Competing with ordinary resources

Competing on the basis of rare and valuable strategic resources can be costly. The desire to protect such resources can inhibit innovation. Today's platform business models can harness the hidden value of ordinary resources. During the last three decades, research on resources has concluded that a sound strategy should rely on the exclusive control of valuable and rare resources such as a distinctive brand name, an unparalleled set of talents or an incomparable technology. Extraordinary assets, the theory goes, are needed to reach extraordinary goals. While strategic resources can yield superior competitive advantage, their cost can sometimes outweigh their benefits. In this article, the authors contend that ordinary resources may play an overlooked but important role in successful strategies and competing with ordinary resources can be a valuable complement to competing with strategic resources. Crowdsourcing and crowdfunding strategies are two new types of business models based on the development of a mass of ordinary resources. Platform business models harness the hidden value of ordinary resources.