Chapter 3 Examining the Internal Environment: Resources, Capabilities, and Activities

1 OBJECTIVES Explain the internal context of strategy Identify a firm’s resources and capabilities and explain their role in its performance Define dynamic capabilities and explain their role in both strategic change and a firm’s performance Explain how value ‑ chain activities are related to firm performance and competitive advantage Explain the role of managers with respect to resources, capabilities, and value ‑ chain activities

2 COMPARATIVE INDUSTRY REFORMANCE How do such differences in profitability materialize? ROA ROS Grocery Store Global Auto Semiconducto r

3 RESOURCES, CAPABILITIES, AND MANAGERIAL DECISIONS Strategy Competitive advantage/ disadvantage Management strategic decision making Capabilities Managers Resources Performance

4 RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES: FUNDAMENTAL BUILDING BLOCKS OF STRATEGY The inputs that firms use to create goods and services Undifferentiated or firms-specific Tangible or intangible Easy to acquire or difficult A firm’s skill in using its resources to create goods and services. The combination of procedures and expertise that the firm relies on to engage in distinct activities in the process of producing goods and services Capabilities (competencies) Resources Strategy

5 TRUST AS AN ORGANIZATIONAL RESOURCE Trust is an intangible resource 1 A trustworthy reputation for a firm can be leveraged. 2

6 KNOWLEDGE Knowledge as a resource Explicit (easy competitive intelligence) Tacit (more valuable)

7 EXAMPLES OF CAPABILITIES 1: Stalk, Evans, and Shulman, : Makadok, 2003 CapabilityResult Logistics -- distributing vast amounts of goods quickly and efficiently to remote locations An extraordinarily frugal system for delivering the lowest cost structure in the mutual fund industry, using both techno- logical leadership and economies of scale Generating new ideas then turning those ideas into new, profitable products 200,000-percent return to share- holders during first 30 years since IPO 1 25,000-percent return to share-holders during the 30-plus year tenure of CEO John Connelly. 2 As for ongoing expenses, share- holders in Vanguard equity funds pay, on average, just $30 per $10,000, vs. a $159 industry average. With bond funds, the bite is just $17 per $10, percent of revenue from products introduced within the past four years Company

8 THE VRINE MODEL Performance implicationTestCompetitive implication Valuable?Does the resource or capability allow the firm to meet a market demand or protect the firm from market uncertainties? If so, it satisfies the value requirement. Valuable resources are needed just to compete in the industry, but value by itself does not convey an advantage Valuable resources and capabilities convey the potential to achieve “normal profits” (i.e., profits which cover the cost of all inputs including the cost of capital) Rare?Assuming the resource or capability is valuable, is it scarce relative to demand? Or, is it widely possessed by most competitors? Valuable resources which are also rare convey a competitive advantage, but its relative permanence is not assured. The advantage is likely only temporary. A temporary competitive advantage conveys the potential to achieve above normal profits, at least until the competitive advantage is nullified by other firms Inimitable and non- substitut- able? Assuming a valuable and rare resource, how difficult is it for competitors to either imitate the resource or capability or substitute for it with other resources and capabilities that accomplish similar benefits? Valuable resources and capabilities which are difficult to imitate or substitute provide the potential for sustained competitive advantage A sustained competitive advantage conveys the potential to achieve above normal profits for extended periods of time (until competitors eventually find ways to imitate or substitute or the environment changes in ways that nullify the value of the resources) Exploit- able? For each step of the preceding steps of the VRINE test, can the firm actually exploit the resources and capabilities that it owns or controls? Resources and capabilities that satisfy the VRINE requirements but which the firm is unable to exploit actually result in significant opportu- nity costs (other firms would likely pay large sums to purchase the VRINE resources and capabilities). Alternatively, exploitability unlocks the potential competitive and perfor- mance implications of the resource or capability Firms which control unexploited VRINE resources and capabilities generally suffer from lower levels of financial performance and depressed market valuations relative to what they would otherwise enjoy (though not as depressed as firms lacking resources and capabilities which do satisfy VRINE)

9 SUSTAINABILITY Sustainability: Just having a competitive advantage is not enough. Can it be sustained? Durability Imitability

10 TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE ADVANTAGES = = = Intangible Location selection Brand Tangible Rural real-estate High traffic real-estate Wal-Mart McDonald’s

11 HOW WOULD YOU DO THAT? Inimitable and non-substitutable? Can competitors imitate? Can they substitute? Exploitable?Can Pfizer exploit? Rare? Do Pfizer's patents provide “rarity”? Valuable? Do patents on Zoloft ® provide value? Pfizer’s Zoloft ®

12 DYNAMIC CAPABILITIES Mail Boxes Etc. franchise Value Dynamic capability: how we integrate recon- figure, acquire, or divest resources for competitive advantage? Mail boxes, etc., has developed the ability to combine resources better than the competition Start-up plans People Brand Location Processes

13 VALUE CHAIN: INTERNET STARTUP EXAMPLE Inbound shipment of top titles Warehousing Server operations Billing Collections Picking and shipment of top titles from warehouse Shipment of other titles from third- party distributors Pricing Promotions Advertising Product information and reviews Affiliations with other websites Returned items Customer feedback CDs Shipping Computers Telecom lines Shipping services Media Inventory system Site software Pick & pack procedures Site look & feel Customer research Return procedures Financing, legal support, accounting Recruiting, training, incentive system, employee feedback Procurement Technology Development Human Resources Firm Infrastructure Support Activities Inbound Logistics OperationsOutbound Logistics Marketing & Sales After-Sales Service Primary Activities

14 GUIDELEINES FOR OUTSOURCING Activities that can create value for the firm should not be outsourced. 1 Those activities that represent key sources of learning for the firm should not be outsourced. 2

15 USING VALUE CHAINS TO GAIN COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IdenticalDifferentiated Find a different way to perform activities Find a better way to perform the same activities Longer-lasting advantage Shorter-term advantage (competitors catch up)

16 TRADE OFF PROTECTION YOUR RIVALS CHOOSE NOT TO COPY YOU Selected difference between Southwest and large Airlines Southwest made choices so that competitors did not copy - because copying would require them to abandon activities essential to their strategies Technology and design Operations Marketing Southwest Single aircraft Short segment flights Smaller markets and secondary airports in major markets No baggage transfers to others airlines No meals Single class of service No seat assignments Limited use of travel agents Word of mouth Major Airlines Multiple types of aircrafts Hub and spoke system Meals Seat assignments Multiple classes of service Baggage transfer to other airlines Extensive use of travel agents

17 INNOVATION AND INTEGRATION OF THE VALUE CHAIN Transferred assembly and delivery to the consumer Choose an entirely direct distribution model (rather than through retailers) and outsourced component manufacturing IKEA Dell Source Assemble Deliver Area of innovation

18 STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP “Companies that overlook the role of leadership in the early phases of strategic planning often find themselves scrambling when it’s time to execute. No matter how thorough the plan, with-out the right leaders it is unlikely to succeed” – McKinsey & Company