increased costs (and prices) in some circumstances. For example, the intense competition for the small number of top jobs in music and movie acting leads many aspiring musicians and actors to make substantial investments in training that are not recouped, because only a fraction become successful. Similarly, the psychological effects of competition may result in harm to those involved. The law of costs is typical of common law jurisdictions. ... Superstar is a term used to refer to a celebrity who has great popular appeal and is widely-known, prominent or successful in some field. ... Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of the human brain and behavior. ...

Three levels of economic competition have been classified. The most narrow form is direct competition (also called category competition or brand competition), where products that perform the same function compete against each other. For example, a brand of pick-up trucks competes with several different brands of pick-up trucks. Sometimes two companies are rivals and one adds new products to their line so that each company distributes the same thing and they compete. The next form is substitute competition, where products that are close substitutes for one another compete. For example, butter competes with margarine, mayonnaise, and other various sauces and spreads. The broadest form of competition is typically called budget competition. Included in this category is anything that the consumer might want to spend their available money on. For example, a family that has $20,000 available may choose to spend it on many different items, which can all be seen as competing with each other for the family's available money. Consumers are individuals or households that consume goods and services generated within the economy. ... Income, generally defined, is the money that is received as a result of the normal business activities of an individual or a business. ...

Competition does not necessarily have to be between companies. For example, business writers sometimes refer to "internal competition". This is competition within companies. The idea was first introduced by Alfred Sloan at General Motors in the 1920s. Sloan deliberately created areas of overlap between divisions of the company so that each division would be competing with the other divisions. For example, the Chevy division would compete with the Pontiac division for some market segments. Also, in 1931, Procter & Gamble initiated a deliberate system of internal brand versus brand rivalry. The company was organized around different brands, with each brand allocated resources, including a dedicated group of employees willing to champion the brand. Each brand manager was given responsibility for the success or failure of the brand and was compensated accordingly. This form of competition thus pitted a brand against another brand. Finally, most businesses also encourage competition between individual employees. An example of this is a contest between sales representatives. The sales representative with the highest sales (or the best improvement in sales) over the a period of time would gain benefits from the employer. Alfred Pritchard Sloan, Jr. ... General Motors Corporation (NYSE: GM), also known as GM, is an American automobile maker with worldwide operations and brands including Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saturn, Saab and Vauxhall. ... Chevrolet, or Chevy, is a brand of automobile that is now part of the General Motors group. ... This article concerns the automobile; for the Native American leader, see Chief Pontiac, for other uses see the disambiguation page. ... Market segmentation is the process in marketing of dividing a market into distinct subsets (segments) that behave in the same way or have similar needs. ... 1931 (MCMXXXI) was a common year starting on Thursday (link is to a full 1931 calendar). ... Procter & Gamble Co. ... A brand is a collection of images and ideas representing an economic producer; more specifically, it refers to the concrete symbols such as a name, logo, slogan, and design scheme. ...

It should also be noted that business and economical competition in most countries is often limited or restricted. Competition often is subject to legal restrictions. For example, competion may be legally prohibited as in the case with a government monopoly or a government-granted monopoly. Or tariffs, subsidies or other protectionist measures may be instituted by government in order to prevent or reduce competition. Depending on the respective economic policy, the pure competition is to a greater or lesser extent regulated by competition policy and competition law. Competition between countries is quite subtle to detect, but is quite evident in the World economy, where countries like the US, Japan, the European Union and the East Asian Tigers each try to outdo the other in the quest for economic supremacy in the global market, harkening to the concept of Kiasuism.Such competition is evident by the policies undertaken by these countries to educate the future workforce. For example, East Asian economies like Singapore, Japan and South Korea tend to emphasize education by allocating a large portion of the budget to this sector, and by implementing programmes such as gifted education, which some detractors criticise as indicative of academic elitism. Look up country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... scheiiiißßßßßee!!!!!!!!!!!!!regional, local; for levels below the national, it is a local monopoly. ... In economics, a government-granted monopoly (also called a de jure monopoly) is a form of coercive monopoly in a government grants exclusive privilege to a private individual or firm to be the sole provider of a good or service; potential competitors are excluded from the market by law, regulation... A tariff is a tax placed on imported and/or exported goods, sometimes called a customs duty. ... A subsidy is generally a monetary grant given by government in support of an activity regarded as being in the public interest. ... Protectionism is the economic policy of promoting favored domestic industries through the use of high tariffs and other regulations to discourage imports. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with antitrust. ... This article needs to be updated. ... The term East Asian Tigers (Simplified Chinese: 亚洲四小龙; Traditional Chinese: 亞洲四小龍; Hanyu Pinyin: yǎzhōu sì xiǎo lóng (lit. ... Kiasu is a Hokkien (a Chinese spoken variant) word for extreme fear of losing (怕输). This word is so widely used by Malaysians and Singaporeans that it is incorporated into their English vocabulary (in the form of Manglish or Singlish). ... Gifted education is a broad term for special practices, procedures and theories used in the education of children who have been identified as gifted or talented. ... Academic institutions often face the charge of academic elitism, sometimes called the Ivory Tower. ...

