Dollinger index

44 ENTREPRENEURSHIP

above. However, because most physical entities can be manufactured and purchased,

they are probably not rare or hard to copy. Only in special circumstances, such as a

unique historical situation, will physical resources be a source of SCA. For example, one

might believe that in Street Story 2.2, Amanda Knauer’s discovery of Argentine leather

(a physical resource) is her source of advantage. But read closely. What are the under-

lying resources and capabilities of Qara Argentine?

The amenities and infrastructure of a locality or region can also promote entrepre-

neurship. Founders frequently locate wherever they happen to be when the entrepre-

neurship bug bites, but some areas in the country can give a significant push to entre-

preneurial start-ups’ success. These geographic areas form the basis of an entrepreneur-

ial system.^29 A recent research study shows how effective such a system can be. The sys-

tem components might include incubator organizations, formal and informal networks,

economic and social networks, physical infrastructure such as roads and subsidized

industrial space, universities with engineering and entrepreneurship programs and dense

high-tech activity. Systems like this exist in legend, such as Silicon Valley and the

Massachusetts Route 122 area. Examples of other up-and-coming areas are the Boulder

County, Colorado, area for high tech, and the Indianapolis Life and Health Science

Initiative region.

Reputational Resources

Reputational resources are the perceptions of the company held by people in the firm’s

environment. Reputation can exist at the product level as in brand loyalty, or at the cor-

FIGURE 2.1 Resource Attributes and Competitive Advantage

Not possible through:

Similar modes

Different modes

Substitutable

resources

Easily possible:

Similar modes

Different modes

Exploits opportunity

Neutralizes threats

Unique

Costly to procure

Unique history

Causally ambiguous

Socially complex

Valuable

resources

Rare

resources

Imitable

resources

Not suited to the

environment: common

Readily available

Inexpensive

Ordinary history

Causality known

Socially simple

Creates Competitive

Advantage

Resource

Dimension

No Competitive

Advantage

SOURCE: Adapted from J. Barney, “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage,” Journal of Management 17, 1991:

½¾

99–120.

½

½

½

¾

¾

¾