Sources of sustainable competitive advantage for businesses operating in a global marketplace

Abstract

Managers and marketing practitioners are spending more time and limited resources on finding new ways to acquire and retain customers. This study pursues the goal, to assist marketing practitioners, with a model of constructs and concepts, encapsulating all relevant sources of sustainable competitive advantages (SCA(s)) they should consider when conceptualizing, planning and implementing strategies to achieve a sustainable competitive edge for his/her SBU or firm in the global marketplace. Qualitative research is employed to establish the terminology currently in use, as well as to expand the list of possible sources of SCA, already identified by academics and practitioners in a wide variety of business disciplines. Quantitative research is employed to rate and rank these sources and to categorize all sources in 4 domains. The resulting SCA model is a circular model with 4 domains and 20 sources of SCA(S). The 4 domains are: Preferred positioning; Superior Finite Resources; Superior Infinite Resources; and Superior Competencies and Capabilities According to the quantitative research results, the majority of respondents rate all four domains as able and important contributors in planning for a SCA for a SBU or firm. The 20 sources of SCA receive very different ratings and rankings from respondents in different subgroups of the sample group. Marketing and business experience of the respondents, as well as the industry which the respondents consider to be their learning ground, has a noticeable impact o the evaluation of the sources.