ITPEC FE Morning October 2018 Question 71

An engine idling stop technology that competitors cannot imitate — a core technology creates competitive advantage because it is the company's own and hard to copy.

A core technology is a proprietary technology at the centre of a company's products that others cannot easily imitate and that can be applied across products; it is the technological side of core competence. The idling stop technology in (c) is both the company's own and inimitable, so it sets the company's products apart.

Answer (c)

Why not others:

• •(a) — combining general components speeds development, but anyone can buy the same components, so no lasting advantage follows
• •(b) — using the same CPU core as competitors helps software portability but is by definition shared with them
• •(d) — standard interfaces agreed in an alliance are used in common by all members, so they level the field rather than differentiate

Key rule: A source of competitive advantage must be unique and hard to imitate; anything general, shared or standardised cannot be one.

Technological Strategy Management · AI-written, may contain errors