Sustainable Competitive Advantage ? The Key Weapon to Enhance the Economic Competitiveness of a Firm ? A Study of the Automobile Industry

In recent year, globalization has become a key concept / theme in every business conference. The new mantra today for success as enunciated by academicians and practitioners has been Marketing and Innovation. In other words firms must be able to utilize the twin concepts of marketing and innovations to fight competition and be successful in the market place. In other words businesses must have a definite advantage over its competitors or better still a sustainable competitive advantage. Competitive strategy helps in establishing a profitable and a sustainable position in the market place. The key to competitive strategy is sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). These advantages stem from the various subgroups of a firm’s processes, the skills and resources at its disposal, the new product development as well as its innovative strategies and finally how these advantages are implemented in the market place. In the ultimate analysis these advantages must contribute to the Top Management’s Objective viz. the Return on Investment.