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The Ressource-Based Tangle: Towards a Sustainable Explanation of Competitive Advantage

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Author Info
Nicolai J Foss
Thorbjørn Knudsen

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Abstract

The arguably dominant contemporary approach to the analysis of sustained competitive advantage is the resource-based view. Taking Barney (1991) and Peteraf (1993) as representative summary statements of the view, we argue that much resource-based research rests on partial, implicit and problematic assumptions, and that this has led to conclusions that are much less general than the proponents of the view believe. As an example, the widely cited value-rareness-inimitability or heterogeneity-immobility-ex post and ex ante limits to competition lists do not stand up to scrutiny. In general, the view suffers from a confusion of what are necessary conditions for the expression of sustained competitive advantage and what are additional conditions which only serve to give the expression of sustained competitive advantage a specific form. We argue that there are only two necessary conditions for the expression of sustained competitive advantage, namely uncertainty and immobility, and that all other conditions are additional.

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Paper provided by Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy, Copenhagen Business School in its series IVS/CBS Working Papers with number 00-1.

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Handle: RePEc:ivs:iivswp:00-1

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Related research
Keywords: firm strategy; competitive advantage; resources;

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
L1 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance
L21 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - Business Objectives of the Firm
M21 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Economics - - - Business Economics

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Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
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  5. Rubinstein, Ariel, 1982. "Perfect Equilibrium in a Bargaining Model," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 50(1), pages 97-109, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Nicolai J. Foss, 1997. "Equilibrium vs Evolution in the Resource-Based Perspective The Conflicting Legacies of Demsetz and Penrose," DRUID Working Papers 97-10, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Williams, J.R., 1992. "How Sustainable is your Competitive Advantage?," GSIA Working Papers 1992-03, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
  11. Joseph Farrell & Hunter K. Monroe & Garth Saloner, 1998. "The Vertical Organization of Industry: Systems Competition versus Component Competition," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 7(2), pages 143-182, 06. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  1. Michael Christensen & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2006. "Organizational Design and Resource Evaluation," DRUID Working Papers 06-05, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies. [Downloadable!]
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