This paper tells the story of Geox, an Italian footwear manufacturer that, in less than a decade,
has become one of the world’s largest shoe manufacturers. Applying the related notions of
complementarity and performance landscape to study strategic positioning in the footwear
industry,we showthat, though grounded on product innovation (the originalGeox breathes®
patented system which allows ventilation in waterproof rubber sole), Geox’s competitive
advantage has not grown out of operational excellence in single activities in the business,
but, rather, derives from a unique and consistent configuration of complementary activities.
Such configuration represents an innovative strategic position and corresponds to a peak
in the footwear industry performance landscape. The case study offers anecdotal evidence
in support of complementarity based economic theory. It confirms that, in the presence of complementarities, rivals find strategy imitation and reverse engineering difficult due to the
unique nature of the relationships among complementary variables.
