Robert Grant was a US strategy academic who chalenged Porter's views on the basis for competitive advantage. He suggested that competitive advantage was more frequently to be discovered in access to distinctive or unique internal resources, rather than a choice between the different forms of generic strategis externally.
Robert Grant has given insights about competitive positioning were more likely to come from understanding a company's resource base rather than from generic strategies. He particularly focused on the extent to which organizations had non-immitatable resources.
Hamel and Prahaled introduced the following management ideas;
- Core competencies
- Competing in the future
- Innovation in strategy
Core competencies
A core competence is a cluster of skills which either enables us to compete, or give us a distinctive way of competing. Unfortunately, it is not always easy to identify an organizations core competencies from the inside, as these competencies are often taken for granted and are of a tacit nature.
Competing for the future
Hamel and Prahald's book 'Competing for the Future' is an accessible, imaginative and must read book. The authors do not see any industry as a given but willing to entertain a variety of possible futures, which can then be created. Whilst many management students concentrate on studying what is already there without seeing the potential of 'what could be there' - benefiting through the insights of imagination. This line of thought is encapsulated within the authors own concept of of 'breakthrough strategic thinking' which treats strategy as a creative, imaginative and analytical process.
Charles Handy is arguably one of the most important strategic management guru's. Charles Handy's original book on organizations was well thought through, academic account of different organizational forms which underpinned strategy through structure. But it was much later that he wrote more accessible books that he was recognized by the vast majority. He also outlined aspects of the virtual organization in his book 'The Empty Raincoat'
