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Describes the forty-year evolution of the U.K. frozen food industry, and traces the emergence, dominance, and the decline of Birds Eye. Its success is as a vertically integrated producer, distributor, and marketer of frozen foods that pioneers the industry in the U.K. Its decline as other firms enter all stages of the value chain is seen as a result of its earlier success that yields it an unsustainable strategic position. Examines vertical integration as a strategy, the analytic rationale to be vertically integrated, and the disadvantages of vertical integration.

Describes the change in strategy Birds Eye adopted in the 1980s in the face of declining profitability and eroding market share. Updates the (A) case.

Recent contributions to strategic management and the theory of the firm collectively known as the "resource-based view of the firm" provide illuminating insights into the sources of profitability and the nature of competitive strategy. This article argues that internal resources rather than the market environment should provide the foundations for a firm's strategy. On the basis of an analysis of the relationships among resources, capabilities, competitive advantage, and profitability, this article advances a framework for a resource-based approach to strategy formulation.