4 Distinctive Capabilities (Kay)?
Jaap de Jonge, Management Consultant, Netherlands
We should be really precise in the words we use here.
Indeed Kay mentioned there are 4 distinctive FEATURES: "Profits come not only from distinctive capabilities but (also) from possession of strategic assets – competitive advantages which arise from the structure of the market rather than from the specific attributes of firms within that market."
So according to Kay, the 4th one you mentioned (strategic assets) is
not a distinctive CAPABILITY. But they do contribute to competitive advantage and profitability.
In conclusion I believe there are only 3 distinctive capabilities in the model by Kay.
Source: John Kay, "The Structure of Strategy", Business Strategy Review 1993.
