Assignment 2.1: Discussion — Sustainable Competitive Advantage

Every business and organization has products, services, and/or ideas that continually evolve both to keep up with the competition and to supply a continual income (the product lifecycle). Innovation is difficult to maintain. In a recent study published in Forbes (Upbin, 2011), the author found that of hundreds of companies analyzed in 1995, only fourteen remained in the top 75 of current innovators in 2010. The majority of these innovative companies only sustained innovation for a decade or more, and then turned their focus to the innovation that propelled them forward rather than sustaining the innovation. With the loss of innovative focus, companies entropy and decay.

In this assignment, you will participate in a discussion on today’s increasingly technologically advanced marketplace and the role of the sustainability of a competitive advantage.

Procedure

1. Consider the following statement:
   1. With the realities of today’s rapid technological innovation and the realities of the current economy, competitive advantage only exist for a short time and are quickly outdated.
2. Determine if you agree or disagree with this statement.