Received October 2, 2012 / Accepted January 23, 2013 J. Technol. Manag. Innov.

2013,Volume 8, Issue 2

Building a Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Mukesh Srivastava1, Andy Franklin2, Louis Martinette3

Abstract

This paper analyzes cross-industrial best practices and future trends in the context of the contemporary resource based
competitive advantage model of the firm. It identifies key managerial levers, tools and systems that can be used to build and
sustain a Hi-Technology company’s core competences in order to facilitate a more innovative, collaborative 21st century
corporate culture. A qualitative and quantitative assessment is made of how a firm’s leadership, human capital management,
organizational culture, design and systems can all collectively merge to create a more dynamic and responsive organization
which is far more adept at building unique resources and capabilities, which can then be leveraged to create new market
opportunities with high competitive entry barriers.

Keywords: competitive advantage; strategy; sustainability.

College of Business. University of Mary Washington. Fredericksburg,VA 22406. e-mail: 1msrivast@[Link], 3lmartine@[Link]
2
Alltronics, LLC. San Francisco, CA 95050.

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 J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2012,Volume 8, Issue 2

Introduction Porters Five Forces

To achieve competitive advantage, firms need to constantly A more contemporary analysis model by Porter
focus on the identification of differential product strategies, (1979) brought a greater depth of understanding of a firm’s
building or reshaping core competencies, acquiring unique relative competitive position within a given industry, provid-
technologies, and accumulation of intellectual property, all of ing analysts with a clear framework for assessing the effect
which can all be harnessed to make the company successful of the external environment on a firm’s ability to sustain a
in a highly competitive marketplace. Identifying what consti- competitive advantage. A detailed description of how these
tutes a core competence has been a subject of debate in the various factors interact was discussed by Porter (1979) but
literature for over 20 years (Prahalad & Hamel, 1990; Aaker, summarized here:
1989). This problem has become even more complex with
globalization and the growth of the internet, which has given • Supplier Power: This relates to how easy it is for
open access to more competitive, environmental, and tech- suppliers to drive up prices which is driven by the number
nological information. One key model that was developed in of suppliers, the uniqueness of their product or service, the
the 1980’s modeled core competencies as unique “resources strength and control they have over their customers and the
and capabilities”.This was known as the resource based view cost of switching from one supplier to another.
of the firm (Grant, 1991). Therefore, using this model as a • Buyer Power: This relates to how easy it is for
foundation, this research will analyze (i) which key organiza- buyers to drive a firm’s prices down. This is driven by the
tional levers influence the competitive advantage(s) of a firm, number of buyers in the market, the importance of each
(ii) propose recommendations as to how 21st century high individual buyer, the cost to buyers of switching from one
technology firms can strategically manage their resources product and/or service to those of another firm.
and capabilities for a sustained competitive position and (iii) • Competitive Rivalry: This relates to the number
validate and quantify the general perception of the relative and capability of industry competitors. If a firm has many
importance of these organizational resources and capabili- competitors, and they offer equally attractive products and
ties using a online survey and statistical analysis techniques. services, then most likely the firm will have little power and
influence. If suppliers and buyers do not get a good deal, they
Early Strategy Models will go elsewhere. Alternatively, if no one else can do what
your firm does, then you have more competitive strength.
SWOT Analysis • Threat of Substitution: This is related to the ability
of competitors to find new and different ways of imitating a
One of the early strategy models proposed by Albert Hum- product or service offering. If product or service substitu-
phrey (SWOT Analysis, n.d.) helped discover the basic ele- tion is viable, then this weakens the competitive power of a
ments of competitive advantage. This used very simple con- firm.
cepts and tried to distinguish in the first order between the • Threat of New Entry: This is related to the ability
impact of internal and external factors on a firm’s ability to of new competitors to enter the market. If it costs little
compete. In order to identify potential product and market in time or money to enter the market and compete effec-
strategies the SWOT technique forced companies to look tively, if there are few economies of scale in place, or if little
systematically at the following aspects of their industry and protection for key technologies, then new competitors can
their firm: Strengths: Attributes of an organization that help enter a market, weakening an incumbant’s position. Strong
to achieve a competitive position; Weaknesses: Attributes and durable barriers to entry aid in sustaining a competitive
of an organization that are harmful to a firm’s competitive advantage.
position; Opportunities: External environmental conditions
that help achieve a competitive position; Threats: External Porter’s five force model was considered by many to have
environmental conditions which could damage a firm’s com- shortcomings in that it integrates both internal and external
petitive position. factors that allow a firm to identify and sustain its sources of
competitive advantage (Pitkethly, 2006) and was is too static
The aim of a “SWOT” analysis is to identify the key factors to keep pace with the more influential technological pro-
that are important to the achievement of the firm’s objec- gress exhibited in many industries (Five Forces Model, n.d.).
tives. One of the weaknesses of SWOT analyis is that it can Other forces have become significant in the understanding
be used to generate a “brainstormed” list of opportunities of industry dynamics; e.g. globalization, digitalization, joint
rather than a thoughtful list of what is strategically impor- ventures, partnerships and de-regulation (Recklies, n.d.) and
tant in helping a firm achieve it’s objectives. have all been cited as playing a significant part in a firm’s abil-
ity to compete.

