Supply Chain Management Tutorial | History of the resource-based view

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History of the resource-based view

The resource- based view theory stipulates that the items called resources previously can be divided into resources and capabilities. As per this view, resources are tradable and non-specific to the firm, while capabilities are firm-specific and are utilized to engage the resources within the firm, such as the internal process of transferring knowledge within the firm.

Although this significant theory within the supply chain framework was coined by Birger Wernerfelt in his article A Resource-Based View of the Firm (1984). The beginning of this theory can be found in earlier researches. The fundamentals of the resource-based view can be traced back to works by Coase (1937), Selznick (1957), Penrose (1959), Stigler (1961), Chandler (1962, 1977), and Williamson (1975), where the focus  is put on the significance of resources and its effect on  firm performance (Conner, 1991, p122; Rumelt, 1984, p557; Mahoney and Pandian, 1992, p263; Rugman and Verbeke, 2002)

This dynamic shift from the limited neoclassical focus to a wider rationale and the amalgamation of different academic fields (industrial organization economics and organizational economics being most prominent) was among the specific significant contribution (Conner, 1991, p133; Mahoney and Pandian, 1992).

There were other publications from Barney (1986a, 1986b) following Wernerfelt’s initial article. Although the statements made by Barney did not quote Wernerfelt directly. The theory about strategic factor markets and the role of expectations can clearly be seen within the resource-based framework as later developed by Barney (1991). Other topics that were later incorporated into the resource-based framework have been expressed by Lippman and Rumelt (uncertain imitability, 1982), Rumelt (isolating mechanisms, 1984) and Dierickx and Cool (inimitability and its causes, 1989). Barney’s framework proved a platform for others to build on this theory, it was taken forward by Conner (1991), Mahoney and Pandian (1992), Conner and Prahalad (1996) and Makadok (2001), who placed the resource-based view with regard to various other research fields. More practical approaches were provided for by Amit and Shoemaker (1993), while later criticism came from among others from Priem and Butler (2001a, 2001b) and Hoopes, Madsen and Walker (2003).

This theory stresses in the view that an organization can achieve sustainable competitive advantage when assets are managed in such a way that there outcome cannot be duplicated by the competition, which helps in creating a competitive edge. An organizations assets are competitive if they are unique i.e. they are valuable, exceptional, inimitable, non-tradable and non-replaceable as well are specific to the firm.  However, this theory also states that not all assets of the firm may lead to sustainable competitive advantage and the result will vary as per the heterogeneity of assets.

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