Sustainable Competitive Advantage Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Sustainable Competitive Advantage - Essay Example As the paper discusses  the concept of competitive advantage was first brought to the lime light by Porter. He mentioned in his book that competitive advantage can be attained by creating a unique differentiation and by achieving low cost of production. However, this theory has been revised by him and the concept of ‘Sustainable Competitive Advantage’ was introduced. He further mentioned that companies should follow either cost leadership or differentiation, and should not follow the middle path.  This essay stresses that  the resource availability is directly proportional to the organizational success, as high amount of resource can lead higher production volume. As a result, a company with higher amount of resources can easily meet the growing demands of the customers, compared to its rival thereby giving it a competitive advantage.  The resource heterogeneity or resource uniqueness is a major factor that gives firm a unique edge over its rivals. Thus if all th e existing firms possess the same resources, even in abundance, will not create competitive advantage for one firm. Thus competitive advantage cannot be same for all firms.  The uniqueness of a firm’s skills and resources is the primary factor responsible for development of the competitive advantage.  Organizational resources are valuable only when it has high demand in the industry, it is scarce and it is appropriate for the firms’ operational process.

Dietary(Nutritional) recommendations for Hypothyroidism (Underactive Essay

Dietary(Nutritional) recommendations for Hypothyroidism (Underactive Thyroid Gland) - Essay Example Both deficiency and excess of iodine are bad. Excess intake in a patient with underlying thyroid disease can cause full-blown thyroid dysfunction. 1.1mg daily iodine intake is recommended (Leung cited in Ede 2012). Levothyroxine is a thyroid hormone synthetically manufactured. It is used in patients with hypothyroidism. But, food-drug interactions are very important here because certain foods can decrease its absorption in the biological system. Soy flour, calcium juices or supplements, and dietary fiber can decrease absorption of levothyroxine. So after taking this thyroid hormone, these foods should be avoided for several hours. But, fasting is prohibited because prolonged fasting state can drastically increase thyroid hormone levels (Wickham 2013). Levothyroxine can also impair absorption of hypoglycemic drugs, so blood glucose levels should be carefully monitored (NLM 2009). For hypothyroidism, iodine supplements are mostly unnecessary since the introduction of iodized salt and f ood fortification unless one is living in a poverty-stricken or severely underdeveloped region. Though iodine supplements may still be required in some cases, levothyroxine is usually considered sufficient for safe treatment of hypothyroidism (Nippoldt 2012). Messina, M & Redmond, G 2006, ‘Effects of soy protein and soybean isoflavones on thyroid function in healthy adults and hypothyroid patients: a review of the relevant literature’, Thyroid, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 249-58. Nippoldt, TB 2012, ‘Can iodine supplements help regulate thyroid function in a person with hypothyroidism?’, viewed 12 May 2014,