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 J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2012,Volume 8, Issue 2

Resource Based View of the Firm be highly cohesive leadership, physical assets, brand equity,
installed customer base, company reputation, company
In the 1980-90’s a model was proposed by Wernerfelt values, deep tacit knowledge, strong patents, trademarks,
(1984) and augmented by Barney (1991), which tackled the copyrights, trade secrets, unique technologies, strong legal
problem related to the identification of the elements that representation and inter/intra company, customer or gov-
comprised a firm’s competitive advantage. It is known as the ernmental relationships. The VRIN resource characteristics
Resource Based View of the Firm (Fahy & Smithee, 1999). are individually necessary, but not sufficient for a sustained
This surmised that firms can only create sustained high per- competitive advantage. Grant, Collis and Amit (Grant, 1991;
formance if they have superior “Resources” coupled with Collis, 1995; Amit & Schoemaker, 1993) further extended
the company’s “Capabilities” and are constantly protected this model where they introduced new factors such as dura-
from migration. According to Gautam, Barney, Muhanna and bility, transferability and competitive superiority, which then
Ray (2004), Barney (1991) surmised that multiple resources provided further levels of refinement to the basic model.
and capabilities form the highest of the competitive entry Empirical research was reported by Collins (2001) where he
barriers. This model (Fig. 1) shows how resources and capa- described the special “characteristics” of successful (great)
bilities combine to create differentiation that forms the basis companies that have enjoyed sustained competitive ad-
of a sustained competitive advantage. vantage. He concluded that truly good-to-great companies
shared five commonalities, including:
 
• “Big Personality CEOs almost never lead good
companies to greatness” – Good-to-Great leaders have a
mix of personal humility and professional will. He described
these CEOs as “Level 5 leaders” that continually focus on
what it takes to sustain success in the long term.
• “Great things require Great People” –Good-to-
great companies got the right people on the “bus” and then
built the strategy around the people’s expertise and passion.
• “Simplicity is Key” – Good-to-Great company’s
leaders understand the passions of their organizations, the
drivers of their business, and where they can be (or not be)
the best in the world.
• “Enterprise and Systemic Discipline is essential” –
When you combine a culture of discipline with the ethics
Fig (1) Resource & Capability Based View of the Firm of entrepreneurship you have a recipe to achieve great re-
sults. Collins (2001) found that bureaucratic cultures arose
in companies that had a lesser degree of competence and
In order to create a true cost or differentiation advantage, lack of discipline.
Barney (1991) surmised that a firm’s resources and capabili- • “New Technology is a Business Accelerator” –
ties must be: Good-to-Great companies do not jump on the technology
bandwagon or chase after short-term fads. They determine
• Valuable - Resources that implement strategies what technology makes most sense to them and then pio-
that will improve the company efficiency or effectiveness neer novel applications to enhance their business.
that outperforms its competitors or reduces its competitive
weaknesses. Fig. (2) shows the asserted interdependence be-
• Rare - Resources that are hard to find, unique and tween a company’s strategy and its organizational design,
cannot found by other companies. systems, culture, leadership and employee incentives, show-
• Imperfectly Imitable - Resources that are very hard ing that there are many interlinked factors that must be con-
to imitate, allowing sustainably because, without huge invest- sidered during corporate strategy development.
ment of limited resources, competitors find it difficult to
enter the market. There are likely many contributing factors that in-
• Non-Substitutable – Resources that have no real fluence a firm’s competitive position and it is likely a com-
equivalence that itself is not rare or imitable. bination of many VRIN resources and capabilities that will
determine the type of company product or service differ-
This list is known as Barney’s (1991) “VRIN” resource based entiation. Porter’s (1979) generic differentiation strategies
view of the firm. Some examples of VRIN resources could highlight four possible company strategies that could be

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 J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2012,Volume 8, Issue 2

adopted depending on the type of market and the type of Resource Model Factors Analysis
company differentiation. It is necessary for a firm to con-
tinuously identify and nurture the VRIN resources and their The major organizational levers that influence a firm’s ability
complementary capabilities to a create product(s) that are to compete successfully will now be discussed, along with
continuously attractive in the highest value market segments historic factors and then augmented by the introduction of
in order to be successful for the long term. more contemporary ideas for optimizing a foundation for a
sustained competitive advantage.
 
Vision, Mission, Leadership and Governance

It is common for firms to capture and commit their major

goals and corporate philosophy in writing as “vision” and
“mission” statements (Birnbaum, n.d.). These statements of
purpose should describe the firm’s fundamental reason for
existing, and are typically complementary to a firm’s underly-
ing strategy and the represent a powerful message, provided
it is compelling, accurate, constantly reinforced and commu-
nicated clearly to all levels inside and outside the organiza-
tion. The mission statement defines the company’s current
business, its objectives and its approach to reach those ob-
jectives by articulating the following:

Fig (2) – Interdependence between Company Strategy and Competitive • Culture: Clearly identify the corporate culture, val-
Advantage ues, strategy and a view of the future for employees, suppli-
ers and customers;
• Commitment: Address the commitment the firm
Identifying the exact mixture of resources and capabilities has to its key stakeholders, including customers, employees,
that truly provide sustained differentiation is not easy. These shareholders and the communities in which they serve;
are likely embedded deep in the firm, influenced by many • Objectives: Ensure that the stated company objec-
things, and will manifest themselves as differentiated prod- tives are measurable, the strategy is actionable and the vi-
ucts, efficiencies, quality, innovation, or customer service sion is achievable;
(Hafeez, Zhang & Malak, 2002). Some of the major organi- • Communication: Try to communicate so that the
zational levers that are highly likely to influence a company’s message is in clear, simple and precise language;
competitive advantage are: • Engagement: Highly compelling to aid buy-in, en-
gagement and support throughout the organization.
• Leadership – Company Vision, Mission, Leadership
and Governance An effective vision/mission statement should resonate with
• Incentives – Reward and Performance management the employees as well as the various constituencies that the
systems firm seeks to influence. A vision/mission statement should
• Organizational Culture – Corporate Orthodoxies represent the organization’s fundamental purpose thereby
and Values inspiring commitment, innovation and execution. The vision
• Organizational Design - Organizational Structure, statement should be simple to understand and reflect a re-
Globalization, Collaboration Effects alistic, credible and attractive future for the firm that makes
• Organizational Systems – Strategic Planning, Infor- employees really want to be part of something this is special
mationTechnology Infrastructure and enhancing the possibility that they will be far more crea-
tive and engaged.
These organizational levers represent some of
the fundamental control systems that can influence a firm’s One of the other major factors behind the continued suc-
competitive advantage. However, achieving differential per- cess or failure of a firm is the quality of leadership at the
formance on one of these areas will certainly not guarantee executive level and throughout the organization. The traits,
sustained success. These elements in turn can be distilled characteristics and philosophies of good leadership have
down further to identify the fundamental VRIN resources or been widely studied (Morse & Babcock, 2007) and are fun-
capabilities, which are critical to sustaining a firms’ competi- damental for a leader to truly succeed:
tive advantage.

