Durability of Competitive Advantage
Durability of competitive advantage determines how long the competitive advantage can be sustained and is considered in terms of the ability of competitors to imitate through gaining access to the resources on which the competitive advantage is built. The key to investing is not assessing how much an industry is going to affect society, or how much it will grow, but rather determining the competitive advantage of any given company and, above all, the durability of that advantage. The products or services that have wide, sustainable moats around them are the ones that deliver rewards to investors. —Warren Buffett (1999) The durability of competitive advantage of a company is a function of three factors: the height of barriers to imitation, the capability of competitors, and the general dynamism of the industry environment. 1. Barriers to Imitation Barriers to imitation are factors that make it difficult for a competitor to copy Continue reading