Creating a Competitive Advantage in Sports Businesses: The Role of Input Sources, Market Position and Creativity

The purpose of this study was to investigate the role of input sources, market position and creativity in creating a competitive advantage for sports businesses. This research was a descriptive-survey and in terms of practical purpose. The statistical population of this study consisted of managers of water sports recreational complexes in Tehran. To collect the data needed to test the hypotheses, a field method and a questionnaire were used. To obtain more confidence in the results, 80 questionnaires were distributed among managers in purposeful way in relation to the distribution of water sports complexes in five districts of Tehran province of which 75 questionnaires were analyzed. Findings showed that Input resources, market positioning and creativity power has a positive and significant effect on competitive advantage. The results of this study are the purposefulness of the hybrid approach due to the ability to properly use input resources including human, organizational and financial resources, attention to customer capital and having competitive intelligence as creators and stabilizers in the market and also capital of innovation, information technology capability and knowledge management as the most important resources and elements in using creativity, they can bring a competitive advantage to businesses.