Competitive Advantage Essay -- essays research papers fc

Corporate Strategy"Sources of competitive return rarely yield added value that can be sustained oer time."The following judge is going to attempt to assess the above proposition and try to find if it is possible to add value continually over a period of time. I will first discuss what competitive advantage is and what it means to a stiff. Then I will explain the sources of competitive advantage and how the distinctive capabilities of a truehearted accommodate it to sustain added value. The discussion is based on a number of viewpoints from different authors who will be clearly indicated and acknowledged. I begin with explaining what competitive advantage is.So, what is Competitive Advantage? In a number of industries, the clean performance of the industry is usually no better than the average performance of industries as a whole. However particular unbendables or groups of firms manage to do considerably better than average. In this case, the high performing firm or s ub-group has something special and difficult to imitate to offer which allows it to outperform its rivals.Porter (1985) refers to such special assets as the firms competitive advantage. "A firms competitive advantage are those characteristics that allow it to do well even in the face of mediocre industry wide performance and free entry into the industry as a whole." The firm has certain capabilities which allow it to be different from the other firms in the industry. It has certain distinctive capabilities which cannot be reproduced by competitors. However, it is not enough for that characteristic to be distinctive. It is in any case necessary for it to be sustainable over a period of time.As Oster (1994) points out, " The key success factors in an industry are those assets that allow a firm to outperform its rivals for a sustained period of time."Competitive advantages are always relative. For example, Sainsburys has a very slight competitive advantage over Tesco. These firms serve equivalent marketplaces and they see themselves as members of the same industry and strategic group. Tesco has a competitive advantage over Argyll. In a paired comparison one firm will have a relative competitive advantage over another.The resource based theory of the firm indicates, " If all firms in a market have the same stock of resources and capabilities, no strategy for value creation is... ...ge a firm has in the market.Word Count 1450 wordsBibliographyCombined Bibliography for essay an related case study.Firm Resources & Sustained Competitive Advantage, 1991          J. BarneyFoundations Of Corporate Success, 1995                    J. KayModern Competitive Analysis, 1994                         S.M. OsterCompetitive Advantage, 198 5                         Micheal Porter Other sourcesExploring Corporate Strategy, 1989                         G. Johnson & K. Scholes IBM website on the Internet, http/www.ibm.comNewspaper articles and CD ROMCombined Word Count 2500 words