Research Summary
Research Summary
Organizations with Dual Competitive Advantage
Description
A close examination of several leading US service firms illustrates an unusual competitive phenomenon in that these firms are both cost and service leaders in their industries. My research documents this phenomenon, critically analyzing it in light of strategic and organizational theory, develops hypotheses to explain it, and empirically tests portions of these hypotheses. Strategists often characterize the sources of a firm's competitive advantage as either market (strategic positioning) or organizational (resources). My research suggests that at firms with dual competitive advantage both market and organizational sources contribute to competitive advantage, and that a third source of competitive advantage may exist in the complementarity, or alignment, of market and organizational sources.