This book adopts a knowledge-based perspective that sees the firm as a store of knowledge resources and capabilities. The firm's knowledge base includes the expertise and experience of individuals, the routine and processes that define the distinctive way of doing things inside the organization, as well as the knowledge of customer needs and supplier strengths. To the extent that the knowledge and capabilities are unique and difficult to imitate, they confer sustainable competitive advantage on the firm. Unlike traditional products, knowledge-based products and services can enjoy increasing returns, so the firm developing an early advantage has a better chance of growing market share through network externalities and customer familiarity effects.