...Evaluating Firm Strengths and Weaknesses What Does Internal Analysis Tell Us? Internal analysis provides a comparative look at a firm’s capabilities • what are the firm’s strengths? • what are the firm’s weaknesses? • how do these strengths & weaknesses compare to competitors? Why Does Internal Analysis Matter? Internal analysis helps a firm: • determine if its resources and capabilities are likely sources of competitive advantage • establish strategies that will exploit any sources of competitive advantage Traditional research on firm strengths and weaknesses • Theories of distinctive competence – General managers as distinctive competencies – Institutional leadership as a distinctive competence • Ricardian economics • Penrose’s theory of firm growth Research on the skills of general managers, institutional leaders, economic rents and firm growth have been brought together to develop a rigorous model to analyze a firm’s strengths and weaknesses: the resource-based view of the firm The Theory Behind Internal Analysis The Resource-Based View • developed to answer the question: Why do some firms achieve better economic performance than others? • used to help firms achieve competitive advantage and superior economic performance • assumes that a firm’s resources and capabilities are the primary drivers of competitive advantage and economic performance The Resource-Based View Resources and Capabilities Resources: • tangible and intangible assets of a firm » tangible:...
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...internal activities. The report will give a brief summary of the RBV paradigm, followed, the main base of the report will focus on how firms use their recourses, capabilities and competencies to achieve competitive advantage. Concluding comments will then be made further discussing the concept of RBV.! ! The RBV summary! The Ricardian1 perspective of the heterogeneity and immobility of competitive capability producing and rent earning resources flows through the core of the RBV (Barney, 1991; Kraaijenbrink et al 2010). Organisations are seen to strive for above normal profit generation, in unmediated competition with other firms within the same market. It further views organisations as profit maximising entities, guided by rational managers operating in such markets that, to a point are predictable and moving towards equilibrium (Leiblein, 2003; Kraaijenbrink et al 2010). From this the RBV takes an inside-out approach to dealing with the competitive environment, focusing on the firms resources and internal capabilities, that can be bundled together to provide a firm with sustained competitive advantage (SCA) (Barney et al, 2001). Internal capabilities and resources therefore depict the strategic choices an organisation will make to achieve competitive advantage within its external environment. On occasion the the configuration of its internal capabilities will lead to new markets to...
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...NETWORK CAPABILITY – EMERGING AS PART OF AN INDUSTRIAL FIRMS COMPETENCE CONFIGURATION Jukka Vesalainen, University of Vaasa, Department of Management jukka.vesalainen@uva.fi Henri Hakala, University of Vaasa, Department of Management henri.hakala@uva.fi Abstract: The network capability refers to the firm’s ability to build, handle and exploit relationships. These capabilities are interwoven in the complex configuration with other capabilities and competencies of the firm and are, in practice, very difficult to separate from them. Rather than assuming that firms inherently possess network capability, our aim is to discover if this actually naturally occurs in the discourse of the top management teams. In order to understand how managers perceive, process and interpret network capability, the management teams of six industrial subcontractors were guided through a five-step process of introducing, identifying, critical screening, challenging and verifying the capabilities of the firm. The paper introduces strategic capability architecture and investigates how network capability emerges within the configuration of other capabilities in these firms. We found that in customer oriented capability sets, network capabilities are central to the formation this kind of capabilities. In other types of capability sets, networking capabilities play an important role as assets in the formation of the capability sets. Furthermore, we identified that the networking capabilities act in unison with...
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...ILO) and their invalidation for IB firms from NICs 2 2.1 IDP paradigm: 2 2.2 OLI theory 3 3. Globalization and IDP paradigm 4 4. Samsung’s role in the outpacing of IDP position of Korea 6 4.1 Development of technology capability 7 4.2 Crisis management creation and human resources management 7 4.3 R&D support and technology capabilities 8 4.4 Financial resources transferred within the group 8 5. Conclusions 9 References 11 1. Introduction Since the early 1980s, the world economy has experienced rapid ‘globalization’. Globalization has changed the pattern of trade, foreign direct investment (FDI) in world economic activity. One remarkable change lies in the once widely used investment development path (IDP) paradigm. In many newly industrialized countries, MNEs have accelerated their internationalization, leading to an increase of outward FDI from those countries on a scale earlier than the IDP would suggest. This report introduces some IB theories such as OLI and IDP, and explains why these theories are more useful for describing the internationalization process of large established IB firms but less so for IB firms from newly industrialized countries. Also, the role of globalization in changing the predictions of IDP paradigm as well as how Samsung took a major role in enabling Korea to outpace its IDP position have been illustrated in this report. 2. IB theories (IDP, ILO) and their invalidation for IB firms from NICs In this case, IB theories...
