BUSMHR 4490 Participation Assignment   The following optional assignment is worth 4 points: (1)Find a firm that has recently been involved in a...

Tangible Resources

Financial

·    Firm’s cash and cash equivalents

·    Firm’s capacity to raise equity

·    Firm’s borrowing capacity

Physical

·    Modern plant and facilities

·    Favorable manufacturing locations

·    State-of-the-art machinery and equipment

Technological

·    Trade secrets

·    Innovative production processes

·    Patents, copyrights, trademarks

Organizational

·    Effective strategic planning process

·    Excellent evaluation and control systems

Intangible Resources

Human

·    Experience and capabilities of employees

·    Trust

·    Managerial skills

·    Firm-specific practices and procedures/culture

Innovation and Creativity

·    Technical and scientific skills

·    Innovation capacities

Reputation

·    Brand name

·    Reputation with customers for quality and reliability

·    Reputation with suppliers for fairness, non-zero-sum relationships

Organizational Capabilities

·  Firm competences or skills the firm employs to transfer inputs to outputs

·  Capacity to combine tangible and intangible resources, using firm processes to attain desired end

Examples

·  Outstanding customer service

·  Excellent product development capabilities

·  Innovativeness or products and services

·  Ability to hire, motivate, and retain human capital

Third-Order Constructs

Questions

Sample Illustration

V

“The Question of Value: Does a resource enable a firm to exploit an environmental opportunity, and/or neutralize an environmental threat?”

The joint venture allowed the firms to exploit an opportunity to sell insurance and capture fee income during a down market environment (recession 2007-2009), and a period of low interest rates (neutralizing a threat).

R

“The Question of Rarity: Is a resource currently controlled by only a small number of competing firms?”

The insurer and community bank controls the “virtual agency” and the resource is unique to these two firms. The tangible/intangible resources, which underpin the joint venture and the “virtual” agency, are rare.

I

“The Question of Imitability: Do firms without a resource face a cost disadvantage in obtaining or developing it?”

Firms would face a disadvantage in that the resource cannot be bought, and to develop it would be cost prohibitive as the insurer has bundled the capacity with others not available to rival firms (e.g., global alliances regarding insurance providers).

O

“The Question of Organization: Are a firm’s other policies and procedures organized to support the exploitation of its valuable, rare, and costly-to-imitate resources?”

The policies and procedures that the insurer and bank have developed allow a seamless referral generating system, designed to capture a market that is estimated to bring in $10.5 million in net new revenue to the firms.

Valuable?

Rare?

Costly to imitate?

Exploited by the organization?

Competitive implications

No

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-

-

Competitive disadvantage

Yes

No

-

-

Competitive parity

Yes

Yes

No

-

Temporary competitive advantage

Yes

Yes

Yes

No

Unexploited competitive advantage

Yes

Yes

Yes

Yes

Sustained competitive advantage