Introduction  (Page 15/20)

• Cost advantage.
• Differentiation advantage.

A competitive advantage exists when the firm is able to deliver the same benefits as competitors but at a lower cost (cost advantage), or deliver benefits that exceed those of competing products (differentiation advantage). Thus, a competitive advantage enables the firm to create superior value for its customers and superior profits for itself.

Cost and differentiation advantages are known as positional advantages since they describe the firm's position in the industry as a leader in either cost or differentiation. A resource-based view emphasizes that a firm utilizes its resources and capabilities to create a competitive advantage that ultimately results in superior value creation (Hughes 2007). [link] combines the resource-based and positioning views to illustrate the concept of competitive advantage.

Resources and capabilities

According to the resource-based view, in order to develop a competitive advantage the firm must have resources and capabilities that are superior to those of its competitors. Without this superiority, the competitors simply could replicate what the firm was doing and any advantage quickly would disappear.

Resources are the firm-specific assets useful for creating a cost or differentiation advantage and that few competitors can acquire easily. The following are some examples of such resources:

• Patents.
• Know-how.
• Facilities.
• Installed customer base.
• Reputation of the firm.

Capabilities refer to the firm's ability to utilize its resources effectively. An example of a capability is the ability to bring a product to market faster than competitors. Such capabilities are embedded in the routines of the organization and are not easily documented as procedures and thus making it difficult for competitors to duplicate.

The firm's resources and capabilities together form its distinctive competencies. These competencies enable innovation, efficiency, quality, and customer responsiveness, all of which can be leveraged to create a cost advantage or a differentiation advantage.

The texas/united kingdom collaborative

Overview of the “collaborative” and phase i

The Texas - UK Collaborative was established in the fall of 2002 to foster collaborations among researchers in the nanosciences, information sciences and the biosciences located in top institutions in Texas and the UK thereby building new areas of research and capacity generating new ideas, techniques, products and opportunities.

The top institutions in Texas became partners in Phase I of the Collaborative including Baylor College of Medicine, Rice University, Texas A&M University, University of Houston, University of Texas at Austin, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center and University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB).

In Phase I thirty thematic events, were organized involving more than 400 researchers from Texas and the UK and 60 collaborations, involving more than 180 researchers, were established. Outputs include fifty manuscripts reporting the results of collaborative research have been prepared and four patents have been filed.