Influence of relational resources on the development of relational operating skills

Abstract

The debate about relational resources and their influences has followed an internal focus on organizations, and in the literature this has been shown to have a high influence on the ways of the resource-based view. This article aims to analyze the development of operational competencies following the focus of the relational view from the interaction of relational resources shared in supply chains. The research was guided by the strategy of multiple case studies in the steel industry, automotive and industrial applications, pulp production, and engineering for the energy industry. The results of the analysis of the four cases show that deeper relationships in the form of partnerships enable a process of investing in specific assets, knowledge accumulation, learning exchange, and a combination of complementary strategic resources that develop relational operational competencies. And, these competencies that represent the company's ability to promote a skill set to use resources efficiently and to provide a barrier to imitation are further developed by the information and knowledge constructs.