See separate sub-markets principle. In topology and related branches of mathematics, separated sets are pairs of subsets of a given topological space that are related to each other in a certain way. ...

Competition in politics

Competition is also found in politics. In democracies, an election is a competition for an elected office. In other words, two or more candidates strive and compete against one another to attain a position of power. The winner gains the seat of the elected office for a set amount of time, when another election is usually held to determine the next holder of the office. Politics is the process by which individuals or relatively small groups attempt to exert influence over the actions of an organization. ... An election is a decision making process where people choose people to hold official offices. ...

In addition, there is inevitable competition inside a government. Because several offices are appointed, potential candidates compete against the others in order to gain the particular office. Departments may also compete for a limited amount of resources, such as for funding. Finally, where there are party systems, elected leaders of different parties will ultimately compete against the other party for laws, funding, and power. Budget generally refers to a list of all planned expenses and revenues. ... A party system is a concept in political science concerning the system of government in a state where political parties exist. ... Weighing scales represent the way law balances peoples interests For other senses of this word, see Law (disambiguation). ... Funding or financing is to provide capital (funds), which means money for a project, a person, a business or any other private or public institution. ... Political power (imperium in Latin) is a type of power held by a person or group in a society. ...

Finally, competition is also imminent between governments. Each country or nationality struggles for world dominance, power, or military strength. For example, the United States competed against the Soviet Union in the Cold War for world power, and the two also struggled over the different types of government (in this case, representative democracy and communism). The result of this type of competition often leads to worldwide tensions and may sometimes erupt into warfare. Look up country in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... The Cold War was the protracted geopolitical, ideological, and economic struggle that emerged after World War II between the United States and its allies and the Soviet Union and its allies. ... Representative democracy is a form of democracy founded on the exercise of popular sovereignty by the peoples representatives. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... For other uses of War, see War (disambiguation). ...

Sports competition

While some sports, such as fishing, have been viewed as primarily recreational, most sports are considered competitive. The majority involve competition between two or more persons, (or animals and/or mechanical devices typically controlled by humans as in horse racing or auto racing). For example, in a game of basketball, two teams compete against one another to determine who can score the most points. While there is no set reward for the winning team, many players gain an internal sense of pride. In addition, extrinsic rewards may also be given. Athletes, besides competing against other humans, also compete against nature in sports such as whitewater kayaking or mountain climbing, where the goal is to reach a destination, with only natural barriers impeding the process. Fishing is the activity of hunting for fish. ... Horse-racing is an equestrian sporting activity which has been practiced over the centuries; the chariot races of Roman times were an early example, as was the contest of the steeds of the god Odin and the giant Hrungnir in Norse mythology. ... Auto racing (also known as automobile racing, autosport or motorsport) is a sport involving racing automobiles. ... Sara Giauro shoots a three-point shot, FIBA Europe Cup for Women Finals 2005. ... Galunggung in 1982, showing a combination of natural events. ... Whitewater kayaking is the sport of paddling a kayak on a moving body of water, typically a river. ... Mountaineering is an umbrella term that can variously be used to describe the actions of climbing, hillwalking and scrambling. ...

While professional sports have been usually viewed as intense and extremely competitive, recreational sports, which are often less intense, are considered a healthy option for the competitive urges in humans. Sport provides a relatively safe venue for converting unbridled competition into harmless competition, because sports competition is restrained. Competitive sports are governed by codified rules agreed upon by the participants. Violating these rules is considered to be unfair competition. Thus sports provide artificial not natural competition; for example, competing for control of a ball or defending territory on a playing field is not an innate biological factor in humans. Athletes in sports like gymnastics and competitive diving "compete" against a conceptual ideal of a perfect performance, which incorporates measurable criteria and standards that are translated into numerical ratings and scores. Gymnastics is a sport involving the performance of sequences of movements requiring physical strength, flexibility, and kinesthetic awareness, such as handsprings, handstands, forward rolls, and tucks. ... Diving refers to there sport of acrobatically jumping or falling into water. ...

