Showing papers on "Competitive advantage published in 2007"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors address current criticisms of the RBV (overight of dynamism, environmental contingencies, and managers' role) by linking value creation in dynamic environmental contexts to the management of firm resources.
Abstract: We address current criticisms of the RBV (oversight of dynamism, environmental contingencies, and managers' role) by linking value creation in dynamic environmental contexts to the management of firm resources. Components of the resource management model include structuring the resource portfolio; bundling resources to build capabilities; and leveraging capabilities to provide value to customers, gain a competitive advantage, and create wealth for owners. Propositions linking resource management and value creation are offered to shape future research.
2,792 citations
01 Oct 2007
TL;DR: A Product-Service System (PSS) as mentioned in this paper is an integrated combination of products and services that embraces a service-led competitive strategy, environmental sustainability, and the basis to differentiate from competitors who simply offer lower priced products.
Abstract: A Product-Service System (PSS) is an integrated combination of products and services. This Western concept embraces a service-led competitive strategy, environmental sustainability, and the basis to differentiate from competitors who simply offer lower priced products. This paper aims to report the state-of-the-art of PSS research by presenting a clinical review of literature currently available on this topic. The literature is classified and the major outcomes of each study are addressed and analysed. On this basis, this paper defines the PSS concept, reports on its origin and features, gives examples of applications along with potential benefits and barriers to adoption, summarizes available tools and methodologies, and identifies future research challenges.
1,820 citations
TL;DR: The increasing adoption of more open approaches to innovation fits uneasily with current theories of business strategy Traditional business strategy has guided firms to develop defensible positions against the forces of competition and power in the value chain this paper.
Abstract: The increasing adoption of more open approaches to innovation fits uneasily with current theories of business strategy Traditional business strategy has guided firms to develop defensible positions against the forces of competition and power in the value chain, implying the importance of constructing barriers rather than promoting value creation through openness Recently, however, firms and even whole industries, such as the software industry, are experimenting with novel business models based on harnessing collective creativity through open innovation The apparent success of some of these experiments challenges prevailing views of strategy At the same time, many of these experimenters now are grappling with issues related to value capture and sustainability of their business models, as well as issues of corporate influence and the potential co-option of open initiatives These issues bring us back to traditional business strategy, which can offer important insights To make strategic sense of innovation communities, ecosystems, networks, and their implications for competitive advantage, a new approach to strategy—open strategy—is needed Open strategy balances the tenets of traditional business strategy with the promise of open innovation
1,144 citations
Book•
26 Apr 2007
TL;DR: Resource-based theory as discussed by the authors is the research frontier of strategic management, and it is the future of resource-based theories, as well as the strategic management question and the emergence of resourcebased theory.
Abstract: Resource-based theory. The strategic management question and the emergence of resource-based theory ; Strategic factor markets and competitive advantage ; Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage -- RBT and organizational capabilities. Culture as a source of sustained competitive advantage ; Trust as a source of sustained competitive advantage ; Human resources as a source of sustained competitive advantage ; Information technology as a source of sustained competitive advantage -- RBT and organizational strategies. Resource-based theory and vertical integration ; Resource-based theory and corporate diversification ; Resource-based theory and mergers and acquisitions -- RBT : the research frontier. Resource-based theory : empirical research ; The future of resource-based theory.
1,090 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors identify a set of propositions that suggest how ambidexterity acts as a dynamic capability and highlight the substantive role of senior teams in building dynamic capabilities.
Abstract: How do organizations survive in the face of change? Underlying this question is a rich debate about whether organizations can adapt - and if so how. One perspective, organizational ecology, presents evidence suggesting that most organizations are largely inert and ultimately fail. A second perspective argues that some firms do learn and adapt to shifting environmental contexts. Recently, this latter view has coalesced around two themes. The first, based on research in strategy suggests that dynamic capabilities, the ability of a firm to reconfigure assets and existing capabilities, explains long-term competitive advantage. The second, based on organizational design, argues that ambidexterity, the ability of a firm to simultaneously explore and exploit, enables a firm to adapt over time. In this paper we review and integrate these comparatively new research streams and identify a set of propositions that suggest how ambidexterity acts as a dynamic capability. We suggest that efficiency and innovation need not be strategic tradeoffs and highlight the substantive role of senior teams in building dynamic capabilities.
956 citations
TL;DR: This work proposes that the resources are made up of factor networks which have specific interfactor and inter-resource relationships that result in the characteristic traits being evidenced, and proposes specific paths to sustainable competitive advantage for a factor, contingent on resource factor traits and relationship configurations.