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• Honesty - A leader must display sincerity, integrity pany’s direction and leadership team. They are accountable
and candor. to the shareholders and highly important, role in setting di-
• Humility - A leader who displays humility has a rection and providing oversight of a firm (Corporate Gov-
higher degree of self confidence rises above posturing and ernance, n.d.). Specifically they are responsible for:
political behavior
• Competence –A leader takes actions that are • Quality of Governance and Ethics – Soundness of
based on reason and moral principles. the company’s strategy, the consistency of the company val-
• Visionary – A leader sets clear goals and has com- ues, ethics, and the operating effectiveness.
pelling vision of the future, which highly engages people and • Validation of Long Term Health – Approval of qual-
appeals to their higher values. ity long term investments in physical and intellectual assets
• Inspiring - A leader displays confidence, passion, and • Competences and Knowledge Base - Tuning corpo-
mental and physical stamina. rate skills to present and future opportunities and building
• Intelligence - A leader continuously studies the en- a significant knowledge base to support the consistency of
vironment, reflects and seeks new challenges results.
• Ethical - A leader demonstrates fair treatment to all • Progress Toward Vision – Progress toward the vi-
people. sion and attainment of milestones based on the strategic
• Selfless - A leader is always thinking of the company plan.
and its long term needs and not making decisions or setting • Auditing of Company Processes – Ensuring that all
direction that is only good for the resume or for personal the necessary business processes are in place, are working
gain, effectively and that they support long-term vision and stra-
• Broad-minded - A leader seeks diversity of opin- tegic plan.
ions for clarity, innovation and new creative perspectives. • Shareholder Value – Defining and monitoring pro-
• Courageous - A leader shows perseverance toward gress toward increased in shareholder value
the accomplishment of goals, regardless of the seemingly in- Based on the responsibilities defined above, a firm’s
surmountable obstacles. governance board should play a vital role in attaining the
• Critical Thinking - A leader uses critical judgment long-term company vision and highly influence the ability of
to make good decisions at the appropriate time. a firm to define and sustain its competitive advantage (Era-
• Imaginative - A leader makes timely and appropri- kovic & Goel, 2008).
ate changes in thinking, plans and methods.
Corporate Values and Orthodoxies
Andersen (2006) discussed that personality characteristics
are simply the only foundation for leader, and it is the unique Complementary to a firm’s mission and vision, every com-
ability to “act” that differentiates a true leader from a fol- pany has its real “values” that are either written or unwrit-
lower. For managers and leaders to be successful in any given ten and engrained in the culture. Values based management
situation, it is important to understand that a blend of per- has become visible due to the public corporate scandals that
sonality, experience, capability, passion, and vision, coupled have come to light, e.g. Enron,Worldcom,Tyco and Sunbeam.
with the quality of alignment with others in the organization However, there have been other companies that, without
is necessary. having a corporate scandal as a catalyst, have had leaders
who have properly exploited shared values and successfully
One of the major factors in a company’s success is the ability molded their organizations around these values. Organiza-
of key employees and managers to face reality through criti- tional best practices that help reinforce (or even change)
cal thinking, by challenging orthodoxies and looking beyond corporate values include:
the obvious for facts that provide insights to the situation
that provides deeper meaning. The characteristics of critical • Managerial Behavior - Corporate leaders at all lev-
thinking are normally associated with a firm’s leaders, but els need to demonstrate the chosen values and behaviors
it is asserted that a company needs to recruit and actively • Leadership- Firms must redesign to change the
manage diverse people to widen the degree of critical think- heart of the organization that sets the standard for the cor-
ing so it can be more informed about its customers, com- porate values as this will facilitate change for the remainder
petitors, markets, stakeholders and the trends that influence of the organization
their industry. • Frequency -Communications about the corporate
values must be frequent and persistent and be compelling
One final aspect of corporate leadership that can influence enough for employees to change their behaviors if necessary
the direction of a firm is its corporate governance. Public • Incentives- Processes, information flows, decision
companies have governance boards, which oversee the com- rights, and incentive programs must be designed to reinforce
the values and desired behaviors.
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 J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2012,Volume 8, Issue 2

• Reinforcement-Employees must truly believe that either type of team to be effective, they should be composed
there are positive consequences to living the values and po- of individuals skilled in their own functional areas and who
tentially negative consequences if they adopt opposing be- possess a high degree of mutual respect within the team
havior. environment. On the other hand, this matrix organizational
• Employee Growth- Leaders should hire, grow and setup can also lead to inter-group conflicts as the functional
promote individuals whose outlook and actions are congru- manger can have other priorities and will try to limit the
ent with the firms underlying values. time that his/her people can spend on x-functional projects.
Therefore, to achieve effective cross-functional collabora-
Older more established firms have long standing proce- tion it is important to have goal alignment.
dures, chosen markets, and other orthodoxies that have
evolved over many years, forming part of the corporate cul- This can be taken to an even higher level when a mutually
ture. These are rarely challenged and are simply accepted as successful working partnership has been established with
a part of corporate life. On one hand these orthodoxies may external customers as this allows inter-company teams to
be valuable for the firms sustainability on its current course collaborate more closely and co-develop new more innova-
and even considered by many as part of a companies com- tive products together. These new models of organizational
petitive advantage. However, they may also impede new ini- design that facilitate innovation and learning require a col-
tiatives and should be challenged for value in the context of laborative sprit to be fully engrained in the culture and sys-
the current vision, evolving customer needs or in the drive tems and are fundamental for both companies to build or
to move the company in a new direction. sustain a competitive advantage.

