Group Essay,Huanlei Han

8/12/2019 Group Essay,Huanlei Han

1/3

In this section, the selected topic is sustainable competitive advantage in an increasingly

competitive environment. According to Barney (1991), a competitive advantage reers to a value

generating strategy that is not simultaneously implemented by any e!iting or potential rivals. "hat

should #co$ash do to %eep sustainable competitive advantage in an increasingly competitive

environment& 'his essay ans$ers this uestion generally in a resources based vie$.

ne o the selected *ournal article is +irm esources and -ustained ompetitive Advantage

(Barney, 1991). 'his article aims to e!amine the relationship bet$een corporate resources and

sustained competitive advantages. It irstly deines some %ey terms, including irm resources,

competitive advantage and sustained competitive advantage/ and indicates the role o company

resources in creation o sustained competitive advantages. 'hen, through a evaluation rame$or%,

the author discusses our %ey characteristics to identiy strategic resources $hich contributes to

develop organisational sustained competitive advantages. 'he our characteristics are respectively

value, rareness, imitability and substitutability. 'o sum up, the article describes each company as a

uniue bundle o tangible and intangible resources.

'his article is relevant to #co$ash situation as it states the importance o strategic resources,

$hich are the undamentals or a company to develop and remain develop and remain competitive

advantages in an increasingly competitive environment. 'his article contributes to identiy the

companys idiosyncratic strategic resources by the our characteristics rom three aspects0 physical

resources, human resources and company capital. Also, it implies the importance or #coeash to

%eep sustainable competitive advantages. 'hat is, to achieve and create strategic resources, and to

properly use and allocate these resources. In a vie$ o article structure, his article establishes

theoretical basis o discussion on selected topic. 'he theoretical and rame and model representedby this article are used to lead ollo$ed discussion. 'he selection o all other support materials is

in conormity $ith its illustrations.

o$ever, its classiications on strategic resources are merely s%etchy. It has limits on discussion

about relationships bet$een some %inds o speciic resources,and the creation o sustainable

competitive advantage. 'hese speciic resources include but not limited to innovations, business

culture and company brand. 'hus, some other academic materials are needed to cover these

shortages. +urther, in practice, the s%etchy classiications made by this article might mislead irms

li%e #co$ash. -ince some important but intangible resources such as core value, branding and the

capacities o innovations are not identiied and clearly divided into any o the three types o

resources. As a result, irms might conuse about $hether these resources are strategical to

development and remain competitive advantages. orrespondingly, they might not realise the

importance o these %ind o resources.

According to the model illustrated by this article, #co$ash generally has three %inds o strategic

resources. It includes 1) physical resources, such as the techniue o $aterless car $ash/ 2) human

resources, or e!ample, the company provides ull training, supports and transparency inormation

to ranchisees/ 3) company capital, a lead position in $aterless car industry and a environmental

core value, or instance. 'o %eep its competitive advantages in an increasing competitiveenvironment, #co$ash has to properly allocate and use these strategic resources and %eep their


2/3

sustainabilities.

In addition to Barneys $or%, some articles play similar roles to establish theoretical rame $ithin

$hich the discussions on this topic are made. 'hese articles include0 the cornerstones o

competitive advantage0 a resources based vie$ (4etera, 1993), and the resources based vie$$ithin the conversation o strategic management (5ahoney 6 4andin, 1992). Both o these t$o

articles ollo$ Barneys $ay. 'he ormer supports Barneys arguments and ocus on application o

his resources based model or strategy management. 'he later ma%es research in depth and

stresses the conversion rom theory to strategy management.

Another selected academic paper is the resource7based vie$ o the irm and innovation0

identiication o critical lin%age, $hich is conerence paper published at the 2nd #uropean

Academy o 5anagement onerence. It aims to state the interrelationships bet$een

organisational innovation and the resources based vie$. 'he article begins $ith a introduction o

bac%ground %no$ledge on resources based vie$ and the process to create sustainable competitive

advantage. 'hen, it discussion the irms capacity o innovation in a resources based vie$.

'heoretical illustrations and empirical evidences are included in this part. It is concluded that

resources based vie$ provides ne$ orientations or management o the irm7level innovations. 'o

sum up, the relationship bet$een resources based vie$ and innovation is bilateral. n one hand,

corporate resources oer signiicant input or innovation actions. n the other hand, innovation

produces competitive advantages that increase uture value. It also indicates that a company

should strive to innovations both better than rivals and beore the competition.

'his article is relevant to selected topic as it clearly identiies irm7level innovations as strategicresources that produce sustainable competitive advantages. Its statements are made basis on

Barneys and other previous $or%s. 'he contribution o this article is its in depth discussion in a

speciic aspect o resources. 'hus, it is considered as a necessary supplementation on Barley

(1991)s $or%. Besides help in urther identiy #co$ashs core advantages, this article also

contributes to stress the role o innovation aspect in #co$ash situation. 'al%ing $ith the essay

structure, this article is used as supplementary supports to #co$ashs strategic resources

identiication/ and also to provide the theoretical base $hen discusses the innovations on products

and technologies. ne o the articles signiicant limit is its narro$ scope. 'hat means, it does not

cover any other issues more than innovation.

'hin%ing about this articles statements, #co$ash has signiicant advantage in its technology o

liting dirt $ithout $ater. 'o %eep this advantage, the company should never stop technological

research to constantly improve current technologies and develop ne$ technologies. 'o %eep the

imitability, the company is encouraged to apply or patent. -econdly, its innovations on services

products help to remain current and create ne$ advantages. 'hus, to %eep its competitive

advantages sustainably, the orm is recommended to build a team or a department $ith the speciic

unction to develop ne$ product. All o these innovations should be made better than and beore is

competitors.

'here are some other academic articles $idening Barneys $or%, and ocusing on various aspect


3/3

o corporate resources. -ome e!ample includes0 organi8ational culture0 can it be a source o

sustained competitive advantage& (Barney, 19:)/ human resources and the resources based vie$

o the irm (;unord, -nell 6 "right, 2::31219rbHvie$.pd.

5ahoney, =. '. (1992). 'he resources based vie$ $ithin the conversation o strategic management.

!trategic Management Journal 1"(2), 3:373

Documents

Group Essay,Huanlei Han