Sports competition is generally broken down into three categories: individual sports, such as archery, dual sports, such as doubles tennis, or team sports competition, such as soccer. While most sports competitions are recreation, there exists several major and minor professional sports leagues throughout the world. The Olympic Games, held every four years, is regarded as the international pinnacle of sports competition. These arrows score as an inner 10 (X), and a 9 Archery is the practice of using a bow to shoot arrows. ... A tennis net Tennis is a game played between either two players (singles) or two teams of two players (doubles). Players use a stringed racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponents court. ... Football is a ball game played between two teams of eleven players, each attempting to win by scoring more goals than their opponent. ... Major is a military rank the use of which varies according to country. ... The term minor (from Latin smaller, lesser) may refer to: In Education minor, a secondary focus of a Bachelors degree, the primary focus being a major. ... The five Olympic rings were designed in 1913, adopted in 1914 and debuted at the Games at Antwerp, 1920. ...

Competition in education

Competition is also pointless in education. On a global scale, national education systems, intending to bring out the best in the next generation, discourage competitiveness among students by scholarships. Countries like Singapore and the England have a special education program which caters to special students, prompting charges of academic elitism. Upon receipt of their academic results, students tend to compare their grades to see who is better. For severe cases, the pressure to perform in some countries is so high that it results in stigmatization of intellectually deficient students or even suicide as consequence of failing the exams, Japan being a prime example (see Education in Japan). This resulted in critical revaluation of examinations as a whole by educationists (see Exam). Critics of competition as opposed to excellence as a motivating factor in education systems, such as Alfie Kohn, assert that competition actually has a net negative influence on the achievement levels of students and that it "turns all of us into losers." (Kohn 1986) Note: The term scholarship can mean either the methods employed by scholars (see scholarly method) or an award of access to an institution and/or money for an individual for the purposes of furthering their education. ... Special education is the education of physically or mentally handicapped students whose needs cannot be met in an ordinary classroom. ... Look up special in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Academic institutions often face the charge of academic elitism, sometimes called the Ivory Tower. ... A typical Japanese classroom Education has been and is an important issue in Japanese society. ... In education, certification, counselling, and many other fields, a test or exam (short for examination) is a tool or technique intended to measure students expression of knowledge, skills and/or abilities. ... This article is being considered for deletion in accordance with Wikipedias deletion policy. ... Alfie Kohn Alfie Kohn is an American lecturer and author in the fields of education, psychology and parenting, residing in Belmont, Massachusetts. ...

Competitions also make up a large proponent of extracurricular activities that students partake in. Such competitions include TVO's broadcast Reach for the Top competition, FIRST Robotics, Duke Annual Robo-Climb Competition (DARC) and the University of Toronto Space Design Contest. Extracurricular activities are activities performed by students that fall outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school or university education. ... TVO is an acronym with several different significations: TVOntario (Canadian TV station) Óptima Televisión (Chilean TV station) TV Osaka (Japanese TV station) Total Value of Ownership This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists other pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Reach for the Top is a Canadian game show in which teams of high school students participate in national and provincial trivia tournaments. ... Look up first in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... The University of Toronto Space Design Contest, or UTSDC is an annual contest for high school students, founded in 2003 by Norman Goh. ...

Competition in biology and ecology

Main article Competition (biology).

Competition within and between species is an important topic in biology, specifically, in the field of ecology. Competition between members of a species ("intra-specific")is the driving force of evolution and natural selection- the competition for resources, such as food, water, territory, and sunlight, results in the ultimate survival and dominance of the variation of the species best suited for survival. Competition is also present between species ("inter-specific"). First, a limited amount of resources are available, and several species may depend on these resources. Thus, each of the species competes with the others to gain the resources. As a result, several species less suited to compete for the resources may either adapt or die out. According to evolutionary theory, this competition within and between species for resources plays a critical role in natural selection. Competition within and between species is an important topic in biology, specifically, in the field of ecology. ... Biology (from Greek βίος λόγος, see below) is the branch of science dealing with the study of living organisms. ... Ernst Haeckel coined the term oekologie in 1866. ... In 1832, while travelling on the Beagle, naturalist Charles Darwin collected giant fossils in South America. ... The Galápagos Islands hold 13 species of finches that are closely related and differ most markedly in the shape of their beaks. ... Water is a tasteless, odourless substance that is essential to all known forms of life and is known as the universal solvent. ... A territory (from the word terra, meaning land) is a defined area (including land and waters), usually considered to be a possession of an animal, person, organization, or institution. ... It has been suggested that solar radiation be merged into this article or section. ... ADAPT - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... The Dodo, shown here in illustration, is an often-cited[1] example of extinction. ... This article is about biological evolution. ... The Galápagos Islands hold 13 species of finches that are closely related and differ most markedly in the shape of their beaks. ...

