Sustainable competitive advantage over corporate real estate: Evidence in the hotel industry

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between Corporate Real Estate Strategy (CRES) and Sustainable Competitive Advantage (SCA) of the hotel industry of Sri Lanka, which holds around 58 real estate assets over its total assets structure. The SCA is identified as the dependent construct of the study, which has seven independent constructs (Reduce Cost, Productivity, Flexibility, User Satisfaction, Promote the Brand, Facilitate Interaction, and Increase Real Estate Value) and hypothesises the direct relationship between CRES and SCA of the hotel industry. Four hundred questionnaires were distributed among Executive Officers of 5-star hotels as the sampling framework. A formative PLS-SEM analysis confirms that there is a positive contribution of CRES on the SCA of hotels, except for the hypothesis on ‘Facilitate Interaction’. Thus, the study confirms that CRE is a strategic resource for an organization to maintain its sustainable competitive advantage over its rivals.