In this reading, the authors have emphasized the value of ‘skills, knowledge, processes, relationships, or outputs an organization possesses or produces’ that are unique and difficult for competitors to copy or acquire.
These are termed as ‘asymmetries’ because they encompass all differences. The thrust of the authors’ argumentation is that by continually identifying and building on asymmetries, by nurturing and exploiting these within a complementary organizational design, and by leveraging them via an appropriate market focus, companies may be able to aspire realistically to attain sustainable competitive advantage.
For this inside out approach to work well, these authors believe that companies must do three things well. First, they must be able to discover asymmetries and recognize their potential.
Secondly, these asymmetries must be developed into a cohesive set of capabilities. Thirdly, market opportunities must be pursued that build on and leverage these capabilities. Here, it needs to be reiterated that in the tension between markets and resources, one cannot fully dominate over the other.
Managers should find opportunities that are in coherence with their capabilities and these opportunities should also shape the capabilities. While underlining the value of mutual adjustment between markets and resources, they reiterate that asymmetries and capabilities should be the drivers of the process and not created along the way as and when an opportunity arises.
Further, these capabilities can be leveraged across two or more business units. Well- conceived organizational processes and designs can help managers constantly identify asymmetries and potential capabilities, embed these in a configuration that grows and exploits them, and leverage these capabilities across sets of market opportunities. Indeed, effective design provides the vehicle for bringing together developing resources and emerging opportunities in an ongoing process that sustains advantage.