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...E-GOST TSER Contract of the European Union HPSE-CT-2002-50026 (Thematic Network) 1st workshop : April 3rd –4th, 2003 (Strasbourg) RESOURCES AND COMPETENCES PERSPECTIVES ON STRATEGY OF THE FIRM: A discussion of the central arguments F. Amesse, A. Avadikyan, P. Cohendet Introduction: In 1994, Wernerfelt received an award for the best paper of the decade in Strategic Management Review (A resource-based view of the firm, 1984). Considering the fortune of the article among practicing managers (Wernerfelt, 1995), he admitted that such a fortune had been leveraged by the 1990 article of Prahalad and Hamel in Harvard Business Review (“The Core Competence of the Corporation”). Directly addressed to people in management and strategy, this article was clearly prescriptive as to the best way to set winning strategies for the firm, especially as to diversification and the abusive use of SBUs (Strategic Business Units) in highly decentralized profit centres. “In the 1990s, top executives will be judged on their ability to identify, cultivate, and exploit the core competencies that make growth possible”. Since the 1990s, the resource based view (RBV) and the core competence approach (CCA) became very attractive for many researchers and consultants. Such interest was well supported by what seemed to be a clear and superior way of setting strategies by large Japanese groups which frequently served as a benchmark case of core competence management. The strong and pervasive trends...
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...(2012) 40:102–119 DOI 10.1007/s11747-011-0279-9 Marketing and business performance Neil A. Morgan Received: 28 July 2011 / Accepted: 1 August 2011 / Published online: 20 August 2011 # Academy of Marketing Science 2011 Abstract Academics and managers have struggled for many years to understand and delineate the role of marketing in explaining business performance differences between firms. Most of the theory base for any such attempts has to be informed by strategic management theory, since the primary question that strategic management seeks to answer is why some firms outperform others over time. This paper synthesizes three major streams of thought in strategic management with the empirical and theoretical literature on strategic marketing to develop an integrative theory-based conceptual framework linking marketing with firms’ business performance. Keywords Marketing strategy . Marketing resources . Marketing capabilities . Positional advantage . Competitors . Market performance . Financial performance Introduction The role of marketing in explaining firms’ business performance has received significant attention throughout the history of the marketing discipline. The need to link marketing with business performance has become more Acknowledgements Doug Vorhies contributed to much of the thinking represented in this paper—a version of which we set out to write together more than a decade ago but never got time to drive to completion in the face...
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...CC-307-017 Dynamic Strategic Alignment This reference note was prepared by Professor Steven White to introduce basic concepts and a framework for discussing strategic management. Copyright © 2009 by CEIBS (China Europe International Business School). No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means – electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise – without the permission of CEIBS The CEIBS Case Centre is sponsored by McKinsey & Company. Dynamic Strategic Alignment CC-307-017 Dynamic Strategic Alignment This note introduces the concepts and frameworks that are commonly used in strategic analysis, integrating them within an on-going process of creating and improving strategic alignment. 1. FUNDAMENTALS The objective of strategic management is to create alignments—within the firm and between the firm and its environment—that give the firm competitive advantage and enable it to achieve its goals. Strategic change, therefore, is fundamentally a decision about what changes to make in order to create or improve alignment that moves the firm closer to its goals. Managers may increase alignment and performance by a) changing elements of the firm, b) changing features of the environment in which operate, or c) shifting to another environment. There will usually be multiple options, and managers must decide which changes are necessary, possible and worth the effort required. When making...
