Page 190 - 100 Great Business Ideas: From Leading Companies Around the World (100 Great Ideas)

could be trained to make repairs. Canon’s approach meant Xerox
failed to sustain its competitive advantage.
Business success is determined by whether resources strengthen
or decline, complement or undermine each other, take from or are
eroded by competitors.

In practice

Three basic issues need to be addressed: why performance is
following its current path, where current policies and strategy will
lead, and how the future can be altered for the better. Several steps
will help address these issues:
1. Identify resources and understand how they behave. You do

not have to possess a resource for it to be useful. Consider the
following questions:
– What are the most significant resources in your

organization?
– How many of these resources do you have?
– How do they interact and affect each other? In particular, how

do they affect the quantity and quality of other resources?
2. Consider the impact that people have on this system:

– Do you use people to build, develop, retain, and use
resources?

– Do you ensure that people enhance the quality of your
resources?

3. Understand how resources affect performance.
4. Develop new resources in your business.

100 GREAT BUSINESS IDEAS • 183