[Music] in this course we'll define competitive advantage resources are the assets capabilities processes employee time information and knowledge that an organization controls firms use their resources to improve organizational effectiveness and efficiency resources are critical to organizational strategy because they can help companies create and sustain an advantage over others organizations can achieve a competitive advantage providing greater value for customers than competitors can a competitive advantage becomes a sustainable competitive advantage when other companies cannot duplicate the value a firm is providing to customers valuable resources allow companies to improve their efficiency and effectiveness unfortunately changes in customer demand and preferences competitors actions and technology can make once valuable resources much less valuable for sustained competitive advantage valuable resources must also be rare resources think about it how can the company sustain a competitive advantage if all of its competitors have similar resources and capabilities consequently rare resources resources that are not controlled or possessed by many competing firms are necessary to sustain competitive advantage for sustained competitive advantage however other firms must be unable to imitate or find substitutes for those valuable rare resources imperfectly imitatable resources are those resources that are impossible or extremely costly or difficult to duplicate valuable rare or imperfectly imitatable resources can produce sustainable competitive advantage only if they are also non substitutable resources meaning that no other resources can replace them and produce similar value or competitive advantage [Music]