The resource based view focuses on the firm’s “secret sauce” – a resource that rivals would like to get but can’t. One isolating mechanism is causal ambiguity – they can’t identify what they should be trying to imitate. This commercial focuses on rumors about what the secret ingredient might be and may be useful for seeding such a discussion. For a recent academic treatment of causal ambiguity, see  Adelaide Wilcox King’s AMR paper.

Contributed by Russ Coff