Is competitive advantage something that can be sustained over time at all? Or is it just a deadly distraction? Piccoli and Ives $(2005)$ Download Piccoli and Ives $(2005)$claim that competitive advantage can be defended by building barriers: IT Project, IT assets and Capabilities, Complementary Resources, Preemption.

Key points

The analysis of barriers to competition outlines ways in which firms can sustain competitive advantage

There are three barriers:

IT project barriers: it is too much of an undertaking for competitors to copy the capability

IT asset and capability: competitors do not have IT assets and capabilities and it's too expensive to acquire them

Complementary resources barrier: the unique synergy between different resources creates value, and that synergy is hard to copy

Preemption barrier: competitive advantage comes from being "getting there first" $($e$.$g$.,$ customer loyalty$)$

Competitive advantage is not sustainable if resources can be copied quickly

Goal: To assess whether an IT$-$enabled initiative can generate sustainable value

Format: Use this templateLinks to an external site. to assess whether IT assets and capabilities create sustainable value

Instructions:

Read the mini$-$case on page $56$ "Amazon Go: How far can it go$?"$

Use the templateLinks to an external site. to answer question #$3$ "Which of the four barriers to competition are positioned to help Amazon Go$?$ Describe how." The sustainability factors are summarized in Figure $2\mathrm{.}8,$ p$.47.$

use template Barriers to competition and building sustainability

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