1. Analyzing Resources and Capabilities
MGMT 460
Business Planning
CHAPTER 5
Analyzing Resources and Capabilities
Alex Zabolotnov 1

2. The Role of Resources and Capabilities in Strategy Formulation
Strategy is concerned with matching a firm’s resources and capabilities to the opportunities that arise in the external environment.
Interface between strategy and the internal environment of the firm
Resources and capabilities of the firm
External market focus has been viewed as a more secure base for formulating strategy
Primary source of superior profitability:
competitive advantage rather than industry attractiveness

3. The Interface Between Strategy and the Firm

4. Basing Strategy on Resources and Capabilities
Canon Inc. had its first success producing 35 mm cameras.
Since then develop fax machines, calculators, copy machines, printers, video cameras, camcorders, and many other products.
Kodak was dominating the world market for photographic products based on chemical imaging in 1990s.
1996 it was ranked the fourth most valuable brand in the United States, capturing 90% of the film market.
Kodak has invested billions of dollars developing digital technologies and digital imaging products.
Yet profits and market leadership in digital imaging remain instable for Kodak

5. Resources and Capabilities as Sources of Profit
In Chapter 1: two major sources of superior profitability:
industry attractiveness and competitive advantage
Competitive advantage is the more important
Internationalization have increased competitive pressure within most sectors
Primary Goal for Strategy:
Establishing competitive advantage through the development and deployment of resources and capabilities

6. The Resources of the Firm
the productive assets owned by the firm
Capabilities:
what the firm can do
Individual resources do not meet competitive advantage; they must work together to create organizational capability

7. The Resources of the Firm

8. Tangible Resources
Tangible resources are the easiest to identify and evaluate:
Financial resources and physical assets are identified and valued in the firm’s financial statements.
Historic cost valuation can provide little indication of an asset’s market value.
British Airways - Highest fixed assets.

9. Intangible Resources
For most companies, intangible resources are more valuable than tangible resources.
Book values vs Market values (Price to Market Value Ratio)
Google 3.98
Apple 4.55
Microsoft 6.64
Coca – Cola 6.97

10. Human Resources
The firm’s human resources comprise the expertise and effort offered by employees.
Like intangible resources, human resources do not appear on the firm’s balance sheet.
Firm does not own its employees; it purchases their services
Organizational culture:
an organization’s values, traditions, and social norms

11. Organizational Capabilities
Resources are not productive on their own.
To perform a task, a team of resources must work together.
Organizational Capability:
Firm’s capacity to deploy resources for desired end result.

12. Classifying Capabilities
Functional Analysis identifies organizational capabilities in relation to each of the principal functional areas of the firm.
Classifies the principal functions of the firm and identifies organizational capabilities located within each function.
Value-chain Analysis separates the activities of the firm into a sequential chain.
Porter’s Value Chain

13. Functional Analysis RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT Research - IBM
Innovative new product development - 3M, Apple
Fast-cycle new product development - Canon, Zara
OPERATIONS
Efficiency in volume manufacturing - YKK
Continuous improvements in operations - Toyota, Harley-Davidson
Flexibility and speed of response - Four Seasons Hotels

14. Functional Analysis PRODUCT DESIGN & MARKETING SALES AND DISTRIBUTION
Design capability - Samsung, Apple
Brand management - Procter & Gamble
Building reputation for quality - Johnson & Johnson
Responsiveness to market trends - MTV, L’Oréal
SALES AND DISTRIBUTION
Effective sales promotion and execution PepsiCo, Pfizer
Efficiency and speed of order processing - Dell
Speed of distribution - Amazon.com
Customer service - Qatar Airways

15. Porter’s Value Chain Analysis
Primary Activities: Transformation of inputs and interface with the customer
Support Activities: Secondary tasks to provide a more detailed identification

16. Appraising Resources and Capabilities
The profits that a firm obtains from its resources and capabilities depend on three factors:
their abilities to establish a competitive advantage
to sustain that competitive advantage and
to appropriate the returns to that competitive advantage.

17. Establishing Competitive Advantage
For a resource or capability to establish a competitive advantage, two conditions must be present:
Scarcity (shortage) and Relevance

18. Sustaining Competitive Advantage
It depends on how long that advantage can be sustained.
Durability: Some resources are more durable than others and, hence, are a more secure basis for competitive advantage.
Transferability: Some resources, such as finance, raw materials, components and employees with standardized skills are transferable and can be bought and sold with little difficulty.
Replicability: If a firm cannot buy resource or capability, it must build it. In financial services, most innovations in new derivative products can be imitated easily by competitors.

19. Action Plagiarius
The watch on the right, a knockoff developed by Digital Time Co., Ltd, in Thailand, received a special award for falsification
This dubious honor is given to the “best” product knockoffs by the organization Action Plagiarius in an effort to shame their makers