Organisational capabilities: Pathways to sustainability?

MOUSTAFA BATTOR, JYOTI NAVARE, MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY, UK
Abstract: In an environment of free market and open competition, marketing scholars no longer debate whether or not firms attempt to improve performance to outperform their rivals. Instead, firms want to know the answer of question that what are the sources of sustainable superior performance? Three theories that have been significant in the literature discuss different sources of sustainable performance and provide different answers to this question. These are industry-based theory, resource-based theory and capability-based theory. This article analyses the different explanations of the origin of performance differentials among firms proposed by these theories. The conclusion is that the capability-based theory seems to be the most relevant for explaining performance differentials in contemporary business environments that are dynamic, rapidly changing and increasingly competitive.
Keywords: Sustainable Performance, Organisational Capabilities