Title: Domestic and foreign competitor identification and firm performance

Authors: Chung-Long Yu; Fatima Wang; Keith D. Brouthers

Addresses: Tungnan University, 9F, No. 131, Sec. 2, Fuxing S. Rd., Da'an Dist., Taipei City 10665, Taiwan ' Department of Management, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK ' Department of Management, King's College London, Franklin-Wilkins Building, 150 Stamford Street, London, SE1 9NH, UK

Abstract: Strategic management scholars agree firms need to know who they compete with in order to establish and maintain a competitive advantage. Yet we know little about the link between competitor identification and firm performance or the added value of identifying foreign competitors. In this paper, we develop and test a theory to explain how identifying domestic and foreign competitors can each lead to improved firm performance. Using a unique dataset of Taiwanese manufacturers, we find that firms identifying more domestic competitors perform better. Additionally, our results indicate that firms identifying high levels of both domestic and foreign competitors have even better firm performance. Thus, we contribute to the literature by exploring the importance of identifying domestic and foreign competitors for a firm's success.

Keywords: competitor identification; competitive advantage; resource-based view; RBV; firm performance; domestic competitors; foreign competitors; strategic management; added value; Taiwan; manufacturing industry.

DOI: 10.1504/EJIM.2015.070230

European Journal of International Management, 2015 Vol.9 No.4, pp.463 - 483

Received: 14 Jun 2013
Accepted: 04 Jan 2014
Published online: 30 Jun 2015 *

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