Challenging orthodoxies and facilitating strategic thinking One of the key differences in these new organizations is that
are especially valuable if the company is seriously looking market and industry analysis becomes the responsibility of
at new growth opportunities, beyond simply leveraging its people across the organization, not just a select few. Once
existing product development infrastructure. To facilitate the value of new opportunities is acknowledged, the realign-
effective strategic thinking, the executive leadership team ment process kicks in and resources are rapidly shifted to
really needs to view the company as a set of core compe- meet those new challenges. In the case of the networked
tences instead of business units with an individual market structure, product development groups in different organi-
focus. They should focus on finding new opportunities and zations come together to create solutions that exploit the
leveraging these core competences. expertise of the individual groups and so have higher intrin-
sic value to the end customer. It is essential that the leader-
Organizational Design ship teams focus on also creating a culture that is receptive
to change.
Many companies still build their organizations based on a
traditional hierarchical departmental model, which facilitates Another major consideration in modern organizational
very tight control of the various functional units and can design, which impacts a firm’s long-term strategy, is globali-
be applied geographically, by product line division or sim- zation. As the pace of globalization continues to increase,
ply by function. This model works best when firms have firms need to look aggressively for any new opportunities
more predictable, mechanistic business processes and the around the world which can augment or even extend the
roles and responsibilities of each department are clear and firm’s resources or capabilities, e.g. starting a new R and D
well defined (Learning Objectives for Organization Design, group levering off skills from a local university or building a
n.d.). However, in a hierarchy, organization groups will often new manufacturing plant utilizing a local workforce with a
attempt to maximize output in order to meet or exceed high work ethic. New geographical locations for expansion
defined metrics, especially when they are directly tied into continue to become attractive as some of the following en-
financial rewards or future opportunities for growth or indi- try barriers continue to be overcome:
vidual promotion. In this organizational design model there
are no explicit incentives for people to work well together. • Transportation - Improved transportation of goods
Where the hierarchical model breaks down is when collabo- and services to new locations,
ration is fundamentally necessary to achieve common goals. • Trade Barriers - Increase in “free” trade between
countries,
Structurally, there are several methods of organizing cross- • News and Media - Development of global media
functional teams (Burgelman, Christensen, & Wheelwright, provides greater transparency and stability,
2003), including heavyweight teams that are formed by highly • Culture - Blurring of the cultural barriers between
dependant functional groups and lightweight teams that are countries helps align and clarify values,
formed more opportunistically when the need arises. For • Investment -Increased investment in underdevel-
oped countries improves infrastructure
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 J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2012,Volume 8, Issue 2

• Legal Infrastructure- Easy and flexible operations data to filter strategic information, seeing patterns, trends
for corporations due to reduced local bureaucracy and cor- and relationships between disparate data, constantly evaluat-
ruption ing divergent courses of action for the firm.
• eCommerce - Increase in the “connectivity” be-
tween the individuals and corporations all over the world. Due to the rapid pace of change, one of the key elements
of this new model is continuous scanning of industries, tech-
Extending a firm’s business into another country is not easy nologies and potential markets to select and filter divergent
if there is no solid base to build upon. It requires significant ideas as shown in Fig (3). A firm’s vision and mission feed
investment in building and supporting the remote operation into the strategic planning cycle which reviews divergent
as well as everyday managerial challenges that can be signifi- market opportunities and industry trends to provide busi-
cant if the team is not well aligned to the needs of the par- ness scenarios which can be analyzed in more depth to de-
ent organization. This is especially true with small company termine which ones represent the best opportunities for
acquisitions, which already had their own cultural identity. the [Link] opportunities are finally translated into a pri-
Given this challenge, there are some key issues that must be oritized operational plan that is passed down to the respec-
considered when considering extending the company into tive business and support organizations that build detailed
another country or remote location, including: implementation plans with project goals and performance
[Link] this new model of strategic thinking, the prob-
• Leadership: Select a site manager who is skilled in ability of error may be greater, but the potential rewards can
remote site operations and can help facilitate integration also be significant if the company can identify a divergent
and has a good understanding of the corporate systems and strategy and then tap into a lucrative market early. To fa-
needs, cilitate this new process, there are key success factors that
• Communication: Establish strong procedures can be used make this strategic planning and dialog more
around communication– phone, e-mail, and video conferenc- effective, these are:
ing etiquette and ensure that people adhere to corporate
guidelines for sending and replying to email and phone calls. • Leadership Support- Successful strategic planning
• Systems: Determine how work will be managed requires a visible commitment and participation from the
and information shared, reviewed, and modified company’s executives and leaders,
• Local Culture: Understand how business is really • Define the Process -Seek many people’s opinions
carried out in the new country. Are there are any local cus- and thoughts during the planning processes and build a vis-
toms, religious or other needs from the remote team? ible system to select and filter divergent ideas.
• Language: Put multilingual people in key positions • Expertise - Plan to use consultants as necessary to
to bridge the language barrier, and make sure the team help with the process definition, system definition and even
members know whom they are. to help pull out divergent strategies,
• Social: Facilitate social interactions between re- • Effective communication- As always, clear com-
mote and local teams to aid in team building munication is key especially for all those who need to be
• Technology: Use video conferencing, VOIP, web involved in the strategic planning process, but also let every-
sharing tools and conference calls extensively. one know what is going on and to translate the strategy to
• Interactions: Facilitate personal communication have meaning at every level,
whenever possible such as face-to-face, over the telephone/ • Employee Involvement- Involve as many experi-
VOIP and visas to the central site(s) to help people under- enced people as possible in the process to get a diverse set
stand the bigger picture. of opinion. Encourage everyone to get involved in industry
and market scanning as a matter of everyday business,
Strategic and Operational Planning • Organizational Planning- Establish an organizational
structure and leadership, which will support the move to a
A firm needs to develop effective strategies in order to grow more strategically thinking and acting organization.
and be [Link] strategic planning process is a systemic
value creation process that companies should follow to se- Transition to this new planning methodology can be diffi-
lect the most worthwhile strategies that will allow them to cult, especially for operationally orientated companies, as
deliver on a stated mission and ultimately a high level vision. their culture typically demands concrete data and firm con-
This strategy requires that firms move away from incremen- clusions. They tend to have an “emergency room” mental-
tal, tactical thinking and be willing to open new possibilities, ity where the corporate environment does not encourage
specifically: a concerted effort to see the “Bigger Picture” by spending time on open dialog and discussing divergent views.
everyone in the firm, envision many future possibilities and Also, the pressure on meeting short-term revenue is always
directions, spend the time sorting through vast amounts of present.

