Version 1.0, October 2026. 98 constructs in 18 families across 7 eras, with 18 imported theories below. Selecting a cell reveals its family, era, block, tier, and anchor works, each anchoring reference linking to the publisher’s page. Explore the 18 Family Deep Dives for granular sub-tables, or visit Resources to use the four interactive analytical tools.
Each cell: number, influence pips, block code, then symbol, construct, and anchor works
open frontier position
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Detached series · Theories imported from adjacent fields, each set near the families it feeds
Series
T
Imported Theories
25IN
Pa
Positional Advantage
Family
3. Resources and Capabilities (II · Resources and Orientation)
Era
Period 3: Competitive Advantage, 1980s
Block
IN · Inputs: resources and assets
Tier
Landmark
Cell card
Description
Day and Wensley framed competitive advantage as a cycle in which sources of advantage (superior skills and resources) yield positional advantages (superior customer value or lower relative cost) that produce performance outcomes reinvested in the sources, and argued that assessment needs both competitor-centered and customer-focused measures.
Managerial Implications
Sustainable advantage links sources (skills and resources) to positions (lower cost or superior value) to outcomes (satisfaction, loyalty, share, profit). Assess advantage from both the customer's view and the competitor's view, because each sees different things. Managers should track all three links; a strong position with eroding sources, or strong sources without a visible customer benefit, both signal trouble ahead.
How to read. Down a column follows one research stream through time. Across a row shows what the field studied in an era. Color marks the strategy domain, after Morgan et al. (2019). Pips give an influence tier. Numbers run by era, then family. Placements, anchors, and tiers are editorial judgments, and anchors are entry points rather than a complete record of any stream. Anyone who uses or adapts this table is responsible for verifying its contents against the original works.
