Journal
STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT JOURNAL
Volume 23, Issue 4, Pages 285-305Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/smj.223
Keywords
knowledge; resource-based theory; product imitation; sustainable advantage; technological innovation
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Resource-based theory maintains that intrinsic characteristics of resources and capabilities, such as their tacitness, complexity, and specificity, prevent imitation and thereby prolong exceptional performance. There is little direct evidence to verify these claims, yet a substantial literature encourages firms to formulate competitive strategies around resources with these attributes. Further, work outside the resource-based tradition suggests that these attributes can slow innovation, and it is not clear when this effect outweighs the benefits of inimitability. This paper seeks to clarify, whether and how the complexity, tacitness, and specificity of a firms knowledge affect the persistence of its performance advantages. We find that the complexity and tacitness of technological knowledge are useful for defending a firm's major product improvements from imitation, but not for protecting its minor improvements. The design specificity of technological knowledge delayed imitation of minor improvements in this study. Copyright (C) 2002 John Wiley Sons, Ltd.
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