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Is Competitive Advantage Intellectually Sustainable?

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  • Lieberman, Marvin

Abstract

The notion of competitive advantage has been central to the field of strategic management since the publication of Michael Porter's pioneering books four decades ago. Nevertheless, the ambiguity of competitive advantage remains problematic. Does competitive advantage mean achieving the highest profit, above-average profit, positive economic profit, the low-cost position, or the largest value gap in a segment or market? I argue that competitive advantage is too equivocal to be a legitimate concept for strategy, and regarding it as such hampers the advancement of the field. Rather, we should regard competitive advantage as a conceptual umbrella for performance comparisons, and focus our attention on developing and refining performance measures. The fact that performance has multiple dimensions poses a problem for competitive advantage but represents an opportunity for the field.

Suggested Citation

  • Lieberman, Marvin, 2021. "Is Competitive Advantage Intellectually Sustainable?," Strategic Management Review, now publishers, vol. 2(1), pages 29-46, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:now:jnlsmr:111.00000016
    DOI: 10.1561/111.00000016
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    Cited by:

    1. Phebo D. Wibbens, 2023. "A formal framework for the RBV: Resource dynamics as a Markov process," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1562-1586, June.
    2. Andrew C. Inkpen & Anant K. Sundaram, 2022. "The Endurance of Shareholder Value Maximization as the Preferred Corporate Objective," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 59(2), pages 555-568, March.
    3. Nayak, Bishwajit & Bhattacharyya, Som Sekhar & Krishnamoorthy, Bala, 2022. "Exploring the black box of competitive advantage – An integrated bibliometric and chronological literature review approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 964-982.
    4. Wilden, Ralf & Leiblein, Michael J. & Lin, Nidthida, 2024. "Exploring performance heterogeneity: Integrative insights from strategic management and marketing," Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).

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