CREATING A SUSTAINED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN A SINGLE INDUSTRY. UTILIZATION OF CORE RESOURCES AND CAPABILITIES IN CUSTOMER VALUE CREATION: A comparative case study on the hotel and restaurant business in Helsinki

Abstract

This thesis builds on a Bachelor’s Thesis submitted in 2010. The previous study examined the sources of competitive advantage in a single industry through the resource-based view (RBV). This paper has conducted a new review of the theoretical and empirical research history of the RBV. Concepts of resources, competences, capabilities and their various forms are presented, and RBV’s academic and empiric applicability is discussed. To enhance the descriptiveness of the sources of competive advantages in a single industry, the subject of customer value creation is linked to the RBV. The aspects of how customers may perceive value in its utilitarian, psychologigal and philosophical form are introduced. From the review of customer value related studies, and those that link customer value creation and RBV, relevant theoretic tools are chosen and presented. They are chosen with the criteria of being applicable to case studies in the hotel and restaurant business. The methodologic approach is an explanatory comparative case study. Open-ended interviews were conducted to the top management of case firms. They seek to reveal and explain the core resources and capabilities in customer value creation, and the underlying processes of case firms. Findings are then compiled to a summary table, discussed with reflection to the presented theory, and comparative remarks are drawn. This study is an exploratory step to test the empiric applicability of RBV, and such attempts is suggested to replicate in the future in order to make progress for this branch of science.