Resource Based Competitive Advantage: A Case Study of Ctrip and RBV

This essay examines Ctrip's sustainable competitive advantage through the lens of the Resource Based View (RBV). It begins with an introduction to the RBV, highlighting its importance in organizational management and strategic resource allocation. The discussion section analyzes Ctrip's strategic decisions, technological innovations, and service-oriented approach. The essay references the '55443' strategy and its focus on service quality, product offerings, and pricing. The analysis emphasizes the role of skilled workforce, customer service, and organizational culture in achieving a competitive edge. The essay concludes by reiterating how Ctrip's unique resources and strategic management contribute to its sustainable competitive advantage in the travel industry. The essay uses the case study to demonstrate the application of RBV principles to Ctrip's business model and strategic decisions. The essay also includes references to various academic sources to support the analysis.

Running head: RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

1RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Topic: Drawing on the Resource Based View literature, evaluate whether and how C-TRIP
generates sustainable competitive advantage
Introduction
The resource based view is an organization’s capacity of managing the different
resources of a venture while operating on the different processes. Lin and Wu (2014) pp.407-
413 opined that the resource-based view (RBV) of an organization enables an organization in
continuing with the efficiency of the operations while managing the strategic resources through
which it might achieve a sustainable advantage. The delineation of different resources and the
manner in which the venture might be allocated is one of the major factors that enumerates the
smooth functioning of the systems in orientation with the strategic needs of the venture
(Bromiley and Rau 2016) pp.95-106.
Sodhi (2015) pp.1375-1389 opined that the comparative benefits that are gathered by the
organizations enable the venture in enhancing the rate of operations while adhering to the needs
of the customers. The different resources that are considered by the organizations enables the
venture in enhancing the rate of operations in orientation with the expansion and growth related
objectives of the venture (Kellermanns et al. 2016) pp.26-48. The purpose of initiating the
research is to examine the Research based view and its need in organizations through assessing
the applicability of the venture in the case of Ctrip. The assessment of different literatures on the
RBV would enable in recognizing the impact of the venture on the competitive edge of the
venture.

2RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Discussion
The Resource Based View (RBV) of an organization enables the venture in influencing
the rate of operations in orientation with the needs of the customers. Pee and Kankanhalli (2016)
pp.188-199 opined that RBV of an organization enhances the rate of inventory management
related activities and thereby improve the supply chain. The improved supply chain operations of
the venture enables in maximizing the rate of profitability while adhering to the needs of large
amount of customers. On the other hand, Kull, Mena and Korschun (2016) pp.5553-5560 opined
that the improved rate of RBV operations enables an organization in identifying the areas of
improvements while operating in different market sections. The different modifications in the
organizational operations are reliant on identifying the resources that are required in the different
departments and allocating the venture. Campbell and Park (2017) pp.302-308 opined that the
identification and allocation of required resources of an organization enables in continuing the
productivity of the venture.
The diverse range of operations that are initiated by the organizations improved the rate
of operations of the venture while operating in diverse markets. The resource based view of an
organization enables the venture in ensuring the rate of operations in orientation with the
objectives. As per the case of Ctrip, the improved rate of collaborations with different
organizations enableed the resource based needs of the venture. On the other hand the
technological infusions enableed the organization in developing the potentials of the venture
while operating in the different markets. Kim, Song and Triche (2015) pp.533-546 stated that
the technological developments of an organization and the skilled workforce of the venture.
Therefore, in this connection, the concerned organization developed steps to undertake
technological innovations with the objective of continuing with the proficiency of the operations.

3RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
The business level strategy of Ctrip aimed at enhancing the rate of service oriented
operations. The concerned organization followed “55443” strategy of which five denoted the
blue ocean situation of the venture (Garvin and Dai 2013). On the other hand, four and three
represented the easy replication of the business model in the short term and market level
competition respectively. The organization assigned five to services that are offered by the
venture, four to product and three to price. Therefore, the innovativeness of the services would
require the organization to develop an individual base of resources with the objective of aligning
their propositions with the needs of the customers. Lioukas, Reuer and Zollo (2016) pp.161-183
opined that the different aspects of change in the organizational operations are reliant on the
resources that are identified and allocated by the venture to the respective areas for improvement.
The strategy that is being followed by the organization enableed the venture in improving the
rate of operations of the venture.
Kull, Mena and Korschun (2016) pp.5553-5560 opined that the competitive value of the
resources are improved through the changes in the technological aspects, the competitors
operations or the buyer needs. The different external or internal environmental factors enables an
organization in enhancing the rate of operations in orientation with the needs of the venture
while operating in the different markets. In this relation, the resource based view of Ctrip is
reliant on the assessment of the technological advancements that were required to be considered
by the venture at the time of its initiation. The general perspective among the travelers in 1999
was that the Chinese agencies focused more on the group tours and attracted customers with
lower price offerings (Garvin and Dai 2013). On the other hand, the Chinese agencies provided
low quality meals and mandatory shopping trips to ensure that the tour guides receive a handful
commission.

4RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
However, after the establishment of Ctrip the idea changed through inclusion of different
technological platforms and focus on the quality of the services that were provided. Kellermanns
et al. (2016) pp.26-48 stated that the resource based view of an organization enables in
developing the capacity in orientation with the needs of the customers. On the other hand,
Lioukas, Reuer and Zollo (2016) pp.161-183 opined that the resource based view of an
organization is heterogeneous in nature, which s inimitable in nature. The inimitability of the
organizational model and the diverse range of resources enables an organization in enhancing the
rate of competitive advantage gathered by the venture. It has been noted that in China the
traveling expenses were the second largest controllable expense where travel and ticketing
agencies processed 90% of RMB 100 billion (Garvin and Dai 2013). The concerned
organization, Ctrip entered the market in the year 2001, but exited the venture shortly as the
organization aimed at serving individual customers and losses incurred by the organization due
to difficulties in collecting payments (Garvin and Dai 2013). However, the organization re-
launched the operations in the year 2006 under the leadership of Fan through utilization of past
insights while combining the venture with the different other offerings and including
technologies (Garvin and Dai 2013). The changes in the organizational model enableed the
organization in improving their strategy implementation based on the RBV. On the other hand,
the development of the corporate culture through the inclusion of 55443 strategy enableed in
enhancing the strategic service propositions.
Again, the open discussions that were facilitated by the organization enableed the
collaborative functioning of the executive level stakeholders while aligning the objectives with
the RBV principles. The concerned organization also developed six sigma team which selected
10- 15 cross functional projects in the organization and assesses the impact and likelihood of

5RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
profitability to the organization (Garvin and Dai 2013). The development of the team enableed
the business to generate benefits greater than RMB 1 million (Garvin and Dai 2013). It was
noted that the company made 78 successful projects which provided the venture with an average
benefit of RMB 1- 2 million (Garvin and Dai 2013). The open organizational culture and the
collaborative leadership style enableed the venture in improving the rate of operations that are
initiated by the venture while operating in the different global economies.
Again, the organization focused on improving the services and customer assistances that
are provided through the call centers through recruitment of skilled workforce and providing
training to the existing employees. Lin and Wu (2014) pp.407-413 opined that the improvements
in the resources enables an organization in enhancing the productivity and profitability which are
directly proportional to each other. In this relation, the concerned venture planned to develop the
quality of the customer assistance provided by the call centers through the appointment of QA
(Quality Assurance), which provided services 24*7. The development of the different processes,
the recruitment of skilled workforce and providing training to the employees enableed the
organization in empowering the existing resources for maximizing the rate of operations.
The organization also took steps to segregate the customer base with the objective of
enhancing the rate of service propositions in orientation with the specific needs and potentiality
of the demands. The segregation of the services in accordance to the needs of the customers
enableed the organization in enhancing the rate of operations while operating in the different
markets. Sodhi (2015) opined that the developments in the strategic positioning of the
propositions enables an organization in aligning their objectives with the Resource Based View.
Therefore, in this relation, Ctrip improved the rate of operations with the objective of improving
the market position through resource based considerations.

6RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above analysis it might be stated that Resource based view enables
an organization in identifying and manipulating with the resources with the objective of gaining
a competitive advantage. The uniqueness of the resources and the manner in which the venture is
manipulated enables an organization in achieving a competitive edge to the venture. The
research examined the situation encountered by Ctrip and the manner in which the Resource
based view of the venture influenced the strategies as per the needs of achieving a competitive
advantage.

7RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
References
Bromiley, P. and Rau, D., (2016). Operations management and the resource based view: Another
view. Journal of Operations Management, 41, pp.95-106.
Campbell, J.M. and Park, J., 2017. Extending the resource-based view: Effects of strategic
orientation toward community on small business performance. Journal of Retailing and
Consumer Services, 34, pp.302-308.
Garvin, D. and Dai, N. (2013). Ctrip: Scientifically Managing Travel Services. [online] Hbr.org.
Available at: https://hbr.org/product/ctrip-scientifically-managing-travel-services/312092-PDF-
ENG [Accessed 13 Jul. 2019].
Kellermanns, F., Walter, J., Crook, T.R., Kemmerer, B. and Narayanan, V., (2016). The
resource‐based view in entrepreneurship: A content‐analytical comparison of researchers' and
entrepreneurs' views. Journal of Small Business Management, 54(1), pp.26-48.
Kim, M., Song, J. and Triche, J., (2015). Toward an integrated framework for innovation in
service: A resource-based view and dynamic capabilities approach. Information Systems
Frontiers, 17(3), pp.533-546.
Kull, A.J., Mena, J.A. and Korschun, D., (2016). A resource-based view of stakeholder
marketing. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), pp.5553-5560.
Lin, Y. and Wu, L.Y., (2014). Exploring the role of dynamic capabilities in firm performance
under the resource-based view framework. Journal of business research, 67(3), pp.407-413.

8RESOURCE BASED COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
Lioukas, C.S., Reuer, J.J. and Zollo, M., (2016). Effects of information technology capabilities
on strategic alliances: Implications for the resource‐based view. Journal of Management
Studies, 53(2), pp.161-183.
Pee, L.G. and Kankanhalli, A., (2016). Interactions among factors influencing knowledge
management in public-sector organizations: A resource-based view. Government Information
Quarterly, 33(1), pp.188-199.
Sodhi, M.S., (2015). Conceptualizing social responsibility in operations via stakeholder
resource‐based view. Production and Operations Management, 24(9), pp.1375-1389.