2.4 Summary of Operationalization of Sustainable Competitive Advantage
All the above four viewpoints and studies in this area very succinctly demonstrate that clear identification,
appropriate development and diligent deployment of both the intangible and intangible assets coupled with
management capabilities will enable organizations not just survival but to also to emerge as market leader. The
Porterian viewpoint says that an organization is said to have a competitive advantage when it is implementing a
value creating strategy which is not simultaneously implemented by any current or potential competitor (Porter,
1985), either because the potential competitors are unable to duplicate it is too costly to imitate. The
resource-based view, states that in order to maintain sustainability, an organizations’ resource will have to be
valuable in exploiting opportunities and/or neutralizing threats, it must be rare, imperfectly imitable and there
should not be substitutes for this resource (Barney, 1991). The Dynamic capability view says that sustainability
can be obtained if an organization focuses on the development of resources with rent-generation potential rather
than on the current possession hence, an organization must be able to modify, integrate and utilize the resource
base to fit the environment (Helfat and Peteraf, 2003; Eisenhardt and Martin, 2000; Teece et al., 1997). The Blue
Ocean strategy gives predominant emphasis on value innovation, i.e. simultaneous pursuit of a low-cost and
differentiation strategy. It involves focusing on non-customers via innovation rather than competing on a same
strength.