Formula 1 Constructors
Introduction
The Formula One World Championship was started in 1951 by private sportspersons. Today, Formula One is the world’s biggest motor sports event and is arguably the second most popular sport in the world. It consists of ten teams, with two cars each, contesting a 17-race series. It involves two titles, the Driver’s Championship and the Constructors Championship. Formula One today is a highly dependent on technology (Denison and Henderson, 2004). This article will discuss the resources, capabilities and attributes required by Formula One constructors. This article will also analyse the reasons for the dominance of different constructors during different periods, by using one of the methods of identifying competitive advantage. It will analyse the reasons behind their inability to sustain their dominance and also suggest ways by which these constructors could have sustained their competitive advantage. “A firm is said to have competitive advantage when it is implementing a value creating strategy not simultaneously being implemented by any current or potential competitors.” (Barney, 1991:99)
Resources, capabilities and attributes required by Formula One
Resources can be classified as financial, physical, human, technological and organisational (Grant, 1991). The financial resources required by Formula One constructors are vast (close to $1 bn), the human resources required are a staff of around 450-800. They need highly qualified staff like race engineers, designers, aerodynamicists, composite experts and system specialists. They require physical resources including their own testing and development equipment like wind tunnels, test tracks and other equipment. They also need to constantly change their strategies to counter strategies of the other teams. All the teams and members need to work as a cohesive unit. Based on Porter (2004) we can identify factors important for competitive advantage in the Formula One industry. Technology development is
The Formula One World Championship was started in 1951 by private sportspersons. Today, Formula One is the world’s biggest motor sports event and is arguably the second most popular sport in the world. It consists of ten teams, with two cars each, contesting a 17-race series. It involves two titles, the Driver’s Championship and the Constructors Championship. Formula One today is a highly dependent on technology (Denison and Henderson, 2004). This article will discuss the resources, capabilities and attributes required by Formula One constructors. This article will also analyse the reasons for the dominance of different constructors during different periods, by using one of the methods of identifying competitive advantage. It will analyse the reasons behind their inability to sustain their dominance and also suggest ways by which these constructors could have sustained their competitive advantage. “A firm is said to have competitive advantage when it is implementing a value creating strategy not simultaneously being implemented by any current or potential competitors.” (Barney, 1991:99)
Resources, capabilities and attributes required by Formula One
Resources can be classified as financial, physical, human, technological and organisational (Grant, 1991). The financial resources required by Formula One constructors are vast (close to $1 bn), the human resources required are a staff of around 450-800. They need highly qualified staff like race engineers, designers, aerodynamicists, composite experts and system specialists. They require physical resources including their own testing and development equipment like wind tunnels, test tracks and other equipment. They also need to constantly change their strategies to counter strategies of the other teams. All the teams and members need to work as a cohesive unit. Based on Porter (2004) we can identify factors important for competitive advantage in the Formula One industry. Technology development is