Question

If competitors can copy or match the products and services the firm offers, it will be difficult to develop a sustainable competitive advantage through product excellence. A firm can, however, develop an advantage through product excellence with ________

Answer 1

Answer:

resources that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and non-substitutable

Explanation:

If competitors can copy or match the products and services the firm offers, it will be difficult to develop a sustainable competitive advantage through product excellence. A firm can, however, develop an advantage through product excellence with resources that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and non-substitutable

Apart from product excellence, Intangible assets that have no physical presence like Brand reputation, trademarks and intellectual property are all intangible assets unlike physical resources, cannot buy from the market by other competitors. They are developed within a company and constitute the source of sustainable competitive advantage.  

In particular, the resources that generate competitive advantage are those that possess the VRIO characteristics,which implies that they are  

Valuable, hence there will be no competitive disadvantage

Rare, hence there will be no competitive parity

Imitate, - are costly and difficult to imitate hence they cannot be copied

Organised to Capture Value - which means they are non-substitutable.