It is difficult to imitate a distinctive competence because: a. its nature might not be understood by competing firms. b. its application will lead to competitive parity. c. it might not be applicable to a competing firms' products. d. it will lead to a competitive disadvantage.

The correct answer is letter "A": its nature might not be understood by competing firms.

Explanation:

In their struggle to keep businesses up and running, companies may imitate their rivals' competitive advantage. While the competitive advantage of a firm sometimes can be publicly known, most of the time it is not. Besides, knowing the competitive advantage of a competitor does not ensure the competing firm will understand how to apply it in its operations. The situation becomes worse when the competitive advantage of its rivals rely on complex social phenomena such as organizational culture.