Knowledge and sustainable competitive advantage of the Eyre Peninsula's fishing industry in Australia

Abstract

Researchers have largely emphasised the strategic importance of knowledge as a source of competitive advantage from a firm‐level perspective. Instead, this study looks at knowledge and sustainable competitive advantage from an industry‐level perspective. The knowledge‐based view of the firm continues to provide a nuanced understanding of firms' competitiveness but less on industry competitiveness. This study specifically addresses knowledge‐based view of sustainable competitive advantage from a fishing industry perspective by using an exploratory qualitative design and thematic analysis of 54 interviews. The findings demonstrate a strategic, organisational, and commercial influence of knowledge on establishing a sustainable competitive advantage. This study contradicts the universal theoretical assumption that a firm is an effective knowledge creating and distributing entity by arguing that an industry can also create deep knowledge for competition through collaboration than most firms. It argues that knowledge can be the most important source of sustainable competitive advantage for the industry. This paper advances scholarly works that seek to deepen and understand the intersection between knowledge management and strategic management.