Abstract: The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm holds that certain assets with certain characteristics will lead to sustainable competitive advantage. All the traits are required to be present to result in sustainable competitive advantage. Such a trait approach overlooks the dynamics of the creation of firm resources especially the strategically important factors as identified by the resource based view theory. We propose that the resources are made up of factor networks which have specific interfactor and inter-resource relationships that result in the characteristic traits being evidenced. These strategic resource factor relationships include network type, available substitutes and cogency relationships (compensatory, enhancing and suppressing.) Specific configurations that lead to high or very high support of sustainable competitive advantage are proposed. Twenty-two specific paths to sustainable competitive advantage for a factor, contingent on resource factor traits and relationship configurations, are proposed. The implications, upon confirmation of these configurations, are discussed.
932 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors argue that the traditional way of measuring relatedness between two businesses is incomplete because it ignores the strategic importance and similarity of the underlying assets residing in these businesses, and the way researchers have traditionally thought of relatedness is limited.
Abstract: Despite nearly 30 years of academic research on the benefits of related diversification, there is still considerable disagreement about precisely how and when diversification can be used to build long-run competitive advantage. In this paper we argue that the disagreement exists for two main reasons: (a) the traditional way of measuring relatedness between two businesses is incomplete because it ignores the ‘strategic importance’ and similarity of the underlying assets residing in these businesses, and (b) the way researchers have traditionally thought of relatedness is limited, primarily because it has tended to equate the benefits of relatedness with the static exploitation of economies of scope (asset amortization), thus ignoring the main contribution of related diversification to long-run, competitive advantage; namely the potential for the firm to expand its stock of strategic assets and create new ones more rapidly and at lower cost than rivals who are not diversified across related businesses. An empirical test supports our view that ‘strategic’ relatedness is superior to market relatedness in predicting when related diversifies outperform unrelated ones.
890 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss four strategies that firms use to balance a climate of trust and power in a strategic supply chain: identifying an authority, generating a common supply chain identity, utilizing boundary spanning ties, and providing procedural and interactive justice.
632 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined the main factors that motivate customers to deal with Islamic banks particularly in a dual banking environment, like in the case of Malaysia, and revealed that the selection of Islamic banks appears to be predominantly a combination of Islamic and financial reputation and quality service offered by the bank.
Abstract: – The purpose of this paper is to examine the main factors that motivate customers to deal with Islamic banks particularly in a dual banking environment, like in the case of Malaysia. A discussion on factors relating to corporate social responsibility initiatives as part of potential customers' banking selection criteria is also included., – The paper presents primary data collected by self‐administered questionnaires involving a sample of 750 respondents from four different regions in Malaysia. The Islamic banking criteria ranking as perceived by the respondents are analysed using Friedman Test. To further explore the customers' understanding of the banking criteria, an exploratory factor analysis is employed., – This study reveals that the selection of Islamic banks appears to be predominantly a combination of Islamic and financial reputation and quality service offered by the bank. Other factors perceived to be important include good social responsibility practices, convenience and product price., – The empirical evidence of this paper affects two aspects; first, Islamic banks must offer quality services while maintaining its Islamic credential and reputation; second, Islamic banks should also embrace good customers services policies to reap its potential as a strategic tool to achieve competitive advantage, enhance reputation and secure customers allegiance. This research will be of interest to both incumbent and potential entrants into this niche market., – The paper reports findings from the first nationwide study carried out in the area of Islamic banking selection criteria.
605 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors unpack contract design capabilities for detailed commercial contracts, and draw out implications for the locus of such capabilities within the firm, and examine implications for exploiting those capabilities as a potential source of competitive advantage.
Abstract: Our aim is to unpack contract design capabilities for detailed commercial contracts, to draw out implications for the locus of such capabilities within the firm, and to examine implications for exploiting those capabilities as a potential source of competitive advantage. We argue that developing contract design capabilities involves learning how much and what kinds of detail to include in a contract. We further argue that knowledge about the management of these trade-offs resides differentially in managers, engineers, and lawyers regarding different types of contractual provisions.
561 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore the antecedents of high levels of supply chain visibility from a resource-based theory perspective across five different external supply chain linkages and identify those factors that can give a sustainable competitive advantage to a supply chain linkage through a "distinctive" or high level of visibility.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors developed theoretical propositions that seek to clarify what determines the configuration and evolution of an alliance portfolio, and then presented the results of a longitudinal study to illustrate the developed theoretical framework.
