The dynamics of wealth, profit, and sustainable advantage

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Jacobides, Michael G.; Winter, Sidney G.; Kassberger, Stefan M.
• 署名单位: University of London; London Business School; University of Pennsylvania; Frankfurt School Finance & Management
• 刊物名称: STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0143-2095
• DOI: 10.1002/smj.1985
• 发表日期: 2012
• 页码: 1384-1410
• 关键词: COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE; sustainability; Heterogeneity; industry evolution; RENT APPROPRIATION

摘要

This paper shows how idiosyncratic resources can drive sustained profitability and persistent heterogeneity under competitive conditions. Generic inputs purchased in the market become idiosyncratic resources as the result of firms' investments in customization. Analytically, we show how heterogeneous firms coexist in equilibrium as a function of customization costs. Computationally, we show that sustainable profits can emerge without monopolistic imperfections. We consider how capability heterogeneity, resource customization cost, and ease of expansion interact to drive short-run and sustainable profits. Our results illustrate that sustainable profits may represent a small part of the total wealth created over time by a firm or industry, and that changes in factors shaping a sector's evolutionary trajectory may be more important than changes in factors that determine profits' ultimate sustainability. Copyright (c) 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.