Competitive Advantage of stone and marble cutting firms

Abstract

The study of the Competitive Advantage of Nations is one of the most important aspects of strategic & international business management. Most discussions of the competitive success of nations look at aggregate, economy-wide measures like the balance of trade. Porter chose a different starting point, beginning with individual industries and competitors and building up to the economy as a whole. Nations do not compete in the marketplace-business firms do, and the performance of individual companies in particular industries in where competitive advantage is either won or lost. Porter in 1990 introduced one of the most applicable theories of obtaining a national competitive advantage. In his book "The Competitive Advantage of Nations" he introduced the diamond model which consists of 4 determinants that individually and as a system, create the context in which a nation's firms are born and compete. The determinants are firm strategy, structure, and rivalry; factor conditions (e.g., natural resources); demand conditions; and related and supporting industries. Despite all critiques to the diamond theory, it stills the most applicable theory in its field. And if we added Infonnation Communication Technology (ICT) it will be the most comprehensive model of National Competitive Advantage. Applying this model on a given industry in a given country well allow this industry to be developed by knowing the strengths and weaknesses of the determinants. Research team applied the concept National Competitive advantage and the use of ICT to obtain a competitive advantage on large stone and marble cutting firms in southern West Bank. And research findings were as follow: All determinants of the diamond and the use of ICT foster the competitiveness oflarge stone and marble cutting firms in southern West Bank Except rivalry which statistically processed data showed that if the level of rivalry increased the level of competitive advantage decreases as an inverse relationship