SOURCES AND OUTCOMES OF COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE - AN EXPLORATORY-STUDY IN THE FURNITURE INDUSTRY

We examine a model of the relationships among sources and outcomes of competitive advantage. The model is integrative across business functi ons and research disciplines. Functional area competencies are conside red as sources of advantage, and three competency constructs are intro duced: marketing competency, product design and development (innovatio n) competency, and manufacturing competency. Each functional area cons truct is defined as the sum of the performance on 31 competitive items , weighted by importance and extent of responsibility. Relationships b etween the competency constructs (and their interactions) with perform ance outcomes such as ROI and market share are analyzed. Results from this exploratory study suggest that innovation is a key source of comp etitive advantage.