The Resource-Based View, often called RBV, is one of the most influential perspectives in strategic management. It explains why some firms perform better than others by focusing on internal resources rather than only on market position, industry structure, or external competition. According to this view, a business can build and sustain competitive advantage when it possesses resources and capabilities that are valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and properly organized. The

Value Chain Analysis is one of the most useful ideas in strategic management because it helps explain how organizations create value through a series of connected activities. Rather than seeing a business as a single unit, this approach breaks it into parts such as purchasing, production, logistics, marketing, sales, service, technology development, human resource management, and infrastructure. By studying these parts, managers can identify where value is created, where cost

Author: M. Hartwell Affiliation: Independent Researcher Abstract A common business claim—often repeated in classrooms, boardrooms, and social media—is that WD-40 never patented its formula so that “no one would ever know the secret,” and that this choice helped the product remain defensible for decades. This article examines whether that claim is true, what it implies about the strategic trade-off between patenting and secrecy, and how similar logic appears across industrie

Author: Hassan El Malki – Affiliation: Independent Researcher Abstract Data analytics has moved from the margins of management to the center of strategic decision-making. In many industries, firms that use data well outperform those that do not, not only by improving efficiency but also by shaping markets, customer expectations, and even regulatory debates. This article explores how data analytics can become a source of strategic advantage, rather than just an operational too

Author: Samir Khalid — Affiliation: Independent Researcher Abstract Sustainability has shifted from a peripheral concern in corporate social responsibility to a central driver of competitive strategy across global industries. As environmental degradation, climate change, and social inequality intensify, consumers increasingly evaluate brands not only on functional performance but on their perceived contribution to ecological and social well-being. This article explores sustai