Causal Ambiguity, Barriers to Imitation, and Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Competencies and firm performance: examining the causal ambiguity paradox

“…tage (Reed and DeFillippi, 1990;Barney, 1991), protects resources from competitive imitation (Lippman and Rumelt, 1982;Barney, 1986;Dierickx and Cool, 1989;Reed and DeFillippi, 1990;Barney, 1991).…”

“…The benefits of causal ambiguity arise if causal ambiguity exists among all firms, including the focal firm, regarding the sources of sustainable advantage for the focal firm (Lippman and Rumelt, 1982;Barney, 1991). Although Reed and DeFillippi (1990) dismiss causal ambiguity among managers at the focal firm as an 'extreme' example, causal ambiguity among internal managers is quite plausible given the complexity and messiness of managing strategic resources (Barney, 1991). As Lippman and Rumelt (1982: 421) argue, 'management is far from an exact science, and the ambiguity surrounding the linkage between action and performance in large firms virtually guarantees the existence of substantial uncertain imitability.…”

“…On the one hand, causal ambiguity among managers benefits a firm because it protects a firm's competitive advantage from imitation. On the other hand, causal ambiguity may impede imitation of valuable resources within the boundaries of the firm; this factor immobility limits managers' abilities to leverage resources for competitive advantage (Reed and DeFillippi, 1990). The risks of causal ambiguity are particularly acute regarding knowledge-based resources because, unlike physical assets, competencies are increasing returns resources (Arthur, 1996) that lose value if they are not applied and shared (Prahalad and Hamel, 1990).…”

Vantagem competitiva e sua relação com o desempenho: uma abordagem baseada em valor

“…De maneira geral, a vantagem competitiva assume uma posição central no pensamento estratégico como principal objetivo de pesquisa (Reed & DeFillippi, 1990). Vantagem competitiva passa a ser empregada com um significado genérico, por vezes associada a um conceito indefinido de valor (Barney, 1991;Porter, 1985), e muitas vezes identificada com o desempenho financeiro superior (Amit & Schoemaker, 1993;Peteraf, 1993;Vasconcelos & Brito, 2004).…”

“…Vantagem competitiva é tida como a principal hipótese para explicar o desempenho superior das empresas, e, assim, passa a representar o objetivo fundamental da gestão estratégica (Powell, 2001;South, 1981). Enquanto autores debatem as origens, os determinantes e a sustentabilidade da vantagem competitiva, de tão usual o termo passa a ser empregado de forma autoexplicativa (Adegbesan, 2009;Caves, 1984;Reed & DeFillippi, 1990;Teece, Pisano, & Shuen, 1997). No entanto, um olhar mais cuidadoso revela que, por mais ubíquo que seja, vantagem competitiva está sujeita a diferentes interpretações, o que acarreta dificuldade de mensuração e falseabilização do conceito (Arend, 2003;Rumelt, 2003).…”