¶ … Human resources management processes: workforce planning; recruitment, attraction selection employees; training, development managers subordinates; personnel administration; compensation; payroll; employee benefits, performance appraisal, labor relations, Competitive advantage: Four requirements

For a firm to thrive, it must offer a unique product so it can ensure that it can deliver a sustained competitive advantage that cannot easily be undercut by price or substituted by a similar product offered by a firm within the same industry. The following four criteria to establish a competitive advantage are as follows: "(a) the resource must add positive value to the firm, (b) the resource must be unique or rare among current and potential competitors, (c) the resource must be imperfectly imitable, and (d) the resource cannot be substituted with another resource by competing firms" (Wright & McMahan 1992). Finding a physical good or service that meets all of these criteria can be challenging, but Wright & McMahan (1992) argue...

Certain human skills and attributes are prized and relatively rare, and behavioral systems and human skill sets are often more difficult to imitate than physical goods. These principles can be said to be embodied at many of the most successful companies in the world today. Google and Apple have the reputations for attracting the most qualified engineers and visionaries to design and bring their products to market. More so than saving upon labor costs, advertising, or market segmentation, the uniqueness of the service they offer to consumers is what drives corporate profitability. The credit for design of the products lies squarely in the hands of the engineers, or the human resources of the organization.
However, even in non-technological industries, as…