ABSTRACT
As industrialists turned their attention to each other, a new competitive frontline emerged in which industrial rivals engaged in an arms race to overwhelm each other with ever greater economies of scale. Quite simply, the size and quality of the machines and related property, tools, and other tangible assets largely determined the economies of scale that could be achieved and the competitive advantage that could be leveraged. Many executives espouse people as their most important asset and a source of competitive advantage. However, without a sound but practical definition of competitive advantage, it would be difficult to intelligently argue for or against the notions that people are the most important asset or that they are more important than in the past. Even though intangible assets existed, and human capital played a role in competitive advantage during the early and middle Mechanized Period, tangible physical assets and financial capital played the starring role.
