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Progresso di Studio
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Questo esame si sostiene in inglese: le lezioni e le domande sono in inglese. L'interfaccia resta in italiano.
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Part 1 of 1
The resource-based view (RBV) shifts the focus of strategy inward: competitive advantage comes from *what the firm has and can do*, not just from which industry it chose to enter.
Two firms in the same structurally attractive industry can earn very different returns if one has superior resources. Conversely, a firm with exceptional resources can thrive even in a structurally difficult industry.
Resources fall into two broad categories:
Tangible resources: visible, measurable assets. - Physical: factories, equipment, land, raw material contracts. - Financial: cash, credit lines, debt capacity.
Intangible resources: non-physical assets that are often harder to identify and much harder to replicate. - Brands and reputation: built over years through consistent quality and marketing. - Patents and intellectual property: legally protected technological advantages. - Organisational culture: the shared values and ways of working that drive performance. - Human capital: the skills, knowledge, and relationships of the workforce. - Proprietary data: increasingly a critical strategic asset.
Why intangibles matter more: you can buy a factory; you cannot easily buy a trusted brand or a highly collaborative culture. Intangible resources are harder to trade, imitate, or substitute — making them a stronger foundation for sustained advantage.
Worked example
Two pharmaceutical companies. Company A owns a manufacturing plant (tangible resource — easily built by competitors). Company B owns a patent on a blockbuster drug plus 20 years of clinical trial data and FDA relationships (intangible resources — the patent is legally protected, the data and relationships took decades to build). Company B's resources are far more defensible, even if Company A's factory is worth more on the balance sheet.
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