For most public schools (Fern Creek, Hillcrest, Princeton, and Rock Lake) they were chosen because they were “A” schools located within a two miles radios of LECS thus they were competitors for LECS to watch out for in the domain of academic excellence and all other domains. Also it will be worthwhile for LECS to take note of “B” and even “C” ranked schools in this category for they could also pose potential threats to LECS in the future. For the Charter Schools, Nap Ford Community, Hope and Passport targeted students with special needs thus constituting another strategic group of competitors with different strategies but also focus on education which was the overall focus of LECS thus constituting a group of indirect competitors just like the religiously affiliated schools. However the direct competitor of LECS in this category of schools was Rio Grande since it was the most similar to LECS in its general education base charter. This school though had demonstrated some inconsistency in its ranking in the past by the state of Florida, had since 2006 reportedly been ranked “A” or “B” in its ranking thus indicating itself as a competitor for LECS to watch on carefully and keenly.
Lastly looking at exhibit 1, Lake Eola Charter School has a strong position to compete with other school because the parent and donors are generally satisfied with the schools performance thus presenting the school with a good customer and financial base to rely on. This indicates that for every business venture there are current and potential competitors to guard off against who may be direct or indirect competitors. Focus should be on the current strategic strengths and weaknesses of competitors which can suggest opportunities and threats that will merit a respond. More over insight into future competitor strategy may allow the predictions of emerging threats and opportunities. Also