Abstract: Interorganizational relationships are recognized as an increasingly important source of competitive advantage. Hence, goal-oriented management of the alliance portfolio—all the alliances of the focal firm—plays a decisive role in company performance. Consequently, the configuration and development of the alliance portfolio become important strategic issues. In light of that, this article develops theoretical propositions that seek to clarify what determines the configuration and evolution of an alliance portfolio, and then presents the results of a longitudinal study to illustrate the developed theoretical framework. Building on contingency theory and a coevolutionary framework, we were able to identify three distinctive types of portfolio strategies at business level and to illustrate how they interact with the development of the business strategy and the business environment. Encompassing all this, the study illustrates and explains developmental paths and patterns in the evolution of an alliance portfolio. The developmental course typically evolves from adapting to shaping and to exploiting (stabilizing), according to the state of strategic uncertainty and the firm's resource endowment. A sudden increase in exogenous strategic uncertainty, however, can lead to a strategic shift back to an exploration or hybrid strategy. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors discuss strategic entrepreneurship as the means through which firms simultaneously exploit their current competitive advantages while exploring for future opportu- nities, achieving a balance between exploration and exploitation consists of more than merely allocating resources evenly between the two processes.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors apply the resource-based view of the firm to the study of family firms by investigating how a family specific resource (reciprocal altruism) and a firm specific resource(innovative capacity) contribute to family firm performance.
Abstract: We apply the resource-based view of the firm to the study of family firms by investigating how a family specific resource (reciprocal altruism) and a firm specific resource (innovative capacity) contribute to family firm performance. We then examine how the impact of these resources is moderated by strategic planning and technological opportunities. Our findings suggest that family firms can benefit from emphasizing the positive aspects of kinship and from developing innovative capacities. As such, we demonstrate that not only do firm specific resources contribute to family firm performance, but also that family relationships can be a source of competitive advantage for a family firm. In addition, we found a heightened importance of reciprocal altruism in environments rich in technological opportunities, and that strategic planning is more important for those family firms that lack innovative capacities.
TL;DR: In this article, the impact of three strategic CSR variables ( visibility, appropriability, and voluntarism) on value creation among large Spanish corporations was examined, and the conclusions from these findings suggest that managers need to understand how CSR is similar to and different from other traditional corporate market activities if they are to pursue value creation through CSR.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors present a framework for the analysis of how MNC's strategies interact with states' industrial strategies, showing how national institutional arrangements can systematically contribute to state strategic capabilities that form a basis of competitive advantage.
Abstract: This article presents a framework for the analysis of how MNC's strategies interact with states' industrial strategies. It first shows how national institutional arrangements can systematically contribute to state strategic capabilities that form a basis of competitive advantage. It then examines conditions under which these arrangements and capabilities affect, or fail to affect, gthe international strategies and organization structures of home firms, incoming foreign direct investors, and home firms' international customers, collaborators and competitors
TL;DR: In this article, the strategic value of RFID has been analyzed by building a theory on how RFID used in supply chain management may create and sustain a competitive advantage, based on a theory of organisational learning and the theory of first-mover advantages.
Journal Article•
TL;DR: The authors propose a four-step process for responding to climate change risk: Quantify your company's carbon footprint; identify the risks and opportunities you face; adapt your business in response; and do it better than your competitors.
Abstract: Whether you're in a traditional smokestack industry or a "clean" business like investment banking, your company will increasingly feel the effects of climate change. Even people skeptical about global warming's dangers are recognizing that, simply because so many others are concerned, the phenomenon has wide-ranging implications. Investors already are discounting share prices of companies poorly positioned to compete in a warming world. Many businesses face higher raw material and energy costs as more and more governments enact policies placing a cost on emissions. Consumers are taking into account a company's environmental record when making purchasing decisions. There's also a burgeoning market in greenhouse gas emission allowances (the carbon market), with annual trading in these assets valued at tens of billions of dollars. Companies that manage and mitigate their exposure to the risks associated with climate change while seeking new opportunities for profit will generate a competitive advantage over rivals in a carbon-constrained future. This article offers a systematic approach to mapping and responding to climate change risks. According to Jonathan Lash and Fred Wellington of the World Resources Institute, an environmental think tank, the risks can be divided into six categories: regulatory (policies such as new emissions standards), products and technology (the development and marketing of climate-friendly products and services), litigation (lawsuits alleging environmental harm), reputational (how a company's environmental policies affect its brand), supply chain (potentially higher raw material and energy costs), and physical (such as an increase in the incidence of hurricanes). The authors propose a four-step process for responding to climate change risk: Quantify your company's carbon footprint; identify the risks and opportunities you face; adapt your business in response; and do it better than your competitors.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors outline the potential competitive advantage firms can create through the creation of a sustainable supply chain, and describe potential measures for managers to use, arguing that firms can increase their competitive advantage as a result of a stronger triple bottom line, propositions are created from a natural resource-based view of the firm perspective that is supported using accounting theory, management strategy, green logistics and supply chain literatures.
