Competitive advantage (CA) is an intuitively evident concept which has been widely used in theoretical research in strategy. But CA's diffuse image and its dynamic nature make it a difficult concept to apply. The purpose of this study was to develop a comprehensive (or macro) CA construct capable of being applied in an empirical manner across a broad spectrum of business situations. This objective required both an adequate grounding of the CA concept within its nomological- net of theories and a new operationalization approach.