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...Journal of Management Studies 44:8 December 2007 doi: 10.1111/j.1467-6486.2007.00719.x A Modern Resource Based Approach to Unrelated Diversification Desmond W. Ng Texas A&M University abstract For over three decades, the questions of how and why an organization diversifies into related and unrelated businesses have drawn the attention of strategy scholars. However, explanations of unrelated diversification have been less than clear. A conceptual model of unrelated diversification is thus proposed. In drawing on Penrose’s (1959) resource based approach, unrelated diversification is explained by an organization’s ‘three pillars’, which consist of its strength of dynamic capabilities, absorptive capacity, and weak ties. The role of the three pillars is to discover new resource applications or uses in conditions of market failure that are characterized by ‘incomplete’ markets. A novel feature of this model is that an organization can diversify more broadly than predicted by Penrose (1959) and other modern resource-based approaches (Teece et al., 1997). Furthermore, unrelated diversification can be beneficial. This study also offers suggestions to measure the three pillars; its contributions and implications are discussed as well. INTRODUCTION The questions of how and why an organization diversifies into related and unrelated businesses have been a central focus of strategy research (Palich et al., 2000; Rumelt, 1974; Teece, 1982). These diversifications have been defined by the degree...
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...examined, and thirdly, the effect the Resource-Based View has on financial performance considering hypercompetitive challenges. Finally, the paper ends by concluding that a strategy based on RBV will have greater effect on financial performance in a hypercompetitive environment, which suggests that managers' should spend more resources concerning companies' internal environment than the external in order to increase their return on investments. 2 INTRODUCTION Globalisation has been identified as a key driver of hypercompetition which has transformed the marketplace by higher degree of uncertainty, rapid technological changes and price wars (Harvey, Novicevic, & Kiessling, 2001). Hypercompetition has toughened competition, forcing firms to respond with better ideas at a faster pace and leaving less room for mistakes. In order to achieve...
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...THE ROLE OF ENTREPRENEURIAL OREINTATION ON ENTREPRENEURIAL INNOVATIVENES: A CASE STUDY OF SMALL AND MEDIUM SCALE ENTREPRISE IN LAGOS STATE, NIGERIA BY FATOYE, MUSTAPHA OBI 08S04/046 BEING A RESEACH PROJECT SUMITTED TO THE DEPARMENT OF BUSNESS ADMINISTRATION, FACULTY OF SOCIAL AND MANAGEMENT SCIENCES, AJAYI CROWTHER UNIVERSITY, OYO IN PARTICAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD OF BARCHELOR OF SCIENCE (B.S.C) DEGREE IN BUSINESS ADMINISTARTION (MANAGEMENT OPTION) JULY, 2012 CERTIFICATION This is to certify that this project was written by FATOYE MUSTAPHA OBI (MARICULATION NUMBER 08S04/046) in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of bachelor of science (B.S.c) degree in business administration (management option) of the department of business administration, faculty of social and management sciences, Ajayi Crowther university, Oyo, Oyo State. MR. P.A Akanbi ....................... (Project supervisor) Date DR. O.E Ofoegbu ........................ (HOD, Business Administration) Date PROF. S.O. Akano ....................... (Dean, SMS) Date .............................. ........................ EXTERNAL EXAMINER Date DEDICATION This work is dedicated to God Almighty who generously gave me the strength, health and other resources to successfully accomplish this research. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This period of my life had been a period of trials and revelation but...
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...The Impact of Purchasing Capabilities on Delivery Performance Astrid Hanghøj Risskov, Denmark, astridhanghoej@gmail.com This article aims to integrate capability-based theory into purchasing management. The research model presented in the article focuses on the effect of supplier evaluation capability and risk management capability on delivery performance. Further, the article explores the moderating effect of demand and technological uncertainty. The methodology relies on a multiple informant survey design with responses from purchasing and production managers in Danish manufacturing companies. Hypotheses are tested using regression analysis based on data collected from 197 firms. Risk management capability is found to increase delivery performance. Unexpectedly, supplier evaluation capability was found to decrease delivery performance. Demand uncertainty has a negative effect on delivery performance. Technological uncertainty had no effect on delivery performance. The results are discussed in detail in the final section of the article. Keywords: purchasing capabilities, delivery performance, environmental uncertainty Supply Chain Forum An International Journal © Copyright KEDGE BS ISSN print 1625-8312 ISSN online1624-6039 Supply Chain Forum An International Journal Purchasing and supply management (PSM) continues to become an increasingly more important activity for firms. Purchasing managers need to demonstrate that they make a...
