There are three areas where a firm’s distinctive capabilities may yield a competitive advantage. These are:
• Innovation If a firm is innovative it may obtain an advantage over competitors. However Authentic Jose Fernandez Jersey , this advantage only lasts for the length of time it takes for imitation to be effective. Innovation is particularly open to imitation. Even patents lapse or are vulnerable to new technology. Innovation advantages can only be maintained if the firm has other capabilities which make imitation of the technology on its own insufficient to erode the established firm’s competitive advantage.
• Architecture Architecture refers to the firm’s internal organization. For example, the famous bootroom ensured long periods of success for Liverpool Football Club in the 1960s to the 1980s. However, if the market changes the types of advantage can be eliminated by rivals.
• Reputation If a firm has a reputation for providing good quality and service, it will help add value and generate more sales. Reputation can be sustainable over long periods, making it difficult for entrants to compete on equal terms with a reputable incumbent. Overall, the managerial approach argues that the strategic decisions made by firms affect their performance. Firms only obtain an advantage over competitors if they can protect their strategies against imitation. The ease with which firms can imitate one another is affected by institutional and economic factors. For example, institutional factors which may prevent imitation include the imposition of restrictive employment contracts which prevent individuals from using any firm-specific knowledge if they were to move to a rival firm.
The ‘corporate culture’ of an organization can yield advantages over competitors. For example, an organization which gives long-term contracts to employees may be able to obtain a greater degree of commitment from its workforce, which enables it to work more effectively. Corporate culture is particularly difficult for other firms to imitate. Economic factors affecting the speed at which imitation takes place include the expected profits and the associated risks of pursuing a given strategy. Imitation is more likely to take place at a faster rate if the expected profits from imitating such a strategy are large. However, if there are high risks associated with adopting such a strategy, imitation takes place at a slower rate.
Although the managerial approach provides important insights into how firms can obtain and sustain competitive advantages over rivals, these insights have been neglected in much of the industrial organization literature, especially in empirical studies. This is partly due to difficulties in measuring many of the variables used in the managerial literature to explain competitive advantages. However, a more fundamental disadvantage of the managerial approach is that it does not place enough emphasis on interactions between firms. In the managerial literature, the focus is mainly on the strategic options available to the individual firm. Much has been made recently of the dearth or decline of African Americans in sports like baseball, lacrosse, golf, soccer, swimming, and hockey and the dominance of African Americans in sports like basketball, football, and track.
There have been nearly as many theories and explanations as there are pundits. It has been said that African Americans concentrate on sports that can be played in densely populated urban areas, that don?t require large initial investments, and that are largely supported by existing public school budgets.
The Philadelphia Inquirer came up with something new in an August 2009 article on African American interest in the Phillies and in baseball in general in the wake of the Phillies? 2008 World Series title and the team?s participation in inner city activities designed to increase interest in baseball. Baseball is usually something you do with your dad, the paper asserted. The inner city kids, the dads are not around.?
Absent dads have been a focus point in the African American community for decades, and the situation is often highlighted in public by community leaders like President Obama who claim that many African American adult males are shirking family responsibilities by being absent from the home. This is the first time we have seen the situation couched in terms of having a catch with dad ala the movie Field of Dreams.
One can certainly make the case that golf and baseball in particular are sports introduced to a son or daughter by his or her father. Dad would usually have the club membership necessary to get started in golf, and middle aged men are most likely to pass on baseball lore, take their child to a game, play catch, and encourage rooting for ?our team.?
According to a 2000 report from the US Census Bureau, 65 percent (or nearly two thirds) of African American children grow up without a father in the home. It?s easy to imagine such children drifting into more solitary activities like shooting baskets or running around a track at best, or falling into the wrong crowd at worst.
The pattern also holds when it comes to equipment. Baseball gloves and bats, lacrosse sticks, golf clubs and hockey gear are expensive, as is private coaching and ice time. Basketball hoops, on the other hand, are at nearly every school and public park, so if you have a ball and some sneakers you?re in business. Running around a track requires an even smaller investment. Among traditionally strong African American sports only football requires a large upfront equipment outlay, and most of that is handled by public schools.
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24.01.2019 07:31
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