| Competitive Advantage from Technological Knowledge: A Resource-based Investigation of Factors that Influence Persistence |
| | McEvily, Susan K. | U. of Pittsburgh | smcevily@katz.business.pitt.edu | (412)-648-1707 |
| | Few studies have empirically examined the resource-based proposition that barriers protecting valuable resources and capabilities from imitation underlie persistent performance advantages. This study investigates whether attributes of a firm's technological knowledge, which have been associated with imitation barriers, can explain the durability of its product performance advantages. We find substantial support for the resource-based view that complexity, specificity, and tacitness can prolong a firm's performance advantages, but also evidence to suggest the need for several qualifications to these hypotheses. In particular, it appears that the dynamic capability view, which maintains that firms should emphasize learning over building imitation barriers, is more important in the latter stages of product competition. |
| | Keywords: technological knowledge,; resource-based theory,; product competition |
| Matching competitive strategy and resources: The case of the motor carrier industry |
| | Zantow, Kenneth | Oklahoma State U. | kzantow@okstate.edu | (405)-744-8638 |
| | Dass, Parshotam | U. of Arkansas | pdass@comp.uark.edu | (501)-575-6232 |
| | The generic strategies (Porter, 1980, 1985) and the resource based view (Barney, 1986, 1991) are both seen as ways in which managers can envision how to create competitive advantage for their companies. These frameworks are increasingly seen as complementary rather than mutually exclusive. The purpose of this paper is to examine what competitive strategies and resources go together to help motor carriers gain and sustain competitive advantage in their industry. Motor carriers have recently made substantial investments in resources such as truck monitoring systems, inter-modal transport, electronic data interchange, activity based costing, and total quality management. An analysis of data collected from 222 truckload companies in the U.S. indicate that firms with electronic data interchange (EDI) capabilities and innovation strategy outperformed their rivals, whereas those with EDI and cost leadership strategy lagged behind. We find that firms with customer responsiveness strategy and truck monitoring resources gained an edge over their competitors. Interestingly, high emphasis on innovation in their competitive strategy did not yield positive results when combined with truck monitoring systems or intermodal transport. We also did not find significant effect of total quality management under any set of conditions in the trucking industry. |
| | Keywords: Competitive strategy; Resources; Motor carriers |
| Getting to 'yes' when acquiring human capital intensive firms: When does a shared core competence matter? |
| | Coff, Russell W. | Washington U. | coff@mail.olin.wustl.edu | (314) 935-6342 |
| | Human capital often cannot be acquired in efficient factor markets due to asymmetric information or bundling with other assets. Yet, it may be critical to firms building a core competence. Accordingly, many acquisitions take place in human capital intensive industries. However, the same factors that make human assets hard to imitate also pose hazards in acquisitions.
The uncertainty associated with human capital increases the risk of overbidding. If the buyer responds by bidding conservatively, the target may reject the offer or rival bidders may emerge. In contrast, an aggressive bidder may need to back out of the transaction if the due diligence reveals unanticipated risks or barriers. Either way the likelihood of impasse is greater for human capital intensive targets.
This study explores whether a shared core competence mitigates these hazards. Using a sample of 324 acquisition attempts, the interaction between human capital and shared core competence is used to predict which transactions closed. As anticipated, a shared core competence is particularly important when acquiring targets in human capital intensive industries. Transactions involving unrelated buyers of such targets are less likely to close. These findings have implications for diversification theory and the resource-based view. |
| | Keywords: Mergers/Acquisitions; Core Competence; Knowledge |
| A Competence-Based New Product Typology |
| | Danneels, Erwin | Emory U. | erwin@bus.emory.edu | 404 235 5957 |
| | This study presents a competence-based new product typology based on field research in five high-tech firms of varying age, size, and level of diversification. The extended case method, in which case data serve to extend and integrate existing theories, is used to develop the findings of the study. Based on the notion that new products are created by linking competences relating to technologies and customers, the typology classifies new product projects based on whether the new product can draw on existing competences relating to customers and technology, or whether it requires competences the firm does not yet have. Competence-use and competence-building through product innovation are presented as exploitative and explorative organizational learning, respectively. The view of product innovation as organizational learning offers insight into the nature and challenges of these different types of product innovation, and shows the reciprocal relationship between product innovation and the dynamic development of the firm. Finally, the study suggests some implications of the competence-based typology for new product scholarship and practice. |
| | Keywords: Organizational Competences; Product Innovation; Organizational Learning |