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Essay on Competitive Advantage

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Corporate Strategy

"Sources of competitive advantage rarely yield added value that can be sustained over time."

The following essay 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 firm. Then I will explain the sources of competitive advantage and how the distinctive capabilities of a firm allow 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 average …show more content…

A firms profitability is a function not only of industry conditions, but also of the amount of value it creates relative to it's competitors. The amount value the firm creates in comparison depends on it's cost and differentiation positions relative to competitors. No business can exist without creating positive value, and to achieve a competitive advantage it must add more value that it's competitors.
Added value is the difference between the market value of a firm's output and the value which it's inputs would have in comparable activities undertaken by other firms. Added value can be achieved if customers or suppliers are willing to undertake relationships which they would not make available to other people.
The main sources of competitive advantage are architecture, reputation and innovation. It is the ability of the firm in how it utilizes it's distinctive capabilities to add value to it's competitive advantage.

Architecture is the first primary distinctive capability of competitive advantage. It is a network of relational contracts within , or around, the firm. It is a description of relationships held by a firm internally or externally, or with a group of other firms. Architecture can add value and provides competitive advantage by encouraging the formation of organizational knowledge and the development of organizational routines and cooperative ethics. Some firms

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