Evaluating sponsorship through the lens of the resource-based view: The potential for sustained competitive advantage

The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has become a prominent management theory that firms can use to analyze resources as potential sources of competitive advantage. Theorists have suggested sponsorship of sport properties as one such resource, yet specific cases of sponsorship's role in a firm's achievement of a sustained advantage over competitors have yet to be explored. This article illuminates the case of Visa's longstanding global sponsorship of the Olympic Games, which was initiated and leveraged to counteract competitor American Express’ advantage with global business travelers. Evidence is presented that supports Visa's achievement of a competitive advantage during the term of the sponsorship. The case is then used to develop a conceptual model based on the RBV to identify the key characteristics of sponsored properties capable of assisting the sponsoring firm in achieving a sustained competitive advantage. From a managerial perspective, the model is designed to assist marketing managers tasked with the identification and evaluation of potential sponsorship properties.     

Capabilities and competitive tactics influences on performance: Implications of the moment of entry

This article examines the implications that the moment of market entry has for the effect of capabilities and competitive tactics on firm performance, using a sample of 253 companies from the information and communications technology industry. The results show that technical capabilities and low cost orientation are learning factors in the firms' performance, regardless of the moment of entry into the market. The study shows how the two perspectives of competitive strategy and resource-based view complement each other to incorporate different competitive factors in a coherent model for the study of entry timing. The study takes the sustainability model of competitive advantage further, by demonstrating that certain capabilities and competitive tactics can allow pioneers and early followers to achieve and maintain superior performance in a dynamic, hostile and with high level of imitation industry. This study also shows that the availability of a combination of marketing capabilities and low cost orientation will allow late followers' firms to take advantage of early entrants' mistakes.     

Competitive advantage: A longitudinal analysis of the roles of data-driven innovation capabilities,marketing agility,and market turbulence

While data-driven innovation capabilities have received considerable attention from academics and practitioners, there is insufficient longitudinal evidence on how they might contribute to improved marketing agility and competitive advantage. In this study, we make a preliminary effort to address this gap by developing a model based on the dynamic capabilities view. We also explore the moderating effects of market turbulence on the link among marketing agility and competitive advantage. We used two-waves data (T = 677 and T+1 = 569) and the cross-lagged panel approach was utilised to analyse the longitudinal data. Our findings provide robust empirical evidence on the causal and predictive temporal impact of data driven innovation capabilities on marketing agility and competitive advantage. It also indicated that marketing agility mediates this relationship over time. Moreover, the analysis suggested that market turbulence reinforce the influence of marketing agility on competitive advantage. We provided significant implications for theory and practice.     

出口退税、行业集中度与出口行业“盯市”行为研究

本文以金融危机前后曾出现的出口退税较大调整为背景,应用面板平滑转换模型（ PSTR）对出口行业“盯市”（依市定价）程度与出口退税、行业集中度之间的关系展开探讨。研究结果表明,就行业集中度而言,无论危机前还是危机后始终对出口行业的PTM行为产生影响,且均与PTM存在平滑转变的非线性关系;出口退税仅在危机后的大幅提升后才对PTM影响显著,并表现为突变的快速向下的门限效应,而危机前对PTM并无影响;与出口退税相比,行业集中度对PTM的影响虽非立竿见影但却是缓慢且持久的。     

Let Them Eat (Genetically Re-engineered) Cake and the Little Purple Pill: A Rejoinder to Miles, Munilla and Covin

This paper critiques a recent article in this journal in terms of its use of persuasive techniques. The central issue of the original article by Miles, Munilla and Covin and this paper is whether there should be a change in intellectual property rights to address the needs of impoverished people who are HIV positive or have full blown AIDS and the countries that do not have the means to buy AIDS medication in the absence of subsidies. This paper argues that patents are state sanctioned monopolies that worked effectively for nearly a century. However, new circumstances and a globally interdependent world represent a new environment calling for an adjustment in the conventional public policy premises underlying patents. Most of the meaning and complexity of this issue is lost to the persuasive techniques of the original article.Dennis Ray teaches and researches international and comparative entrepreneurship, technology entrepreneurship and business in Asia. He teaches the international business strategy capstone course.