Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Survey of Companies in Southern Brazil

Abstract

A Sustainable Competitive Advantage emerges as an important factor in the perception of value of goods and services, which should be considered as elements of competitive differentiation. This study aims at identifying the relationship between sustainable competitive advantage and organizational performance, as well as measuring the relationship of environmental sustainability and social responsibility as attributes of sustainable competitive advantage. In order to achieve that, a survey was carried out in 1496 different size companies and activity sectors in Brazil. For the data analysis and interpretation we used a structural equation modeling technique. The results indicate that the Sustainable Competitive Advantage construct is an important antecedent of organizational performance because it highlights fundamental attributes for organizations to achieve positive economic consequences. This research contributes to organizational management and to the scientific community with the provision of a framework that assists in the identification of relevant strategic resource features.

Keywords

• sustainable competitive advantage
• environmental sustainability
• social responsibility
• organizational performance
• structural equation modeling