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 J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2012,Volume 8, Issue 2

  recruitment function with other business critical activities.

• Focusing and Prioritization – Prioritize recruitment
needs strategically according to their impact on the bottom
line.
• Speed and Agility - Top people are in the market
only for a few days, if hiring takes longer you will only be
employing the average performers.
• Strategic sourcing – Start research based on antici-
pated needs. Be highly proactive for critical positions.
• Differentiate the top performers – Refine the abil-
ity to filter out unwanted and unqualified candidates early in
the process.
• Monitor performance deliverables post-hire – Post
hire, track the new hire to ensure they are meeting expecta-
tions and how well they are embracing the organization.
• Build a retention-focused culture – Managers can
make such a difference in determining whether people stay
in a job or leave.

Fig. (3) – Strategic and Operational Planning Cycle There are more contemporary methods of improving the
quality of the recruitment processes, which can help im-
prove the identification of quality candidates with high cog-
This can limit any efforts to focus energy on change as the nitive abilities including:
top priority is typically to meet the ROI and EPS numbers.
The firm’s leadership needs to focus on identifying new mar- • Preparation: Give potential candidates the oppor-
kets as well as improving the firm’s resources and capabili- tunity to review and prepare a presentation on either a
ties and leveraging these to enter new divergent markets. If technical or managerial problem.
a firm uses its unique resources and capabilities to enter a • Engagement: Involve current employees more in
new market, this will increase the entry barriers for compet- the recruitment process, this is also one way to find out how
itors and make these business opportunities more attractive engaged they are, they may not participate in the interview
for longer term. process significantly, but it makes them feel closer to the
decision making and influencing the groups direction.
Recruitment and Performance Management • Job Options: Move toward offering telecommute,
virtual, job sharing or part-time work to tap into a more
Human capital management plays a vital part in building a diverse candidate selection, especially those with long expe-
foundation for competitive advantage (Offstein, Gnyawali, & rience who are considering lowering their work hours.
Cobb, 2005). To have a successful recruitment and perfor- • Web Presence: In today’s online world the compa-
mance management process, it is important for the firm’s ny web site is one of the primary tools people use to initiate
leaders to truly understand underlying employee motiva- and manage the recruitment process. It is important that the
tional factors and then build a performance management overall style and content reflects the dynamic culture and
infrastructure to draw out the best from all employees. The that directly appeals to the type people that the firm is after.
firm’s leaders must focus on harnessing the skills and mo- • Publicity: Quality publicity is also important on
tivation of all employees so that the majority of the work- many levels. Firms should continuously invest in advertising
force can become another key resource that contributes to to get the word out using a differential format to attract the
the company’s sustained competitive advantage. right type of professionals.

In order to combat competition for highly valued staff, firms An effective performance management business process can
may want to be more aggressive and use more contempo- be critical in the motivation and engagement of employees
rary recruitment strategies to attract and retain employees. over the long-run, with more progressive companies consid-
Some characteristics of a high impact recruitment system ering employee skills improvement, critical thinking, prob-
should be: lem solving, cross training, challenging assignments, 360-de-
gree feedback, team feedback, and functional feedback. One
• Proactive Forecasting - Base your recruitment fundamental part of the company–employee performance
model on pre-need, pre-requisition hiring and integrate your management process-should be the building of mutual trust