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...Summarized by: Nada Mohamed Hassan El-Egeimy 45 C- Heliopolis Summarized by: Nada Mohamed Hassan El-Egeimy 45 C- Heliopolis PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES: REFLEXION AND REFLECTION IN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT Abstract In recent years, there has been a move to identify the behavioral foundations underpinning the evolutionary and economic fitness of the enterprise. Indeed, the dynamic capabilities project now occupies center stage in the field of strategic management. Yet the accounts developed thus far—like much of the field’s theory and research more generally—are predicated upon a cold cognition logic that downplays the significance of emotional/affective and nonconscious cognitive processes for strategic adaptation. In this article, we rectify this imbalance by drawing upon contemporary advances in social cognitive neuroscience and neuroeconomics to develop a series of countervailing insights and new prescriptions for the development of dynamic capabilities. Using Teece’s (2007) influential framework to organize and illustrate our arguments, we demonstrate how the fundamental capabilities of sensing, seizing, and transforming each require firms to harness the cognitive and emotional capacities of individuals and groups to blend effortful forms of analysis with the skilled utilization of less deliberative, intuitive processes. Introduction Over the past two decades, a growing body of work has sought to incorporate the insights of human psychology to...
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...DEVELOPING INNOVATION CAPABILITY IN ORGANISATIONS: A DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES APPROACH BENN LAWSON Department of Accounting, The University of Melbourne Victoria, 3010, Australia e-mail: blawson@unimelb.edu.au DANNY SAMSON Department of Management, The University of Melbourne Victoria, 3010, Australia e-mail: d.samson@unimelb.edu.au Received 1 February 2001 Revised 18 August 2001 Accepted 21 August 2001 This paper draws together knowledge from a variety of fields to propose that innovation management can be viewed as a form of organisational capability. Excellent companies invest and nurture this capability, from which they execute effective innovation processes, leading to innovations in new product, services and processes, and superior business performance results. An extensive review of the literature on innovation management, along with a case study of Cisco Systems, develops a conceptual model of the firm as an innovation engine. This new operating model sees substantial investment in innovation capability as the primary engine for wealth creation, rather than the possession of physical assets. Building on the dynamic capabilities literature, an “innovation capability” construct is proposed with seven elements. These are vision and strategy, harnessing the competence base, organisational intelligence, creativity and idea management, organisational structures and systems, culture and climate, and management of technology. Keywords: innovation, dynamic capabilities, Cisco, new technology ...
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...A distinctive competency is a competency unique to a business organization, a competency superior in some aspect than the competencies of other organizations, which enables the production of a unique value proposition in the function of the business. A distinctive competency is the basis for the development of an unassailable competitive advantage. The uniqueness differentiates this competency from all others, whether a core competency or simply a competency. Leader's responsibility regarding competency -- ""...the task of building special values and a distinctive competence into the organization is a prime function of leadership."" Source: Selznick, 1957, pp 27. Sources of distinctive competency -- Distinctive competencies, the basis for competitive advantage, can come from technology, industry position, market relations, cost, business processes, manufacturing processes, people, customer satisfaction, or just being first. The insightful integration of complementary elements of the business model is the strongest form of competitive advantage known. This is because it is so difficult for competitors to understand and even more difficult to replicate, especially when the business model elements of value, purpose, vision, culture, and identity are intertwined in a powerful business solution. Examples of distinctive competency -- Toyota has a distinctive competency in lean manufacturing. GE has a distinctive competency in management development. These companies also...
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...“How does the development of core competencies provide both advantages and disadvantages for an organisation? What steps can managers take to prevent core competencies becoming core rigidities?” In today’s world competition among firms becomes globalized and more intense. In order to become superiorly competitive, companies should enhance its competencies in a way that will allow them to achieve dominant position in a market. One way of accomplishing it is by development of core competencies. Competencies are considered core if they are skillfully performed and are principal to company’s strategy and its competiveness (Thompson et al, 2013). They are result of ‘collective learning’ activities (Prohalad and Hamel, 1990), a combination of unique skills, assets and routines (Teese, Pisano and Shuen, 1990), and knowledge sets, which altogether strategically differentiate company (Leonard-Barton, 1992) and by being valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable by nature they provide basis for sustainable competitive advantage (Hafeez, Zhang and Malak, 2002). To begin with, the development of core competencies provides numerous advantages for an organization. Prahalad and Hamel (1990) in their research ‘Core Competence of the Corporation’ argue that these benefits can be seen as the following: development of new core and diversified products and consequently potential ability to enter new markets. Scholars have also emphasized the importance of the effective competence building...
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