Intangible Resources

Compared to tangible resources, intangible resources are a superior source of

capabilities and subsequently, core competencies. Because intangible resources are less
visible and more difficult for competitors to understand, purchase, imitate, or substitute for,
firms prefer to rely on them rather than tangible resources as the foundation for their
capabilities. Another benefit of intangible resources is that, unlike most tangible resources,
their use can be leveraged. For instance, sharing knowledge among employees does not
diminish its value for any one person. To the contrary, two people sharing their individualized
knowledge sets often can be leveraged to create additional knowledge that, although new to
each individual, contributes potentially to performance improvements for the firm.

3-2b CAPABILITIES
The firm combines individual tangible and intangible resources to create capabilities. In
turn, capabilities are used to complete the organizational tasks required to produce, distribute,
and service the goods or services the firm provides to customers for the purpose of creating
value for them. As a foundation for building core competencies and hopefully competitive
advantages, capabilities are often based on developing, carrying, and exchanging information
and knowledge through the firms human capital. Hence, the value of human capital in
developing and using capabilities and, ultimately, core competencies cannot be overstated.
3-2c CORE COMPETENCIES
Core competencies are capabilities that serve as a source of competitive advantage for a
firm over its rivals. Core competencies distinguish a company competitively and reflect its
personality. Core competencies emerge over time through an organizational process of
accumulating and learning how to deploy different resources and capabilities.
3-3 BUILDING CORE COMPETENCIES
Two tools help firms identify their core competencies. The first consists of four specific
criteria of sustainable competitive advantage that can be used to determine which capabilities
are core competencies. The second tool is the value chain analysis. Firms use this tool to
select the value-creating competencies that should be maintained, upgraded, or developed and
those that should be outsourced.
3-3a THE FOUR CRITERIA OF SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Capabilities that are valuable, rare, costly to imitate, and nonsubstitutable are core
competencies. In turn, core competencies can lead to competitive advantages for the firm over
its rivals. A sustainable competitive advantage exists only when competitors cannot duplicate
the benefits of a firms strategy or when they lack the resources to attempt imitation. For some
period of time, the firm may have a core competence by using capabilities that are valuable
and rare, but imitable.

The length of time a firm can expect to create value by using its core competencies is a
function of how quickly competitors can successfully imitate a good, service, or process.
Value creating core competencies may last for a relatively long period of time only when all
four of the criteria are satisfied.
Valuable
Capabilities
Rare Capabilities
Costly-to-Imitate
capabilities

Help a firm neutralize threats or exploit opportunities

Are not possessed by many others

Historical: A unique and a valuable organizational culture
or brand name
Ambiguous cause: The causes and uses of competence are
unclear
Social complexity: Interpersonal relationships, trust, and
friendship among managers, suppliers, and customers
No strategic equivalent

Nonsubstitutable
capabilities

Valuable
Valuable capabilities allow the firm to exploit opportunities or neutralize threats in its
external environment. By effectively using capabilities to exploit opportunities or neutralize
threats, a firm creates value for customers.
Rare
Rare capabilities are capabilities that few, if any, competitors possess. A key question to
be answered when evaluating this criterion is, How many rival firms possess these valuable
capabilities? Capabilities possessed by many rivals are unlikely to become core
competencies for any of the involved firms. Instead, valuable but common capabilities are
sources of competitive parity. Competitive advantage results only when firms develop and
exploit valuable capabilities that become core competencies and that differ from those shared
with competitors.
Costly to Imitate
Costly-to-imitate capabilities are capabilities that other firms cannot easily develop.
Capabilities that are costly to imitate are created because of one reason or a combination of
three reason. First, a firm sometimes is able to develop capabilities because of unique
historical conditions. As firms evolve they often acquire or develop capabilities that are
unique to them.
A second condition of being costly to imitate occurs when the link between the firms
core competencies and its competitive advantage is causally ambiguous. In these instances,
competitors cant clearly understand how a firm uses its capabilities that are core
competencies as the foundation for competitive advantage. As a result, firms are uncertain
about the capabilities they should develop to duplicate the benefits of a competitors valuecreating strategy.

Social complexity is the third reason that capabilities can be costly to imitate. Social
complexity means that at least some, frequently many, of the firms capabilities are the
product of complex social phenomena. Interpersonal relationships, trust, friendship among
managers and between managers and employees, and a firms reputation with suppliers and
customers are example of socially complex capabilities.