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between managers, peers, and subordinates. Increased levels integrates business logistics so that it is more streamlined
of trust can contribute to more open communication chan- and accessible as it maintains all the relevant data in a single
nels and can be a major contributor to an employee’s level database and is used for analyzing a variety of business ap-
of discretionary energy. plications such as Manufacturing, Supply Chain Management,
Forecasting, Financials, Projects, Human Resources, Supplier
A more intrinsic factor in employee motivation is the firm’s Relationship Management (SRM) and Customer Relation-
rewards system. Base pay, 401K, health plans, stock purchase ship Management (CRM).
plans and other incentives are commonly used to compen-
sate employees and to drive improvements in performance The value of the ERP system vs. a more traditional distrib-
or help drive through corporate change initiatives. Individual uted system is that it has a common database and modu-
bonus plans that offer incentives for the completion of key lar software design. The common database allows various
projects or behavior change can be a highly effective tool for corporate functions to utilize information in real-time. This
rewarding and facilitating change (Plunkett, 2007). information is reliable, accessible and easily shared. The
modular software design allows various departments to se-
Finally there are more specific incentives that a firm can of- lect the appropriate modules that they need, mix and match
fer which can improve intrinsic motivation at all levels in an modules from different vendors and also add new modules
organization. These incentives aim for a higher level of sat- to improve business performance.A fully integrated ERP sys-
isfaction and motivation through self-actualization (Green & tem is a powerful tool in managing the business and com-
Burke, 2007) and the attainment of a healthy balance be- panies that have evolved their information technology (IT)
tween work and the other aspects of our lives, examples infrastructure.
include:
It is not easy for most companies to deploy ERP system
• Personal Activities: Allowing employees to partici- [Link] technology itself is difficult to configure and
pate in high profile personal, professional or charitable ac- test while changing people’s behavior and attitudes toward
tivities even if means giving them some time off work. technology is an even greater challenge (Change Manage-
• Professional Associations: Encourage and fund in- ment Perspectives in an ERP Implementation, n.d.). ERP sys-
volvement in professional or trade associations, you can gain tems typically change jobs specifications in major ways. This
more industrial insight from all levels. type of system is never an easy sell to either the employees
• Cultivate the internal Talent: Offer generous schol- or managers as an ERP enables more accountability as it
arships, funding and organizational rewards for continuing uncovers errors more easily, highlights poor management
education and offer a periodic sabbatical for long term, high- practices, and shows which employees or managers are the
ly valued employees to continue their acquisition of knowl- low performers. All employees and managers therefore re-
edge. quire higher levels of diligence, accuracy and skills to oper-
• Strategic Incentives: Provide key projects and or ate in this IT enabled infrastructure. Firms need to build
cross-functional teams extra financial incentives with bo- a company wide enterprise system to retain a competitive
nuses, prizes, and stock. advantage. Having a more accurate forecasting system al-
• Generation of Intellectual Property: Provide gener- lows companies to adopt Just-in-Time [44] methodologies,
ous incentives to generate intellectual property for the firm which eliminate inventory buildup and make manufacturing
in the form of papers, patents or trade secrets, etc. processes far more efficient.
• Team Incentives: Offer more incentives to facilitate
deeper camaraderie, teamwork and commitment. ERP systems are primarily associated with improving the
• Visible Awards & Incentives: Offer awards to all em- supply chain efficiency. However, a more sophisticated sys-
ployees at the completion of successful corporate projects, tem can also be used to support the new product develop-
which required a culture or behavior change to attain the ment process by streamlining data access and facilities easy
goal. analysis and communication of both internal and external
data. Use of more ERP type systems to support innovation
Information Technology Infrastructure and product development is still in its infancy and it is assert-
ed that this will eventually become a cornerstone for the in-
One of the more recent factors that have become signifi- novation and development processes as modern online ERP
cant in sustaining a competitive advantage is the creation based communication tools cut through the organizational
of firm’s information technology (IT) infrastructure and ex- boundaries, not only to give people access to real time, cus-
tending this beyond the firms IT boundaries into its suppli- tomer and internal information, but also extend the tools to
ers and customers (Wong & Yung, 2005). Such a system is allow people to interact in a more personal way through the
known as an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and use of VOIP, personal video cameras, online meeting tools

