Issue №16. September 2008

The Evolution of Strategic Management Concepts: From the Harvard School to a Resource-based View

Graduate student, Management Theory and Technology Department, School of Public Administration, Lomonosov Moscow State University.

Competitive advantages of an organization are a result of a well-developed strategy. The article examines the concepts of competitive advantages, from the Harvard school external environment concepts and Michael Porter’s concept and up to the modern resource-based view, analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of each concept.  Modern resource-based approach is a key concept of modern strategic management. Special attention is paid to the analysis of the origins of competitive advantage and the possibilities of sustaining it — which is important both for theoretical research and practical strategic management.

Keywords

Competitive advantage, resource-based view, key competencies, dependency on the previous development trajectory, dynamic opportunities concept.