The study of competition

Competition has been studied in several fields, including psychology, sociology, and anthropology. Social psychologists, for instance, study the nature of competition. They investigate the natural urge of competition and its circumstances. They also study group dynamics to detect how competition emerges and what its effects are. Sociologists, meanwhile, study the effects of competition on society as a whole. In addition, anthropologists study the history and prehistory of competition in various cultures. They also investigate how competition manifested itself in various cultural settings in the past, and how competition has developed over time. Psychology is an academic and applied field involving the study of the human brain and behavior. ... Social interactions and their consequences are the subject of sociology. ... Anthropology (from the Greek word , human or person) consists of the study of humanity (see genus Homo). ... A psychologist is a scientist and/or clinician who studies psychology, the systematic investigation of the human mind, including behavior and cognition. ... Sociology is the study of the social lives of humans, groups and societies. ... See Anthropology. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ...

Competitiveness

Many philosophers and psychologists have identified a trait in most living organisms that drive the particular organism to compete. This trait, called competitiveness, is viewed as an innate biological trait that coexists along with the urge for survival. Competitiveness, or the inclination to compete, though, has become synonymous with aggressiveness and ambitiousness in the English language. Competing with, however, instead of competing against - is synonymous with the synthesis process, and exercised through dialectic. More advanced civilizations integrate progressiveness, instead of aggressiveness, into their interactions. Most plants battle for higher spots on trees, to recieve more sunlight. A philosopher is a person who thinks deeply regarding people, society, the world, and/or the universe. ... A psychologist is a scientist and/or clinician who studies psychology, the systematic investigation of the human mind, including behavior and cognition. ... Biology (from Greek βίος λόγος, see below) is the branch of science dealing with the study of living organisms. ... In biology, a trait or character is a genetically inherited feature of an organism. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Synthesis (from the ancient Greek σύν (with) and θεσις (placing), is commonly understood to be an integration of two or more pre-existing elements which results in a new creation. ... In classical philosophy, dialectic (Greek: διαλεκτική) is an exchange of propositions (theses) and counter-propositions (antitheses) resulting in a synthesis of the opposing assertions, or at least a qualitative transformation in the direction of the dialogue. ... Cities are a major hallmark of human civilization. ... Social progress is defined as a progress of society, which makes the society better in the general view of its members. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards and make it easier to understand, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Generally, an interaction is a kind of action which occurs as two or more objects have an effect upon one another. ...

The term also applies to econometrics. Here it is a comparative measure of the ability and performance of a firm or sub-sector to sell and produce/supply goods and/or services in a given market. The two academic bodies of thought on the assessment of competitiveness are the Structure Conduct Performance Paradigm and the more contemporary New Empirical Industrial Organisation model. Predicting changes in the competitiveness of business sectors is becoming an integral and explicit step in public policy making. Within capitalist economic systems, the drive of enterprises is to maintain and improve their own competitiveness. Econometrics literally means economic measurement. It is a combination of mathematical economics and statistics. ...

See also

• Competition regulator
• Biological interaction
• Competitor analysis
• Cooperative
• Cooperation
• Ecological model of competition
• Microeconomics
• Perfect competition
• Planned economy
• Monopolistic competition
• Imperfect competition
• "Winning isn't everything; it's the only thing."

A competition regulator is a government agency, typically a statutory authority, which regulates competition laws, and may sometimes also regulate consumer protection laws. ... Biological interactions result from the fact that organisms in an ecosystem interact with each other, in the natural world, no organism is an autonomous entity isolated from its surroundings. ... Competitor analysis in marketing and strategic management is an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of current and potential competitors. ... Co-op redirects here. ... Co-operation refers to the practice of people or greater entities working in common with commonly agreed-upon goals and possibly methods, instead of working separately in competition. ... The ecological model of competition is a reassessment of the nature of competition in the economy. ... Microeconomics is a branch of economics that studies how individuals, households, and firms make decisions to allocate limited resources [1] , typically in markets where goods or services are being bought and sold. ... Perfect competition is an economic model that describes a hypothetical market form in which no producer or consumer has the market power to influence prices. ... This box:      A planned economy is an economic system in which a single agency makes all decisions about the production and allocation of goods and services. ... Monopolistic competition is a common market form. ... In economic theory, imperfect competition, is the competitive situation in any market where the conditions necessary for perfect competition are not satisfied. ... Arguably the most famous quote in sport, Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing came to exemplify a form of unfettered competitiveness that has permeated American sport and carried over into the general culture. ...

External links

• OECD Competition Home Page

Further reading

• Kohn, Alfie (1986). No Contest – The Case Against Competition. Boston New York London: Houghton Mifflin Co.. ISBN 0-395-63125-4.