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and other more interactive discussion boards or Wikki pag- • Vision & Mission(Qu#11) – What aspects of a vi-
es. Fundamentally, ERP systems are an attempt at efficient sion & mission are compelling enough such that it highly
management of real time information, but also can be used resonates with the work force and engages people to the
to more closely integrate the innovation and product de- highest degree,
velopment processes back to the customers, markets and • Leadership (Qu.#3) – How important are the
the stakeholder needs. It is paramount for firms to recog- firms’ leaders to the degree of employee motivation, strat-
nize which innovation projects will be of most benefit to egy definition, overall priority and execution efficiency,
the company and so become part of the firm’s competitive • Values and Culture (Qu#5, 17, 18) – How impor-
advantage. ERP systems allow these decisions to be made tant are the firms underlying values and the underlying cul-
with higher speed, agility and probability of success. ture in a firms ability to differentiate and/or create or en-
hance core competences.
Methodology and Research Design • Employees, Engagement and Incentives (Qu#6, 12)
– This factor was considered one of the most important fac-
This research has identified and discussed the key organi- tors on the ability of a firm to drive innovation and execu-
zational levers that have a fundamental influence on the tion. But, which specific incentives and factors, e.g. rewards
creation of VRIN resources/capabilities and so influence a or creative freedom are considered most important to en-
firm’s competitive advantage. In order to quantify a wider ergize people to the highest level
perspective on how important these various levers are to • Organizational Design (Qu#4) – Modern day or-
a firm’s competitive advantage, this exploratory study used ganizations have flat managerial hierarchies and employees
an on-line survey prepared using the ClassApps Tool and are now more empowered to make business and strategic
distributed within National Semiconductor Corporation, a decisions. These questions try to ascertain how the organi-
well-established high technology company. zational design impacts a firm’s ability to build or sustain a
competitive advantage.
National Semiconductor Corporation (National at a Glance, • Corporate Governance and Legal (Qu#7,9) –
n.d.) is one of the industry’s oldest analog integrated circuit These questions probe the assertions that the corporate
company’s and is an ideal candidate to validate many of the governance board plays a key role in setting the company
key assertions from the paper. It has focused highly on op- direction & the building and sustaining of core competences
erational excellence throughout its life and over the past 30 and also the need for a strong legal team that supports de-
years its portfolio has grown to over 3,000 products, includ- velopment and defense of a firms IP.
ing commodity, high performance analog and mixed signal • Operations (Qu#8) – Operational excellence is
devices and subsystems. National’s mixed signal products know to be fundamental to a firms success, but this ques-
include power management circuits, display drivers, audio tion try’s to ascertain if the factors that control this are re-
& operational amplifiers, communication interface products, ally part of the VRIN competitive advantage of a firm.
and data conversion solutions. National’s chosen markets • Customer and Market Factors (Qu#10, 29) – These
include wireless handsets, displays, and a variety of broad questions seek to quantify the value of having building trust,
electronics markets; including medical, automotive, industri- leading to more receptive customers and eventually to pref-
al, and test with measurement applications. National Semi- erential relationships.
conductor has its headquarters in Santa Clara California and • Strategy Development and Alignment (Qu#13, 14,
has three wafer fabrication plants, two assembly sites, 40+ 15, 16, 19, 30) – Defining the company direction and chosen
design centers, 2,700 patents, employs over 7600 people, markets is so fundamental to success. These questions try
and had sales of over $1.9 billion in 2007-08. to ascertain the value of wide scale participation in strategic
planning, strategic marketing teams, translating strategy into
The major goals of this online survey were (i) to ascertain context for everyone and the importance of goal alignment.
which of the key assertions made in this paper are widely • R&D Design and Focus (Qu# 20, 26, 27) – The abil-
shared within a typical Hi-Technology company and (ii) the ity for a firm to harness innovative technology and product
level of importance and (iii) does this importance perspec- ideas and generate new technology is the primary source
tive change depending on the seniority and/or position in of competitive advantage. These questions seek opinions on
the organization. The survey consisted of 33 questions re- the R&D methods, optimal organizational approach and the
quiring graded or multiple-choice answers. These questions length of commitment for R&D.
specifically requested quantitative assessment or relative • Recruitment and Performance Management
feedback in areas which were previously considered play- (Qu#21, 22) – Recruiting knowledgeable people are per-
ing an very important role in building or sustaining a firms’ ceived to the cornerstone of VRIN type resources and ca-
competitive advantage: pabilities. These questions assess the value of wide spread
critical thinking on innovation and execution and also peer
feedback to identify highly valued collaborative people.
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• Information Technology systems (Qu#24, 25) – majority of employees to the highest level, is one based on
These questions seek understand the perceived value of a (i) moving the company toward a compelling new market
well integrated ERP, IT and information network on a firms with a new leadership product and (ii) that can also highly
competitive advantage. reward both the employees and the firm’s leaders. However,
• Globalization and Partnerships (Qu#23, 31) - These the HR, legal and administrative population were the excep-
questions seek to understand the perceived value of off- tion to thus and reported that a vision/mission that strived
shore expansion, market globalization and joint ventures & for a higher moral, ethical or a scientific cause would pro-
partnerships on a firm’s competitive advantage,. vide the deepest level of engagement from this group.
• VRIN Resources and Capabilities (Qu#28,32)
– These questions seek to find the most highly valued re- In the context of incentives, tables (2), (3) and Fig (7) over-
sources and capabilities relative to others in firm, whelmingly show that the employee rewards (paycheck, bo-
nus, options) would engage employees to the highest degree
The majority of these survey questions were designed to regardless of their position and level in the organization.
get a graded response to the level of impact of a given fac- Again, the HR, legal and administrative population, which are
tor, i.e. “1” - Not important at all “2” - Mildly important not generally so connected with the end-product(s), report-
“3” - Important “4” - Highly important “5” - Mission critical. ed that they as a group would be more engaged if they are
Other questions allowed the participant to identify com- allowed to work on the highly compelling [Link] does
pany strategies and potential VRIN type resources for a typi- shows that incentive programs should not be “one-size” fits
cal Hi-Tech company. The survey was sent to ~250+ senior all and ideally should be highly tailored to the respective
managers & VP’s, front line managers and individual contribu- functional areas and even to peoples’ specific styles and ex-
tors in the business units, manufacturing, marketing & sales, pectations in each organization.
central R&D, information technology, human resources, legal
& administration organizations. The strategic planning factors were covered in multiple sur-
vey questions and the data in tables (2), (3) and Fig (8) sum-
Results & Discussion marize the results. This shows that participants believe that
firms should primarily focus on finding new markets that
The results are based on the 90+ responses that were re- highly leverage their existing core competences, however, at
ceived from all organizational levels and groups across the a lower priority, firms should also invest for the future and
company. All figures and tables are described in Appendix create brand new competences that could open completely
C. Fig (8) shows the functional breakdown of the survey new [Link] feedback also highlighted importance that
respondents. The majority of the responses were obtained companies should find new and creative ways to engage with
from the business units and the central technology R&D customer to obtain preferential relationships.
group which accounted for 60% of the data, followed by the
HR, Legal & Administration, Marketing & Sales, Manufacturing Tables (2), (3) and Fig (9) gives feedback as to the choice
and Supply chain services. No further demographic distinc- of organizational structure for firms to tackle research and
tions were made within those sub-groups, except that the development. The major feedback showed a split preference
participants were allowed to define their functional position. toward distributed R&D or x-functional “Tiger” teams driv-
The hierarchical breakdown of respondents is shown in Fig ing R&D projects rather than a well-integrated central R&D
(3), this shows that 40% came from the individual contribu- group. However, when the results were filtered via organiza-
tor level, 37% from the front line managers and 23% came tional level, all groups believed that a firm’s R&D should be
from Directors,VP’s and above. carried out by small-distributed group(s) specializing in their
respective areas. In addition, the results in tables (2), (3)
Tables (1) and (2) are a summary of the top results from and Fig (10), indicate that the optimum level of “creative”
each major category as a function of organizational posi- free thinking time to help drive innovation was about 10%
tion and job function where the sample sizes were large with about 20% of the population feeling that numbers up to
enough to provide adequate differentiation. More details on 50% are truly necessary to sustain a competitive advantage.
the relative preferences are also plotted in Figs. (4) - (9) and Tables (2), (3) show that survey participants felt that firms
indicates which specific aspects of the mission and vision, should be focusing their primary research based a one to
employee engagement, strategic planning and identification three year completion timeframe, but more senior manag-
of potential VRIN resources and capabilities have on a firms’ ers felt that investment for a 5-10 year timeframe was really
competitive advantage. necessary to sustain a true competitive advantage.

