LETTING RIVALS COME CLOSE OR WARDING THEM OFF? THE EFFECTS OF SUBSTITUTION THREAT ON IMITATION DETERRENCE

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Polidoro, Francisco, Jr.; Toh, Puay Khoon
• 署名单位: University of Texas System; University of Texas Austin; University of Minnesota System; University of Minnesota Twin Cities
• 刊物名称: ACADEMY OF MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0001-4273
• DOI: 10.5465/AMJ.2011.60263099
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 369-392
• 关键词: RESOURCE-BASED VIEW; Competitive advantage; TECHNOLOGICAL DISCONTINUITIES; DOMINANT DESIGNS; FIRM RESOURCES; entry; performance; decisions; determinants; barriers

摘要

A resource-based theory postulate is that firms must defend their resources against imitation to sustain competitive advantage. However, by deterring imitation, firms may induce rivals to create substitutes. This study shows that, contrary to received wisdom, firms are not uniformly inclined to deter resource imitation. Rather, this inclination decreases in response to substitution threat. By examining how firms manage the trade-off between inimitability and nonsubstitutability, this study suggests that the scenario wherein firms have omnipotent resources that are both inimitable and nonsubstitutable may be unrealistic and that managing the tension between these two attributes is key to sustainable competitive advantage.