Resource$-$Based View

The resource$-$based view was introduced in Chapter $1,$ Strategic Management, where the culture of Southwest Airlines was described as a resource that provided a sustained competitive advantage because it is valuable, rare, and very difficult to imitate or substitute. The less a resource can be imitated, the more durable the source of competitive advantage. In addition to culture, a firm$$s human resources can create sustained competitive advantage if they meet all four criteria suggested by the resource$-$based view.

Firstly, employees who have superior performance because of their skills, commitment, or flexibility are valuable. These employees help the company beat out competitors by offering better service$/$unique products or reducing costs.

Secondly, human resources can be difficult for competitors to imitate. Porter estimates that it takes approximately seven years to duplicate a competitive edge in human resources $($Porter $1985).$ The competition can$$t just $$buy$$ these employees, because their effectiveness is embedded in the HR systems of training, compensation, performance appraisal, and culture that allow them to work productively $($Amit and Belcourt $1999,174181).$

Thirdly, the best human resources are rare. $$Talent war$$ describes the fierce competition among firms, especially in the high$-$technology industry, for the best talent. Almost $80$ percent of Canadian organizations indicated that they had difficulty recruiting quality candidates with skills that were important to the organization or in high demand $($The Conference Board of Canada $2010).$ Video $2\mathrm{.}1$ describes how American Express recruits amid a war for talent.

Finally, the value of human resources can be hard to substitute. As discussed in Chapter $1,$ dynamic capabilities are critical for today$$s businesses to continuously lead the competition. Dynamic capabilities allow businesses to be the first to discover new opportunities, to act faster than others to seize opportunities, and to quickly create the internal processes needed to realize these opportunities $($Teece $2007,13191350).$ Other resources such as technology and physical resources do not have free will, and thus cannot substitute for decisions and changes made by human resources $($Chadwick and Dabu $2009,253272).$

Therefore, a firm$$s human resources are more valuable for sustained competitive advantage than technological and physical resources, particularly in today$$s competitive and fast$-$changing environment, because human resources are less visible, more complex, and can initiate change $($Paauwe and Boselie $2006,5670).$ For these reasons, human resources are increasingly perceived as strategic resources. Given the unlimited potential of human resources, how to exploit it is explained by the contingency perspective.Case Study: Human Capital Strategy at Loblaw

In the Chapter $1$ case, we learned that Loblaw Companies Ltd$.($Loblaw$)\text{'}$s vision is to help ensure that Canada is the happiest and healthiest country in the world. We also learned that the core values at Loblaw are to $"$be authentic, build trust, and make connections" $($Loblaw Companies Ltd$.2021,6)$ and that its value proposition is to $"$be best in food, health, and beauty" $($Loblaw Companies Ltd$.2021,2).$ This value proposition, which is intended to communicate what Loblaw's unique features are that draw customers to shop at its supermarkets rather than any other, is implemented by activities centred around providing fresh food selection; competitive value; a curated assortment of offerings; and providing high$-$quality health and wellness products and services. It is also clear from Loblaw's annual report that a central component of the mission at Loblaw is to focus on everyday digital retail. This means that it is committed to expanding customers' ability to shop from an Internet$-$connected device.

The grocery business has seen broad changes over the course of the COVID$-19$ pandemic. As restaurants closed their doors to all but take$-$out orders, grocery store revenues increased by approximately $10$ percent overall. However, those increased revenues were offset in the early months of the pandemic by increased expenses in extra pay for essential workers as well as increased investments in e$-$shopping $($online shopping and delivery$).$ It is estimated that up to $40$ percent of the foot traffic formerly seen in the physical stores has shifted to online shopping and delivery. According to the Toronto Star, just $1$ percent of grocery shoppers were buying their groceries online prior to the pandemic, but that number has increased $300$ percent since the start of the pandemic. It will be interesting to see the extent to which customers return to in$-$store grocery shopping. Furthermore, the items that grocery shoppers are buying has shifted. More shoppers are looking for fresh foods $($perishables$)$ rather than canned, boxed, and frozen foods $($Hudson $2020).$

The larger grocers moved quickly to develop an online presence where shoppers can bro