The Relationship between Competitive Advantage and Strategic Thinking in Schools of Physical Education in Iran

This study investigates the relationship between competitive advantage and strategic thinking in schools of physical education in selected public universities in Iran. One Hundred and Twenty faculty members were selected as sample population based on Cochran's formula. A questionnaire was devised based on the ranking criteria of Iranian universities and research institutes (2013). The standard Goldman's questionnaire of strategic thinking (2005) was employed. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to analyze the data. The results showed a significant positive correlation between strategic thinking and competitive advantage in general and between strategic thinking and the three components of competitive advantage (i.e., educational status, research status and status of facilities). The greatest correlation was found between strategic thinking and education component and the least correlation between facilities component and strategic thinking. Implementing four component of strategic thinking (system thinking, conceptual thinking, futurism and opportunism), leads to more emphasize on improving educational and research status of the organization which can be quantitatively and qualitatively effective in increasing the competitiveness of the faculty.