Competitive Advantage

Corporate Strategy "Sources of competitive advantage rarely yield added value that can be sustained over time." The following essay is going to attempt to assess the above proposition and try to find if it is possible to add value continually over a period of time. I will first discuss what competitive advantage is and what it means to a firm. Then I will explain the sources of competitive advantage and how the distinctive capabilities of …

…advantage is natural monopoly. So a natural monopoly on its own may find it difficult to sustain added value over a period of time. Almost all natural monopolies are associated with sunk costs. In a market where costs are substantially sunk are readily sustainable. A natural monopoly becomes a far more sustainable competitive advantage if it is combined with a strategic advantage based on sunk cost. From this, added value can be yielded over time.