This study demonstrates how business development approaches shape competitive advantage. Existing studies focusing on business development have identified two perspectives. The first is the long-term plan perspective: business and technology, which currently operate on a nonprofit mode, should be freed from the pressure of becoming profitable. The second is market opportunity perspective: business and technology should learn and gain from response to market opportunity. Both perspectives are appropriate and reasonable. However, existing studies have not focused on when and how these perspectives lead to competitive advantage. As an attempt to address this assessment, this study examines a case of the Reverse Osmosis (RO) membrane industry where the market opportunity perspective leads to competitive advantage. This case study compares the perspectives of Toray and Nitto Denko: Toray emphasizes long-term plan and Nitto Denko highlights market opportunity. In the RO membrane industry, considering the huge market (seawater desalination market), both the perspectives were deemed appropriate. However, at present, Nitto Denko's approach is more profitable than Toray's. This can be explained by the fact that as part of the business development process, Nitto Denko has constructed foreign channels and complementary technology for seawater. The benefits of these complementary assets were not obvious beforehand, but because of the approach emphasizing market opportunity, Nitto Denko's perspective could have got the advantage. This study focuses on business development research and specific perspectives supported by different practitioners. With respect to business development research, the study revealed a condition where the approach that emphasized market opportunity was profitable. The study also produced counterevidence for common belief that the long-term plan was critically important.
