AVOIDING COMPETENCE SUBSTITUTION THROUGH KNOWLEDGE SHARING.

Causal ambiguity protects distinctive competencies from imitation but might increase a firm's vulnerability to substitution. The authors suggest that firms can manage this tension by identifying the causes of superior performance and using this knowledge to make their commitments to key stakeholders more credible. Credible commitment allows a firm to influence its stakeholders and thereby simultaneously delay substitution and control the threat of imitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]