Competitive advantage and its conceptual development: an exploration

Article Type: Abstracts From: Strategic Direction, Volume 25, Issue 11

Yolles M. Business Information Review (UK), June 2009, Vol. 26 No. 2, Start page: 93, No. of pages: 19

Purpose – To study the strategic management paradigm from its early use of SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats) analysis, through its acquisition of economic/utility theory, its development through the resource-based view, and the entry of the knowledge management paradigm. Design/methodology/approach – The study involved an in-depth review of the strategic management literature to cover some of the major studies of, and the ideas running through, the development of competitive advantage. Discusses the underlying concepts involved in the strategic management models that have been developed (input/output model, resource-based view) and the knowledge management paradigm to provide indications of how these model can be made to reveal an understanding of competitive advantage. Findings – The review indicated some of the work that has been done in the fields of complexity and variable systems, knowledge cybernetics, and the latter’s use in the development of social viable systems (SVS). Concludes with a discussion of the concept of organizational pathology and the way in which different pathologies can be linked in a transverse psychological collective model. Originality/value –Reveals the burgeoning of interest and research into strategic management in general and competitive advantage in particular in recent years. Article type:Literature review ISSN: 0266-3821 Reference: 38AP161

Keywords: Competitive advantage, Competitive analysis,Knowledge management, Modelling, Strategic management