Building Sustainable Competitive Advantage

This chapter explores how fashion entrepreneurs can build sustainable competitive advantage by analysing and leveraging their internal strengths. It introduces the value chain framework to identify key activities that create value and support strategic choices such as cost leadership, differentiation and focus. The chapter then applies the resource-based view (RBV) to distinguish between tangible and intangible resources, highlighting how assets like brand reputation, intellectual property and organisational culture contribute to long-term success. Through case studies of fashion brands, students will gain insight into how resources are transformed into organisational capabilities, complex routines and processes that enable firms to execute strategy effectively. By the end of the chapter, students will understand how to assess and develop internal resources and capabilities that are valuable, rare, inimitable and well-organised, forming the foundation of a resilient and competitive fashion business.