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Competing For Advantage. Chapter 4 – The Internal Organization: Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies. Profitability in the U.S. Retailing Industry, 1996-2001. Why Internal Analysis?. Early strategy theory rooted in industry structural analysis - external focus
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Competing For Advantage Chapter 4 – The Internal Organization: Resources, Capabilities, and Core Competencies
Why Internal Analysis? • Early strategy theory rooted in industry structural analysis - external focus • This approach has lost its appeal because: • internationalization & deregulation has all but removed safe havens • technology and changes in demand have blurred industry lines
Components of Internal Analysis Leading to Competitive Advantage and Value Creation
Increasing Value of Intangible Resources • Less visibility and less imitable • More sustainability • More leverage within network of users
Evaluation of Resources Strength or Weakness • relative to competitors • basic business requirements • key vulnerabilities
Tangible Resources Org. Capabilities Inputs into Outputs Intangible Resources • Examples….. • Customer Service • Product Development • Employee Productivity
Core Competencies • central to the firm’s competitiveness • rewarded in market place • combination of skills & knowledge, not products or functions • flexible, long term platforms • embedded in the organization’s systems • distinctive competencies are those the firm performs better than rivals • All core competencies have the potential to become core rigidities
Supporting and nurturing more than four core competencies may prevent a firm from developing the focus needed to fully exploit its competencies in the marketplace
Tools for Building Core Competencies • Four Criteria of Sustainable Competitive Advantage • Value Chain Analysis
Sustainable Competitive Advantage Must be valuable, rare, costly to imitable, and non-substitutable Sustainability is a function of • Durability - how long will it last? • Technology? Reputation? Fixed Assets? • Imitability - how quickly can it be copied? • Transparent - easy to see? • Transferable - can it be done elsewhere? • Replicable - can we do it here?
Factors that Limit Imitation • Physical Uniqueness – location, patents • Path Dependency – accumulation effect • Causal Ambiguity – unable to disentangle • Social Complexity – social interactions are not readily understood nor duplicated • Absorptive Capacity – ability to identify, value, assimilate and use knowledge
Outcomes from Combinations of the Criteria for Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Creating Value • Key Terms • Value – measured by a product's performance characteristics and by its attributes for which customers are willing to pay
Relative costs and prices Where do cost/price differences come from? • raw materials and components • differences in technology, plant, equipment • efficiencies, learning, experience, wages, productivity • marketing, sales, promotion, warehousing, distribution, administration costs • distribution • inflation, exchange and tax rates
Porter’s Value Chain Views the organization as a series (chain) of activities, which may or may not create value
Porter’s Value Chain (cont.) • Primary Activities • Inbound logistics – Supply Chain Management • Operations • Outbound logistics - Distribution • Marketing and sales • Customer service • Contribute to the physical creation of the product/service, its sale and transfer to the buyer, and its service after the sale
Porter’s Value Chain (cont) • Support Activities • Procurement • Technological development • Human resource management • Firm infrastructure
The Value Chain S u p p o r t FirmInfrastructure HRM Technological Development Margin Procurement Service Marketing & Sales Inbound Logistics Outbound Logistics Operations Margin Primary
A low cost strategy….. Firm Infrastructure HRM Technological Development Margin Procurement Service Marketing & Sales Inbound Logistics Outbound Logistics Operations Margin …tries to pull the arrow back…..
Low Cost - Support Activity examples…... Fewer layers of management Policies to reduce turnover IBM Printer - 150 to 62 parts, 3.5 minutes Margin Monitor supplier performance Service Marketing & Sales Inbound Logistics Outbound Logistics Operations Margin
Low cost - Primary Activity examples…. • Inbound - Toyota • Operations - Subway • Outbound - Campbell Soup’ Continuous Replenishment • Marketing/Sales - WalMart • Customer Service - Federal Express
A differentiation strategy….. FirmInfrastructure HRM Technological Development Margin Procurement Service Marketing & Sales Inbound Logistics Outbound Logistics Operations Margin ….tries to pull the arrow forward...
Differentiation - Support Activity examples…... Commitment to quality Compensation rewarding innovation Amazon Recommendations Margin Purchasing high-quality components Service Marketing & Sales Inbound Logistics Outbound Logistics Operations Margin
Differentiation - Primary Activity examples…... • Inbound - Dell • Operations - Marriott • Outbound - WebVan • Market/Sales - Nordstrom’s • Customer Service - Pirtek
Your Firm Buyers Suppliers Your Rivals
Your Firm Opportunities for Advantage Buyers Suppliers Your Rivals
Your Firm Opportunities for Adding Value Opportunities for Adding Value Buyers Suppliers Your Rivals
Source of Competitive Advantage • The resource or capability must allow the firm to perform an activity in a manner superior to the way competitors perform it • The resource or capability must allow the firm to perform a value-creating activity that competitors cannot perform
Outsourcing • Key Terms • Outsourcing – purchase of a value-creating activity from an external supplier
Outsourcing Viability • When a firm does not have the capabilities in the areas needed to succeed • When a firm lacks a resource or possesses inadequate skills needed to implement a strategy • When few organizations possess the resources and capabilities needed for competitive superiority in all primary and support activities necessary to compete • When extensive internal capabilities exist for effectively coordinating external sourcing and internal core competencies
Benefits of Outsourcing • Increased flexibility • Mitigation of risks • Reduced capital investments
Essential Skills for Outsourcing • Strategic thinking • Deal making • Partnership governance • Managing change