ABSTRACT
To successfully compete in today’s markets, organizations must adopt a strategy that fits the market conditions, the organization’s goals, and its capabilities-or develop the capabilities deemed essential. A successful strategy must provide an edge to the company in the different dimensions of competition, which are as follows: time based, cost based, quality based, and flexibility based. Frequently, some key capabilities considered by the organization as critical to its success will be missing. When these needed capabilities must be acquired, and it is possible to develop them in house (which may not always be economical or even feasible, as we will see later), devoting the time and effort to such development may not be practical or economical, or in line with the organizational strategy. Consequently, the organization may prefer to use external sources available from suppliers and subcontractors that can provide the required capabilities. It is simply impractical to expect organizations to develop all the capabilities they may need to succeed or even just to maintain their business (Barney, 2010).
