You are the founder of Shadow Skateboards, and you are considering methods of gaining and sustaining a competitive advantage. Which of the following changes has the best chance of quickly creating a sustainable advantage?
A) devoting significant resources to researching and developing new products that will be more durable than competitors'
B) automating the manufacturing process to reduce production costs
C) allowing customers to upload their own image designs and help assemble the finished product at retail locations
D) switching to a just-in-time inventory system to reduce inventory costs

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Shadow has the best chance of creating a sustainable advantage by adjusting the business model to allow crowdsourcing of design ideas and some of the production process. Many executives consider business model innovation to be more important than process or product innovation. This is because product and process innovation is often more costly, is higher risk, and takes longer to come up with in the first place and to then implement. Moreover, business model innovation is often an area that is overlooked in a firm's quest for competitive advantage, and thus much value can be unlocked by focusing on business model innovation.

You Are the Founder of Shadow Skateboards, and You Are