In situations where rivals can readily copy the successful features of a company's strategy or duplicate its attempts to attract customers, the only dependable path to competitive advantage is for a company to staff the company's organization with smarter and more talented people. outexecute rivals by developing a collection of resources and capabilities that enables the company to perform certain important value chain activities at lower cost than rivals or with greater effectiveness than rivals (thereby gaining the ability to deliver more value to customers via either a lower price or a more appealing product). do a better job of training, empowering, motivating, and compensating employees than rivals. perform value chain activities quicker or faster than rivals can. outsource more value chain activities than rivals do and thereby achieve lower operating costs.