If ITT wins, Corning will be faced with instant competition from a knowledgeable well-financed tough competitor.

FORBES: The Trials Of Amory Houghton Jr.

"He's very, very experienced now but most of all, he's a very tough competitor, " he said.

CNN: Titanic battle set for 100m final

Bloomberg, it turns out, is a pretty tough competitor in the data space.

FORBES: What Was Behind Geoff Beattie's Departure From Thomson Family's Woodbridge Last Week?

Some Singaporeans privately doubt the ability of Malaysians to compete with them in higher-value-added fields, but others wonder if their growing investment across the straits may be creating a tough competitor.

FORBES: Korea Conflict Shows That Borderlands Are Zones of Danger

The reason is that once a particular type of drug is established in a particular type of cancer, it is tough for a competitor to dislodge.

FORBES: Cancer Revolution, Or Me-Too Mess?

Jonah Shaknai and his team have done a tremendous job in building Medicis into a tough, fierce competitor in the derm and aesthetics area, and without similarly charged and focused management, some of its competitiveness could be eroded though such a deal.

FORBES: Valeant To Acquire Medicis for $2.6 Billion

Making things even more complicated is VMware must now walk the line as both a member of the OpenStack Foundation, which puts it in a tough position as both a contributor as well as a competitor to the OpenStack project.

FORBES: Paypal To Drop VMware From 80,000 Servers and Replace It With OpenStack (Updated)