Abstract: Purpose – The paper's purpose is to outline the potential competitive advantage firms can create through the creation of a sustainable supply chain, and to describe potential measures for managers to use.Design/methodology/approach – Arguing that firms can increase their competitive advantage as a result of a stronger triple bottom line, propositions are created from a natural‐resource‐based view of the firm perspective that is supported using accounting theory, management strategy, green logistics and supply chain literatures. Secondary data resources that could be used for testing by managers and academicians are identified.Findings – The paper finds that, as sources of competitive advantage for firm become scarcer, potential new areas of advantage must be explored.Practical implications – This research will serve to help managers in the exploration of these possible outlets.Originality/value – This paper is the first to explore the impact of a sustainable supply chain on the triple‐bottom line of a fir...
TL;DR: Findings suggest that environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices may be positively associated with competitive outcomes, and can be helpful to engineering and operations managers as they respond to environmental and competitive demands.
Abstract: Increasingly, stakeholders are asking or requiring organizations to be more environmentally responsible with respect to their products and processes; reasons include regulatory requirements, product stewardship, public image, and potential competitive advantages. This paper presents an exploratory study of the relationships between specific environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices, and specific competitive outcomes in an environmentally important but under-researched industry, the U.S. commercial carpet industry. In general, empirical research on the impact of environmental practices on organizational outcomes is inconclusive, partly due to limitations of earlier studies. This paper addresses some of these limitations, and surveys the entire U.S. commercial carpet industry; respondents represent 84 of the market. Findings suggest that environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices may be positively associated with competitive outcomes. In particular, different types of environmentally sustainable manufacturing practices (e.g., pollution prevention, product stewardship) are associated with different competitive outcomes (e.g., manufacturing cost, product quality). These specific findings can be helpful to engineering and operations managers as they respond to environmental and competitive demands.
TL;DR: A systematic approach to the analysis of agile manufacturing is adopted, considering various agility practices or enablers in an integrated way and relating them not only to environmental characteristics but also to business performance.
Abstract: – Despite the fact that agile manufacturing has been frequently promoted as a means of improving business competitiveness, little empirical evidence exists in the literature validating its positive link with business performance. The purpose of this research paper is to analyse agile manufacturing in Spain and study whether it is a critical factor for success in different industries., – A conceptual model is drawn up, based on the literature and a previous case study, to relate turbulence in the environment with agile manufacturing practices and business performance. The model is tested on a large sample of Spanish manufacturers using a survey methodology to obtain information and a structural equation model to analyse the data., – The results obtained show that, in turbulent environments, the integrated use of agile manufacturing practices promotes manufacturing competitive strength, leading to better operational, market and financial performance., – This study has two main limitations. First, it is difficult to determine the most suitable unit of analysis when studying agile manufacturing. Second, single respondent bias may be considered a limitation., – Managers should consider the integrated implementation of agile manufacturing practices in order to develop manufacturing strength and to outperform competitors in turbulent business environments., – This study adopts a systematic approach to the analysis of agile manufacturing, considering various agility practices or enablers in an integrated way and relating them not only to environmental characteristics but also to business performance. This approach is especially interesting because most of the literature on agile manufacturing deals with agility strategies or techniques in an isolated way. The study also tests the suitability of agile manufacturing in real organisations – for the first time in the Spanish context.
TL;DR: Based on a detailed analysis of both primary and secondary data sources, this article argued that when investing in advanced economies, Chinese multinational corporations are motivated primarily by the quest for strategic resources and capabilities, and that the underlying rationale for such asset-seeking FDI is strategic needs.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors argue that small and large firms that learn how to integrate strategic entrepreneurship and collaborative innovation are well positioned to create wealth, and they suggest that collaborative innovation can enable both types of firms to overcome their respective challenges.
