Title: Critically discuss the internal sources of competitive advantage

discuss internal sources of competitive advantage

The Virgin group has been created in 1970 by Richard Branson. Since the beginning, it is such a very diverse group which activities are assembled around several main areas such as: traveling, communication, mobile and Media, Entertainment, Financial, Social and so on. Virgin gathers 250 companies (and brands) in 30 different countries, operating on 5 continents and has approximately 50,000 employees all around the world, so much so that profits generated by the group in 2008 represents more than £11.5 billion what makes it the largest private company in UK. Each unit of the group is autonomous, independent from other unit and organized by its own internal management team. From the moment a unit exceeds a certain size, it must be divided into two distinct entities.

Virgin is a conglomerate which existence is directly linked to the Branson’s philosophy so we can say that Virgin is mainly controlled by Mr. Richard Branson and its financial partners. His strategy is to produce value added products and services it launches in a market so that the image of Virgin strengthened to continually earn the authority and reputation. Indeed, the Virgin brand is an important and valuable asset for the whole group because it is based on values and not on a particular business sector thus it is difficult for consumers to assimilate virgin to a specific product. Thus, The Virgin Group has found a way to break down fences in order to get in large industries and sectors by developing new offerings on mature markets where the leaders were not taking better care of their customers and innovate more or less. This is the reason why Virgin has taken opportunities by creating joint ventures with Coca Cola and British Airways for example, where it brought its creative spirit and its image in exchange for money, flexibility and financial stability.