1. Is Kobe Bryant an RBV (Resource Based View) valuable resource for the LA Lakers?
For Kobe to be RBV valuable, he must satisfy four conditions: be valuable, rare, difficult to duplicate and difficult to substitute. I will go through these conditions one at a time. Is Kobe Bryant Valuable? His 5 championship rings point to yes, as do his 13 all-star appearances and 2 scoring titles. However, he is getting old and less valuable as we speak. Is Kobe Bryant rare? Michael Jordan recently stated that Kobe Bryant is the ONLY recent player that can be compared to himself, so yes, Kobe is rare.`Can Kobe Bryant be imitated? Yes. Dwayne Wade, Lebron James, Carmello Anthony, Derrick Rose, and the list goes on. All these players imitate Kobe in terms of performance, star quality and jersey sales. Is it difficult to find substitutes for Kobe Bryant? Here’s the sticking point. Substitutes abound for Bryant. The Mavericks team based system and even the NHL which is stealing NBA market share constitute substitutes for the star player that Kobe brings. To conclude, Kob Bryant is not a very RBV valuable resource, especially this late in his career.
2. As a Catholic Institution, does Notre Dame have an ethical responsibility to bring its high level of education to the masses?
To bring its brand of education to the masses would seriously harm Notre Dame’s key competitive advantages. The excellent faculty would require a watering down, as would the level of achievement among the perspective students. As an institution, it aspires to educate leaders of the next generation, not the generation in its entirety. Expansion can only happen at a pace where the level of education can be maintained if the school is to maintain its position as a place where future leaders will apply.