Abstract: Strategic entrepreneurship refers to firms' pursuit of superior performance via simultaneous opportunity-seeking and advantage-seeking activities Both small and large firms face impediments while pursuing strategic entrepreneurship While small firms' opportunity-seeking skills may be strong, their limited knowledge stocks and lack of market power inhibit their ability to enact the competitive advantages necessary to appropriate value from opportunities the firms choose to pursue In contrast, large firms are skilled at establishing competitive advantages, but their heavy emphasis on the efficiency of their existing businesses often undermines their ability to continuously explore for additional opportunities Building on a variety of theories, including network, learning, resource-based, and real options, we suggest that collaborative innovation can enable both types of firms to overcome their respective challenges Collaborative innovation is the pursuit of innovations across firm boundaries through the sharing of ideas, knowledge, expertise, and opportunities For small firms, we contend that pursuing entrepreneurship collaboratively allows them to preserve their creativity and flexibility while mitigating the inherent liabilities of smallness We argue that collaborative innovation permits large firms to exploit their advantage-creating skills while concurrently exploring for opportunities outside their current domain Thus, small and large firms that learn how to integrate strategic entrepreneurship and collaborative innovation are well positioned to create wealth Copyright © 2008 Strategic Management Society
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate how emerging markets' MNEs may follow quite different patterns to reach, or at least approach, global competitiveness, and investigate how three EM-MNEs pursued global growth through accelerated internationalization combined with strategic and organizational innovation.
TL;DR: In this article, a historical review and bibliometric analysis are included in this research to shed light on RFID trends, and contributions, and they conclude that RFID will be more ubiquitously diffused and assimilated into our daily lives in the near future.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors show how complementary assets raise the need for strategic direction by a firm's top management, and how these assets magnify internal incentive problems and their management has an impact on the innovativeness of a firm.
Abstract: In the resource-based view of strategy and in evolutionary economics, complementary assets play a crucial role in explaining sustainable competitive advantages and innovations. Despite the apparent importance of complementary assets for the understanding of corporate strategy, their creation and the associated managerial problems have been much less discussed. We believe this to be a major weakness in the strategic theory of the firm. Interestingly, problems of coordination and cooperation are center stage in the contract-based theories of the firm, and we try to integrate some of their insights into a resource-based perspective. Specifically, we show how complementary assets raise the need for strategic direction by a firm's top management. Moreover, complementary assets magnify internal incentive problems, and their management has an impact on the innovativeness of a firm. Lastly, complementary assets play a crucial role in the internal appropriation of innovative rents. We demonstrate the fruitfulness of our integrated framework by relating some of our findings to the literature on corporate strategy, industry evolution, and organizational structures. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyse internationally active biotechnology small and medium enterprises (SMEs) from Switzerland, Germany, and Australia to find out about the generation and protection of their competitive advantage that enables them to internationalise early and rapidly.
Book•
01 Jan 2007
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors describe a new decision science called Talentship, which reveals opportunities by identifying strategy pivot points and the optimal talent and organization decisions that address them, showing how today's "HR" can evolve to fulfill its potential as a source of strategic advantage.
Abstract: Is your talent strategy a unique competitive advantage? As competition for top talent increases, companies must recognize that decisions about talent and its organization can have a significant strategic impact. Beyond HR shows how organizations can uncover distinctive talent contributions, strategically differentiate their HR practices and metrics, and more optimally allocate talent to create value. Illustrations from companies such as Disney, Boeing, and Corning describe a new decision science called Talentship, that reveals opportunities by identifying strategy pivot points and the optimal talent and organization decisions that address them. A unique framework helps readers identify their own distinctive strategic pivot points and connect them to talent decisions, showing how today's "HR" can evolve to fulfill its potential as a source of strategic advantage.
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors trace the evolution of three cases of regional food production, where local actors pursued the opportunity to qualify products under EEC Regulation 2081/92, and conclude with analysis of factors influencing the involvement and behaviour of actors in regional food qualification.
TL;DR: In this article, a resource-based framework is presented to examine how strategic alliances offer entrepreneurial firms needed resources that may not otherwise be available, and compare various options to fill resource gaps, and identify the pros and cons of the alliance approach.
Abstract: Corporate entrepreneurship (CE) activities may significantly benefit from interfirm strategic alliances, although such benefits have not been sufficiently examined in the literature. In this paper, a resource-based framework is presented to examine how strategic alliances offer entrepreneurial firms needed resources that may not otherwise be available. We argue that CE activities are likely to lead to resource gaps. We compare various options to fill resource gaps, and identify the pros and cons of the alliance approach. We then discuss the resource conditions that provide competitive advantage for a firm, if alliances are properly used to help implement CE. Finally, we examine how different types of alliance (e.g. joint ventures, R&D alliances, and learning alliances) facilitate various CE activities, including innovation, corporate venturing, and strategic renewal.