HAANES, Knut <br/><br/>
Linking intangible resources and competition 

 -  2000 
<br/><br/> Recent strategy literature that intangible resources  - in patticular competencies and relationships - are critical drivers of competitive advantage. However, there seems to be a lack  of understanding of when certain types of competencies and relationships are most critical. This  paper introduces a framework consisting of three fundamental levels of resource-competition . The framework is illustrated through the pharmaceutical  industry. We argue that (1) biotech firms mainly engage in entrepreneurial competition; (2) traditional pharmaceutical  firms - here referred to as big-pharma - increasingly undertake contractual competition and, finally (3) generic drug makers compete predominantly operationally. The paper argues that intangible resources contribute differently to competitive advantage depending on level of competition