Is business strategy from a positioning and resourcebased perspective relevant for national institutions?

Abstract

To ascertain whether business strategy is relevant for national institutions a distinction is made between private businesses and institutions as “social business units” of a country. In “social businesses” as well as in private businesses, efficiency is the desired outcome. However, in private businesses it is about sustainable competitive advantage while in institutions it is about policies to resolve the socio and economic problems that a country faces in order to increase welfare of society as a whole. The conclusion is that business strategy form the positioning and resource-based perspectives, does not apply to social businesses such as national institutions.