The data in tables (2), (3) and Fig (6) clearly shows that a Finally, the survey participants identified the major factors
firm’s ideal vision/mission, i.e. one that will really engage the that they believed were the major contributors to a VRIN

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 J. Technol. Manag. Innov. 2012,Volume 8, Issue 2

type firms’ resources and capabilities. Tables (2), (3) and Fig. cessful blending of these high tier factors, which gives rise
(11) gives this feedback. Overwhelmingly, the most valuable to the ability for a company to strategize, build new differ-
IP was considered to be patents, then brand equity, trade ential competences and execute on novel products that will
secrets, and trademarks. It is notable that patents are always be successful in the market. However, two of the factors
perceived of high value, but in order for these to be truly that were highlighted in the survey results that were not ad-
effective a firm needs to have a good reverse engineering dressed in much depth in the earlier literature survey. These
analysis and strong legal teams. However, in this same survey were the value of establishing trusted relationships with key
(Fig. 10), a strong legal team was very low on the importance customers and the overall market perception. It is acknowl-
rating, something that is somewhat contradictory to the al- edged these are sources of competitive advantage and firms
most universal assertion that patents should be submitted must also work hard to establish trustful, more symbiotic
and aggressively defended. relationships with customers that lead to longer-term part-
nerships. If these partnerships offer a preferential supplier
The overall picture of all the competitive advantage factors position in the eyes of the customers, then they too become
is plotted in Fig (10).This is a pareto chart [46] of all the ma- part of a firm’s VRIN resources and capabilities. To establish
jor factors presented in the survey questionnaire. All these this level of trust, a firm’s sales, marketing organization and IS
factors are aligned with the fundamental assertions made support infrastructure must create a “high touch” customer
earlier in the paper, however this ordered view now aug- support system that aims to establish mutually trusting rela-
ments this and gives us an indication as to the perceived tionships at the both the engineering and managerial levels.
relative importance of each factor. Overall, from the data
scoring >3, all the given factors were perceived as “impor- The survey also offered the recipients the opportunity to
tant’, but the seven lower tier factors were regarded to have provide additional feedback in the area of a firm’s market
less importance relative to the top seven, which were rated presence and customer relationships, which essentially
somewhere between ‘very important” and “mission critical”. translate to the “value” a customer places on an inter-com-
Specifically these high/low tier factors were: pany relationship. The feedback was very insightful and is
summarized below:
Highest tier factors (Rating ~4.25).
• Competitor & Industry Knowledge – Build closer
• The Company’s Leadership skills relationships and trust with customers to the point where
• Establishing trusted relationships with key custom- they eventually rely on a firm as being so highly knowledge-
ers able about competitor’s best practices and the strengths/
• The company’s cultural background and values weaknesses of competing products that you become part
• The company’s ability to translate the strategy in of their inner circle and part of their decision making pro-
context at each organizational level cesses,
• The company having a solid market reputation • Reliable Partner – A firm needs to be a partner that
• The need for a strategic market team & perspec- can be counted on to help solve unexpected problems that
tive come up in the with the customers’ customers,
• The front line employees are primary factor in a • Market Presence - A firm’s strategy should include
firms competitive advantage marketing and actively selling to as many of the key players
in a given market. This magnifies the firm’s market presence
Lowest tier factors (Rating ~3.25). and creates a perceived leadership position in the eyes of
. those customers,
• Need for a strong corporate legal team • Industry Leadership – A Firm should be visibly
• Formal system of peer feedback to improve the committed to a given market for the longer term by con-
performance and alignment of all groups stantly evolving new generations of world class products,
• Supportive & accountable governance board • Networked Relationships - A firm needs to invest
• Globalization as a strategy significant time and energy in building strong-networked re-
• The need to get many diverse inputs in strategy lations with the major “decision-makers” at customers at
definition the appropriate level of responsibility.
• The need for an ERP system
• The need for higher frequency strategic planning Further feedback was given in the survey as to potential
processes changes in organizational design, systems or leadership that
could influence building or sustaining a firm’s competitive
These top seven factors are clearly the major levers behind advantage.
a company’s VRIN resources and capabilities. It is the suc-

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Conclusions ANDERSEN, J. (2006). Leadership, personality, and effective-

ness. Journal of Socio-Economics, 35, 1078-1091.
It is essential that similar high-tech firms adopt a more agile
and customer centric approach to identifying new markets BARNEY, J. (1991) Firm Resources and Sustained Competi-
and future products. To achieve this requires firms require tive Advantage. Journal of Management. 17, 99-120.
a new level of employee engagement, improved market vi-
ability and also an investment in the necessary infrastructure BIRNBAUM, B. (n.d.). Strategic planning mission – vision –
to secure a deeper level of mutual trust with the firm’s key values. Retrieved from [Link]
customers. Firms will need to take a longer-term perspec- [Link]
tive in building resources and capabilities that provide the
highest entry barriers for competitors. Once attained, these BOWMAN, C. & Ambrosini, V. (2003). How the resource-
higher levels of trust and differential technology can open up based and the dynamic capability views of the firm inform
opportunities of maintaining a higher margin business and so corporate-level strategy. British Journal of Management,
securing a sustained competitive advantage. 14(4), 289-303.

Future Research BURGELMAN, R., Christensen, C., Wheelwright, S. (2003).

Strategic Management of Technology and Innovation. Loca-
This study has analyzed many intrinsic factors that influence tion: McGraw-Hill Irwin.
a company’s competitive advantage. The discussions focused
on how key organizational levers can be more effectively Change management perspectives in an ERP implementation.
to build, augment or sustain a firm’s core competencies. As Retrieved from [Link]
an area of future research, it is possible to dive further in
each area discussed in the paper in order to gain a deep- COLLIS, J. (1995). Competing on resources – A strategy in
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on a firm’s ability to remain completive in the longer term.
However, due diversity of today’s companies, i.e. globaliza- COLLINS, J. (2001). Good to great. New York, NY: Harper
tion, multi-cultural companies, pace of technology and new Business.
environmental/economic factors, it is unlikely that a qualita-
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plied. However, in a given industry, it would be interesting [Link]/wiki/Corporate_governance
to build on the study reported in this paper by refining the
survey to probe deeper in certain areas to give more insight DUBOFF, R. (2007). The wisdom of (expert) crowds. Har-
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that provide agility, innovation and creativity, (ii) success fac- ERAKOVIC, L., & Goel, S. (2008). Board-Management rela-
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