Temporary Competitive Advantage: An Investigation into the Core of the Literature

Abstract

Evidence of over 350 citations recorded by the articles published in the 2010 special issue on “The Age of Temporary Advantage” of the Strategic Management Journal shows that the inquiry on temporary nature of competitive advantage is an emergent research area in strategic management. They also exhibit that, most likely, it is going to be a significant research area for the coming years. To assess the current status of the literature as well as to fathom the directions and challenges of future research on temporary advantage, we review prior empirical research on temporary advantage so as to offer a conceptual map that provides a comprehensive appreciation of antecedents, processes, and consequences of temporary advantage. We then advance a research agenda on temporary competitive advantage.