Strategically valuable resources have five characteristics: (1) They’re difficult to copy.

(2) They
depreciate slowly. (3) Your company –not employees, suppliers, or customers –controls their value.
(4) They can’t be easily substituted. (5) They’re superior to similar resources your competitors
own."We focused on the differences between Hero-Honda's and Bajaj Auto’s strategies, where
companies diverged in their focus (value engineering vs. novel innovation). The DTS-i engine -that
has powered Bajaj’s growth since the introduction of Pulsar –is a unique resource that Bajaj has
developed and it is reaping the benefits by deploying this resource. Additionally, Bajaj
acquired the capabilities in design engineering in the process of developing the DTS-i engine in-
house. Here is a Business
Today article on Bajaj's DTS-i technology.https://www.businesstoday.in/magazine/cover-story/biggest-
indian-innovation-bajaj-dtsi/story/205820.html
Broadly we highlighted a central question –what resources and capabilities should the firm develop in-
house, and what it should out-source –is a major strategic decision that cannot be changed overnight.
Hence, beyond the competition in the product market, there is also a competition for resources and
capabilities. We discussed what is valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable and exploitable
about Bajaj’s basket of resources. We also discussed how firms can at times can do mergers and
acquisitions (Walmart and Flipkart), and at other times do partnerships (Microsoft and Nokia) or joint
ventures (Starbucks and Tata), to learn new capabilities or to acquire new resources. Someof them
work, and at other times they do not.