Abstract
This study investigates whether a firm's competitive advantage, measured by its relative operating efficiency, can be maintained in the long run. Based on a sample of US listing firms in the wholesale and the retail industries from 1995 to 2015, we examine the dynamics of the trend and stability of firms' operating efficiency in the long run. We find that companies that are moving ahead in the short run cannot guarantee their operating efficiency status in the long run. In the long run, operating efficiency can trend upwards, downwards, fluctuate, or remain flat. The findings are consistent to both industries, except that in the retail industry, there are more firms that consistently fall behind than firms that are in other categories of efficiency. This study provides implications for firms to measure and improve their operating efficiency dynamically over the short and long horizons to win the competitive market.
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